Dobris by Accident

So . . . these entries will be out of order for a while . . . I'm behind because I couldn't come up with a name for the blog . . . the first two I'd picked were already snagged by some squatters . . .

In A Sense, Abroad, which I liked because here we are living in Prague, but in Vinohrady, which is the English-speaking ghetto, so it's like living in NYC, more than anything else . . . if you see what I mean, and then,

Uvidime, which is my current favorite czech word, which can mean "we will see what happens" or "we will see you ..." depending how it's used, which is handy, I'm sure you agree . . .

So -- I have a backlog, but this all happened today.

Big Red wanted to make a road trip . . .she has her new car and wanted to try it out over the holiday weekend, while traffic is light, so we made a list of 3 destinations and set out, thinking, "what the heck, we might do 'em all" . . . the first target was Konopiste Castle . . . just a short jaunt . . . we thought . . .

Big Red has a new Tom-Tom GPS, too, and she had pre-programmed all three destinations, but . . . there was a screen she skipped past, that said, "Do you want to pay tolls?" thinking the default was "yes", but the default was "no", so Tom-Tom routed us around the expected toll-road . . . we had a very interesting drive along the Vltava, past some dam and a large reservoir, thru dozens of charming czech rural villages, but we realized belatedly that we had gone twice as far as we expected to get there when we turned back towards Dobris -- we were fairly sure we didn't want to go to Dobris . . .

we stopped when we saw this field of white poppies, 30 - 40 acres of white poppies . . . I joked it was a CIA operation . . . nobody laughed . . .I wish that blue barn in the back of the field had shown up better . . . it was kinda amazing to see . . . I had to take pictures of the big red poppies too. I think they grow wild. We had seen them along the road during the trip. Those and the tiny daisies. Just gorgeous. But I and the Mrs are suckers for wild flowers.

but we were all starving, realized we had thwarted the Tom-Tom, so we just doubled back to Dobris looking for lunch.

Dobris wasn't much to look at by our American eyes, but we saw a sign for a pizzeria, and Big Red decreed, "done!" . . . but when we walked in, the dilapidation of the place was evident, and the woman in broken English communicated that they had no pizza . . . as we walked back to the car, I bitterly admonished Big Red, "You're not in Prague anymore -- these rural old people don't even like americans, much less speak english!" Which she had to take, heh heh heh . . . 8^D . . .

so there was a wall of adverts facing the parking lot where we were that we puzzled over for a while . . . we settled on one that pointed east 2 klics to a mexican restaurant, but it wasn't a straight shot, and on the way we spied the Chateau Dobris with a restaurant, so we ducked in there. I have to admit to a certain amount of relief that we did not try the Mexican place. . . 8^D . . .

We wanted to sit outside, but the competition for tables there was very stiff in the gorgeous weather for the gorgeous setting . . . I would guess this is an 18th century building converted to a museum, hotel, and restaurant . . . nice place, if you're the Duke or what not . . . 8^D . . .

There was no room in the first inside dining room, and our desperation started to grow, but we found our way into a back room that was done up very fine . . . I had trepidations about the priciness about such a place but the menu prices were fine . . .

Big Red ordered a water (she's driving), but me and Mrs ordered male piva . . . over his shoulder, as he left, the waiter asked "Cerne piva?" . . . but I was ready for him: "Ano! Cerne piva (pointing to me); bila piva (pointing to Mrs)". He smiled approval and went away. Big Red expressed her approval, too, as I basked in my own self-approbation . . . 8^D . . .

When he came back with the drinks, he took our orders: Big Red pointed at the Chicken Stuffed with Langostini & Asparagus, Mrs tried to order the Chicken & Pasta and I tried to order the same as Big Red in Czech, but the waiter cut us off, as kindly and abruptly as he could to keep us from mangling the mother tongue any further . . .8^D . . . so much for my career as a UN Translator. . .

As can be seen from the photo, in part, anyway, this back dining room is very fine, very classy . . . from the glazed looks of the diners finished around us, our expectations started to rise . . . and we hadn't gotten any less hungry . . . so when the food came we tucked right in . . . I almost forgot to take pictures . . .

The chicken stuffed with langostini and asparagus was very good . . . I think it looks pretty good, but I want to be clear: it was very good. The Mrs said that the chicken and pasta was too cheesy for us . . . that is we are watching our diets . . . she said it was like chicken & mac & cheese -- not nearly as gourmet as mine & Big Red's.

After lunch, the girls had lattes and I had a cappacino . . . the lattes come in a tall, clear mug in a layered presentation that is awesome . . . I didn't get a picture before they had stirred them up . . .

Then we had a little walk around the grounds . . . lovely, lovely, lovely . . . there was some plaque out front from which inscription I got 1945 & fascism, so I think this site has some meaning to the Czechs that's not obvious to the oblivious . . . 8^) . . . I didn't check the hotel out. . . I think the lobby must be upstairs and I didna wanna bother, but I bet it's choice, too . . .

The statue of the 18th century soldier is a little kitschy, but the double fish fountain was pretty interesting . . . I don't know what you'd do there on vacation . . . they need a pool, a tennis court, and a golf course, but like I say, there may be more going on there than my american eyes could see.

We didn't scope the museum either, but in the breezeway entrance there was a pair of sculptures, that looked like Eggs with Eyes . . . one was open and the other was closed . . . the closed eye was more interesting -- in ways I can't explain -- but I fat-finger-deleted the picture . . . I don't know why they are different, across from each other in the breezeway in little alcoves, but I think they're cool.

Big Red was put out that we hadn't achieved even one of our goals, but I told her that the trip was worthwhile, for the field-of-poppies and the Chateau Dobris . . . the other trips had just gotten pushed down in the stack, to use a computer term. She agreed.