One day in Prague

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I am an aviation nut. I love airplanes and that is why I have worked on or around them for the past 18 years. One of the newest aircraft out there is the Airbus 380, which is a large double deck aircraft that usually holds around 600 passengers. I wanted to fly this aircraft. Up to now, I would have had to travel a great distance to do so. They had been in service in Singapore, Australia, and the UAE. I was browsing some flight schedules recently and saw that Air France had an A-380 in service on their New York to Paris route and so my planning began.

I had been to Paris before and even though I love it there, I am wanting to visit new places, so I decided to just transit there and return home via Prague.

This would give me a day to see Prague. Air France is our Skyteam partner and so I was able to get a discounted ticket for $82.

On Monday January 11, I flew from Indianapolis to New York-JFK on a Delta Connection CRJ. I arrived at JFK at 3pm and just wandered around for a few hours. At 7:10pm, I departed on Air France 007, an Airbus 380 to Paris-CDG. The take-off roll was so slow and smooth for such a large aircraft. I sat in seat 19D, on the lower deck of the aircraft. The Crew announced that we had a decent tailwind and it would be just about 6 hours to Paris. I had a meal of cheese ravioli and some red wine to drink. After dinner, I played some games on the entertainment system and then watched the movie JFK.

Yes, that is a rather ancient movie but I have always liked it! I caught a couple hours of sleep after the film and continued to sleep until landing, while skipping on the light breakfast.

Arrival into CDG was mostly painless. A lot of people hate that airport and while I find it a little confusing, I do not hate it. My connection to Prague was on Czech Airlines and I had a very long walk to get to the flight. I had arrived in terminal 2E and had to go to 2D, which took a good 30 minutes. Czech Airlines is also a Skyteam partner and so this ticket was $50. At about 10:30am, I was in seat 23C on board Czech Airlines flight 759 to Prague. The aircraft was an Airbus 320 and I just slept the entire flight. The plane was roomy and comfortable.

At around noon, I arrived into Prague. I went down and purchased a 24 hour transit pass from the kiosk in terminal 2 and was soon on bus 119 to Dejvicka metro station. It took about 15 minutes to get there and then it was a quick two stops on the green A line to the Staromestska stop. I exited the station and was hit by a blast of the cold air. It had been below zero back home when I left so it was not too unbearable. I walked over to the banks of the River Vltava and took some photos. I then walked towards the Charles Bridge. I was possibly going to meet a fellow Travbuddy there but I had limited internet access and zero cell phone access so I was not sure if it would happen. The plan was to meet at 2pm at the bridge.

I arrived a little early and so I crossed the bridge to take in all the wonderful sights! I went to the meeting point at 2 and waited about 15 minutes. It would not happen this day and so no worries, it was really a hit or miss anyways.

I made may way towards Old Town Square and my how beautiful it is! I am so impressed with the Tyn Cathedral, it must be one of the prettiest church buildings in the world. I was doing fine in the cold except for my hands. Note to self--bring gloves next time! I saw a Starbucks and went in to get a cup of coffee and warm up a little. After that, I went around the corner and made another Hard Rock Cafe visit. It was visit #98 and I was just there long enough to purchase a lapel pin.

I continued exploring the area by walking to the National Museum and Wenceslas Square. It was so pretty with all the fresh snow on the ground! I walked to the Powder Tower from there and then had some shawarma at a little restaurant nearby. It was now dusk and so I headed back to Old Town Square. I walked around the square and again to the Charles Bridge to get some night photos. Although cold, it was so peaceful and relaxing out there. I did not want to leave.

It was about 8pm now and I did not have any accommodations. I had a hostel in mind though and I made my way towards it. If all else failed, I would go back to PRG airport and sleep there. The hostel was called Arpacay and was near the Smichovske Nadrazi metro stop.

Even though it was out of the city center, it looked good and had good reviews. I obtained a bunk there in room of 8 for about $10. I had 3 people from Chile and 4 from the US in the dorm with me. We all talked a bit before going to sleep.

On Wednesday January 13, I awoke at 4am and got myself ready. The shower in the hostel was nice and hot with lots of pressure. I walked over to the metro station and headed back to the airport, taking the metro up to the Dejvicka station and then bus 119 to PRG airport. The trip took about an hour and I was at the airport around 6am. My flight was at 9:30am but I did not know how security would be since it was my first flight since the attempted bombing on Christmas day.

I just walked all around PRG airport before going to my gate at about 8am. My flight had 26 open seats in business class and 40 in coach so it would not be an issue to get on. At 9:30 am, I was on Delta flight 209, a 767-300 flying to New York-JFK. I was in seat 2G in the business cabin. The Crew announced a quick and smooth 8 hour flight to New York. I had a wonderful meal of chicken breast with some red wine to drink. I watched the movie Inglourious Basterds. I was happy to see that Delta had finally updated and added the on board cd selections. I spent a lot of the flight listening to Duran Duran's Greatest. I did catch a few hours of sleep and had the light snack before arrival.

My arrival into JFK was amazing! I was seat to curbside in 10 minutes or less.

It was around noon and we only have one nonstop from JFK to Indianapolis and it does not leave until about 7:30pm so I took the airport bus to LGA airport. I caught a Northwest Airlink CRJ to Indianapolis at 3:05pm and was home by 5pm.

We were supposed to go to Nassau sometime before or after this trip but it just did not work out at this time. Maybe in a few weeks. I was really looking forward to the beach and warm weather...

Another crazy trip down for 2010!

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