Exploring Prague 6 and Letenské Park

Sunday April 1st we headed out to Prague 6. We wanted to see if we liked the area as a permanent location for us to live and also to explore Letenské park. We took the Metro out as far as we could go into Prague 6...which was Dejvicke... and then walked back to the park. The Metro dropped us off at this large rotary in the heart of Prague 6. There was also some sort of monument there but I could not read any of the writing on it to know what it was. It was definitely different from the area we are in in Prague 2. The streets are wider so on the whole it is lighter than the area where we are. There are still lots of shops on most of the first floors of old style buildings with the flats above, so no difference there other than the fact that the flats must get more light too. Out further from the center, a short distance from the Metro stop we got off at, are where the townhouse and home rentals begin. This was WNW of the way we were going so we did not get a chance to look at anything. However, public transportation is not as accessible in that area and for shopping and such you really would need a car. So after Pam made a quick call to the States, we headed off toward the park. The neighborhood seemed nice as we walked through it - I think we could certainly be happy living in this area but walking to the office would not be a regular thing as it is much further away. The park itself is huge. There is a large dirt area where I have seen several soccer games being played, as well as some wind surfing with large kites and three wheels skiffs. It was a beautiful day...sunny and in the 60's... so it was pretty crowded. The first thing we noticed was how popular roller blading is. There were lots of people taking advantage of the wide paved paths with bikes, blades and just walking. After walking for about 15 minutes we came across a playground area. Alex raced in and right over to a ride I don't think we will ever see in US parks. It was a Zip line running between too little buildings with sand in between. The buildings were maybe 45 feet a part and the cable was perhaps 7 or 8 feet off the ground. A child would jump from one building holding onto the cable runner with both hands and slide along as far as he/she could toward the other little house. Then they would drop off and, using a little tow string that hung down from the handles, pull it the rest of the way to the other house to the child waiting there. This continued back and forth in a very orderly way with children lined up in each house waiting their turn. I saw some children as young as I would say 2 using this with the help of a parent. While in line, I explained to Alex she had to hold on tight and not let go until the slider stopped. She said she understood but I had my doubts. A little girl in line behind her who was about the same age said something to Alex in Czech. Alex responded with "My name is Alex" in English and the little girl just giggled. I told her in Czech we did not speak Czech and this got us more giggles. I then pointed to Alex and said her name and then pointed to the little girl....more giggles. It was now Alex's turn on the zip line. A little boy handed me the tether line and I pulled up the T-Bar and picked up Alex with my other arm so she could reach it. She latched on and said she was ready. I let her go and ran along with her ready to catch her if she let go. She actually held on until it stopped moving and I had to then tell her it was now OK to let go. We pulled the T-Bar the rest of the way over and the next child took it. Alex seemed to really enjoy it but then she spied a sandbox and she was off. We played in the sandbox with a bunch of other kids and parents sharing the toys we found there. Every time I spoke to Alex I felt like my own voice was alien. Everyone around us was speaking Czech and our English words seemed very out of place. It was a very strange feeling. After playing in the sandbox we moved on to another section of the playground where Alex found a balance beam which she spent a long time on until she mastered it. We gave Alex a quick snack and moved on to the adult entertainment part of the park...the beer garden. Pam, Logan, and Alex went off to look for a rest room while I got in line for a couple beers. The line was not too bad and it moved along quickly. I got the beers (2 - 16 ounce cups) for about 2.50 US and caught up with everyone else at another sandbox and a small playground next to all the picnic tables for the beer garden. This whole area is on a very high ridge lookout into the heart of the oldest part of the city. It is an amazingly beautiful spot. Alex was playing with a little girl in the sandbox and took her shovel. The little girl started to cry and her mom came over. Pam went over to make Alex give back the shovel and the woman said in English "Don't worry about it she has two." Pam talked to the woman for a while and found that she had moved to Prague a few years ago from Virginia with her husband who was Czech . It was nice to have run into someone we could chat with. Pam then found an empty bench on the end of the row and fed Logan while Alex played on these huge ceramic brightly colored animals. We then walked out of the park and down to another Metro station that took us back into the town square where the Monster offices are. We gave up on finding someplace cool to take the kids to eat and went into a KFC and grabbed something quick. We walked home from there stopping to take some pictures at Sv. Ludmila, the large Catholic church just a couple blocks from out flat. (Click either of the pictures to see all the pictures from the day)