In the morning we go to Vseyrhad (spelling may be off by 5 or 6 letters), a little castle outside of central Prague, and wander through the snow-covered gardens and cemetary, past a subdued church of snow-covered bright colors and mozaics. The place is utterly peaceful and beautiful, and the sun shines brilliantly down. We catch snowflakes (the must intricate and perfect we have ever seen) and eat handfuls of the soft powder, unable to resist the perfection of fresh fallen snow. We draw all sorts of strange looks from passing Czechs. We step out onto an overlook with stunning views of the Vltava, as the sun bursts through the clouds to illuminate the snow-covered landscape. The view is captivating, huge, white. Two swans fly past below, their grace gone in the flustered flight. We are on a cliff, standing beneath an ancient stone arch, with the world glistening before us.

The rest of the day is spent exploring the city. Our strategy, which we have used in each city we have visited, is to aim vaguely for some landmark or other. We may or may not arrive there, but the target is not the goal. The moments we see the city are on the way, when we get lost down a back alley. The moments we delight in are when we find ourselves way off the main tourist streets, wandering through some local neighborhood, slowly winding our way toward whatever it is we want to find. We don't see this as some superior form of tourism, and we Do like to see the famous sights, but with only a few days in the city, our chief desire is to get a feeling, a sense of the city. An imprint, or a memory. So on we wander.

Lunch is, of course, chinese food. With a goal and necessity to spend as little money as possible, we have found ourselves eating some of the most icongruous cuisine imaginable. In Scotland we ate Turkish food. In Amsterdam, Italian food. In Prague, then it is (of course) Chinese food. Often the local delicacies, while attractive, are aimed at tourists with more money than we, and are out of reach. But we find the incongruity amusing and the food is warm and fulfilling. Especially when it is followed  by ice cream...

In the afternoon we go to the National Museum of Music, a strange little building tucked down a side street. We go through a long exhibition on the Beatles, which emphasizes their affect on Czech culture, and is beautifully laid out, with great film clips and music blasting. In my opinion, it is a good idea, at least once a year, to spend at least a day basking in the immortal glory of the Beatles. This exhibition was, then, perfect. Afterwards we walked through a huge collection of some of the most beautiful instruments imaginable, including beautifully fashioned pianos and cellos and every variation on every classical instrument in the world. Each room played recordings of the featured instrument, which was very pleasant when we were in the violin room, and more jarring when we were in the room housing the giant (and very loud) medieval ancestor of the oboe.

After another cozy evening with our Slovak hosts, we board a bus, ever onward, and ride bumpily through the cold night.