*very long post ahead!

The next morning, we went to the other side of Prague, Malá strana, also known as The Lesser Town. Malá strana is situated across the Vltava river and leads to the Prague Castle.To get to Malá strana, one has to cross the Charles Bridge. Charles Bridge crosses the Vltava river and is one of the most beautiful attractions in Prague. The bridge is 516 meters long and nearly 10 meters wide, resting on 16 arches shielded by ice guards. During the daytime, the bridge is bustling with painters, traders and entertainers attracting tourists who are crossing the bridge.Walking to the Prague Castle was exhausting! But once you reach the top, the view of the city is simply magnificent. Prague Castle is the biggest ancient castle in the world, rising above the city offering beautiful views of everything below. Many buildings are enclosed by the castle walls including three churches, a monastery and a palace. The Old Royal Palace contains many spectacular rooms and is actually part of the spreading Prague Castle complex. Also on site is the St. Vitus Cathedral with its lookout tower. The entrance to the cathedral is free, but we didn’t go in. It was way too crowded. Instead, we went around exploring and took plenty of pictures. ;PWe had lunch at a nearby restaurant in Malá strana. They had set lunches for 400 CZK that included a soup, main course and dessert. rif had Menu 2 while I chose Menu 4 (I’m a sucker for goulash). We also had a bottle of Pilsner Urquell (Plzeňský Prazdroj) for 80CZK (3 Euros – tourist price). It’s much cheaper if you buy it from Tesco in Prague. It had a light bitter taste, heavier (more malty) and a sharp, crisp finish. One of the best beers I’ve had.The soup was just plain vegetable soup, nothing to shout about. rif’s rumpsteak was a little too well done for me. I’d have preferred it medium rare. I liked the chips, which were thickly cut but I didn’t care for the side vegetables (especially the grated carrots). Again, my stew (goulash) was disappointing. Don’t know why they were so kiam siap with the beef! 4 freaking pieces! Heck, there were more onions than meat. @#$#%@%!! I bet Jeen (who’s the smallest eater I know) could finish this easily.The strudel was no good; it was dry, hard and chewy. Renaldo’s in Singapore puts this to shame. My fried dumpling with yogurt was strange. The dumpling was really hard. If I threw it at someone, that person would faint. Definitely not for one with no teeth – I had to gnaw at it to get to the inside. Tastewise, rif and I liked this better than the strudel, it kind of grows on you. :PWe bought two tickets to the orchestra at the Rudolfinum at 7pm. It was their International Prague Spring Festival, and tickets to the orchestra were sold everywhere. The Prague Spring International Music Festival is a permanent showcase for outstanding performing artists, symphony orchestras and chamber music ensembles of the world.We paid 550 CZK (20 Euros) per person for a ticket. We couldn’t afford to listen to the orchestra in the Dvorak Hall, so we settled for the Suk Hall. Even though it was a smaller hall, I didn’t quite mind as I’ve always wanted to listen to an orchestra in Europe! :DAfter the orchestra, we went back to our apartment and rif made dinner. I love it when he cooks, as he makes the BEST hotdogs ever! Somemore with bratwurst. SHIOK-ness!!!! We also had spatzle with grated cheese, onions and sausage bits from Tesco. Really delish. And we had it with beer. Dinner only cost us 300CZK including beer (11 Euros). That’s less that what we had paid for lunch per person! And it tasted better plus the portions were much bigger. I went to bed well-fed and happy. Lalala….