For the third morning in a row, my alarm went off at 06:00. Unlike yesterday though, I made it out for a run, this time accompanied by Carmen for a sightseeing run. Once we’d got a GPS signal, we ran towards the Charles Bridge, and then across that and headed south towards the yellow penguins. These were all lit up now, so we stopped to photograph them, and then headed back across the Charles Bridge to the Old Town, pausing at the Astronomical Clock before heading towards the Powder Gate Tower.
Very close to the Powder Gate is Henry’s Tower: our farthest point on this run. We then headed back via the State Opera and National Museum, down Wenceslas Square and then back. This was just shy of four miles.
Late last night, our host had messaged to ask what time we’d be leaving on Sunday. I was very tempted to simply say “by the check-out time,” since we didn’t know for sure. I didn’t reply straight away though and made them wait until we were having breakfast before I told them we’d be out a little before 11:00.
This was our final full day in Prague. I’d hoped we would be able to make it a fun day, and had hoped for some decent weather. It was however another cold and overcast day. We’d been putting off using the Charles Bridge towers tickets I’d gotten us all week, so that was something we ideally needed to do today. I’d thought of a visit to the silver mining town of Kutna Hora, but it didn’t seem entirely worthwhile for the time it’d take.
Since the towers weren’t open until 10:00, we decided to not leave out until a little after that. The larger of the two towers was closed for seven minutes when we got there, but eventually we could go in. We took the large stone steps up to the first floor is the ticket office, which we didn’t need, and then the floor after that is an empty room where they’ll scan your ticket. There’s then more steps up to where you can get out onto the roof and look around. There’s also a small, empty room inside the roof you can look inside.
On the other side of the bridge is the lower tower, and this one has the ticket office on the ground floor and wooden steps up to each of the floors above. On one floor, the steps are at a bit of an angle so you may feel a little ‘lob-sided’ when going up or down them.
On our way back down, we decided we would walk around two kilometres to get Chlebíček for lunch. This is a Czech version of an open-sandwich which is usually used as more of a snack than a meal. Unlike many dishes that are associated with Czechia, this one is known to have originated in Prague in 1916.
It is a fairly long walk, made longer by not going up the hill into a park. When we got around the edge of the park we did find we needed to go up the hill anyway so all we’d really accomplished was to walk further. It was then almost laughable when despite Google saying it was open, just as we’d found with Sisters Bistro, it was in fact closed for the Easter weekend.
I was ready to give up on looking for Chlebíček, but Carmen was not, and she found Libeřské lahůdky Letna - a place at the bottom of the hill , close to where we’d gotten off the tram on race day. Fortunately they were open, and had a reasonable selection. I had a ham and cheese one that had a piece of boiled egg on top as well; whilst Carmen had a roast beef one. They averaged 50 CZK each, so not too badly priced for a light snack. The best way to describe them is to imagine a slice of a baguette, with the toppings then carefully arranged on top like you might get for a fancy hors d'oeuvre.
Okay, maybe we’d walked an awfully long way for half a sandwich, but it was something else to tick off our list, and it’d made use of some of our spare time. Our way back from there was across the bridge on the other side of the Vltava this time, until we started heading back towards the Old Town. This time we’d walk down streets just because we’d not walked down them before, and maybe there’d be something to see there.
With nothing else now to do, we stopped by the Liliova Snack & Coffee place one more time. Whereas previously I’d regretted my cake choices, this time we both went for a slice of pear cheesecake with a hot drink, and enjoyed it. For 355 CZK it was easily comparable to London prices.
There was nothing else to do now, but to check-in online for tomorrow’s flight, and to start packing. Carmen also took the opportunity to do some washing, to save time back home. Once we’d done as much as we could, we went to Tesco to get some salad, and some dumplings from Knedlín for our evening meal. I wasn’t sure what to have this time, so I stuck with the souvlaki & chicken one, and then decided to have a caramel and hazelnut one for dessert. Carmen tried the roasted duck and sauerkraut one, and then a chocolate one for after.