It seems Prague is in the throes of full-blown food and drink festivities this weekend, so of course it’s bloody typical here that I am both a) working Saturday and Sunday and b) ill.

Still, on my day off today I valiantly roused myself from my sickbed to do a quick reckie of some of the epicurean events on offer this weekend, starting of course with the main event of the Prague Wine Festival on Manes Island from 17 – 19th September.

Tickets are 220 CZK for the whole three-day event, which includes a taster glass and introductory booklet detailing all the 51 various food and drink stands on offer.

There were also several stands serving posh cheeses and salamis, as well as a Jan Paukert stall selling chlebíčky and other snacks and a main restaurant marquee run by the team from Ristorante Prosecco. Being there pretty early in the afternoon, I didn’t see the latter preparing any hot food yet, though they did have a deli corner where you could request combination dishes of various cheeses and cold cuts.

To be honest, there didn't seem to be much more here than at the usual Czech market stalls, though the Staročeská Kuchyné stand run by Paní Marušky had some tasty-looking meat and potato pancake options, which I might have gone for had I not still been feeling nauseous as hell at the time.

A neighbouring stand also did dishes of poppy-seed covered ovocné knedliky, though have to say they did not look particularly inspiring...

Over at Náměstí Míru (and upping sticks across to Havlíčkovy Sady on the Saturday), the annual autumn festival of Vinobraní na Grébovce was also in full swing when I stopped by today.

When long-standing partner-in-wine Prague Ginge suggested "wine festival" and "Troja" (one of my favourite places in Prague - previous review here) as a pleasant way to while away the rest of yesterday afternoon, it was hardly like I needed much persuasion to join her, especially as the weather was uncharacteristically warm and sunny after all these recent chilly days of unrelenting grey...


Clearly we were not the only ones who thought so either, as the place was packed with fellow wine drinkers out en force enjoying the last of the day's sun.


The hill leading up to St. Klara's vineyard was lined with several little stalls, all offering wine or snack food in multiple varieties.

As for Prague Ginge and I, we kicked off with a tasting glass of some very un-Czech Portuguese Calvas white port at 35 CZK a pop.


Cheers!! :-))


This was seriously nice and sweet, but all too quickly gone...

Heading down the path to Trojský zámek, we therefore stopped in at the official St. Klara vineyard stand, where we both had a 0,2l glass of Müller Thurgau at another 35 CZK each.

This was my sneaky artistic shot of someone else's drinks.


Prague Ginge had never yet tasted burčák, so picked up a sample glass from one of the stands.


I have never been one for burčák (sorry to all the fans out there), and as it turns out neither was Prague Ginge.

Still, here's my attempt at a second artistic shot of said burčák glass by one of Trojský zámek's several fountains.


As per usual, Prague Ginge and I were drinking rather than eating, but we did clock a few tasty treats on offer, from koláče and klobása to goulash and gouda...







And of course, there were the pre-requisite Czech folksy bands (whose names I never know) on hand to add a bit of music and oom-pah-pah joviality to the day as well...



A beautiful sunset over Troja rounded off a highly enjoyable afternoon and evening, as we both parted ways in order to sensibly go and line our stomachs at our respective abodes in preparation for the next working day.


So it's thanks Prague Ginge for the tip-off and the company - needless to say, you can count on me for next year's attendance as well!!

O... M... F... G...

If I thought Mr Knedlik had outdone himself in pulling off previous regimental dinners at the Houses of Parliament and Tower of London last year, his surprise production of two tickets to the Queen’s Garden Party at Buckingham Palace this July had me proven well and truly wrong here.

A traditionalist Mr K deemed all my current dresses too "young" / "trendy" / "far above the knee" for the occasion, so once again I was reluctantly dispatched to purchase something more duly "respectable". Well, what could be more respectable than traditional mothers' choice Marks & Spencers, time-honoured pinnacle of English middle-class propriety...? Luckily I bought from the Per Una range, which even at M&S is more fashionable than frumpy – I for one was just relieved to find I’m still size 8 (or 34 in European) despite all the frantic food blogging of late, a feat only achieved by compensating increased calorie intake with epic 100-length swims most days per week. Mr K by comparison had it easy – he just had to don his uniform as usual...

Strictly speaking, I wasn’t supposed to take photos of any of the Buckingham Palace Gardens / grounds / tea tents etc due to “security reasons”, but of course I couldn’t resist the opportunity to sneak a few pics of the oh-so-traditional English cucumber sandwiches (crustless of course), diddy slices of Victoria sponge, and mini scones with jam etc etc.

Sad to say, but in many ways I vehemently hate the “Broken Britain” of today.

It looks posh, but what you don’t see is that there is actually a modern, bog-standard canteen just to the side of it – the only times you get proper waiter service / actual decent food there is for things like Graduation / Matriculation Dinners or Formal Halls. In this case, Mr K went for the decidedly more cheap-and-cheerful Great British fry-up, with me as usual opting for the healthier salad cart option – total cost £6.30.

After lunch, we then drove out to the nearby Chilford Hall, one of 178 vineyards currently operating in the UK. We had a joint English wine-tasting tour booked here (a present from Mummy K last Christmas), which basically involved an escorted walk round the vines, an explanation of how the wine was produced (lost on me) and finally a tasting of six of their wine varieties – largely Dornfelder, Müller Thurgau, and other grapes that grow well in a cooler climate.

... before finally rounding off the day with that most revered of all British cuisine – a decent curry! :-))))