Czech Republic series: "A Day in Prague"

Arrival in Prague – The best two things not to do when traveling overseas is not to give in: not to your first money-changer, and not to sleep. I made the first a mistake, and the second a success, though the pace of the first day has me a cold.

Walter’s nephew and his spouse met us at the airport, and we taxied to the hotel half-way between the city center and the airport. The hotel – Krystal – used to be a university dorm; half of it remains so. Our rooms reminded us more of college days than the Holiday Inn. $40.00 per person per night, it comes out.

We met Walter’s ex-brother-in-law, also at the hotel, and then the six of us walked to the bus stop and rode a bus and then a subway into the city center.

Oh, the walking we did. The more I could do of it, the less tired I felt. When we stopped, I could sleep almost standing up. Our walking tour wound through new parts, old parts, and extra old parts.

The part of Prague (Praha in localese) I most wanted to see was the Charles Bridge. A few years ago Walter had preached at my church, and used a picture of a Christ figure from this bridge, a figure often questioned as to what-the-hey’s going on here. They say, “Wasn’t Christ a Christian?”

The Charles Bridge was completely covered in tourists. It is not a car-traffic bridge. However, adding to the thousands of people, several lanes were sectioned off for reconstruction. Huskers selling gim-gaws, art, and caricatures, performing music and tricks, begged the ever-slow moving river of people on the bridge to slow down yet more.

From there, a wonderful meal at the Casanova Café – Italian. As the conversation lagged, so did my eyes close!

Then up to the castle … ever-tightening streets, 20-30-degree angles, the tourist trade in full swing in the old houses. An old church with perhaps the most colorful stained glass I’d ever seen:

Long walk cut short: Back to the hotel for an 11 hour sleep.

Thanks for reading!