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| Glenn's Journal for 9-24-02 - Prague The bus (actually a van) leaves at 10:00 am this morning from our hostel to Dresden. The ride is projected at 4 hours but we hear that it should only take 3 hours. The day starts out with a little sunshine but we do not know how long that will last. We packed and had breakfast while saying goodbye to some of our new friends that were heading out in other directions. We met our bus driver ( he was from Czech) at the bus that was going to be full today. (The hostel had no system for keeping up with who wanted to ride the bus on any particular day. The bus was overbooked but one young lady generously volunteered to wait a few days for the next bus.) The folks riding with us today included Ryan, Casey, Kelly, and Barbara (from Vancouver, Canada) and 2 other young ladies that we did not formally meet (They sat up front together). We enjoyed the picturesque countryside as we rode from Dresden to Prague. At the border we provided the driver our passports (and said we were his friends, I guess this must be illegal) and proceeded through the border. He had to verify that we were from a country that did not require visas (United States citizens do not require a visa) or a country that does (Canadians require a visa) and that we had the appropriate paperwork. Once beyond the border we proceeded on to Prague. Once in Prague we were dropped off at Sir Toby's which is just a tram ride away from town. We asked for a double as we were ready for some "alone" time and they provided us with a room with 5 beds and a table and chairs that we could have all to ourselves. Wow!!! We were located on the 4th floor at the back of the building (so no road noise) and we shared the bathroom with only one other room. (This is important as it determines the potential wait time for the bathroom.) The view from the windows was a nice one overlooking some trees and a courtyard. We were pleased with our choice of Sir Toby's. The only issue was that the room was only available for 3 nights as they were booked full on Friday night. Oh well, we would only stay 3 nights in Prague or find other accomodation if we wanted to stay longer. No worries!! After we settled in we headed out into town. Our first piece of business was getting some Czech currency. The ATM was just around the corner so we withdrew 3000 Kc (or approximately $100 U.S.). We had not eaten lunch so we stopped into the grocery store. The hostel had a kitchen with a refrigerator that was available for us to use so we bought groceries for lunch and breakfast for the next 3 days. This cost us about $6 U.S.. Things are relatively inexpensive for travelers from other countries with stronger currencies but for people who live and work in the Czech Republic things are comparable to the average income. In other words things are not as inexpensive as it is for us and it is impolite to talk about how inexpensive things are here. After lunch we headed into town. The tram costs 8 Kc (approximately 25 cents) for a one way ticket or 12 Kc for a transfer ticket. We took the tram in to Wenceslas Square where we then walked towards the Old Town square. Old Town square is an amazing square with well preserved buildings and a huge open area which was originally the market area. There is plenty of shopping to be had here along with concerts at each of the churches around town. We met up with Ryan and Casey for dinner and found a great Czech restaurant where we had wild boar, beef goulash, pheasant, and chicken, including drinks, salads, and desserts for not much more than $10 each. Dinner included some musicians and local dancing. After dinner we continued to wander around town including the Charles Bridge. The Charles Bridge leads to the Prague Castle, which is on our agenda for tomorrow. Erin took some great pictures from the bridge and a few other places nearby. I can't wait to see how they turn out.We sat at a restaurant in Old Town Square near where a musician was playing the guitar and singing American songs while getting the audience to participate. By now it was getting to be 11:00 pm so we took the tram back to our hostel where we read before calling it a night. |
| The Cathedral at the Prague Castle. |