Hi Gram!
I made it to Prague! I didn’t sleep well on the plane last night. I was flying premium economy and was tired, so the extra legroom and exhaustion should have had me dozing off right away, but that wasn’t how it went down. I got a couple hours of sleep and got to check out a couple of movies once I realized that I was wide awake. The de-boarding process was smooth, although the EU’s new EES (Entry Exit System) made it take longer than I would have expected. It was no big thing, just read my kindle until I was almost at the front of the line. Prague has a bank of kiosks where you can order an Uber, listed as official and trusted. I looked at the price and found that I could get the ride for half the price if I was willing to walk 50 feet further and wait 5 minutes. So I did. Because I landed at 10:30am and the apartment wasn’t going to be ready until 2pm, so I wasn’t in any rush.
The driver circled a couple of times trying to find the actual address, but the GPS was showing the address as being in the middle of the block with no access. He let me out the closest to where the pin was dropped, then I just walked along the cobblestone sidewalk until I found the front of the building that looked like the picture from the listing. I was still quite a bit early and the room wasn’t ready yet, but they had a locked closet where they could store my luggage. The clerk suggested a few restaurants, so I headed off in a direction to find one. When I first walked in, the host told me to just walk in and seat myself, so I did. A waiter came up and told me that the table was reserved, though. I asked where I could sit, and he pointed towards the back of the restaurant. I tried again, looking at the tables and seeing paper tents that said “reserved” on every table. I stopped a waiter and asked if there were any tables, and he escorted me to a table and took the reservation tent away. I just want to point out that there were dozens of empty tables with reserved tents, all of which remained unfilled the whole time I was there. I don’t pretend to understand their system, but I didn’t care as long as they were willing to seat me.
When the waitress asked if I wanted something to drink while I looked at the menu, I told her that I had a bottle of water. She looked offended and told me that bringing outside food and beverages wasn’t allowed. I assured her that I was about to order a meal, but left my water bottle in my bag. She returned a few minutes later and I ordered some chicken soup, bread, and tomato salad, plus a glass of water. It was all very tasty and I noted that the bill did not reflect a charge for the water. I’m not sure why drinking my water was any different than drinking their free water. One of the joys of travel is experiencing the different customs and practices.
My room was ready by the time I got back, so I hauled my bags up the stairs and checked out my room. It was a cute room with tall ceilings and a kitchenette. I unpacked a little, then walked to the meeting point for the walking tour. Since I arrived so early, I took advantage of the time and booked an afternoon tour. I tend to arrive a little early – it bugs me when people show up late and delay the tour starting – so I greeted some of the other tour participants as they arrived. There were couples from Texas, Ottawa Canada, and Sydney Australia. They were all happy tourists and we had some good conversations before and during the tour.
Lucie started the tour and was quite informative, but I honestly don’t remember much of what she had to say. I was tired when we started and yawning the whole time. The jet lag and trouble sleeping on the plane caught up to me. After the tour, I stopped for some grilled chicken and veggies that was just phenomenal. They were so good that I wanted another plate for the flavor, although my belly was full from the quantity. I listened to my gut over my taste buds and refrained from a second course. The walk back to the apartment was scenic with great weather. I unpacked a little more and prepped for tomorrow, then fell asleep quickly when my head hit the pillow.
