More Prague

Wed 10March. Sheila and I had a nice breakfast which is included in the price of the room which makes this hotel a great deal. It costs about €55 per night. The breakfast we had would have cost at least €18 making the real cost of the stay here about €4o. It's clean, uncrowded, and convenient. The staff is great. I'd recommend staying here. The day wasclear but cold. There are still small patches of ice on the cobbles making it sometimes trecherous if you don't pay attention. Nevertheless long johns were necessary. We stopped in an interesting toy store. We were intrigued by the carrosel of marionettes in the window. There are small toy shops all over Europe selling wooden toys, puzzels, marionettes, puppets and the like. It was fun and whimsical. Then we went to an internet cafe. It's interesting many of these places require your passport but not this one, and it was cheap costing Kc19 for 19 minutes less than €1 for 19 minutes a real bargain. Now it was out to see the sights. This is a beautiful city, it's crowded with people and traffic more than any city we've been in so far. It's also quite touristy with lots of tourist shops selling hats, tee shirts, scarves, sweatshirts all made in some other country saying things like "Czech Us Out". Music, live music abounds here. There are adds all over for concerts in classical, jazz, or rock. Clubs advertise live music nightly. Hawkers pass out fliers advertising musical events and restaurants. It's a busy place, and this is off season. We crossed the famous Charles Bridge which is under repair with scaffolding making it even more crowded with vendors and teenagers mostly. It seemed that every school group in Europe was there. It felt like Golden Sierra High School at passing period. We found our way to Hradcany, Prague Castle. Trying to negotiate a city using the little city maps the hotels provide is difficlt at best. They're small and the print is microscopic. Well try negotiating the city when the tiny print is in Czech. It was a challenge. We got there though, and the view of the city is magnificent: castles, cathedrals, and more spires than one can count all set around the Vltava River. We were not inspired to go into the Castle. I'm not sure if it was just our mood, but after Italy, it just didn't seem that impressive besides we were hungry. We walked down the hill and found this cute little local restaurant. We shared the restaurant with a group from Italy and a couple from the UK. We got our bill, and we experienced some sticker shock: Kc737 about €31 for lunch more than last night's dinner for much less. Everyone in the restaurant complained about the bill. The lesson: pay attention especially when you're close to a popular tourist destination. They charged just to sit at a table. They'd placed bread on our table. We,thinking it was complimentary, ate it, and we believed we were overcharged not being used to the currency. As I said, everyone complained and vowed never to come back, but they didn't care; there'd be more tourist there to fill the void. They'd never see us again. We walked back to the hotel processing our learning experience: assume nothing; ask if you're being charged for seating or anything that's being offered be it bread or cabbage on your bratwurst sandwich. You just have to read the situation. Call it the art of travelling. Back at the hotel, we put our feet up and relaxed before going out again. Soon we were out walking the city. We walked along the river looking for the Jewish Quarter which ironically enough Hitler planned as a memorial for the exterminated race thereby preserving it. We couldn't find it probably because we were shivering from the cold and could not hold the map still. On the way back to the hotel, we looked into the spectacular shops. Prague literally glitters with cut crystal and glass shops. They are truely beautiful and it's also nice to get out of the cold. Back at the hotel, we turned on the tv. We relaxed. There we were inThe Czech Republic, watching a soccer match between Madrid Real, a Spanish team play Lyon Olympia, a French team on a German sports channel shown on a Japanese set as we rested on a bed with Chinese made sheets. As Thomas Friedman says, "the world is flat"