Hello Prague!

Day 2, September 3, 2006, Prague, the Czech Republic

The flight to Prague arrived on time and we whizzed right through passport control and onto baggage claim…the question burning in both our minds….would our bags be on the conveyor belt? Miracle of Miracles!!!! After about 5 minutes of standing at the baggage carousel our bags appeared unscathed. We snatched them up and headed for the exit.

The first order of business after getting our bags was to find and ATM and that was no trouble at all. As soon as we stepped through the doors to the arrivals hall and waded through the mass of people waiting for other passengers, it was like a beacon flashing its light at me, there was an ATM right in front of us. We each took out some cash and then proceed to the CEDAZ shuttle bus.

Now, the man filling up the shuttles pointed us to one van. When I asked how much it would be, he said 400 Crowns, I knew this was not the van we wanted, that was the van going to various hotels and would drop off right at the door. From my research I knew there was a CEDAZ shuttle that was 90 Crowns and dropped off in the center of town, just a couple blocks from our hotel. We were directed to the correct van and headed off, there were only 3 other people in the van with us.


By now it was about 9:30am and we trudged into the hotel lobby. We stayed at the Hotel Central located at Rybná 8, in Prague (http://www.orfea.cz/). I tried with all my hotel chutzpah to get a room and check in early, but it was a no-go. There was a luggage room, so we put our bags in there, then pulled some stuff we would need for a few hours out of our carry-ons and sat down in the lobby to re-group for a few minutes with our guidebook to determine where breakfast would be.

As we sat in the lobby with our Rick Steves guide book in hand, a couple approached us and asked if we were with the RS group tour. We confirmed we were and they were too, Len and Linda a nice couple from Washington State. They headed off and we were right out the door after them, on our merry way to find the Ebel Coffee House for some caffeine and breakfast…Prague Style!

I had read about the Ebel Coffee House and that it was a local chain with 5 shops around town. As we set out walking down a side street near our hotel towards the Tyn Church I mentioned that we should be passing by the coffee place soon. You can imagine my surprise when I just happened to look down another side street and 3 doors down there was a cute little store front with the Ebel Coffee House sign above the door…Jackpot! I come to find out later that was not the location I was specifically looking for, but it was actually one I enjoyed more, it was a much smaller shop then the one I has intended to go to, but it had more atmosphere…score 1 for me! We had a really nice cappuccino and some muffins…ahhh…sustenance at last!

After fueling up with caffeine and muffins we walked through the Old Town…amazing architecture! We headed over to the Charles Bridge and braved the throng of tourists, who were moving in one mass over the bridge, to see some nice views of Prague’s Castle Quarter. As we walked over the bridge we headed in the direction of St. Nicholas Church, we were actually looking for the Infant of Prague, but stumbled across St. Nicholas Church first. It is a beautiful church inside.

After walking around St. Nicholas Church I was on a mission to find the Church of Saint Mary the Victorious, where the Infant of Prague resides! We found the church and went inside. It was shortly after noon and as luck would have it they were saying mass in English (Sunday mass at noon is always in English). We stayed until mass was over and took a look at the infant, very impressive, but tiny! Then we wandered over to the little museum where several of the infant’s outfits (he has a different outfit everyday!) are on display. The museum is just one room with maybe about 20 (or so) of the Infant's outfits behind glass. We ventured into the small gift shop, but it was so packed since mass had just ended we quickly turned around and made a bee-line out of there.

Our next activity, to help us stay awake, was to ride the funicular up to the top of Petrín Hill, but it was closed until 4pm, so we decided to head back to the hotel. Of course, we promptly got lost on the way back to the hotel and it took us an hour and a half, but we eventually made it back and checked into our room.

We met the rest of the group at 5pm for drinks in the hotel restaurant/bar area. There was a brief orientation to introduce ourselves and our guides Ben and Etelka. Ben was a riot entering the room for a faux fur “Communist” winter hat and awful fake Russian accent, yes, I know we were in the Czech Republic, but it was funny and a good ice breaker!

Ben, our lead guide is a professor at Seattle University and Etelka, our assistant guide is a teacher in Hungary.

After our brief happy hour and orientation “chat” we went on a short walking tour of Prague. For most of this first day the skies looked grey and threatening, but the rain seemed to hold off, until of course, we start the walking tour! But we were brave souls and came equiped with rain coats with hoods and/or umbrellas! After the tour, we all jumped on the Prague Metro and thanks to Ben’s excellent instructions we all managed to get off at the correct stop, OK, so it was only 2 stops, but we rode the Prague Metro! We made our way to the restaurant, near the river, for dinner. And probably because I was now up for close to 24 hours I can’t even remember the name of the restaurant. But I do remember the food was good, we had pork, duck, dumplings and potatoes, cabbage soup and dessert.

By now the rain had subsided and after dinner, as a group we meandered through the streets of Prague and over the Charles Bridge…just beautiful at night! We made our way back to hotel and collapsed into bed. A perfect end to a great first day of vacation!

Day 3– September 4, 2006 – Prague…What a beautiful City!

I started the morning early and was out of the hotel by 7am and headed to the Charles Bridge and Old Town Square for some early morning picture taking. And let me tell you it was the absolute perfect time of day and the weather could not have been better!

Very few people out and about and no one in front of the Astronomical Clock and at that time of the morning the sun on the buildings is beautiful. The bridge was practically deserted except for a few others taking photos and some people heading to work, or at least it looked they were heading to work. I was able to take some really great pictures!

I got back to the hotel around 8am for breakfast with CL and Joy & Gordon, another great couple from California on the trip, and our lost tour member Darrell. Darrell missed his connecting flight in NYC and didn’t get in until last night instead of yesterday morning.

The group met outside the hotel at 9am for a 3 hour walking tour of the Old Town. Our local guide, Jana, was very informative and had a pleasant style. The walking tour ended about noon and several of us followed Ben to the train ticket office to buy onward train tickets for after the tour ends. We got our tickets to Zagreb, they cost about $27 each, which is about what I had expected.

After purchasing the tickets CL and I decided to have a main meal in the middle of the day, and by now it was 1:30pm, so we headed over to where the walking tour had ended in the Jewish Ghetto and had lunch at Kolkovna Restaurant. Instead of each of us ordering entrees we decided to order one big salad, one appetizer, and one entrée and shared it. There was heaps of food and it worked out really well. We had: Sheep’s cheese salad, Pilsner Goulash, and Pickled Brie. It was all very tasty and satisfying. It was fun to watch the waiters bring out other orders. Lots of roasted pig knuckle going by and a pile of meat on a skewer that the waiter then lit with fire at the table…Czech Flambé! Oh...and how can I not mention the Czech beer...called pivo. Maybe it was because I was on vacation, or maybe it is true that they say Czech beer is the best in the world...but my "mala pivo" (little beer) was pruttty darn good!

After lunch we headed over to purchase tickets to a Black Light Theater performance for this night and then we went to the top of the Town Hall Tower to get a great view of the city. This was the first of many towers I climbed on this trip!

We walked through the Havelská Market but didn’t see anything worth buying. We walked down Wenceslas Square to the Mucha Museum, but it didn’t interest us, so we didn’t go in. After that CL headed to the hotel and I found an internet café to check emails.

The Black Light Theater was an experience that I probably wouldn’t do again. It was interesting but I was still so tired it took all my energy to stay awake in the very dark (black --get it?) theater.

The show we saw was interspersed with the black light dancing and a series of vignettes with no talking, telling a crime/mystery story. The dancing part was when the stage went completely black and the dancers are in black bodysuits with fluorescent colors in lines or swirls all over so all you can see are the fluorescent colors flying around the stage.

We didn’t eat dinner since we had such a big and late lunch. So, right after the show we headed back to the hotel and crashed into bed. Thankfully I had no trouble falling asleep and had a full 7 hours of shut-eye!

Day 4– September 5, 2006 – Prague…Our Last Day in this Wonderful City!

I was up at 6:30am this morning and CL and I were ready and at breakfast at 7am. The food at breakfast wasn’t too bad, lots of cheese and bread selections and my motto is “I never met a carbohydrate I didn’t like!” It wasn’t the best breakfast I ever had, but it wasn’t the worst either.

We left the hotel at 8:15 am to take public transportation (Metro and Tram) to the Castle area where we met our local guide, Katka.

The castle and St. Vitus Cathedral are beautiful. We toured inside the cathedral and the royal rooms and saw the changing of the guard. When the group walking tour ended at noon I went back to the cathedral to climb to the top of the bell tower. The crowds were massive by this time and there is only one way up and down to the top of the tower and that is via a 200+ stairs that are spiral – good thing I do cardio workouts 6 days a week! The people in front of me on the way up were huffing and puffing!

While I was taking pictures at the top of the tower I ran into Darrell on of our tour-mates. When we got to the bottom I invited him to join me and CL to go and see the Golden Lane. This is part of the Castle complex and the lane has been restored to look like it did centuries ago when the people along the lane were trying to turn lead into gold, hence the name Golden Lane.

Once we finished at Golden Lane we headed over to the main castle entrance for some more picture taking and then we found a restaurant for lunch. The place was hidden off the street and up a stairway. The food was OK, but the view of Prague was AMAZING!!!! CL and I did the same thing we did yesterday and ordered an appetizer, salad, and entrée. We had: Fried Camembert, Garden Salad with fried blue cheese, Roast Beef with Plum Sauce, and Mashed Potatoes with Cabbage. The roast beef was good although a little sweet (plums….duh Marcy!). I didn’t particularly care for the mashed potatoes but the salad and cheeses were good. They do like their fried cheese in the Czech Republic! The name of the restaurant is Restaurant Nad Ŭvozem located at Loretánská 15, P1 – Hradčany.

After lunch we headed back down the hill and parted ways with Darrell at the St. Nicholas Church since we had been there on Sunday. CL and I sauntered back over the Charles Bridge and did a little window shopping. I bought a garnet ring since Prague is known for its garnets and it is my birthstone.

We had tickets for a Mozart concert at the Municipal House tonight and it wasn’t too bad. The Smetana Concert Hall was beautiful. The concert was Mozart’s Requiem and it was an orchestra, choir, and 4 soloists.

After the concert it was time for our first gelato of the trip! I had strawberry – Yummo! They didn’t have any chocolate, otherwise that would have been my choice. We were back at the hotel by 10pm and started packing up our stuff for tomorrow’s travel day. We were in bed by 11pm…party animals that we are!

My impression of Prague is that this is a BEAUTIFUL city! The buildings are colorful and the city is just a gem. The only down side is that every other tourist has also found the jewel of a city and they are flocking there in hordes!