Arrived in PRG half an hour late the takeoff in LED was late for whatever reason. Again the boarding was a bit chaotic, certainly not called by row numbers. The shuttle was there to meet us and the trip into Town was picturesque and smooth - not a lot of traffic.
The Atlantic Hotel is reasonably modern and well located in the old Town easy walking to all sights. We signed up at the front desk for a Dinner Cruise tomorrow - Doreen's Birthday, and the usual hopon hopof tour. The wrinkle this time is that the buses are smaller. We will see how crowded that gets.
We arrived at the hotel at 5.30 pm and immediately needed to eat. A very good looking Italian resto was two doors down and we entered to encounter the first shock of Prague. The Czeck Republic is a member of the EU but not a member of the eurozone so it uses its own currency - the Krown. So asking if the resto took Euros and being assured it did we sat down and ate a magnificent spread of Pasta and Goulash. When the check arrived it was written in Euros and Krowns and doing the calculation discovered that the exchange rate was 21 Krowns to the euro not the 25 Krowns to the euro we were expecting to pay. Moral of the story always ask for the exchange rate so there are no surprises.
Up early to discover that the breakfast at the hotel is a buffet and a big to boot. We walked to the place where we could exchange our bus vouchers for tickets and start the ride and found that at 9am we were almost the only people on the street - late risers!! Spending one full day on the bus and boat we now think we now where all the sights are. All we need to do next is decide which ones to see.
The first day we did get off at the number one sight in Prague - the Castle. Actually the Castle isn't just a Castle but a complex. Comprising a Palace, a Cathedral, a couple more small churches and palaces and a garden. Taking a look at the lineup to the entrance of the Cathedral and remembering back to the torture of the line at the Hermitage - once bitten twice shy - we passed.
Walking the length of the of the complex we once again saw Brides, this place was obviously a magnet for wedding photogs.
Tonight there is a Dinner cruise and tomorrow we are off to Poland for a couple of days.
We arrived at the hotel at 5.30 pm and immediately needed to eat. A very good looking Italian resto was two doors down and we entered to encounter the first shock of Prague. The Czeck Republic is a member of the EU but not a member of the eurozone so it uses its own currency - the Krown. So asking if the resto took Euros and being assured it did we sat down and ate a magnificent spread of Pasta and Goulash. When the check arrived it was written in Euros and Krowns and doing the calculation discovered that the exchange rate was 21 Krowns to the euro not the 25 Krowns to the euro we were expecting to pay. Moral of the story always ask for the exchange rate so there are no surprises.
Up early to discover that the breakfast at the hotel is a buffet and a big to boot. We walked to the place where we could exchange our bus vouchers for tickets and start the ride and found that at 9am we were almost the only people on the street - late risers!! Spending one full day on the bus and boat we now think we now where all the sights are. All we need to do next is decide which ones to see.
The first day we did get off at the number one sight in Prague - the Castle. Actually the Castle isn't just a Castle but a complex. Comprising a Palace, a Cathedral, a couple more small churches and palaces and a garden. Taking a look at the lineup to the entrance of the Cathedral and remembering back to the torture of the line at the Hermitage - once bitten twice shy - we passed.
The bus ticket also allowed us to board a one hour River Cruise, so we did. Just a ride up the river, turn around and come back, the buildings look different from the water side so everything was new. Changing buses for the other bus ride we were transported around the suburbs, if I had to guess it was a ploy to attract ridership from hotel guests staying in the larger swankier hotels that are not located downtown, as we stopped at all the major hotels and little else. So the day was spent on an overview of the City. small walkable and clean City.
Next day, today, and still 24 hours on our bus passes the question was "how do we use them today if we saw the sights yesterday?" Easy we rode the bus to the other side of the river and walked back to the hotel through Lesser Town, the Charles Bridge, Old Town Square and past the Music House, back to the hotel.
This walk took a couple of hours and we saw the sights, didn't go inside all but did go inside Saint Nicholas's Church. Unfortunately it was being reno'd and scaffolding obstructed the views.. A coffee break was taken in the Old Square, where we told ourselves that we glad not to be on a guided tour and stuck in the crowds in the pic on the left, we were actually sitting below the house that Franz Kafka lived in for many years - pic on right, and then we meandered back. Before we did we were attracted to a vendor selling potatoes and ham. Asking for a portion of each the vendor proceeded to load up a plate of the potato mixture (sauerkraut, bacon and pots) and cut a huge hunk of greasy, fatty ham from the hock. Weighing the portions and being charged by the weight he asked for 700 krowns (13 euros) we just looked at him. I told him I only wanted a small piece of meat he told me, very rudely, "Those are the sizes we sell!" I told him to stick it and because we wanted to eat only took the potato mess. That was so bad that after we struggled to eat as much of it as we could, it was very vinegary, we stopped a bypassing bum and asked him if he wanted a meal - he did. well only one ripoff a day isn't that bad. But in future avoid the meat vendors in the Square.
Our other culinary experience has been wonderful. There are shops and booths that sell a pastry shaped like a cone, in the UK they are called 'cream horns'. Pieces of dough rolled into strings and wrapped around a skewer then roasted over charcoal. The roaster in the pic shows the dough being roasted vertically but most of the machines roast horizontally. However they do it they result is sublime. Yesterday we had one with a cream filling, today we had one with ice cream in it - a foodie masterpiece however you design it.Next day, today, and still 24 hours on our bus passes the question was "how do we use them today if we saw the sights yesterday?" Easy we rode the bus to the other side of the river and walked back to the hotel through Lesser Town, the Charles Bridge, Old Town Square and past the Music House, back to the hotel.
This walk took a couple of hours and we saw the sights, didn't go inside all but did go inside Saint Nicholas's Church. Unfortunately it was being reno'd and scaffolding obstructed the views.. A coffee break was taken in the Old Square, where we told ourselves that we glad not to be on a guided tour and stuck in the crowds in the pic on the left, we were actually sitting below the house that Franz Kafka lived in for many years - pic on right, and then we meandered back. Before we did we were attracted to a vendor selling potatoes and ham. Asking for a portion of each the vendor proceeded to load up a plate of the potato mixture (sauerkraut, bacon and pots) and cut a huge hunk of greasy, fatty ham from the hock. Weighing the portions and being charged by the weight he asked for 700 krowns (13 euros) we just looked at him. I told him I only wanted a small piece of meat he told me, very rudely, "Those are the sizes we sell!" I told him to stick it and because we wanted to eat only took the potato mess. That was so bad that after we struggled to eat as much of it as we could, it was very vinegary, we stopped a bypassing bum and asked him if he wanted a meal - he did. well only one ripoff a day isn't that bad. But in future avoid the meat vendors in the Square.
Tonight there is a Dinner cruise and tomorrow we are off to Poland for a couple of days.
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