Photos
Today we had scheduled one of our most arduous days of touring. Not because we wanted one but Viator didn't have any other obvious choice for us. So it was Highlights of Kiev Private Sightseeing Tour, a 6-hour tour starting at the street in front of Sunflower B&B at 10 am. We were met by a driver and a guide. We had the car & driver from 10 am to 1 pm. We started by learning the guide would eliminate a must see on our tour by bypassing St. Sophia Cathedral interior because it would take her more time to show it than we had hired. OK. I think we also skipped part of the Lavra Monastery at my insistence as I was too knackered after visiting the caves portion with mummified saints. I don't think we skipped anything else. The afternoon portion of the tour 1 to 4 pm was meant to be walking with an option of public transit at our extra expense. We insisted. We rode a bus and got to Clay's requested world's deepest Metro station. It was a little anti-climactic because it was 2 long escalators instead of 1.
We saw a lot and learned a lot. The guide was able to adjust and accommodate our needs and desires. We are happy we took the tour, but our days of hours-long walking tours are just over. I especially can't manage the heat and I've become too unsteady in gait and balance. I don't know what will happen on the river boat's excursions when we in a group.
We were too tired to go out to dinner tonight. The B&B reception made a pizza delivery suggestion. We're doing that because Clay had withdrawn enough money last night for dinner tonight. We're waiting for it to come.
Tomorrow we leave here about 11:15 am by taxi for the airport for our flight to Bucharest. Since we don't have seat assignments, it already promises to be a challenging day. Fingers crossed for the best. We arranged with our Bucharest hotel for transport from the airport. They have failed to reply to confirmation requests, so we'll see when we get there and hope for the best. In other news, our Moldovan hotel confirmed our extra night request due to our tour cancellation. Viator has confirmed the 2 replacement tours we booked to replace that 2 day tour. So in good news, Moldova is back on track.
Photos
Little Bob hits the road
Little Bob hits the road
Saturday, August 31, 2019
Friday, August 30, 2019
Chernobyl
Photos
We had an unusual day today visiting the exclusion zone of Chernobyl, the first nuclear power plant disaster. It was an educational and disturbing day. We are glad we went. We are glad we booked a private tour as we had a shorter and easier day than the bus loads had. It continues to be hotter than forecast so that was good for us. It was about a 1.5 hour drive each way from Kiev. We were advised to pack bug repellent and did but were not bothered by mosquitoes and didn't need it. We booked Chernobyl Tour through Viator. They did a good job. They gave us certificates that showed our dosimeters recorded we'd received a radiation dose of 0.002mSv. We were told that is the equivalent radiation exposure to an hour long airplane flight. So, no worries.
Traffic was horrific when we arrived yesterday around 3pm and it was even worse today when we got back around 5pm on a Friday. During the ride back to Kiev, Clay got an email on his phone. It was from Viator notifying us that the tour operator in Chisinau, Moldova for Sept. 12-13 had cancelled our tour. The specious reason given was that they couldn't book a hotel during high season, but they have had our money for months and confirmed the name of the hotel they HAD booked a month or so ago. Obviously if they had intended to provide the tour, the room would have been reserved more than a month ago. Viator apologized and said they'd provide a full refund. Now we have to figure out where we'll sleep that night and make new plans. Stay tuned.
We thought we could do online check-in for our next flight today but it turns out we booked a Windrose flight through UIA and we can't get seats until 2 hours before the flight. That was never spelled out anywhere or we'd have booked a different flight or directly. We had to ask the B&B receptionist for assistance to call to figure it out. She and we had assumed there was a website problem since the message never gave the actual reason we couldn't check in on line.
So all in all, a problematic day. Fingers crossed it is the worst of what can go wrong.
We get a later start tomorrow, but it may be a harder walking day touring the city.
Photos
We had an unusual day today visiting the exclusion zone of Chernobyl, the first nuclear power plant disaster. It was an educational and disturbing day. We are glad we went. We are glad we booked a private tour as we had a shorter and easier day than the bus loads had. It continues to be hotter than forecast so that was good for us. It was about a 1.5 hour drive each way from Kiev. We were advised to pack bug repellent and did but were not bothered by mosquitoes and didn't need it. We booked Chernobyl Tour through Viator. They did a good job. They gave us certificates that showed our dosimeters recorded we'd received a radiation dose of 0.002mSv. We were told that is the equivalent radiation exposure to an hour long airplane flight. So, no worries.
Traffic was horrific when we arrived yesterday around 3pm and it was even worse today when we got back around 5pm on a Friday. During the ride back to Kiev, Clay got an email on his phone. It was from Viator notifying us that the tour operator in Chisinau, Moldova for Sept. 12-13 had cancelled our tour. The specious reason given was that they couldn't book a hotel during high season, but they have had our money for months and confirmed the name of the hotel they HAD booked a month or so ago. Obviously if they had intended to provide the tour, the room would have been reserved more than a month ago. Viator apologized and said they'd provide a full refund. Now we have to figure out where we'll sleep that night and make new plans. Stay tuned.
We thought we could do online check-in for our next flight today but it turns out we booked a Windrose flight through UIA and we can't get seats until 2 hours before the flight. That was never spelled out anywhere or we'd have booked a different flight or directly. We had to ask the B&B receptionist for assistance to call to figure it out. She and we had assumed there was a website problem since the message never gave the actual reason we couldn't check in on line.
So all in all, a problematic day. Fingers crossed it is the worst of what can go wrong.
We get a later start tomorrow, but it may be a harder walking day touring the city.
Photos
Thursday, August 29, 2019
Kyiv or Kiev, Ukraine
Photos
Country #88! We took another Belavia Air flight today from Minsk to Kiev. It went just as smoothly, maybe better because Burger King was after the security screen and we got the last ice it looks like we'll see for days. Water is not considered potable in Kiev so no ice cubes to be found. The same guy and cracked windshield, no AC car came back to the Monastyrski Hotel this morning to drive us to the airport. He tries hard and is reliable but the company name was chauffeurs! Our expectations were higher.
Here in Kiev, we selected a B&B named Sunflower. I recall that we mainly picked it for location and it was well reviewed. We forgot to check if it had a lift. It doesn't. 38 stairs! It is only a half-block from the monumental Independence Square, BUT it is straight uphill. The bonus is that you can go down more STAIRS at the corner and get to a 2 story underground shopping mall. We bought our water for tomorrow's trek to Chernobyl, found an ATM and ate crepes at the food court. We'll probably go back tomorrow since Panda House Noodles had an English menu. We ordered the crepes from pictures and the cook spoke English.
When Clay said Prague was our most expensive hotel per night that didn't seem right because it wasn't that pricey. But in hindsight it was palatial. Conditions just keep getting worse. Kiev reminds me of Havana. The decay, not the cars. The inside of the B&B is nicer than the outside but that was true of Prague too. Anyway, the room is clean and we're here for 4 nights. The girl at reception is fluent in English and eager to be helpful. The AC works and we have controls! Big improvement. It looks like there are 5 rooms and we are in number 2.
We have a 7:30 am tour pickup tomorrow so early bedtime tonight to be up and ready.
Photos
Country #88! We took another Belavia Air flight today from Minsk to Kiev. It went just as smoothly, maybe better because Burger King was after the security screen and we got the last ice it looks like we'll see for days. Water is not considered potable in Kiev so no ice cubes to be found. The same guy and cracked windshield, no AC car came back to the Monastyrski Hotel this morning to drive us to the airport. He tries hard and is reliable but the company name was chauffeurs! Our expectations were higher.
Here in Kiev, we selected a B&B named Sunflower. I recall that we mainly picked it for location and it was well reviewed. We forgot to check if it had a lift. It doesn't. 38 stairs! It is only a half-block from the monumental Independence Square, BUT it is straight uphill. The bonus is that you can go down more STAIRS at the corner and get to a 2 story underground shopping mall. We bought our water for tomorrow's trek to Chernobyl, found an ATM and ate crepes at the food court. We'll probably go back tomorrow since Panda House Noodles had an English menu. We ordered the crepes from pictures and the cook spoke English.
When Clay said Prague was our most expensive hotel per night that didn't seem right because it wasn't that pricey. But in hindsight it was palatial. Conditions just keep getting worse. Kiev reminds me of Havana. The decay, not the cars. The inside of the B&B is nicer than the outside but that was true of Prague too. Anyway, the room is clean and we're here for 4 nights. The girl at reception is fluent in English and eager to be helpful. The AC works and we have controls! Big improvement. It looks like there are 5 rooms and we are in number 2.
We have a 7:30 am tour pickup tomorrow so early bedtime tonight to be up and ready.
Photos
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Minsk Day 2
Photos
We did not sleep well. The room was uncomfortably cold by now and since it can only be operated by the reception desk we just suffered. After sunrise Clay got up and opened the balcony door. The day started chilly so that didn't really help. The bathroom is a hazard with a raised, deep tub with a shower behind a half glass shield. Water everywhere plus slippery and dangerous when exiting. Otherwise it is in a great location. Breakfast buffet was extensive and impressive with local specialties. I had a big warm cheese Danish thing and a yogurt and cappuccino and a water. Clay had a lot of eggs and meat and I don't know what else.
We had booked a private Minsk City Tour for today through Viator. We paid $100. Our guide was Kristina Bugaenko. She had a new Ford with AC. She spoke English very well and did an excellent job. I can highly recommend her. We feel much more positive about Minsk now than we did yesterday at this time. We spent from 9:30 am to about 12:30 pm with about half walking and half in the car. She met us at the hotel so we first walked Upper City or Old Town where we're located. There are a lot of Orthodox and Catholic churches here. One is the oldest standing building in Minsk, Peter & Paul. There is a grocery store right behind it! Clay has my sore throat now and I have lost my voice. Clay wanted to buy hard candies to suck. We wound up with a bag of cherry hard candies with jammy centers. Bonus. The closest church to us has a 15th century icon that supposedly was thrown in a river in Kiev and washed ashore here in Minsk. The church was built to house it in the 17th century. We went in but didn't find the icon which is the basis for the city seal. We thought we knew what to look for and lined up at every icon with a line, but didn't find it. We drove Winners Avenue to see all the enormous sports venues. We saw Island of Tears and walked Trinity Suburb where Kristina briefed us on local dishes and told us there were 2 restaurants adjacent to last night's Chinese place where we could find some of them. We stopped at Independence Square and saw the parliament building behind a giant Lenin statue. We drove the entirety of Independence Avenue with its 4-km of Stalinist Empire style buildings and monuments and other important buildings and parks. We saw the National Library building and Minsk's newest church. I bought a patch with the Gate of Minsk which we saw today. I bought a handmade red and white cross-stitched bookmark that reminded me of the Belarus flag which I couldn't find in a patch. We learned that the modern era of tourism in Belarus dates from some international games they built all the sports arenas for and ended the tourist visa program. Now anyone can enter Belarus for up to 30 days without a visa. That meant doubling their hotel room capacity and building 30 casinos! It seems it is an hour flight from Moscow and they treat this like Vegas and they love gambling and it is the closest place for them.
After Kristina returned to the area of the hotel we walked one of the streets of cafes and shops looking for ice cream for lunch. We didn't find it but Clay found a place wrapping foot long hot dogs with slaw and ketchup in big tortillas and panini pressing them. He loved it. Sorry I didn't catch the name of it and it isn't on Google Maps. It was a stand on the sidewalk a block from our hotel.
We came back to the hotel and took another nap. We went to Draniki for Belarussian food for dinner. Sorry that there is no website to link.
We have our return half of our Viator transfer back to the airport at 10:30 am for a 1:30 pm Belavia flight to Kiev tomorrow. We checked in online this afternoon and got the aisle seats on row 10 this time. Hopefully this flight will be as easy as the last one. I guess there is no time change this time as we are scheduled to arrive in Kiev at 2:30 pm.
Finally, thanks Mom for our new rolling duffel bags. They've had 3 flights now and still like new! Love them. Thanks again for our useful Christmas presents as this is the first time we've used them.
Photos
We did not sleep well. The room was uncomfortably cold by now and since it can only be operated by the reception desk we just suffered. After sunrise Clay got up and opened the balcony door. The day started chilly so that didn't really help. The bathroom is a hazard with a raised, deep tub with a shower behind a half glass shield. Water everywhere plus slippery and dangerous when exiting. Otherwise it is in a great location. Breakfast buffet was extensive and impressive with local specialties. I had a big warm cheese Danish thing and a yogurt and cappuccino and a water. Clay had a lot of eggs and meat and I don't know what else.
We had booked a private Minsk City Tour for today through Viator. We paid $100. Our guide was Kristina Bugaenko. She had a new Ford with AC. She spoke English very well and did an excellent job. I can highly recommend her. We feel much more positive about Minsk now than we did yesterday at this time. We spent from 9:30 am to about 12:30 pm with about half walking and half in the car. She met us at the hotel so we first walked Upper City or Old Town where we're located. There are a lot of Orthodox and Catholic churches here. One is the oldest standing building in Minsk, Peter & Paul. There is a grocery store right behind it! Clay has my sore throat now and I have lost my voice. Clay wanted to buy hard candies to suck. We wound up with a bag of cherry hard candies with jammy centers. Bonus. The closest church to us has a 15th century icon that supposedly was thrown in a river in Kiev and washed ashore here in Minsk. The church was built to house it in the 17th century. We went in but didn't find the icon which is the basis for the city seal. We thought we knew what to look for and lined up at every icon with a line, but didn't find it. We drove Winners Avenue to see all the enormous sports venues. We saw Island of Tears and walked Trinity Suburb where Kristina briefed us on local dishes and told us there were 2 restaurants adjacent to last night's Chinese place where we could find some of them. We stopped at Independence Square and saw the parliament building behind a giant Lenin statue. We drove the entirety of Independence Avenue with its 4-km of Stalinist Empire style buildings and monuments and other important buildings and parks. We saw the National Library building and Minsk's newest church. I bought a patch with the Gate of Minsk which we saw today. I bought a handmade red and white cross-stitched bookmark that reminded me of the Belarus flag which I couldn't find in a patch. We learned that the modern era of tourism in Belarus dates from some international games they built all the sports arenas for and ended the tourist visa program. Now anyone can enter Belarus for up to 30 days without a visa. That meant doubling their hotel room capacity and building 30 casinos! It seems it is an hour flight from Moscow and they treat this like Vegas and they love gambling and it is the closest place for them.
After Kristina returned to the area of the hotel we walked one of the streets of cafes and shops looking for ice cream for lunch. We didn't find it but Clay found a place wrapping foot long hot dogs with slaw and ketchup in big tortillas and panini pressing them. He loved it. Sorry I didn't catch the name of it and it isn't on Google Maps. It was a stand on the sidewalk a block from our hotel.
We came back to the hotel and took another nap. We went to Draniki for Belarussian food for dinner. Sorry that there is no website to link.
We have our return half of our Viator transfer back to the airport at 10:30 am for a 1:30 pm Belavia flight to Kiev tomorrow. We checked in online this afternoon and got the aisle seats on row 10 this time. Hopefully this flight will be as easy as the last one. I guess there is no time change this time as we are scheduled to arrive in Kiev at 2:30 pm.
Finally, thanks Mom for our new rolling duffel bags. They've had 3 flights now and still like new! Love them. Thanks again for our useful Christmas presents as this is the first time we've used them.
Photos
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Minsk
Photos
Well, we are not in Prague any longer. I say that as it is not a good thing. English is not a common language here. The airport transfer driver we booked through Viator asked me, Who told you to come to Belarus? Me: No one. Him: Then why would you come here? Fair enough. Country #87.
We were at the airport in Prague an hour before we could even check in our bags. It was crowded but we didn't encounter any long lines. Everything went smoothly. The weird thing was that I couldn't fill my water bottle because security was not until you entered your flight's gate. The shops & restaurants were before security. Nothing in the gate area but toilets and vending machines. Our Belavia flight was fine. Better than we expected and we were in economy. We picked aisle seats on row 6 for both of us. That was good. It was about a 2 hour flight to Minsk. There was a 1 hour time change. It is an hour later in Minsk.
We are at Monastyrski Hotel in Old Town. Our driver assured us we'd like it here and be safe to walk around. Good to know. We have a 1/2 day private guided tour of Minsk tomorrow.
It is again about 10 degrees F hotter here than the forecast. Our driver told us they never have weather like this.
We got here about 5 pm. We had to buy an obligatory health insurance policy for 3 days before passport control. That was about 8 Euros. Our passports were examined with a magnifying glass. Looking for counterfeits? We got cash from a Bankomat while awaiting our luggage. We got to the hotel about 6 pm. We headed out to dinner about 7 pm. It was about a 5 minute uphill walk to a Chinese place because they had an English language menu. Sadly the waitstaff spoke no English. Tomorrow we plan to eat pizza at a place a few doors away. I guess we're skipping Belarussian specialties.
We don't think much of our Monastyrki room. It doesn't have luggage stands so we have to leave them on the floor. It was really hot and stifling in our room when we arrived. The door was standing open and 2 women were in the room. Security had escorted us with our luggage so he handled that. But WTH? Our AC was not working. We asked at reception on our way to dinner and it was working when we returned. Good job. I asked about ice when we got back to reception since I couldn't get any at dinner. Ask at the restaurant. They had an ice machine right there and it should be open whenever I need to refill my bottle. So some good news. There is a cooling box under the desk. I put 2 small complimentary bottles of water in there and plugged it in. I can hear it running, but no cooling yet. Clay is holding out for morning. Good night. Oh Clay says the bed makes him feel like a monk. This used to be a monastery. I hope we can sleep!
Photos
Well, we are not in Prague any longer. I say that as it is not a good thing. English is not a common language here. The airport transfer driver we booked through Viator asked me, Who told you to come to Belarus? Me: No one. Him: Then why would you come here? Fair enough. Country #87.
We were at the airport in Prague an hour before we could even check in our bags. It was crowded but we didn't encounter any long lines. Everything went smoothly. The weird thing was that I couldn't fill my water bottle because security was not until you entered your flight's gate. The shops & restaurants were before security. Nothing in the gate area but toilets and vending machines. Our Belavia flight was fine. Better than we expected and we were in economy. We picked aisle seats on row 6 for both of us. That was good. It was about a 2 hour flight to Minsk. There was a 1 hour time change. It is an hour later in Minsk.
We are at Monastyrski Hotel in Old Town. Our driver assured us we'd like it here and be safe to walk around. Good to know. We have a 1/2 day private guided tour of Minsk tomorrow.
It is again about 10 degrees F hotter here than the forecast. Our driver told us they never have weather like this.
We got here about 5 pm. We had to buy an obligatory health insurance policy for 3 days before passport control. That was about 8 Euros. Our passports were examined with a magnifying glass. Looking for counterfeits? We got cash from a Bankomat while awaiting our luggage. We got to the hotel about 6 pm. We headed out to dinner about 7 pm. It was about a 5 minute uphill walk to a Chinese place because they had an English language menu. Sadly the waitstaff spoke no English. Tomorrow we plan to eat pizza at a place a few doors away. I guess we're skipping Belarussian specialties.
We don't think much of our Monastyrki room. It doesn't have luggage stands so we have to leave them on the floor. It was really hot and stifling in our room when we arrived. The door was standing open and 2 women were in the room. Security had escorted us with our luggage so he handled that. But WTH? Our AC was not working. We asked at reception on our way to dinner and it was working when we returned. Good job. I asked about ice when we got back to reception since I couldn't get any at dinner. Ask at the restaurant. They had an ice machine right there and it should be open whenever I need to refill my bottle. So some good news. There is a cooling box under the desk. I put 2 small complimentary bottles of water in there and plugged it in. I can hear it running, but no cooling yet. Clay is holding out for morning. Good night. Oh Clay says the bed makes him feel like a monk. This used to be a monastery. I hope we can sleep!
Photos
Monday, August 26, 2019
Prague Day 4
Photos
It seems like a long time in Prague and it is. Originally we'd planned for 2 or 3 nights here to allow for delayed flights and to slowly recover from jet lag. When it was time to start booking flights, we realized that for various reasons we needed to fly mid-week so we added 2 nights to Prague. It worked out fine, but you certainly don't need that much time here.
Clay was up just before 7 am today. I wasn't ready to get up but it was too late to potty and go back to sleep. Plus Clay promised another nap this afternoon. We had breakfast at the hotel and were off to the closest tram stop beside the National Theater before 9:30 am. Crowds today were significantly lighter than Friday and Saturdays or even Sundays. As we still struggled to avoid the big guided tour group we heard a lot more foreign languages and not the weekend's overwhelming preponderance of English. The other thing that occurred to us was that when we reach our last week over here with the included river boat tours was how much we were going to hate it!
We took the 22 tram again. I validated my 2nd 24 hour transit pass. I forgot to mention that we paid 110 Czech krowns for it. That is about $4.50 and a 30-minute 1 zone ride is about $1.10 so we slightly overpaid probably but had the convenience of not buying tickets multiple times. We rode past the first tram stop for the palace at Prazsky Hrad because it was described online as a 5 minute uphill walk. We got off at the Pohorelec stop and had a described 10 minute downhill walk. It took us longer because we stopped at a From Prague with Love shop and bought a kitchen towel. We heard the St. Vitus Cathedral ring 10 am as we approached the controlled entrance portion of the complex. We didn't buy any admission tickets today, but you still had to go through metal detectors and a bag check. We went inside only the cathedral building where it was free (so not all the way down to the altar). We saw parts of the changing of the guards at both 10 and 11 am. Their guards wear dark sunglasses, in August at least. We backtracked slightly and walked mostly level and down hill to get to the main Powder Bridge entry near the tram stop we skipped on our way outbound. We returned to the National Theater tram stop. We thought we'd walk past the Cloister Inn to use restrooms but missed it! I wanted a last caramel trdlnik for lunch and we wanted to scout a dinner restaurant for tonight. It is between Karavella and a closer, Pilsner Urquell Original Restaurant location that claims to have a fully air conditioned downstairs. The 2nd one has the advantage of being closer and AC but it is more expensive. We'll see how far we're willing to walk tonight. We tried but the 1st location we came upon did not appear to have their ACed downstairs open around 5:15 pm or so and also they ignored us. Clay walked around the corner and tried to eat at a place with a sidewalk shill herding people in. They did not have an English menu except for exorbitantly priced dishes so I refused to order and we left. We wound up at our 1st choice Karavella anyway. I had a slightly different version of the excellent beef dish I had last night. It turns out it is called Svickova na smetane. Now you know if you ever find yourself dining in Czechia. Clay had pork ribs. The prices were about the same as last night but the servings were much larger and again in the heat we couldn't finish. Clay's favorite beer here is Kozel Cerny. We'll have to see if we can't find it at home.
It is after 2 pm now so we've printed our boarding passes for tomorrow's flight from Prague to Minsk on Belavia Air. Now it is nap time. I'll be back tonight to edit/finish this post. Done! 7:15 pm. We head to the airport tomorrow at 10:30 am. I hate flying, but words can't reflect how glad we are not to have to sightsee tomorrow. I say this is our last trip to Europe. Clay says he'd come back to take the Chunnel train between London & Paris. I've campaigned for that one more than 1 previous trip and he nixed it as too time-consuming, too expensive and too claustrophobic which was my main worry. We'll see.
Photos
It seems like a long time in Prague and it is. Originally we'd planned for 2 or 3 nights here to allow for delayed flights and to slowly recover from jet lag. When it was time to start booking flights, we realized that for various reasons we needed to fly mid-week so we added 2 nights to Prague. It worked out fine, but you certainly don't need that much time here.
Clay was up just before 7 am today. I wasn't ready to get up but it was too late to potty and go back to sleep. Plus Clay promised another nap this afternoon. We had breakfast at the hotel and were off to the closest tram stop beside the National Theater before 9:30 am. Crowds today were significantly lighter than Friday and Saturdays or even Sundays. As we still struggled to avoid the big guided tour group we heard a lot more foreign languages and not the weekend's overwhelming preponderance of English. The other thing that occurred to us was that when we reach our last week over here with the included river boat tours was how much we were going to hate it!
We took the 22 tram again. I validated my 2nd 24 hour transit pass. I forgot to mention that we paid 110 Czech krowns for it. That is about $4.50 and a 30-minute 1 zone ride is about $1.10 so we slightly overpaid probably but had the convenience of not buying tickets multiple times. We rode past the first tram stop for the palace at Prazsky Hrad because it was described online as a 5 minute uphill walk. We got off at the Pohorelec stop and had a described 10 minute downhill walk. It took us longer because we stopped at a From Prague with Love shop and bought a kitchen towel. We heard the St. Vitus Cathedral ring 10 am as we approached the controlled entrance portion of the complex. We didn't buy any admission tickets today, but you still had to go through metal detectors and a bag check. We went inside only the cathedral building where it was free (so not all the way down to the altar). We saw parts of the changing of the guards at both 10 and 11 am. Their guards wear dark sunglasses, in August at least. We backtracked slightly and walked mostly level and down hill to get to the main Powder Bridge entry near the tram stop we skipped on our way outbound. We returned to the National Theater tram stop. We thought we'd walk past the Cloister Inn to use restrooms but missed it! I wanted a last caramel trdlnik for lunch and we wanted to scout a dinner restaurant for tonight. It is between Karavella and a closer, Pilsner Urquell Original Restaurant location that claims to have a fully air conditioned downstairs. The 2nd one has the advantage of being closer and AC but it is more expensive. We'll see how far we're willing to walk tonight. We tried but the 1st location we came upon did not appear to have their ACed downstairs open around 5:15 pm or so and also they ignored us. Clay walked around the corner and tried to eat at a place with a sidewalk shill herding people in. They did not have an English menu except for exorbitantly priced dishes so I refused to order and we left. We wound up at our 1st choice Karavella anyway. I had a slightly different version of the excellent beef dish I had last night. It turns out it is called Svickova na smetane. Now you know if you ever find yourself dining in Czechia. Clay had pork ribs. The prices were about the same as last night but the servings were much larger and again in the heat we couldn't finish. Clay's favorite beer here is Kozel Cerny. We'll have to see if we can't find it at home.
It is after 2 pm now so we've printed our boarding passes for tomorrow's flight from Prague to Minsk on Belavia Air. Now it is nap time. I'll be back tonight to edit/finish this post. Done! 7:15 pm. We head to the airport tomorrow at 10:30 am. I hate flying, but words can't reflect how glad we are not to have to sightsee tomorrow. I say this is our last trip to Europe. Clay says he'd come back to take the Chunnel train between London & Paris. I've campaigned for that one more than 1 previous trip and he nixed it as too time-consuming, too expensive and too claustrophobic which was my main worry. We'll see.
Photos
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Prague Day 3
Photos
Last night I put Clay in charge of planning for today as I was blogging before bed time. I know he sent me a restaurant link for dinner tonight. I thought he said we get an early start to buy transit passes and visit the palace with the squares open at 7:30 am. So when he was still snoring at 7:30 am I just got up and started the day. When he caught up, he told me the palace is for Monday and he'd decided to get 2 24-hour transit passes for me. None for him as he read that people over 70 just have to have proof of age. OK. He had on the docket Wenceslaus Square and one of the world's deepest Metro stations, back to nap in the afternoon and out for dinner. We walked to the square from the bottom to the top. It turned out that the M station at the bottom, Mustek is the closest to our hotel. At the top of the square is Museum station. When I say bottom to top, I mean it is uphill. Not a flat square. Wenceslaus is supposedly the statue mounted on a horse but I walked all the way around it and never saw his name on it. Disappointing. We walked downstairs and validated one of my passes that we'd bought at Mustek. We rode to Namesti Miru, Prague's deepest Metro station. We surfaced to find Peace Square and St. Ludmilla's where they had the longest bell ringing call to service we'd ever witnessed. Since all this had taken less than 2 hours we rode out to the end of the Metro line. It was above ground, on the surface. After walking outside there, we rode back to Mustek. About 4 stops in, Metro ticket police enter our car and took along one transit thief. Yesterday's Segway guide insisted on paying for Clay to avoid a problem like that. Historically we have found in Europe (or anywhere really that free senior fares are limited to local citizens but Clay insisted it was anyone over 70 years of age). So when the transit cop got to us I was searching my purse and Clay went to pull out his drivers license when the guy took a look at us and waved us off without checking. They exited the car at the next stop with their scofflaw. Clay said he felt a little insulted since he felt he barely qualified. I said imagine how I feel! At Mustek we surfaced to look for lunch. We wound up sharing a caramel trdlo. I think chimney cake is the English. We first had these in Budapest but here they are everywhere and garnished, not plain. The Czechs have raised the bar. It was divine with caramel. We went back to our first gelato place and each had a cone to finish our lunch. I decided that even with my sore throat that if we nap and then go out for dinner that we should go to this evening's St. Giles concert. So we bought tickets and then had to find the Bancomat again for more cash! It opens at 8 pm. About 5 pm, we'll leave for dinner at Mincovna. The plan is the order the 2nd and 3rd main dishes on the menu.
Dinner tonight was our best yet. Really good food and about $9 each for a small serving that we could finish. We had about an hour and a half to kill time between dinner and the concert. Across the street was a little fake train sightseeing tram that was leaving at 6:45 pm to return at 7:45 pm. We had plenty of time plus time to walk back to the church before 8:15 pm start. It was an easy method of killing an hour. We learned the Prague's palace complex took 1000 years and is the largest in the world. It is mostly government buildings now as I understood it. I don't know what we'll see tomorrow. It is daunting and all on a steep hillside. The concert was enjoyable if the 1738 (or something like that) carved wooden pews left some comfort to be desired.
It was hot again today but a bit less crowded.
Photos
Last night I put Clay in charge of planning for today as I was blogging before bed time. I know he sent me a restaurant link for dinner tonight. I thought he said we get an early start to buy transit passes and visit the palace with the squares open at 7:30 am. So when he was still snoring at 7:30 am I just got up and started the day. When he caught up, he told me the palace is for Monday and he'd decided to get 2 24-hour transit passes for me. None for him as he read that people over 70 just have to have proof of age. OK. He had on the docket Wenceslaus Square and one of the world's deepest Metro stations, back to nap in the afternoon and out for dinner. We walked to the square from the bottom to the top. It turned out that the M station at the bottom, Mustek is the closest to our hotel. At the top of the square is Museum station. When I say bottom to top, I mean it is uphill. Not a flat square. Wenceslaus is supposedly the statue mounted on a horse but I walked all the way around it and never saw his name on it. Disappointing. We walked downstairs and validated one of my passes that we'd bought at Mustek. We rode to Namesti Miru, Prague's deepest Metro station. We surfaced to find Peace Square and St. Ludmilla's where they had the longest bell ringing call to service we'd ever witnessed. Since all this had taken less than 2 hours we rode out to the end of the Metro line. It was above ground, on the surface. After walking outside there, we rode back to Mustek. About 4 stops in, Metro ticket police enter our car and took along one transit thief. Yesterday's Segway guide insisted on paying for Clay to avoid a problem like that. Historically we have found in Europe (or anywhere really that free senior fares are limited to local citizens but Clay insisted it was anyone over 70 years of age). So when the transit cop got to us I was searching my purse and Clay went to pull out his drivers license when the guy took a look at us and waved us off without checking. They exited the car at the next stop with their scofflaw. Clay said he felt a little insulted since he felt he barely qualified. I said imagine how I feel! At Mustek we surfaced to look for lunch. We wound up sharing a caramel trdlo. I think chimney cake is the English. We first had these in Budapest but here they are everywhere and garnished, not plain. The Czechs have raised the bar. It was divine with caramel. We went back to our first gelato place and each had a cone to finish our lunch. I decided that even with my sore throat that if we nap and then go out for dinner that we should go to this evening's St. Giles concert. So we bought tickets and then had to find the Bancomat again for more cash! It opens at 8 pm. About 5 pm, we'll leave for dinner at Mincovna. The plan is the order the 2nd and 3rd main dishes on the menu.
Dinner tonight was our best yet. Really good food and about $9 each for a small serving that we could finish. We had about an hour and a half to kill time between dinner and the concert. Across the street was a little fake train sightseeing tram that was leaving at 6:45 pm to return at 7:45 pm. We had plenty of time plus time to walk back to the church before 8:15 pm start. It was an easy method of killing an hour. We learned the Prague's palace complex took 1000 years and is the largest in the world. It is mostly government buildings now as I understood it. I don't know what we'll see tomorrow. It is daunting and all on a steep hillside. The concert was enjoyable if the 1738 (or something like that) carved wooden pews left some comfort to be desired.
It was hot again today but a bit less crowded.
Photos
Saturday, August 24, 2019
Prague Day 2
Photos
We both slept all night with the exception of Clay's phone ringing about 2am. We went down to the complimentary breakfast room on the 4th floor around 8:30 am. They had eggs, but only boiled in the shell for 10 minutes and served either hot or cold. There was salad, cold cuts, pate, pickles, cold cereal, yogurt, breads and pastries. The other hot food was beans and sausages. Oh, there was something labeled pancakes that looked about like an un-split English Muffin. There was only sweet curd to go with them. I tried it adding cherry compote from the yogurt bar. It was weird. The pancake was thick, dense and really hard to chew up. The sweet curd was sweet with a Greek yogurt texture. Coffee was small servings in tiny cups from a self service machine. There was a 3-juice dispensing machine that had a spout for water. I asked for ice and was told it was available at the reception desk. I had my wide mouth bottle with me and went down and got it filled up. (Spoiler alert: I went back after dinner and got it filled less enthusiastically. Clay took that bottle full for his Coke Zero and I went back where I was denied. I pulled a face and he assured me that he had given me all the ice he had. I made another face and he told me I could come back in an hour. We split the first batch of ice and since we were both desperate to strip off sweaty clothes, no one went back. Once again, finding ice in Europe is a full-time job.)
We headed back to the Old Town Square again with the goal of seeing the astronomical clock striking the hour today. We arrived about 10 of 10 am and had a perfect spot in the center of the eventual crowd. It was rather anticlimactic. I had read that you could pay to see inside the clock tower and we could see people up top. So we went inside and self toured for 250 CZK for me and 150 for Clay. There were 2 or 3 places in the Old Town Hall where you had to present your ticket for scanning to enter. We went to the top of the tower by elevator. There was a ramp almost all the way to the top with a short circular stairway. We saw it from the glass tube of an elevator. We walked down. On the 1st floor vs. 0, the ground floor you could climb some wooden stairs outside the Chapel of the Virgin Mary to see the 12 apostles that appear outside the clock tower on the hour from 9 am to 11 pm. We used the free basement restrooms and went back outside. Clay wanted to watch without recording video this time. It was twice as crowded and we weren't 10 minutes early either.
It got really hot today. The weather here is running about 10 degrees F hotter than their historical averages. Fortunately, we both packed shorts at the last minute. Unfortunately, we both packed needing to wear shirts twice and that isn't going to work!
Today being Saturday, the crowds were twice as heavy as yesterday which I wouldn't have thought possible if I hadn't seen it. Expecting tomorrow to still be bad we are debating a strategy for the next 2 days wondering if Monday would be lighter. We'll see.
Clay was interested in lunch after the 11 am clock ringing, but I was more interested in getting across the river to be near our Segway reservation meeting point. I figured we could eat over there. Clay already had a dinner place picked out over there. Clay wanted ice cream first but refused to have one without a place to sit in the shade with it. That is not impossible but the exception and he had to go without. Crossing the Charles Bridge was crazy! The crowds on and across the bridge were twice as thick as those in the Old Town Square. As we neared the opposite end, I called a drink stop and we pulled over the edge and drank some water. Clay looked down and saw a place advertising crepes under a giant tree right at the edge of a river side canal. We went. We passed the ice cream place he'd been wishing for on our way right off the bridge but I told him no more ice cream before meals. Choose one or the other. We made our way to Cafe Marnice. I've looked but they don't have a website. Also, they only have dessert crepes and a limited menu. Today's special was beef goulash. We shared a club sandwich with fries and each had a beverage and a dessert. Clay had Prague's special honey cake. I had a pair of strawberry jam crepes with whipped cream. It was all good under a nice shady tree by water and the perfect portions. We finished everything but the fries which weren't very tasty.
We had close to an hour to find the Segway meeting place and we meandered. We were too full again today to get a chimney cake and they are everywhere. Here in Prague, they stuff them with ice cream or Nutella or something, not just plain like Budapest.
We were a little early for our meeting and the 3 young women that were also on the 2pm tour were a little late. Segways are banned in Prague 1 so we had to ride tram from nearby for about 15 minutes to get to Prague 6. It was route 22 and it was jam-packed. We had to all squeeze on because we had already lost tour time. I have to say this was the worst Segway experience we've ever had. The Segways themselves were in the worst shape we've ever seen anywhere. The 3 young women were all 1st timers and terrified but he didn't worry about making sure they were confident or give them a chance to back out. Off we went into traffic and the worst road conditions we've seen in a first world country. The ride was rougher than cobblestones in Brugge because it was all broken pavement, curbs and potholes. We visited 2 monasteries and a defunct football stadium. We booked this tour because it promised a beer at a monastery. The guide said we could pick which one, but the 3 women out voted us to have no beer and end the tour early! No recompense for the skipped inclusion was offered. Our guide had said up front that he'd take us back to Prague 1 but at the end of the tour he just handed out transit tickets for us to make our own way back. There still appeared to be a lot of Segway tours offered in Prague, not just the company we used but I don't think I'd recommend any of them Sorry.
We got back to the tram stop where we'd board before 2 pm. We found a bank within 100 feet of where we had given up finding one this morning. Clay used the ATM without fees. On the corner was an Amorino shop with flower shaped gelatos. We'd had these in Budapest and wanted them again. It was just 4pm and too early for dinner. So we again violated the no ice cream before a meal rule. Another mistake! It was delicious though and we sat inside, Clay's rule.
Clay wanted to see the John Lennon Wall that was supposed to be nearby. We walked there and watched the crowd and a graffitti artist for a while. It was after 5pm and we headed to Pork's, the restaurant Clay had picked. They specialize in crispy pork knuckle, one of his all time favorite dishes. Pork's may have been the best one yet! They were mass producing them in the kitchen which you could see in on your way to and from the restroom. We were seated near the kitchen far from the open front door breezes and near the heat and flies. It was a great and affordable meal, unfortunately it was so stifling hot in there I almost got sick and even though we were sharing one crispy knuckle meal and a side of potato pancakes with porkfat fried sauerkraut we couldn't eat half of the food and just had to leave the building. Back out into the crowds which hadn't diminished by much sadly.
We walked straight back to the Cloister Inn and cranked up our AC and had our ice and cooling box beverages. We had earlier debated attending at 8pm concert at a church but couldn't face the heat or crowds. I checked the prices as I typed this and the concert cost twice what our excellent meal tonight cost and I decided against it. It was a string quartet and pipe organ. It is on again tomorrow night, but I doubt we'll go then either.
More tomorrow.
Photos
We both slept all night with the exception of Clay's phone ringing about 2am. We went down to the complimentary breakfast room on the 4th floor around 8:30 am. They had eggs, but only boiled in the shell for 10 minutes and served either hot or cold. There was salad, cold cuts, pate, pickles, cold cereal, yogurt, breads and pastries. The other hot food was beans and sausages. Oh, there was something labeled pancakes that looked about like an un-split English Muffin. There was only sweet curd to go with them. I tried it adding cherry compote from the yogurt bar. It was weird. The pancake was thick, dense and really hard to chew up. The sweet curd was sweet with a Greek yogurt texture. Coffee was small servings in tiny cups from a self service machine. There was a 3-juice dispensing machine that had a spout for water. I asked for ice and was told it was available at the reception desk. I had my wide mouth bottle with me and went down and got it filled up. (Spoiler alert: I went back after dinner and got it filled less enthusiastically. Clay took that bottle full for his Coke Zero and I went back where I was denied. I pulled a face and he assured me that he had given me all the ice he had. I made another face and he told me I could come back in an hour. We split the first batch of ice and since we were both desperate to strip off sweaty clothes, no one went back. Once again, finding ice in Europe is a full-time job.)
We headed back to the Old Town Square again with the goal of seeing the astronomical clock striking the hour today. We arrived about 10 of 10 am and had a perfect spot in the center of the eventual crowd. It was rather anticlimactic. I had read that you could pay to see inside the clock tower and we could see people up top. So we went inside and self toured for 250 CZK for me and 150 for Clay. There were 2 or 3 places in the Old Town Hall where you had to present your ticket for scanning to enter. We went to the top of the tower by elevator. There was a ramp almost all the way to the top with a short circular stairway. We saw it from the glass tube of an elevator. We walked down. On the 1st floor vs. 0, the ground floor you could climb some wooden stairs outside the Chapel of the Virgin Mary to see the 12 apostles that appear outside the clock tower on the hour from 9 am to 11 pm. We used the free basement restrooms and went back outside. Clay wanted to watch without recording video this time. It was twice as crowded and we weren't 10 minutes early either.
It got really hot today. The weather here is running about 10 degrees F hotter than their historical averages. Fortunately, we both packed shorts at the last minute. Unfortunately, we both packed needing to wear shirts twice and that isn't going to work!
Today being Saturday, the crowds were twice as heavy as yesterday which I wouldn't have thought possible if I hadn't seen it. Expecting tomorrow to still be bad we are debating a strategy for the next 2 days wondering if Monday would be lighter. We'll see.
Clay was interested in lunch after the 11 am clock ringing, but I was more interested in getting across the river to be near our Segway reservation meeting point. I figured we could eat over there. Clay already had a dinner place picked out over there. Clay wanted ice cream first but refused to have one without a place to sit in the shade with it. That is not impossible but the exception and he had to go without. Crossing the Charles Bridge was crazy! The crowds on and across the bridge were twice as thick as those in the Old Town Square. As we neared the opposite end, I called a drink stop and we pulled over the edge and drank some water. Clay looked down and saw a place advertising crepes under a giant tree right at the edge of a river side canal. We went. We passed the ice cream place he'd been wishing for on our way right off the bridge but I told him no more ice cream before meals. Choose one or the other. We made our way to Cafe Marnice. I've looked but they don't have a website. Also, they only have dessert crepes and a limited menu. Today's special was beef goulash. We shared a club sandwich with fries and each had a beverage and a dessert. Clay had Prague's special honey cake. I had a pair of strawberry jam crepes with whipped cream. It was all good under a nice shady tree by water and the perfect portions. We finished everything but the fries which weren't very tasty.
We had close to an hour to find the Segway meeting place and we meandered. We were too full again today to get a chimney cake and they are everywhere. Here in Prague, they stuff them with ice cream or Nutella or something, not just plain like Budapest.
We were a little early for our meeting and the 3 young women that were also on the 2pm tour were a little late. Segways are banned in Prague 1 so we had to ride tram from nearby for about 15 minutes to get to Prague 6. It was route 22 and it was jam-packed. We had to all squeeze on because we had already lost tour time. I have to say this was the worst Segway experience we've ever had. The Segways themselves were in the worst shape we've ever seen anywhere. The 3 young women were all 1st timers and terrified but he didn't worry about making sure they were confident or give them a chance to back out. Off we went into traffic and the worst road conditions we've seen in a first world country. The ride was rougher than cobblestones in Brugge because it was all broken pavement, curbs and potholes. We visited 2 monasteries and a defunct football stadium. We booked this tour because it promised a beer at a monastery. The guide said we could pick which one, but the 3 women out voted us to have no beer and end the tour early! No recompense for the skipped inclusion was offered. Our guide had said up front that he'd take us back to Prague 1 but at the end of the tour he just handed out transit tickets for us to make our own way back. There still appeared to be a lot of Segway tours offered in Prague, not just the company we used but I don't think I'd recommend any of them Sorry.
We got back to the tram stop where we'd board before 2 pm. We found a bank within 100 feet of where we had given up finding one this morning. Clay used the ATM without fees. On the corner was an Amorino shop with flower shaped gelatos. We'd had these in Budapest and wanted them again. It was just 4pm and too early for dinner. So we again violated the no ice cream before a meal rule. Another mistake! It was delicious though and we sat inside, Clay's rule.
Clay wanted to see the John Lennon Wall that was supposed to be nearby. We walked there and watched the crowd and a graffitti artist for a while. It was after 5pm and we headed to Pork's, the restaurant Clay had picked. They specialize in crispy pork knuckle, one of his all time favorite dishes. Pork's may have been the best one yet! They were mass producing them in the kitchen which you could see in on your way to and from the restroom. We were seated near the kitchen far from the open front door breezes and near the heat and flies. It was a great and affordable meal, unfortunately it was so stifling hot in there I almost got sick and even though we were sharing one crispy knuckle meal and a side of potato pancakes with porkfat fried sauerkraut we couldn't eat half of the food and just had to leave the building. Back out into the crowds which hadn't diminished by much sadly.
We walked straight back to the Cloister Inn and cranked up our AC and had our ice and cooling box beverages. We had earlier debated attending at 8pm concert at a church but couldn't face the heat or crowds. I checked the prices as I typed this and the concert cost twice what our excellent meal tonight cost and I decided against it. It was a string quartet and pipe organ. It is on again tomorrow night, but I doubt we'll go then either.
More tomorrow.
Photos
Friday, August 23, 2019
Prague!
Photos
We got off to a not great start when our 1st outbound flight was delayed by about an hour. It got worse when at the delayed departure time a vicious thunderstorm hit the airport for about another hour's delay as ground operations were halted. We boarded the plane about 4 pm but they had to offload the previous flight's luggage before ours could be loaded, so another hour or so passed. We were sure now we'd miss our connection because AA said the flight time was 1 hour 32 minutes. When we finally took off our pilot announced that he had a lot of people onboard with International connections in PHL and he could make it in 58 minutes. He made it quicker than that! Then we sat on the tarmac for 20 minutes waiting for a gate! Before opening the doors, the flight attendant had all the International connection people raise their hands and asked everyone without their hands up to look around and cooperate to let us off first. Remarkably, that worked. A representative was at the gate to tell us each connecting passenger what gate to rush to. It was a longer walk than we expected but we made it at the final 5 minute warning and our luggage was loaded several minutes after us. Clay says we will never do that again. But, we didn't do it the first time. AA changed our reservation from the earlier flight to PHL to the afternoon one back in April or something. I assumed they had canceled that earlier flight, but no it went on time just we were changed. We have no idea why we were changed. But that is what caused the day's trauma. So, happy ending, we arrived in Prague today with our luggage.
I was unwell most of the day from a bellyache and diarrhea that started right after breakfast on the plane. It was worsened by an hour-long line up to enter the EU at the arrivals hall which was too hot. We were processed without problems. I have no idea why the line was moving so slowly. Our luggage was waiting on the carousel. Our driver sent a text to Clay's phone that he was waiting outside the baggage claim and how to find him right after we got in line behind about 2 dozen people in the Arrivals Hall. We booked this private Mercedes transfer online with Prague Airport Transfers. We were well pleased with the ease and would highly recommend them. We booked a roundtrip so we'll use them again on Tuesday when we fly onward. Our driver made a point of driving us so that we'd get an overview of the city's highlights. We also had a conversation about "pivo" which it turns out is the only Czech word Clay had memorized and the driver had a good laugh about that and how it was the most important Czech word to know. (The Czechs have 3 levels of foam heads, so I guess they are specialists! I think we ate both meals today at Pivovars, (beer bars) so I guess we are too.) The driver taught us hello, good day, please and thank you just to be thorough which we have promptly forgotten and which brings us back to the wonder of the one Czech word we do know.
We are at the Cloister Inn for the next 4 nights. We got here around 11am and had to drop the bags and return after 2pm for check in. We are in room 534. It is large, attractive room under the eaves so it is structurally interesting. The bathroom has an inconvenient shower stall and it is dark. I brought a small battery-operated light that we'll test as a nightlight tonight. We have a street view of the tops of the buildings across the street. I guess the other side of the hall has a courtyard view. In any case, no views. Clay says this is one of our most expensive hotels of this trip. That doesn't seem right as we paid $560 USD on checkin for 4 nights.
I think Clay wanted to sight see today. I had early in planning proposed a HOHO bus for this jet-lagged, sleep deprived day and he nixed that. He tried twice today to propose buying transit passes for the trams and subway but never satisfactorily explained why or where he wanted to travel so I nixed that. Given my state, I agreed to walk to and from the astronomical clock tower and find a place to spend and hour for lunch before check in. We didn't think that through as we stopped at every shop, ATM and restaurant on our way and arrived about 1 minute after all the bells and chimes stopped ringing at noon. The crowd was as big for the 1pm ringing, but we failed to see that too! The entire walk was jam packed with tourists! The big square was like the state fair midway. We have arrived at the world's most popular tourist destination in mid-August! It should come as no real surprise to us that we here with about 1/4 of the world's population. I think we ran into tour groups from every habitable continent today and for them all English was the common language. Good news for us because Czech is as incomprehensible to us as Chinese.
We ruined our appetites for lunch with a combination of really good and inexpensive gelato and my bellyache. Clay had pistachio and half my lavender. We settled for lunch at Blatnice. We shared 2 appetizers. We had pickled cheese which was an interesting texture vs. taste and better than it sounds and Old Prague ham which was butter tender and really tasty. Both were plated with a green salad and the ham had mustard and horseradish. Clay had a half-liter beer and I had a small glass bottled Coke Zero that cost much more. Finally plates and silverware were delivered with a napkin-wrapped serving of bread that the waiter took away untouched by us. It was itemized on the bill as more expensive than the big beer. It wasn't clear if it was actually a service charge for the dishes and utensils or if when he dropped the bread we should have insisted he remove it immediately.
We napped this afternoon after we checked into our room. About 5pm we headed out to return to one of the restaurants we'd checked menus at this morning. Whatever we thought we'd decided on, we didn't find again. Clay wanted to avoid the Old Square area and go to Tesco for drinks for the minifridge. (I forgot to mention that it is under the desk and a cooling box stocked once for the stay with a big bottle of water and 2 beers complimentary.) We headed in that direction and opted for Convikt. It was between a candy store and Tesco which were both on Clay's must-do list for after dinner. It was the least expensive place we looked at menus. The food was tasty and massive servings. Neither of us ate even half of our meal. I had goulash and Clay a smoked meat platter and both included bread. Clay had a traditional Pilsner Urquell tonight vs. the Kozel black beer he had at lunch.
Breakfast is included with all our hotel nights and here it is from 7:30 am to 10:30 am. Tomorrow we have booked a 2 hour Segway tour at 2pm. I hope for a late start, a leisurely breakfast and a relaxed stroll to the other side of the river to catch the Segway tour.
Photos
We got off to a not great start when our 1st outbound flight was delayed by about an hour. It got worse when at the delayed departure time a vicious thunderstorm hit the airport for about another hour's delay as ground operations were halted. We boarded the plane about 4 pm but they had to offload the previous flight's luggage before ours could be loaded, so another hour or so passed. We were sure now we'd miss our connection because AA said the flight time was 1 hour 32 minutes. When we finally took off our pilot announced that he had a lot of people onboard with International connections in PHL and he could make it in 58 minutes. He made it quicker than that! Then we sat on the tarmac for 20 minutes waiting for a gate! Before opening the doors, the flight attendant had all the International connection people raise their hands and asked everyone without their hands up to look around and cooperate to let us off first. Remarkably, that worked. A representative was at the gate to tell us each connecting passenger what gate to rush to. It was a longer walk than we expected but we made it at the final 5 minute warning and our luggage was loaded several minutes after us. Clay says we will never do that again. But, we didn't do it the first time. AA changed our reservation from the earlier flight to PHL to the afternoon one back in April or something. I assumed they had canceled that earlier flight, but no it went on time just we were changed. We have no idea why we were changed. But that is what caused the day's trauma. So, happy ending, we arrived in Prague today with our luggage.
I was unwell most of the day from a bellyache and diarrhea that started right after breakfast on the plane. It was worsened by an hour-long line up to enter the EU at the arrivals hall which was too hot. We were processed without problems. I have no idea why the line was moving so slowly. Our luggage was waiting on the carousel. Our driver sent a text to Clay's phone that he was waiting outside the baggage claim and how to find him right after we got in line behind about 2 dozen people in the Arrivals Hall. We booked this private Mercedes transfer online with Prague Airport Transfers. We were well pleased with the ease and would highly recommend them. We booked a roundtrip so we'll use them again on Tuesday when we fly onward. Our driver made a point of driving us so that we'd get an overview of the city's highlights. We also had a conversation about "pivo" which it turns out is the only Czech word Clay had memorized and the driver had a good laugh about that and how it was the most important Czech word to know. (The Czechs have 3 levels of foam heads, so I guess they are specialists! I think we ate both meals today at Pivovars, (beer bars) so I guess we are too.) The driver taught us hello, good day, please and thank you just to be thorough which we have promptly forgotten and which brings us back to the wonder of the one Czech word we do know.
We are at the Cloister Inn for the next 4 nights. We got here around 11am and had to drop the bags and return after 2pm for check in. We are in room 534. It is large, attractive room under the eaves so it is structurally interesting. The bathroom has an inconvenient shower stall and it is dark. I brought a small battery-operated light that we'll test as a nightlight tonight. We have a street view of the tops of the buildings across the street. I guess the other side of the hall has a courtyard view. In any case, no views. Clay says this is one of our most expensive hotels of this trip. That doesn't seem right as we paid $560 USD on checkin for 4 nights.
I think Clay wanted to sight see today. I had early in planning proposed a HOHO bus for this jet-lagged, sleep deprived day and he nixed that. He tried twice today to propose buying transit passes for the trams and subway but never satisfactorily explained why or where he wanted to travel so I nixed that. Given my state, I agreed to walk to and from the astronomical clock tower and find a place to spend and hour for lunch before check in. We didn't think that through as we stopped at every shop, ATM and restaurant on our way and arrived about 1 minute after all the bells and chimes stopped ringing at noon. The crowd was as big for the 1pm ringing, but we failed to see that too! The entire walk was jam packed with tourists! The big square was like the state fair midway. We have arrived at the world's most popular tourist destination in mid-August! It should come as no real surprise to us that we here with about 1/4 of the world's population. I think we ran into tour groups from every habitable continent today and for them all English was the common language. Good news for us because Czech is as incomprehensible to us as Chinese.
We ruined our appetites for lunch with a combination of really good and inexpensive gelato and my bellyache. Clay had pistachio and half my lavender. We settled for lunch at Blatnice. We shared 2 appetizers. We had pickled cheese which was an interesting texture vs. taste and better than it sounds and Old Prague ham which was butter tender and really tasty. Both were plated with a green salad and the ham had mustard and horseradish. Clay had a half-liter beer and I had a small glass bottled Coke Zero that cost much more. Finally plates and silverware were delivered with a napkin-wrapped serving of bread that the waiter took away untouched by us. It was itemized on the bill as more expensive than the big beer. It wasn't clear if it was actually a service charge for the dishes and utensils or if when he dropped the bread we should have insisted he remove it immediately.
We napped this afternoon after we checked into our room. About 5pm we headed out to return to one of the restaurants we'd checked menus at this morning. Whatever we thought we'd decided on, we didn't find again. Clay wanted to avoid the Old Square area and go to Tesco for drinks for the minifridge. (I forgot to mention that it is under the desk and a cooling box stocked once for the stay with a big bottle of water and 2 beers complimentary.) We headed in that direction and opted for Convikt. It was between a candy store and Tesco which were both on Clay's must-do list for after dinner. It was the least expensive place we looked at menus. The food was tasty and massive servings. Neither of us ate even half of our meal. I had goulash and Clay a smoked meat platter and both included bread. Clay had a traditional Pilsner Urquell tonight vs. the Kozel black beer he had at lunch.
Breakfast is included with all our hotel nights and here it is from 7:30 am to 10:30 am. Tomorrow we have booked a 2 hour Segway tour at 2pm. I hope for a late start, a leisurely breakfast and a relaxed stroll to the other side of the river to catch the Segway tour.
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