Sometimes I'm so good, I impress myself!


Advertisement
Czech Republic's flag
Europe » Czech Republic » Prague » New Town
August 20th 2012
Published: August 20th 2012
Edit Blog Post

While I realize this is out of order, I will catch up and just wanted to post this before bed.
There's a title to start off with:-) today has been my best day here in Prague, not only because of the sights but what I accomplished and how happy I feel, sipping on a Czech beer or 2, as per my boss's suggestion. I'm really struggling with jet lag for some reason and was up most of last night in the wee hours between 12-5. Despite being exhausted, I still wolfed down some breakfast and raced to the Prague Castle, probably the most important historical site in the city. My Lonely Planet warned to get here early, while I still made it by 09:30, the crowds were multiplying in droves. Regardless, I had the pleasure of exploring the magnificent cathedral, probably the most stunning I've ever seen, with spires that literally are breathtaking, and a beautiful ceiling, among other things. I'm not overly religious, so cathedrals rank high for me based on architecture, and well this one was beyond impressive. In some ways this reminded me of the Alhambra, but of course a much different history and style (and older if memory serves me correctly). But massive area encompassed by beautiful gardens, 2 huge cathedrals, a royal palace, living quarters for the impoverished, courtyards, to name a few. One could easily spend a day here, I did about 4 hours and had an audio guide which helped enormously to understand what I was seeing. Moving on I hopped back on the Hop On/Hop Off bus and did almost a full go around just to A: get off my feet for a bit and enjoy A/C and see some more of the city I hadn't yet. I got off in the Lesser Square on the west side of the river and loved it! Quieter, beautiful architecture yet again, quaint and well I just loved the vibe of it. I'm a wanderer by nature so I just strolled the cobblestone street, with fewer crowds and just soaked up the atmosphere. Then I treated myself to the only sit down meal I had, at Cafe Savoy, which came highly recommended. It did not disappoint, taking me back to my Grandmothers house (she's Hungarian), and enough food I took leftovers for dinner and ensured room for dessert! I decided this was my birthday cake, since I'd had none the last weekend and with the true European coffee and Jill for company, it was perfect! Then came the wandering and the search for my obscure packing list as follows: Disposable razor (a girl just needs that in the summer)One triple A battery (noise reduction headphones, which I fondly refer to as my child drowning Peace phones)Pantyhose ( I realized my feet look like sausages from the heat and if I'm wearing my red heels tomorrow I better get something slippery to squeeze my feet in)Czech Playboy (not for me!) Odd, right? One can always play tourist in destinations however the ability to blend in and find odd non tourist stuff is the test. Well, I must admit, it took far less time than I thought it would and with my lack of local language limited to hello and thank you, I was impressed at myself! I literally got everything I was wanting, and even found the short cut back to the hotel finally, good day! Theres been a few times now the locals were assuming I was local and chatting away to me, I not understanding a word. My background is Eastern European so I'm sure I have some physical attributes, however there's still a part of me pleased I don't scream tourist! Now relaxing with a delicious beer, will have some leftovers from lunch later on and bed soon enough. Tomorrow brings a lazy morning of blogging, followed by flight to Budapest, to meet up with Gavin and the other team members for the Winners trip for top sales in our region. I know Gavin won't disappoint, 5 star service all the way and I'm quite excited to see what it will entail. Laundry time, carry on only does require some manual labour in destination......

Advertisement



Tot: 0.062s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 7; qc: 32; dbt: 0.0329s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.1mb