If I’d only seen these cuties back when I was still searching for our giveaways for our principal sponsors, I probably would have bought these. Perfect for doll collectors like me :).
Matryoshka salt and pepper shaker. The head of the bigger matryoshka is for the salt while the baby one is for the pepper.
Or you can opt for the measuring cup matryoshka.
Love it! 🙂
Finally, after months of watching out for the right kind of storage box, I found the one I was looking for this afternoon in basement 1 of Colette Mare. Perfect to house our wedding-related stuff and stationeries including the greeting cards and money cards given us as well as the receipts of all the payments we did.
I would have wanted a light colored one so it would lend light on the storage room. But then if you need to store something for a long time, might as well store it in a box that wouldn’t get dirty easily.
It has a cloth lining hence our beloved stuff are protected.
Love the way the strings of the lining are tied at the back.
Bigger one is at 1030 yen whilst the smaller one is at 620 yen.
Ja, time to clean up!
Our search for the John and George Cafe led us to Campanulla – a Tonino Lamborghini restaurant. Goodness, the food in this place is just soooooo good.
Do click and check —> Campanulla in goodfoodhunt
Atsushi and I tried as much as possible to have our lunch and dinner (and sometimes snacks besides) in the restaurants which were highly recommended by Rick Steves in his “Best of Europe 2010” guidebook. Hence whenever lunchtime or dinnertime found us in a particular area, I immediately leaf through the book and check for a recommended restaurant near the area.
Dinner time on our first full day in Praha found us in the famous Charles Bridge (Karlûv most), erected back in 1357. Yep, back in the 14th century. The bridge was named after Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV who was crowned King of Bohemia and Count of Luxemburg on the same year the bridge was constructed.
One of our takes on Charles Bridge albeit it didn’t do justice on the bridge’s beauty. Took this photo of the Charles Bridge the following morning, on the bridge running parallel with Charles Bridge which is much less grander than Charles.
We crossed the bridge from the Old Town side on to the Little or Lesser Quarter which I presume was named “lesser” because it was right below the much grander Castle Quarter. The square right beneath Karluv Most which is part of the Lesser Quarter was pretty nice though. I wouldn’t call it “lesser” at all.
Since we were in the Little Quarter area, there was only one restaurant I was so intent on eating in – The John and George CafĂ© which was (as described in the book) in a little alley right beside the Lennon Wall. So off we went a-hunting for the Lennon Wall.
Of course, when on a trip, even when you have a destination in mind, you should take some time to “smell the flowers” as they say. After all, you went on a trip for sightseeing, right?
This here is the Charles Bridge’ tower on the Little Quarter side.
Charming. That’s the best word that would describe Bohemia.
Took one of our numerous A&M feet shots.
It took longer than expected to find the John Lennon Wall. Lost. And we were brave enough to go to where nobody else wanted to go.
A word to fellow tourist. When you see this poster, you’ll know you’re on the right track.
It’s a harbinger yes for we found ze wall.
This graffiti wall came to be the day John Lennon died. Fans comforted each other in this quiet side of the town and expressed their grief by writing on the wall. Remember, this was 1980 when Czechoslovakia was still under Communist Regime. The authorities would paint the wall clean only to be repainted with new graffiti the following day. It’s still there now so One can easily guess who won. Nowadays though it’s more for the younger generation’s expression for love and peace.
Whew! This came in longer than expected!
Up in next post, the John and George Café filler.
A new neighbor is building a house nearby hence us neighbors got in our mailboxes some sort of construction schedule from the (we suppose) builders of the house – Asahi Kasei.
The owner’s name and exact address of the house was indicated on the flyer. Construction milestones for the next few months were also shown in that I can just imagine the excitement the owner-family has with even just looking at this milestone forecast. And really, Japanese houses get finished in no time at all; only six months based on this plan. Six months of building built-for-earthquake, built-for-winter house. Amazing, especially if you compare it to how fast, or rather how slow, houses are built in Pinas. Mind you though, these houses doesn’t come cheap. Around our area, you need around 60million yen for your house. And that’s just the house. It’s sans interior stuff pa.
Anyways, true to the considerate nature of the Japanese, included in this pamphlet is a notice that should we have questions or complaints as they build in the area, we shouldn’t hesitate to contact Asahi Kasei.
It came with a packet of ziploc which I am happy to get for free.
This is actually our second time to receive this; the first being a couple of days just before we flew to Europe. The packet arrived just in time. They proved really helpful as keepers for toiletries that might later get wet and messy.
Hopefully though, someday, our surname would be in that flyer.
A note: This is a continuation of my Charles Bridge and the search for John and George Café post in our atsushiandmarjorie.wordpress.com blog.
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So we found the Lennon Wall. But there were only two restaurants in site. I figure John and George Café would be a bit modern.
But this one is very Czech, complete with duck and Pork knee entree (the conversion rate is pretty good though).
And the other is this.
This cafe’s summer garden points to the very same spot that was described as the location of John and George Cafe – by a small alley just right beside the Lennon Wall. Hungry and not up for pork knee, we decided to try Campanulla instead, hoping that John and George had changed their name to Campanulla. A number of people were already seated in the summer CafĂ© and it wasn’t really summer already. It was actually cold what with autumn in full gear. And it was getting dark by the minute so we really couldn’t enjoy the garden much anymore. Hence we decided to eat inside instead. Took a few shots of the garden.
I later learned that Ludwig van Beethoven himself likes to hang around this garden.
Although we missed the chance to lounge in a place where a famous composer used to hang around, we still loved (and preferred) to stay inside the cozy Cafe. My guess is that this is a Tonino Lamborghini restaurant.
Photos of famous personalities who used to hang around the place (?) were on display.
I love G12’s shots on the place that I’m posting the shots I took inside the cafe unedited save for the watermark. The places we went to were really beautiful and breathtaking. Yet this shot is one of my favorites.
This is Italian yes. There are lots of stuff in the place that suggests the place is Italian actually. Really good juice.
The bread that’s on the house was really good too.
Curiously, the smell of salami followed me everywhere we go in Praha hence I didn’t order for a pork dish anymore. Ordered a salmon even when I had salmon already the day before.
I tasted Atsushi’s pork before eating my fish and the moment I ate it, I regretted not ordering pork. The meat tasted so flavorful my mouth waters now at the memory of it. Pork tenderloin with green pepper sauce.
When I tasted my salmon though, I got happy I didn’t make the wrong decision after all. Salmon was cooked just right. I ate three salmon dishes during our Praha visit and this salmon is the best one I had. And it’s easily one of the best salmon I’ve ever had. A far cry from the salmon in El Nido even. Grilled salmon with chipotle sauce, cream, butter, onions and chipotle chilies.
The tourists.
Of course we capped our meal with dessert – apricot crumble cake.
Had it with uber rich hot orange chocolate drink that was just simply marvelous.
I wanted to have our anniversary dinner here again, the following evening, but of course we had to try out other Czech restaurants to have more experience with the place.
But if ever I’ll be back in Praha, I’d surely eat here again. And again.
