We stayed at the Cosmopolitan Hotel for 4 nights. Several boat cruise
people also stayed at this hotel, as well as Christian (boat guest
coordinator). Christian announced on the
bus ride that he would lead a 30-minute walkabout outside our hotel begins an
hour after our arrival, and point out notable sights, good restaurants,
etc. Of course, we joined in.
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| Christian, a 5-star Boat Guest Coordinator |
The city had tons of graffiti and tons of litter. Bummer.
Monday:
We watched the astronomical clock and then climbed up the
tower for a killer view.
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| View from the Astronomical Tower, with the square before the ugly booths. |
Then we walked
down to the Charles Bridge and went up that tower for another killer view. Halfway across the bridge is a gold something
that people rubs for some unknown reason. The Honest
Tour Guide said it is a stupid idea so we should rub the lamppost beside it
instead. So Bill did.
Then we walked a long way to Letna Beer Garden for a beer
with another nice view. The
Honest Tour Guide recommended this as one of the nicest views but we thought it
wasn’t as nice as I expected. We
walked around at night. Buildings were lit up nicely. Sculptures on
buildings were also lit up. Great for
encouraging you to lookup. Too much to
see.
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| Notice the Arrows in the Statue. Ouch! |
All the sculptures had many
figurines on each one that probably meant something and I just glanced at them
for a couple of seconds. The best night time view was the lit-up Church of Our
Lady Tyn in the Astronomical Clock square.
Tuesday:
Our journey was to Prague Castle. We stopped for a nosh and beer at an outdoor
cafe just before reaching the Castle. This
café had an amazing view of the Charles River and Prague. The Castle
and grounds were amazing. Our
2nd beer was at another outdoor cafe by the Pissing Sculpture where 2
men (statues) are pissing into a pool in the shape of Czechoslovakia.
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| The Pissing Statue |
It is in front of the Franz Kafka museum. (Famous
writer). It was
entertaining to watch people’s expressions when they first see it, plus
all their weird camera poses in front of the sculpture.
 |
| Franz Kafka. Weird. |
Prague
Misc., since we quit tracking our everyday activities:
- This
was the first week of the riverboat cruise season. We were amazed at the overall tourist
headcount. While we did see tourists in Budapest,
the Prague volume was already choking the streets. Most city blocks had a minimum of 4 tours,
with 1 tour guide (identified as the person leading the pack while carrying a
pole-mounted flag) and up to 40 people obediently following them. At least they all used close proximity radios
with headsets.
- We ate 4 meals of duck and sauerkraut which quickly became
our favorite, 3 of which were at the same Placzenka Restaurant under the
concert hall. The beer of choice was
Pilsen Urquell.
- Dozens of booths were getting set up in Prague’s Old Town
Square by the Astrological Clock. We were
told these booths were for upcoming Easter festivities. Very ugly – we were glad we saw the square
before it got ruined by those tacky booths.
- Prague has an Overwhelming endless supply of medieval and
renaissance buildings covered with sculptures (churches, administration
buildings, museums, and private homes); monuments, and turned off fountains (springtime). We got burned out on the beauty. We snuck into the National Philharmonic
building through an unlocked door. When
it was time to leave we discovered we were locked in. an official-looking
person with a scowl on his face had to unlock a door to let us out.
Overall Europe Trip Misc.:
- Could easily have reduced both Budapest and Prague to 3
days each.
- Prague
and Budapest cannot make a gin martini. In
Budapest when requesting a martini, we said ‘no vermouth’ so they brought us
each a shot glass of gin. In Prague, they
didn’t know how to make a dirty martini so we said ‘gin martini’. They brought martinis made with a shot of gin
and a shot of vermouth. The riverboat
bar knew how to make perfect gin martinis.
- Seemed weird but the airport grocery store sold individual
cans of beer. Obviously for the purpose
of drinking it at the airport. Many were. I
also had one with my lunch of an orange and banana I brought from the hotel. Beer worked.
- The trip was not as dressy as Bill thought it would be. Next time better layer-able clothes and fewer
dress shirts. Most wear colored/black
sneakers instead of shoes.
- Breakfast included with the hotel is the only way to go.
- Hotel laundry was very expensive. $1.25 per underwear or socks. Bill did laundry in the sink. Glad he brought clothes soap. We did find a reasonable laundry
place in Budapest. The manager was
personable and entertaining.
- Both Budapest and Prague had few pigeons. One of the tour guides said governments had provided
bird birth control as feed. Great idea!
- While on a walking tour of a small town, Bill noticed no
one at the outdoor cafe was on a phone or device. They were talking to each other or just
enjoying the sunshine.
- Randy broke Bill’s Hobie backpack. Hopefully, Bill got it fixed after returning
home. Sorry about that.
More Prague pics are here.
