Dear Readers,
 
Just back from Prague, where we spent a couple of days. It is a gorgeous looking town where the unusual can happen. For instance, one morning, after traipsing around the Prague  Castle and its very good picture gallery, I felt like a restorative glass of mulled wine. We found it in a dark tavern complete with furry benches and gipsy music. A sultry beauty with floating skirt and a coin belt around the hips served us,  sashaying around the table. Her husband appeared with a beaming smile and as I understand, according to the principals of traditional gipsy hospitality asked Julian if he wanted his wife. Julian was very good; he did not bat an eyelid, not even the faintest expression of passing regret - which is just as well, since we were celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary -. Still, feeling a little vexed, when we later passed by a palace guard, I was quite taken by the cute fury hat and tried to break into conversation with him, but as you can see from the photo, given the look on his face I should brush up on my flirting techniques.
Who says the trophy handbag is dead?  Not in Prague, yes that poodle is a handbag, the work of a Czech designer as the girl in the shop sweetly announced; note the red handle and there is a concealed little trap on the dog's back where a girl would put a few essentials.
On the food front, there are more eateries in Prague that in any capital city I have visited. After extensive research on the subject, we decided to take a look and found that most recommended restaurants where...empty, so after all the work and expectations we ended up in places that actually had people in them! It is a meat eater paradise, with pork knuckle and beef goulash featuring strongly if you want to avoid the pseudo haute cuisine served on square plates with zig zags of unidentifiable sauces.
It is the loveliest of cities, on a human scale, and with culture and cool it really has something to offer to everybody.
 
PS: For my male readers, I conveniently forgotten the name and address of the gipsy tavern, don't want to get into trouble with your significant others!