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Czech from the air
So long Czech, I'll come again soon! I had hoped to get up early and run through the old town square one more time but that didn't happen. I woke up plenty early thanks to a lyrical group of birds outside my window. I kept turning over hoping they would quiet down and tried to go back to sleep. Finally giving up I got up and got busy finishing packing. I had bought two bottles of Kofola last night to use as pillars in my duffle bag in hopes of cushioning any blows and weight placed on top of my bag. We'll see how it works...
Walking into the breakfast room I noticed most of the people were rather young, I assumed they were staying in the hostel rooms. After a typical continental breakfast of meats, cheeses, and bread with coffee I asked the fellow at the reception desk to order me a taxi in one hour. He asked where I wanted to go and told him Namesti Republiky. Puzzeled (and probably thinking I'm kinda stupid) he politely informed me that it was very close and I could walk there. I answered, that yes I could walk there but not with my heavy luggage. He didn't argue with me and told me he would arrange a taxi.
I went back up to my room and brushed my teeth and made sure that I had everything ready to go. I debated if I had enough time to go do something, get coffee and the place that advertises coffee to go, walk down to Wenceslas square. But decided that I would not be able to get back in time so I settled for quietly laying on the bed which was actually quite nice. I was just getting ready to leave when the front desk called to say my taxi was here. I clunked my bag down the steps. It is a good thing that they have metal caps on the edge of the steps to prevent holes in the carpet by the likes of me.
I turned in my key to the front desk and started following the taxi driver out with my back pack strapped on and pulling my huge purple duffle (it has wheels) and my small blue wheelie duffle that is my carry-on. Half way through the courtyard the taxi driver walked back and took the handle of my purple duffle. I thought we were off to a good start. Inside the car he asked for the address to which I replied Namesti Republiky. He rambled something off the only word I understood was "Airport." I thought he was trying to convince me that he could take me to the airport so I said, "No airport, Namesti Republiky." He took off as if he was in the race of his life but not the way I expected. As we were about to get on to the highway I thought I was getting taken. He was going to take me to the airport and then demand a high fare, I was sure of it. He got off at the next exit for city center and I calmed down realizing he was coming in from the south side which still seemed odd. We were only a few blocks away from the square when we were at the hotel, but then maybe they were one way streets, I hadn't been paying attention. As we were coming up to the square he announced, "Namesti Republiky" and made a motion that I took for 'where do I let you off?' I pointed to the Cedok bus stop. At that my taxi driver erupted yelling at me and hit the steering wheel with his hand. My conclusion is that when this little trip started and he asked me something about the airport he was asking if I wanting to go here and when I said "no airport" he thought I was saying 'no, I don't want to go to the Cedok airport bus stop.' He just kept yelling and I said 'I don't understand', in Czech, which kinda slowed down his verbal rampage. Hanging a fast and tight U-turn he pulled up beside the Cedok bus. I had packed my wallet so I got out and opened the trunk to get it out. The driver was quickly out telling me I had to pay. I asked, "Kolik?" (how much?) and he went to print it out. I had my small duffle resting on the edge of the trunk which had a plastic edge so that I could get my wallet out and the driver went ballistic. I set my bag on the ground and he started pointing out big chips in the bumper. I don't know if he was trying to accuse me or not, although the grouch he was I would assume he was accusing me. I paid him exactly what was on the bill and said a rude 'thanks' and turned my back on him as quickly as possible. What a nightmare! Why would he care if we had a language mistake and he ended up having to go farther than necessary? He got a higher fare so why would he be so perturbed is beyond me. But what a jerk! Despite this particular driver, the AAA taxi company is still the more reputable in the city. They do actually print out a receipt so you know the fare is correct and they arn't scamming you which is very common.
Paying my fare for the Cedok bus to the airport I went and sat down on the bus and fumed. Finally I told myself I was being ridiculous, it was just a stupid taxi driver that I will never see again, there is no reason to allow him to rile me up - just let it go!
One other lady got on the bus and we were off to the airport. Even though it was 10 am the traffic was pretty bad and it took us 45 minutes to get to the airport.
Marie- thanks for your comment. Can you send me an email or some place that I can respond? If not check back here in a few days and I'll post some ideas on safety.
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