Late breakfast again, then out to a cold, grey day, drizzle and overcast, a big change from yesterday. Round the corner to pick up train tickets to Krakow for tomorrow, then down to the Charles Bridge again and over the river.
Wandered along some back streets relatively free of tourists, the rain light but steady. Stopped in a few antique shops then had a look in the Bethlehem Chapel. Didn’t take long, then round the corner and into the Cafe Louvre for coffee and cake. I had a pot of coffee and Song had a pot of tea, each one making about 3 cups. We shared an apple stroudel with vanilla custard and whipped cream. All that came to about $9 – I had to check the bill because I couldn’t believe it was so cheap. The place was very nice, decorated in an Art Deco style and the serving staff all dressed in waistcoats and bow ties. Down to the metro to go to the National Art Gallery. Got on a tram but it started to go a different way to where I expected, and a guy told us that the routes had changed because it was Easter (Good Friday). So got off, went back a couple of stops and managed to find the gallery. According to the Lonely Planet book, the gallery was mostly modern art (which we don’t really like) but also had a Van Gogh, Klimt, Picasso and some impressionist works so we went in, especially since it was warm and dry inside. Took the slow lift up to the top floor and were greeted by exactly the type of art we don’t like. If the rest was the same we’d be out of there in about 30 minutes. Whizzed round the floor and down to the next and things improved. Quite a few impressionist works. As we walked around we realised there were only about 20 people in the place. It was almost as if we had a private viewing, in some sections it was only the 2 of us.
They actually had a decent collection – quite a few Picasso, some Gauguin, Cezanne, Latrec, Monet etc.
The next floor was contemporary art and some of it was rubbish – literally, one piece was a couple of burnt mattresses – and some were rather disturbing. We went through it in record time, then the last floor was a selection of European works which were generally good.
We spent a lot longer in the gallery than we expected, around 3 and a half hours.
Back to the main area of the city and discovered the trains stopped running at 17:30 because of maintenance work, but the trams were really good so it wasn’t an issue. Looked for something for dinner but since Song wasn’t too enamoured of the local cuisine found a Vietnamese restaurant instead. We each had a large bowl of noodle soup for about $5 each.
Back on a tram to the hotel, both of us pretty tired.
Walked 14.22 Km today.
Another full day in Prague tomorrow, then on a sleeper train to Krakow at 22:30.
