August 4 - That morning, we all packed our bags, cleaned our respective home exchanges and met at the train station to catch the train to the airport. We were off to Prague for the second leg of our travels.

We arrived in Prague in the afternoon and took a cab from the airport to our airbnb apartment but found nobody there to greet us with the keys . Fortunately, we had the owner's phone number and, thank heavens, were able to reach her. She arranged for someone from the building to come down with the keys and show us around the apartment. I must admit, it was a great location, only blocks from the huge shopping street that stretched from Wenceslaus Square to Old Town Square, and was within walking distance to most of the main attractions but, luxurious it wasn't. In fact, the immediate neighborhood was replete with message offerings of a questionable nature and a sex machine museum. The apartment had three bedrooms and a single toilet with a little sink located across from the bedrooms. However, the bedroom in the middle had to go through one of the other bedrooms to get to the bathroom. With six of us, all pushing seventy and older.....well, most of you know what that means in terms of trips to the bathroom during the night.
There was no living room.....only a kitchen with the rest of the bathroom, a sink and a bath/shower, at the back of the kitchen . So, it was quite a cozy little slumber party for our week in Prague.
 
After we got settled in, we went in search of the Czech Restaurant that was on one of the brochures the owner had left in the apartment. Bill was excited about ordering his pork and dumplings but was disappointed that they didn't have zeli (saurkraut) on the menu. The waitress was anything but friendly and Bill informed us that, in general, the Czech people aren't very warm and fuzzy. So, now I know where Bill gets his grumpy gene from....in case some of you didn't know, his heritage is full blown Czech.

After dinner we went down to the Old Town Square where the famous astronomical clock is located. En route, Rod and I simply couldn't pass up trying one of the traditional "trdelnik." a sweet pastry made from rolled dough that is wrapped around a stick, then grilled and topped with sugar and walnut mix. The modern version which, of course, we ordered, is filled with ice cream and covered with chocolate sauce .....very decadent.

When we arrived at the Square, we felt that we had just arrived in Disneyland, surrounded by massive, historical buildings, imposing statues, this crazy clock and a million tourists. Even with this incredible assault on the senses, Prague is an amazing city and we looked forward to taking our free walking tour of the Old Town and the Jewish Quarter the next day. So, we retired to our plush accommodations and managed to make it through the night without colliding with one another.

The next morning, Bill and I headed out to a local clinic to get the Yellow Fever shot that we would need for entry into Kenya. We were delighted that our friend told us about this clinic as, in the States it would have cost close to $500 versus the $85 we paid in Prague. Bill was feeling a little punk when we got back to the apartment and decided to rest and meet up with us, later, for the walking tour.

The five of us headed out to do a little exploring before we met at the Powder Tower, the meeting place for the city tour . The street was lined with fabulous shops and restaurants and food stands and we couldn't resist stopping at one for a wiener schnitzel between our window shopping. We strolled through a little street market with a lot of tacky souvenirs but some neat things as well and beautiful little baskets of berries.

We met our guide, Vanca, at the Powder Tower and, I was delighted that Bill was feeling well enough to show up.  Vanca's English was quite good and the information he gave us was really interesting and was interspersed with funning little stories and comments which made the tour really enjoyable. 

And, now, a little history from our tour of the Old Town and the Jewish District.....The meeting point, The Powder Tower, is one of the original 13 city gates in Old Town and dates back to the 11th Century. The construction was begun by Vladislav II but had to be discontinued when he had to relocate due to riots. It was, primarily used to store gunpowder in the 17th century, hence the name Powder Tower or Powder Gate.  

As we strolled through the Old Town, Vanca informed us that Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic and was also the ancient capital of Charles IV's Bohemian Kingdom and has played a pivotal role in the development of Central Europe since the Middle Ages. It's epic history has produced a vibrant city of stunning buildings and lovely old squares, with the result that, today, Prague is listed in the UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage Register .

Vanca than explained to us how the Centre of Prague is divided into five areas that span both banks of the Vltava River which runs through the heart of the city. On one side of the River is the Old Town with the Old Town Square at its heart. The New Town has Wenceslas Square at its heart and the third area, on this side of the Vltava, is the Jewish Quarter. On the other side of the river is the Lesser Town and higher up, the Castle District which is dominated by Prague Castle....we would be doing a walking tour of the Charles Bridge and the Prague Castle the next day. Charles Bridge is the main pedestrian crossing between the two sides of Prague.

To be continued in the next blog........