Prague Day 1

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Well, despite the airline Lufthansa's strike, we made it to Prague. It was a long travel day and night, and half of the next day. Neither Steve nor I could sleep on the plane, save for a few minutes dozing here and there through the night. Once we arrived in the Prague airport, a guide from Viking (the cruise line) met us and arranged transport for a whole group of us to the Palace hotel, which is in the middle of the historic old part of town. The Palace hotel was built in 1909 in Viennese Art Nouveau Style, whatever that is, but is sure is fancy.

Prague is the capital city of the Czech Republic, and has around 1.2 million people. It has a long history, back to around the forth or fifth century BC. The Prague Castle, that we still see today, was built around the year 800. That's just the beginning of the history of this city. It is rich with architectural treasures from many periods, all with their own story. But being the first day, we just wanted to look.

We arrived in the early afternoon, and could easily have fallen into bed at that point, but we didn't want to get our sleep patterns all mixed up, so we decided to go for a walk to try to stay awake as long as possible. We asked at the desk if there was a Christmas market nearby, and were directed to a square about 4 blocks away. There were a few wooden stalls set up in the square selling food, drinks and various trinkets. I noticed a lot of cutwork embroidery, but I couldn't tell if it was handmade or machine made, so I didn't buy any. We just walked around and looked mostly, although we did get hot drinks - Steve hot a hot spiced wine, and I got a hot apple juice. I also couldn't resist a gingerbread cookie from a lady selling only gingerbread, so I put it in my pocket to snack on later. I didn't want to stay out too long as it felt cold. It was about 3 degrees C (37 F), and was okay for a while, but the wind started to feel cold as it started to get dark. It gets dark early here - around 5pm. We managed to stay awake until 5:45, but then couldn't take it any longer, we had to get some sleep. So, we had a really long night, but were ready to get up early for the walking tour of the city - that's tomorrow's post.

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Comments

[johnlays]

Beauty of Prague
I love travelling too and enjoying the scenery but without forgetting my exercise routine to keep fit.

[Dawn and Steve]

Beauty of Prague
John, I've been getting plenty of exercise tromping around on the cobblestone streets here! But, what you say is true. Enjoy the photos.