Beer Spas - A Czech Tradition

Jetlag is a weird thing.  I was exhausted on Friday night, but by the time it felt reasonable to actually fall asleep (10:00 or so), I was wide awake.  So, rather than doing the smart thing and lying wide awake in the dark trying to will myself to sleep for hours on end, I started a new book.  And then I finished my new book.  ...At least my GoodReads challenge appreciates it.

Saturday morning (and, really, most of Saturday) was damp and rainy.  Obviously we refused to let that deter us, and we crossed the river to see the Prague Tower, which is Eiffel-inspired and at one of the highest points in the area.  We took a felicular up to the Tower and spent some time walking around, before getting into approximately the smallest, most closed in elevator ever, with the operator and four of our temporary new best friends.  Seriously, I swear that I have been in airplane bathrooms that are more spacious than this elevator.  But we survived!  And the views were lovely, as promised.

Hiking back down the mountain (? Large hill? I'm unclear on how to refer to it), we had about an hour to grab lunch and motor it to our early afternoon excursion, which was to experience a beer spa.  As many of you know, I'm not a huge fan of beer.  But I like spas, and I like somewhat random adventures, so this definitely fit the bill.  Things to note about the beer spa experience:

• It was really pretty awesome - we had a private room with these cool wooden tubs.  There were beer taps built in, and (not that I cared) unlimited consumption while we were in there.  The spa also adds a mixture of hops and other exfoliants that are supposed to be good for your skin, gives you some sausage to snack on, and lets you just chill in these giant jetted tubs for a while.
• Post beer bath, they bring you to a dark, quiet room where you wrap up in a sheet and lie under a heated blanket (complete with a heated pillow) to relax for 20 minutes or so.  Very pleasant, very cozy, very nice after being outside in the rain all morning.  Highly recommend.
• Maybe don't show up late.  And recognize that you're supposed to show up pretty early, so even on time is kind of late.  We were just late-late, and the receptionist was somewhat less than impressed (though probably walking in looking like a drowned rat wasn't super helpful either).  Lesson learned.

After our beer spa experience, we went back to the hotel for showers (hops are really kind of gritty, and the showers at the spa were on pretty fast timers), and to get ready for dinner and our concert.  Dinner was at a traditional Czech restaurant near the church that our concert was in - very tasty, pretty reasonably priced.  The concert was the Prague Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, in the Tyn Church.  It was really lovely, and we were in the section near the organ, which was pretty neat to listen to.  Highly recommend that experience if you ever find yourself in Prague.