As I mentioned in the last post, we arrived in Prague by train on Tuesday. Prague has a different currency from the other places we are traveling on this trip, so, the first thing we needed to do was to get some local currency. This, as it turns out, was quite an adventure! First, there are no banks in Prague that have a relationship with Bank of America, our bank of choice (?!) in the United States. So, it doesn’t really matter where we get money, we will still pay a fee, which we all hate. But, OK. This makes the decision on which ATM to use very easy. Any ATM will do!
The ATM machines have English translations, so, no problem there. But, how much should we get. This is the real question! I had read the tour book on this subject and decided to get about $3,000 Czech dollars, which really just feels like too much. Gene, on the other hand, opted for $200 Czech dollars. When all was said and done, I had the equivalent of about $178 and Gene had $10. HA! It pays to read up on the currency! As it turns out, a big wad of Czech dollars feels like a whole lot more than it really is. Gene ended up getting more money, and we had a good laugh about his $10s Czech!
Our last 2 days have been spent exploring, eating and drinking our way through Prague.
I have to make a comment here about the food in Prague…and Germany for that matter. This is the land of fatty meat and carbohydrates. We have all consumed mass amounts of this stuff, so will likely all require Lipitor and insulin when we get home to bring our cholesterol and sugar levels down. There are very few vegetables served, making one feel somewhat deprived. Carrie and I have already discussed a pure vegetable detox diet after this trip. We have had bread and potatoes made in all different ways…..pretzels, croissants, seeded bread, hard rolls, potato dumplings, boiled potatoes, potato chips, french fries…. the list goes on… The meats are mostly beef, pork and sausage and they all have gravy. And, we can’t forget the dark, nutritious beer! Don’t get me wrong, we are all loving this European comfort food, especially the beer! The beer has us all well-preserved and the food has us feeling very satisfied. But, I can feel the “muffin tops” beginning to form at the top of my pants! I just hate spillover! UGGHHH!!
Talking about being well-preserved……Prague is one of the best preserved cities in Europe. Because of the war, Prague has seen some very hard times, but it is one of the few cities that was not bombed out in the war. Therefore, the buildings are original, unlike in Berlin and Hamburg where many of the areas were bombed out or affected by fire and later rebuilt in a traditional style. We spent a lot of time wandering through the tiny, winding streets of Prague, looking at the buildings and peeking into shop windows. Prague is definitely tourist oriented and caters to the American tourist with money. The tour books warn travelers of shop keepers and restauranteers who are ready to take your money and to “take” you if you are not careful. I think that’s the downside of travel in Prague. We didn’t have any trouble….not much anyway…. but you can easily see how it could happen. Sad.
But, overall, Prague is a great city and has lots to see. Everything is pretty much within walking distance of everything else. But, the public transportation system is also easy to use and very accessible.
Yesterday morning Mike and I got up early and walked over the Charles Bridge. This was a highlight for me. the bridge is very historical and has many statues that are representative of Prague’s history. I stopped at the staute where you rub a dog that is embedded on the monument for good luck. I gave it a rub! I figured why not! We can all use some good luck!
There were also street musicians and vendors everywhere on the bridge. There was a very cute little guy with a hurdy gurdy. There’s a new term for everyone! This is a music box type device that is driven by a manual crank. It was very compelling in an odd sort of way. There was also a small combo playing American jazz in a Django Rheinhart style, which was also good.
From the bridge, you could look back at the old part of the city on one side and the palace on the other side. The leaves were starting to change, and the reflection on the water was beautiful. I also dropped a coin in the river for a friend of mine. I hope she gets her wish! Around 10:00 am, the masses of tour buses started to unload at the bridge, so we went on. It was nice to see the bridge in a quiet state.
We wandered further and looked at the astronomical clock in the center of the old town. This is one of those clocks that gives you a show on the hour, We just missed that. Too bad, but the clock was interesting to look at.
We also spent a lot of time on the public transit system, It was cheaper, which is always a plus for us, and got us where we wanted to go. Mike has an interest in trains, as you know. He also has an interest in the tram systems in some of these European towns Prague had one of the most intricate and expansive tram systems that we have seen on our travels. It is a little complicated to understand at first. But, once you get the hang of it, it’s really pretty easy to maneuver. Good times!
All in all, we had a great time in Prague. Mike and I have decided we could come back here, too, and spend some more time. There’s a lot of ground to cover,
This morning, we left our Marriott apartment to begin our trek to Vienna. Gene and Carrie are staying at a different hotel here in Prague, so we decided to meet at the train station rather than try to coordinate a meeting at one of the hotels. So, Mike and I went to the train station on our own this morning to get a lay of the land. We decided to stop in at the travel information station to reconfirm the time of the train and to find the correct platform from which the train would leave.
This was our first experience of really feeling “taken”.
The nice woman at the train station recommended that we get a reservation. We are traveling with a first class train pass, which sometimes requires reservations, but not always. The Czech Republic doesn’t require this, but as the woman pointed out, it is Friday and there is only one first class car. Seats could be limited. It made sense to us to get the reservation. So, we did. We were in car 272, seats 85 and 86.
Guess what! When we got on the train, there was a car 271, but no 272. And, of course, our seats were not there either. HEY…..! So, this time instead of having the nice 4 seat compartment, we are in one of the 6 seat compartments elbow to elbow with a couple of stinky people, and we paid extra to do it! We won’t make that mistake again. Oh well, if you travel enough, these things happen, even to seasoned travelers like us!
Taken “with” and “taken” in Prague….UGGHHHH……
Travel With Betsy 
October 12, 2013 at 3:57 pm |
Fatty meats and carbs. Pretzels etc. I would love Prague Especially since they don’t serve veggies. My kind of place!
October 12, 2013 at 11:14 pm |
Great posts. But I must input a comment, and Gene should know this, but there was a song in 1968 sung by Donavon called “The Hurdy Gurdy Man”. I am looking forward to finally throwing it in on jan 3.
October 13, 2013 at 4:46 pm |
He and Cramer both know the song…..were you surprised?!