It's here. WE'RE here. We have just come back to our hotel after our first day in Prague. But let's go back a bit... Let's start with yesterday.
Yesterday, I got up early and took Penny over to the dog park for a good run. Then, it was home to get Penny bathed, get showered & dressed, get the last minute packing done, and get all of Penny's packing done. Shortly after 1, my parents picked EDP, Penny and I up and we took off for my Gran's for a visit. After a cup of tea, we headed over to the airport so that EDP and I could check in. We hadn't been able to check in online so we (read: I) wanted to get to the airport at least three hours early so we didn't have to rush through anything.
Well, the airport was really quiet. And after waiting for somewhere around 30 minutes to check in, we breezed through security and hiked over to our gate. EDP went to grab a snack and I settled in to wait for boarding. Not long after our snack, the plane started to board. I didn't understand why they were boarding so early so I took another look at my ticket. I thought we were leaving at 6:50. Nope. We were leaving at 6:10.
The flight was relatively smooth. We had one bit of turbulence with the seat belt sign on but other than that, it was good. The landing was smooth and we were on time. We cleared customs in Brussels and then headed over to our gate where our connecting flight was already boarding. It left right on time and was a great flight. We got to Prague with no problems, collected our bags and were ready to go.
We took a taxi to our hotel, where we stowed our bags and then decided to head down to the Old Town Square by way of the Charles Bridge after grabbing a quick bite to eat (apple strudel for me, cheese plate for EDP.) Our hotel is on a fairly long, steep hill with the castle at the top and the bridge at the bottom. We headed down to the bridge along the cobblestone roads and found our way to the Old Town Square and the astronomical clock. We went to the top of the tower to get a great view of the city (yes, including me - we just had to wait for my drugs to kick in.) Space was really cramped, though, and with so many people, it was hard to get a good view of anything. But what we did see what beautiful - and there were a LOT of spires to see, so it's not hard to understand where the "city of a hundred spires" tag comes from. Once we were back down in the square, we headed back up to the hotel to check in.
Our room is up on the third floor and is really more of a suite. We've got a lovely four poster bed with a little sitting area. We also have a large hall area where our luggage is residing and where the bathroom and another small bedroom opens off of. Hotel Green Lobster has turned out to be pretty good so far. Once we got our bags dropped, it was time for a shower and a nap (or a nap and a shower, for some of us.) Then it was back into the Old Town Square for dinner and a ghost walk.
EDP had found a restaurant in our guidebook he wanted to try so we were making our way down to it when we realized that he had expected me to remember where it was and I expected him to have the guidebook with him. We ended up finding it anyway and dinner down in their lower level. I had traditional Bohemian cabbage pancakes and EDP had some kind of platter with duck and ham and sausage and dumplings and cabbage and bread and who knows what else. I also dived right into drinking a beer with my dinner, something I'm not going to be adding to my short-list of worthy alcoholic beverages but it did get Thing 52 off my list.
Once dinner was over, we headed back into the square to wait for our tour to start. Our guide was Simon, who appeared to either be British or faking a British accent. He lead us around some gorgeous streets and alleys, telling us some of Prague's less-than-rosy past. It was a nice night for a walk and seeing a lot of the buildings lit up for night was beautiful. With the tour over, we headed back to our hotel where we've settled in for the night and I expect will be getting to sleep soon. We do have some lovely pictures, already, and I'd post them but I'm just too tired right now. Maybe tomorrow.