March 14, 2009 | Comments Off on Sleeping to Prague

Sleeping to Prague

This flight….well, I don’t really remember much. We left late from JFK, Dave and I managed to get seats together after some bargaining with other passengers, and then we talked for quite a while until dinner came. I was expecting that dinner was going to be good – this was Air France, after all. Christina always flew Air France specifically for the food. Well, this was NOT the case. The bread was ok, but the chicken not so much. These would be my last memories on the plane. I had a glass of white while and 2 Ambien pills and didn’t wake up for a very long time. In fact, I don’t’ remember the layover in Paris at all. I went through immigration, had my passport stamped, went through security again, and really only remember the most minor of details: we were looking for gate 2D and security thought that my Exodus book was water. That’s it. I really don’t recall the flight to Prague at all. We got there and I’m still a bit fuzzy on the details. Really, either 1 Ambien is enough or that flight is too short.
So – Prague – yes. We went to the information booth at the airport and got tickets to use the subway for 3 days. It didn’t cost that much at all. Then we went out to the curb and waited for the bus that would take us to the metro. After <10 min, the bus came. It was very nice and a cool computer voice said all of the stop names in Czech, which was really my first time hearing the language. It sounds Russian-ish but a bit more pleasant. After about 25 minutes we were at the subway station. Its weird here – you don’t have to show your ticket every time, but rather you just buy it and keep it on you. There’s a chance that someone will ask you for it, but it hasn’t happened so far. Partial honor system I suppose, or perhaps, partial “feeling-lucky” system. After 3 stops we got off the train and found our way to the hotel after only a little confusion (mostly within the hotel itself). We are staying on the 5th (6th) floor in this awesome place where we have an apartment with a view of the city and a great location. We unpacked for a bit and I showered. By that time it was time for our dinner cruise that Dave had gotten us for our anniversary.
The dock was not far away and we made it there in about 15 minutes. After getting the tickets, we found our way to our table and were given shots of this disgusting alcohol (which we later dumped out – bleck). The MC for the evening was this extremely Czech looking woman who spoke a bunch of languages and would rattle off things in Czech, German, Italian, French, English, and Spanish. After a few minutes the band started playing. It was really quite nice – a guitar, bass, drummer, and a jazz-ish singer. It was really nice music, almost surprisingly so. We started on the buffet and I think this is what is to be expected from Czech food. I had some salad, chicken, French fries, gravy, and a Czech dumpling, which isn’t a dumpling at all and is more like a piece of white bread that you put gravy on. Our table was by the window so we were able to see all of the buildings lit up. Shortly after starting, we seemed to just be chilling out in the middle of the river, not moving at all. We then pulled into something with a very large wall on the left and with another boat on our right. Wow we were so confused. After a little while, the water level started to rise. Oooo, we were in a lock!! How exciting!! We continued down the river, I had a giant beer (pilsner), and we continued to eat. This food is incredibly filling. After listening to the music, we went upstairs to get a better look at the city. It was cold, but ok. We stayed up there for a while and got to see us going through the lock again first-hand. I’m positive that I’m completely missing something, but why don’t they just leave the locks open? Why does the water level need to be adjusted and all of that. Isn’t it….water? Again, sure I’m missing something here. The Vltava River changes levels around the area of the Charles Bridge, so when you’re looking at it, it’s quite confusing. Water rushes from the upper level to the lower level and a mini rapids is the result. Very weird, and it seemingly comes out of nowhere. Anyways, at 10pm, the cruise was over and it was time to go back to the hotel.
After going back to the hotel very briefly, we set out again to take a quick walk and see Old Town Square. There wasn’t too much going on there but I caught a glimpse of the astronomical clock, which is pretty cool but useless. We also stopped by the hotel that Dave had stayed at back in 2004 and let’s say that I’m happy that we are where we are for $10 more per day. Haha. Back at the place Dave showered and we were in bed by 1am. These beds…not so comfy, but we were both asleep in no time at all.