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Published: July 15th 2006
Two days since the Contiki, still dehydrated, I woke early as the morning light beamed through the skylight. We were in Prague, staying with Zina and George who had kindly let us stay in the spare loft and were to become our unofficial tour guides. They are currently living in Prague as George is working on a geology project and assures us he´s about to strike oil any day now!
Our first day we walked through the back streets and explored the beautiful city with Zina. After a few hours, our feet and hunger suggested we go in search of a quiet spot for lunch, which took us across the King Charles Bridge and down to a riverside spot where we sampled our first Czech beer. After lunch and just around the corner from the apartment was Wenceslas Square, a 600 year old boulevard laid out during the reign of Charles IV which we used as our main landmark while navigating through the labyrinth of cobblestone streets. We definitely got lost a few times but somehow always managed to find our way to the boulevard baguette shop just up the road for lunch. 😊 Mmm
Having the Internet at
our fingertips for the entire time allowed us to plan the next stage of our trip, research places and book flights. Also having two comfortable couches and cable TV gave us the perfect excuse to catch up on the ten or so DVD´s we bought in Thailand and to get a fresh dose of extreme sports and to see the world through the Discovery Channel. Skype, probably a new word for a lot, but it´s a household name for tech savvy George who demonstrated it´s use in making very cheap phone calls over the Internet. I knew about the technology but never got around to testing it in a true slack IT guy style...but I think once I get setup in London I will definitely get a voice over IP solution like Skype, as it´s by far the best way to make long distance calls to a standard phone or mobile.
George´s tip - Get Skype Zina has a saying that Prague should be known as "Porky Prague". Not because of the people, but because every menu features pork, dumplings and not much else. It must be their national dish or maybe they just like pork and potatoes
with everything, either way we loved it and tried pork in many different disguises. One night during the world cup, George and his mate Mike took us out on the town for beers and down to the town square to watch the big screen. Now, the only thing to do 'when in Rome´... or Prague was to order the Pork Knee which we found with ease at a local pub. You´ll have to check out the photo but I can assure you it was a huge amount of meat, served on the spit which left us all satisfied and ready for some more beers back at the square. It was about three times that size befre George was let loose on it! 😊
After exploring the Prague Castle and taking many photo´s of the European 'movie set' feel of Prague, it was time to say goodbye to Zina and George, their generous hospitality and the comforts of a home away from home. France was next on the cards which sounded great in theory, but getting up at 4.30am (the first time before 10am in over a week) could have easily been traded for another sleep in. We had to
go as our flight to Paris probably wouldn´t wait for two lazy travellers, so it was in the back of a Taxi for us, complete with classic Prague driver who actually stuck to the quoted meter reading! Amazing for the notoriously corrupt taxi service here.
George and Zina - Thank you again for your generosity, great chats, movie criticism and for spending your time with us. We had a much needed rest and wouldn´t hesitate in recommending your Bed n Breakfast to other travelers. 😊
Thanks
The Boys
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Jeff Cox
non-member comment
Wonderful!
Hi Darren, Gee what a wonderful place Prague appears to be. I never thought I would want to go there but after seeing your pictures - WOW it is very nice. Tim's 21st birthday party was great, over 100 people came, huge mess to clean up but well worth it. Enjoy the rest of your trip. Jeff