Last Stop: Czech Republic

Since we just put in a wake up call for 5:30am, and have to leave for the airport at 6:15, I'll do my best to sum up the last three days while also making it to bed before 1am.

As Papa mentioned in his interview, we left Germany on Sunday and took a bus up to Prague. We arrived at our hotel, the Imperial Hotel, right around lunch, and had a bite to eat at the Imperial Cafe. We had a little bit of time before the "briefing" with our Czech host, Jana, so I decided to check out the fitness room while Papa unpacked. Turns out, the fitness center is in the basement - floor -1 in the elevator. Once I got down there, it was about as sketchy as this hotel can get (certainly not as sketchy as the Diamond after dark), mostly because it was deserted. After scoping it out, I still had about 20 minutes to spare, so I decided to check out the computer situation, but the elevator had other plans. Firstly, you must swipe your room key to activate the elevator. This I did, as I pressed the button labeled "receptiton"...

*Boom* (normal elevator noises) *Second Boom* (not normal elevator noises). *Beep* (I swipe my card again, thinking I made a mistake). *Click* (I press the reception button again) *.......* (silence..) *Beep, click*, *......*. *Beep, click*, *.......*. It was then that I determinded that I was indeed stuck in the elevator.

I pressed the call button, hoping that the person who answered could speak English. They could, and said they would send someone to fix it right away. 30 minutes went by, and I heard a few bumps and scratches, but nothing significant. I called again, asking them to alert Papa of my situation, so as not to worry him when I didn't show up for the meeting. Just as I hung up, the door slowly began to open, revealing the face of my rescuer. He kindly showed me the staff steps, and I actually made it to the meeting on time, not to mention before Papa.

When the business was through, Jana took us for a stroll around town to get our surroundings. For those of you who have been to Prague before, we are just up the street from the Municipal House and the Powder Tower, not too far from Celetna. Jana showed us how to walk to the Old Town Square, where we could find lots of restaurants, shops, and beautiful buildings. Papa and I especially liked the Astronomical Clock, and joined the crowd of people waiting to watch the hour turn; each of the 12 Disciples made an appearance, along with other cool things.

On the way to Old Town Square, I noticed a Mozart and Dvorak (two of my favorite composers) concert at the Municipal House that evening. We decided to go, eating first at the French restaurant located in the House as well. Both were excellent; either that hall had the best acoustics I've heard in a long time, or that was the best chamber orchestra I've heard in a long time. A mix of both, I think.

The next morning (Monday), we took a tour of Prague Castle, the largest castle in the world. We slowly made our way back across the Vltava (we know it as Moldau) River via Charles Bridge. While reading a little bit about Prague in Tom Dunlap's "Europe on a Shoestring" book, I read about an all-vegan restaurant that was pretty close to Old Town Square - Country Life. Papa and I had scoped it out the day before, and decided to have lunch there after our tour. It was really good, but we definitely saw a different side of Prague. For one, I think we were the only ones in there from the U.S., which is something that hasn't happened often on this trip. For another, neither Papa or I have dreads, gauged ears, tattoos, or a drug-dealer on speed dial. Spending 9 months of the year in Athens, I'm used to this crowd, and I think Papa could handle it. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed it, but put simply, we were a little out of place. Also, I know some think of veganism as a little drastic and strange, but until I get a tattoo that says "vegan", you have nothing to worry about with me haha..

Earlier, we noticed a poster for another concert at the Municipal House - The Best of Gershwin. We decided that since we'd had good luck there the night before, we might as well try it again. We bought the tickets, and headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up. Papa's camera battery finally died on Monday, after a long and painful battle. As we were walking home, we not only stopped at the Palladium (a shopping center with 200+ shops...to quote Papa, it was "the shopping queen's paradise"), but also at a Canon store; Papa wanted to buy a battery charger since I was running out of room on my memory card. The guy working there was pretty nice, and offered to charge Papa's battery in the store if he could come back two hours later to pick it up. Two hours later, as we headed to dinner and the concert, we picked up the battery, fully charged. Side note: In Prague, the currency is the Czech Koruna, and approximately 20K=$1. When I asked Papa how much he charged him to charge the battery, he said 50K. He laughed when I told him it had only cost $2.50.

Both dinner and the concert were excellent, but for the sake of time, I'll move onto today, Tuesday, our last day in Prague.

For the first time since we left ELO, we were able to sleep in. I don't if Papa took advantage of this, but I did, and didn't wake up until 9am (when compared to 6:30 and 7:00 that we're used to, 9 is sleeping in). After breakfast, Papa and I headed back to Old Town Square to do some last minute gift shopping. There are so many shops and gifts to choose from, that this took longer than we thought, but it was fun, too. We stopped for lunch and split a veggie pizza (no cheese), which was actually really good; Papa claims it was the best meal yet.

At 1:30, we met up with Jana and the others and headed out for our last tour. First, we walked to the Estates Theater, where our guide, who must've been 85 or older, gave us a very entertaining tour. Not only was the building beautiful, but it also has some very interesting history. Most notably, Mozart conducted his opera "Don Giovanni" on the Estates stage where it premired in 1791. Apparently, Mozart was better received in Prague than he was in Vienna, and he spent lots of time here. Our guide played little excerpts of certain pieces for us, and even took us under the stage and through connecting passageways into other buildings.

Next, we had a tour of the Municipal House, but since Papa and I had seen two concerts there, and eaten at 2 of 3 of the restaurants, we probably would've been just as qualified to lead that tour.

Next, we decided to check out some of the streets we hadn't seen, so we took the impressive Na Prikope to the equally impressive Vaclavske Namesti (Wenceslas Square). There are just so many shops and beautiful buildings, that Papa stopped taking pictures. Yes, even Papa did that.

As we were heading back, we noticed yet another poster for a concert at the Municipal House; this time, they were doing show tunes. Papa got cleaned up, and then we headed to a restaurant not far from our hotel for dinner. We were debating whether or not to go yet again to the Municipal House, but decided, why not? We don't usually have the opportunity to see three concerts in three nights, plus, we now have three big genres covered.

And that's it. Our time in Europe has come to an end (for now). Our tour guide in Budapest warned us early on, "Out of the 2000 photos you take, there might be 10 that you actually like", and I'd say we definitely have taken our share of photos. Hopefully there will be more than 10 that we like, and if you're willing to look at all of them, I'm sure we'll be willing to show you.

Thanks for reading these posts and keeping up with our travels. However, I hear my pillow calling. We'll see you guys back in the states.