Prague, Czech - Bubeneč

[Street Scenes on bus ride from airport to hotel in Prague] Bubeneč sits in Prague 6 and Prague 7. We are moving from left to right on the map.  From the map, it appears that the buildings are aligned with the street with center courtyards.

We are entering the circular roundabout.  The sign is an indication of the roads leading to a wide variety of places.

 The area surrounding the circle is grassy.  Then the buildings are built right up to the edge of the sidewalk.  Business on the bottom and residences on the upper floors.

 I have tried to figure out what this monolith is supposed to be, but no luck so far.

 Something happens from 00:00 to 05:00.

 While trying to figure out what Hostinec u Viléma was, I found that they have a Facebook page!! Hostinec U Viléma (oficiální FB stránka) https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hostinec-U-Viléma-oficiáln%C3%AD-FB-stránka/192303707546962   The answer: a restaurant and bar. They seem to specialize in beer.

I saw the red balcony and turned to capture it.

 Ornate. Variety in the architecture and color scheme.

What in the world is this place?  (Next photo) Well, it took some walking around in Google Maps, but I found it.  It is a tea house in the top of an old water tower.
- Čajovna Ve Věži 

Web address: http://www.cajovnavevezi.cz The writing below is a Google Translation of part of the page.

The tower, which is situated teahouse, previously served as the waterworks.It was built in 1888 in neo-Renaissance style, on the occasion of a permanent exhibition in Prague. For many years, he was a major landmark of Prague Letna and ever / see the logo /. Until the reign of communism, when the vnitřtní tank dismantled for scrap and the tower was overshadowed building Molochov. Under the tower still see the torso of a rare iron wells, which originally had two beautiful huge lion's head. In place of the current tearoom founded in 1997, used to be a beautiful apartment for engineering waterworks. Above the tea room is a large space, which had been already mentioned tank is circular in shape, now there is even more ancient clockwork.

 For future reference, this is the location of the Tea House (the red balloon below.)  I would go there!

The GPS identification on the photographs changed to Letenski sady, which is a park.  More about that on the next post.

San Francisco, California - Samovar (By Nick Florio)

Guest photographer Nick Florio provided these latest photographs of his tea adventure at Samovar while in San Francisco.

Beijing, China - Temple of Heaven Teahouse

We crossed the parking lot to a teahouse.

 They were ready for our group and had the sampling cups all organized and ready for action.

 The blooming tea was in full bloom!

 Chinese decorations of all sorts.  I don't know if these were for sale or were shop decor.

 Loose teas, packed teas, snacks...they had a large selection.

 Our demonstrator detailed all of the differences with the teas. I like the oolong, the pu-erh and the jasmine the best.

 Shout out to Carol and Bernie from Pittsburgh.  Enjoyed your company!

 Large assortment. I couldn't decide so bought the multiple types demonstrated and took all the tea in China home to enjoy.

Cargo packed, we were in to the buses and on our  merry way.

Ladee + Basilica + teeny prayer = chaotic blizzard (oops)

The day started off innocent enough. We decided that we were going to Sacre Coeur as neither of us had seen it. We strategized our Metro route, enjoyed breakfast and coffee at the apartment, bundled up and off we went.  The weather was a light freezing rain, so up went the umbrellas to keep us somewhat dry.

The Metro ride went off without a hitch, changing staions, hiking up and down steps (oops, wrong side of the tracks) but we arrived in Montmartre in good spirits.  We walked up the little hill to the bottom of Sacre Coeur steps and looked up.  Nope, not going to "Rocky" tackle these steps today, so we decided to ride the Funicular (Pittsburgh folks, think incline).  We had bought a bundle of ten Metro tickets earlier so we skipped the purchase line and queued for the ride. Only one was running, because they were blowing the leaves off of the other track.  Sun City must have brought a multi-lingual bus tour because all of the little old ladies were pushing and shoving to get to the best view (windows were steamy, so I have no idea what they think they were going to see). 


The Funicular (instead of steps!!)

Matcha

I purchased a Matcha bowl, whisk and tea today from Teavana. I found it online at their store but decided to go to the Biltmore store to save shipping costs.

Matcha is the tea used in the Japanese tea ceremony.

The water is heated to 170-180 degrees, less than boiling. I put a little of the powdery green tea in the bowl and filled with water. Oops. Mistake 1 and 2. I think that you need to wet the powder first with cool water and then add the hot. A full bowl (mistake #2) doesn't allow enough room to whisk a foam. At the suggestion of G, poured out half and made two servings.

End result? Very tasty deep green tea. I'll repost back on the "mental clarity" claims? (Note: I changed the "repot" to "repost". Maybe I have mental clarity already once I read the posting.)

Have you tried this? Share your experiences online.