Despite the fact that the beds in our train cabin were extremely comfortable, I did not sleep much. The train is noisy and jostles around, and I’m just not good at sleeping in those conditions. This, of course, didn’t help my cold, which has now, as I write this, blossomed into completely plugged sinuses. I am pretty miserable at the moment.
After breakfast, we watched the scenery go by at 100 mph.
Upon our arrival in Prague, we easily found a taxi. The ride to our apartment was scary, to say the least. It reminded me of a harrowing taxi ride I once took in Italy. However, even the driver put on his seat-belt in Prague!
What can I say about our apartment… it is right in the heart of Prague. We are just steps from Old Town Square, which is a bustling center of activity. And I love the way a lot of the old European buildings are carryovers from the days of riding horses. The building will have a locked main entrance that leads into a courtyard. This makes the whole building secure and allowed your horses to be stabled below, also within the safety of the building. Now cars are kept in the courtyard, making the apartment building resemble a tiny gated community. It’s really a great concept.
There was one small (pun intended) problem with our apartment that really gave Jim a pain in the neck on the first day… the door into the kitchen is right around 5’9” tall. Every other door is normal height except this one, and poor Jim whacked his head on it three times before he finally learned to duck for it.
The Old Town Square is like a big piazza with restaurants, statues and amazing buildings. The architecture here is just something else. Many of the buildings are extraordinarily opulent with fantastic details. I was not expecting it to be so dramatic. In fact, I somehow assumed that Eastern Europe was “poor” or less progressive than Western Europe. But this city is alive! This is a great example of why people need to travel; we have these stereotypes that are hard to knock until we witness things firsthand. I was not expecting Prague to be like this at all. I’ve been really surprised.
We saw some great bicycle rickshaws in the square. I’ve seen all different types in different areas of the world, but they all run on the same fuel: people power! These ones were particularly creative-looking.
Proof that every place in the world is different and yet the same, Prague has a lot of the same fancy fashion shops as Zurich. I find that the prices here, however, are more on par with London.
Jim took some really amazing photos at dusk in the square.
This is the astrological clock on one of the buildings there.
For dinner, we got savory crepes at a street vendor.
I took some Advil PM in order to sleep last night. Unfortunately the extra sleep did not help my cold the way I thought it would. Here’s hoping that I’ll feel healthier tomorrow.
