A fine walk

I'd walked all day today -- from about 11am to 7pm -- and had come back to the hotel for a short rest.  Around 8:45pm, I decided to reward myself with some tea and cake.  (You have no idea how hard it is to get a good cup of tea in Prague is, or how addicted I've become.)  So I set out for a cute little bakeshop I'd seen near the Spanish Synagogue, on the opposite side of town.  I got there at 5 minutes past 9, and of course they had just closed.

So I struck out to find another place, and ended up walking over 4 miles, and an hour and a half, before I finally found someplace -- about 5 minutes from my hotel.

It was now 10:45pm, and most of Prague had shut down, but the sign on the Cafe Louvre proudly said it was open until 11:30pm.  A waiter promptly told me they were closed.  I pointed to the sign and got a long explanation, the jist of which was that 11:30 was when the waiters went home, so the customers had to leave sooner.  I said I just wanted tea and cake and he gruffly pointed to a table and told me to "hurry" (seriously), and then completely ignored me for 10 minutes!  Not even a menu.

Finally I got served.  5 minutes later I got the bill.  5 minutes later they started turning off the lights.  It was still 20 minutes to closing!!

Needless to say, I was not impressed and I'd say I wouldn't go back, but in fact I'm leaving tomorrow, so I'd say that even if it was wonderful. (And the black forest cake was quite nice.)  I do hope I come back--the town has been absolutely enchanting.  Truth be told, if I'd realized how beautiful it was, I probably wouldn't have come on my own.  (And I certainly would have brought my good camera!!)

But perhaps it is for the best--next time I can impress someone with my knowledge of Prague and the Czech language -- dobrý den, prosim, děkuji, a nemluvím česky.  (Hello, please, thank you, and "I don't speak Czech.")  I just have to find a better hotel.