Prague, Day 1

Prague, Day 1, where do I start?

As always, with a long night into day. We got up at our normal times, and I tootled off to Cup-A-Joe for my last gasp for close to a month. I have great friends there, and for some reason, I shall be missed. There is no accounting for taste!

The taxi picked us up promptly at 3:30 to take us to RDU. Arnie had been reading, and I had been hearing, about tales of woe getting through security. Lady luck was clearly with us, as it took us less than 20 minutes to check in (two different, albeit partner, airlines precluded us doing this online), get through security (yes, we do have TSA Pre-check), and walk down to our gate. Twenty minutes! WOW! After dinner on the plane, I finished watching The Van with Maggie Smith (delightful) and got my seat to lie down with me under the quilt. ZONK!

I awoke pretty close to the time that the airlines was getting ready to serve breakfast, pulled up my shade, and was greeted by this wonderful pattern of clouds.

Going through security at Heathrow was also easy. No customs yet, however. We were granted access to the AA club lounge but were told that there would be no flight announcements. We would have to wait until 9:00 to see what gate our 9:50 flight would show. Arnie looked at 9:00, and the message that it was boarding. Two minutes earlier, and it didn’t even show up on the screen. We were fine, and boarded without issues for the leg to Prague. I loved looking down at the familiar sights of Londonl where I often traveled when my English Granny was still alive. When we reached the English Channel, the clouds settled in, but once over France and Germany/Austria, things cleared up. The European landscape is always lovely with its patchwork of fields, some that brilliant color of rape or mustard, and punctuated by little hamlets with red tile roofs.

Again, customs in Prague was another pipe, and our driver was waiting for us to whisk us off to our boutique inn. Our room was as advertised, and we love it, not that we spend a whole lot of time in any hotel room.

We went out for a walk and quickly found a little bar where we sat and enjoyed a glass of white wine and some water whilst watching the passers-by.

Dealing with Czech Koruna can be a bit startling. They deal with lots of zeros, although not as bad as some countries. The bill for those two glasses of wine and a medium bottle of sparkling water came to 2,530 Koruna. Remove two decimal places, divide in half, and round down, and it came to roughly $10 USD, quit reasonable, we thought.

Given the paucity of sleep, we headed back for a nap that considerably refreshed us. The first item on our agenda was the clock tower that rings on the hour. It was the wrong time of day to photograph, but we wanted to get a sense of the lay of the land.

The buildings in Prague are beautiful. Sometimes called the City of 100 Spires, there are fanciful spires and towers everywhere.

Not having had lunch, we walked down to the river to try a recommendation by our hotel. We wanted a seat on the river, so we waited and had a glass of wine while watching the boats some and go and see the lights come on at dusk.

Our table was ready, and cameras at the ready, we saw this shot and that. The castle across the river was hard to miss, and the plethora of swans on the river picked up light.

There are a lot of Italian restaurants, it seems, in Prague. The Czechs are not necessarily known for their cuisine, although some, we hear, can be quite imaginative and excellent.

We settled for Italian. I started with verdure miste alla griglia, yummy grilled eggplant, zucchini, and peppers. For my dinner, I chose the risotto con zucca e anatra affrumicata, or risotto with pumpkin and sliced roast duck breast. There was some truffle oil in there, too! Yummm.

It was time to do some more walking, map in hand and iPhone flashlight so we could see where we thought we might be. There were scenes along the river, and rounding one corner, I saw the scene I wanted, but I needed a person. Meanwhile, since I was in the way, Arnie did a shot of me “working the corner” that has repeated a few funny comments on Facebook.

There was a barrier, and I was getting ready to ask Arnie to be my model, although he does not cress a bit like a local, when the cat burgler hand-over-handed along the railing, then back again. CLICK!

We returned to the clock-tower square where the city was still full of life around 11.

We enjoyed the scene and light for a few mionytes, then ducked through an art passageway to return to our hotel and more sleep. A good way to end our first day in Prague where we are scouting for a possible workshop.

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