Day 1, May 24, 2008. Prague, Czech Republic

We’re dragging a little bit but a late afternoon nap has refreshed us. Air-travel-wise our trip has been uneventful. Both the BA flight and the CZA flight were on time. The Cedaz shuttlebus was a little amusing. I felt that we were at the whim of the bus driver and left not at the scheduled time of 11:30am but when he had finished his cigarette (s).

K+K is a beautiful hotel. I look forward to having breakfast in the breakfast dining room which looks like a floating island in hotel space. Our room wasn’t ready when we arrived so we walked through Wenclas Square to have lunch at Branicky Skipek and the non-English speaking staff. Jess took her old Czech language skills out for a test-drive. They sputtered and coughed but at least we got the food that we ordered. The waiter refused to even attempt English (just as Lonely Planet had predicted) and when he asked me a question in Czech and I answered with a shrug and a “huh?” he answered with a shrug of his own, jotted something down in his notebook and left us. We persevered though and had our first halusky and gulas of the trip.

We returned to the hotel for our power nap. Later at the Rudolfinum we saw Mengla Huang and Peter Finstrom in concert as part of the Prague Spring celebration. The nearly two hour performance was very energetic and featured no fewer than 6 encores. Not sure if this was something typical of classical concerts or to Prague-ers but it got to be a little annoying for us when they continued to play after the 4th encore during which the performers were given bouquets of flowers and another standing ovation.

Prior to the Rudolfinum we walked through Old Town Square to the Vltava. The Old Town Square is a huge open space that is awe-inspiring for the massive space that it creates. With centuries old buildings framing the square and the Jan Hus statue and Astronomical Clock in the center this was a great first (re)introduction to Prague. Along the river we had a drink and a light dinner. The views were incredible the food was not. But we were there for the ambiance and the beer. At this point I made a solemn oath to not order chicken again on this trip. The amount of chicken on my sandwich was barely enough to register a flesh wound on any chicken. In fact, with the amount of chicken meat on my sandwich – whatever chicken gave up their flesh for me was probably still wandering around some chicken coop somewhere in the Czech lands a small band-aid covering what they gave up for my dinner. Before heading over to the concert we had our first encounter with the Charles Bridge (Karlov Most) on this trip. At dusk the saints on the bridge take on this celestial quality and the sunset views were fabulous.

After the Rudolfinum we walked back to the hotel via a circuitous route through the Old Town Square and Wenclas Square and had a drink at the hotel.

I’m amazed at how quiet this city is compared to other large cities. The constant traffic noise is largely absent from daily life when compared with New York or Boston.