Toasty corners

We're shivering as the temperatures are dipping, but I'll refrain from complaining as our North Dakota parents are experiencing lows of -16 this week. Nonetheless, we're jealous of our Minnesota parents, who are leaving for the Bahamas soon. We're literally wearing layers in our flat.

One benefit of the cold temps, though, is being driven indoors and finding cool (er, warm) spots hidden in the nooks and crannies of Prague. 

We volunteered to chaperon the students' Winter Banquet at The Hard Rock Cafe, and the venue was medieval-hobbit-glam-awesome: Rooms upon rooms in the Hard Rock's basement, in a maze of burrowed tunnels with chandeliers dangling from the earthy ceilings. 

During a trip to the Christmas markets, we warmed our toes in the Kinsky Palace courtyard and found this plaque that marks the spot where author Franz Kafka's father once had a haberdashery. 

We went to an expat networking event at Vodka Bar Propaganda, and one room was covered floor-to-ceiling in vintage Communist-era framed posters.

Another evening we went out with friends to the Prague Beer Museum, a microbrewery in the center. A bit touristy but great beverages. 

Not that we'd shop at this spot, but we happened upon this Goth shoe store in a passage off Wenceslas Square. Now if we have guests who want to purchase studded 4-inch-heel motorcycle boots, we'll know where to bring them.

The antique shops here are excellent. We'd buy boxes of junk if we didn't have to ship it all home someday.

Art galleries are rife, and they provide a warm place to visit. BW and I both dug this broken iPhone piece by a local Czech artist in a pop-up exhibit in an abandoned Communist-era department store.

This post is being typed while we're buried under 3 blankets on the couch and are so cozy that we dread getting up and being productive in the chilly environs. Sounds like a movie night on the laptop on our end! Stay warm, wherever you are, yeah?