Atrium Restaurant, Hilton Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

This happens on a trip.

After our tour of the Prague Castle and all of its buildings and byways, and our lovely, truly lovely lunch at Kuchyň, Nancy and I walked farther along, past a palace or three, to the Loreto of Prague, a church modeled after the Basilica della Santa Casa in Loreto, Italy. It was inspired by the Counter-Reformation, and is as baroque as … well, they really went for baroque on it.

After touring the church, Nancy and I decided to walk back down the hill and over the river to our hotel, and it was a good decision. It took us through some lively residential areas far from the madding crowds of tourists, and gave us much more of a feel for Prague as a place where ordinary people live, work, and play. We detoured through the Jewish Quarter, and then over to the Convent of St. Agnes, which houses the Czech National Gallery’s outstanding — astounding, really — collection of medieval art.

After that walk plus our peregrinations around the castle and our searches for Kuchyň, Nancy and I weren’t really in the mood to go walk the mile to a recommended place in the Old City. Instead, we took the line of least resistance and ate in the Atrium Restaurant in the Hilton. I can’t say there was a lot charm about the Atrium, but the service was prompt and attentive. Nancy surprised me by ordering a pizza,

and I probably surprised her even more by only ordering bowl of mushroom and potato soup.

That made it an historic occasion, the only time that Nancy has ordered more food than I.

My soup was delicious. The mushrooms in particular seem to have far more flavor there. Indeed, soups were uniformly superior throughout our trip. Also delicious was a Staropramen lager, as was, indeed a Staropramen Černý, a dark beer. Nancy liked her pizza, with its thin crust, fresh herbs, and just the right light amount of sauce and cheese. As I foresaw, I was called upon to help with the pizza, and I liked it as well, and so between us both you see, we licked the platter clean. Metaphorically.

Sometimes you just need a break. Don’t be afraid to take one.

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