Prague, Warsaw, London and Gayle. The End of a Journey.

Prague

Prague.

John and I arrived in Prague on Easter day. We checked into our AirBnB and hopped right across the street to a small local restaurant, U Bohouse. The food was delicious! My bestie Gayle was flying to Prague in 3 days to spend the rest of our adventure with us. We wanted to get a feel for the neighborhood before she arrived. We found a great little Martini bar a half block from our flat so we decided to go in and have a drink. We were the only ones there and it was an eclectic mix of books and monkey themed artwork. We loved the vibe and decided this was a place to take Gayle.

Beer Garden

Over the next 3 days we scoped out more restaurants, bars and the beer garden that was RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM OUR FLAT!

The BEST Pork knuckle!

Gayle arrived and we started her stay out at U Bohouse. For the next week, we toured the city, visited the beer garden more than once, had a wild night at the martini bar, drank wine in the park and discovered the very delicious pork knuckle!

Monastic Brewery. Pic by Gayle.

We also visited a brewery in the cellar of a monastery!

Vinohrady

Prague is the most beautiful city I have seen. Our neighborhood, Vinohrady, was in the city yet felt very much like a small neighborhood with beautiful buildings, friendly people and great places to eat and drink. I would not hesitate to stay in Vinohrady again sometime.

Warsaw

Warsaw.

From Prague we took a train to Warsaw Poland. On our train ride to Budapest from Oradea Romania, we had a dining car which was wonderful. As it was the same train system going to Warsaw and the website also indicated a dining car, John and I were eager to show Gayle the perks of European train travel by dining and drinking in the dining car. Well, we were informed by a very nice train employee that there was no dining CAR but instead a dining CART. I guess they forgot the “T” on the website.
We had a first class compartment on the train all to ourselves until we crossed into Poland. We were then joined by less than friendly passengers but they kept to themselves and we just ate our snacks.

Warsaw was very different from the other European cities we visited. During WWII, Hitler destroyed approximately 85% of the city. Because of this, Warsaw for the most part has been completely rebuilt. It is a beautiful city with modern buildings and gorgeous parks. Our AirBnB was in the city and right across from several bars.

Gayle and John right before getting yelled at

There were also milk bars in our neighborhood. Milk Bars. A Polish tradition. They started at the turn of the 1900's and became extremely popular during the communist era. It's like an American diner - kind of. Milk Bars in Warsaw are all the same. There is a large menu (all in Polish) when you walk in. You order from the cashier and then give your receipt to a cook in a window. If you linger around the window she will tell you to sit your ass down (right Gayle and John?) When your food is ready she will call it out, in Polish of course. You bus your own table when you leave. Did I mention the food is authentic polish fare and is so so good! Oh! The 3 of us ate for $8-$12 !

Radio Cafe. My favorite European cafe.

One day we decided to take the Hop On Hop Off tour. It was a bit of a mess, there was only 1 bus and a lot of waiting around. However, it allowed us to have a great lunch at Radio Café waiting for the next bus to arrive. We had, of course, pork knuckle. We also ordered perogies. It was a classic meal at a classic café in Poland.

We found a great bar to have drinks (and pork knuckle), a great restaurant to have one of the greatest brunches I have had and a great neighborhood central to Warsaw.

London

London.

So we took a very early flight out of Warsaw to London. We stayed in the Elephant & Castle neighborhood. At first, arriving at the train station, we found the neighborhood a bit sketchy. But after we got settled in at our AirBnB flat, we ventured out and found the nearest pub. We ordered traditional English fare, Fish and chips, bangers and mash and sticky toffee pudding. Quite good I must say. A very nice English guy named Joe who worked at the pub gave us several suggestions for things to do, eat and drink in the neighborhood and London in general.

We took a tour of London and also a nice bus ride or two and took in the sights. London is so big that you wouldn’t be able to see all of it in a month of Sundays. It is an incredible city!

Mercado Metropolitano

One of Joe’s recommendations was the Mercado Metropolitano. An Italian market, it was designed to look like the huge food halls in Turin and Milan, but a bit more funky.   There were so many food stalls offering everything from BBQ to pizza to charcuterie to our favorite, raclette. We went there twice and just stuffed ourselves. 

We took Gayle to one of our favorite parts of London, Islington. We sat outside and drank beer and then introduced Gayle to middle eastern food at Harman’s.

Going home. Pic by Gayle.

Leaving London and Europe was very bittersweet. We were anxious to see everybody back in the states and be back in our own space would be exciting but I truly love Europe. We have made new friends and have seen so many beautiful places. From pet sitting to AirBnBs, it was an incredible journey. I’ll miss saying to John “Did ya ever think we’d be doing this?” and waking up in the mornings and for the first few seconds wondering where in the world I am. Our plan is to go back, not right away but in the future.

Goodbye Europe and goodbye to AbroadWithJohn.

Cheers.

Barb