After our last day in Dresden three of us—Leigh, Debbie, and myself—took the extension to Prague, my second visit there. We waited at the appointed time in the hotel lobby for our shuttle, but it didn’t seem to be there on time. I went out to see if it might be on the street, but there was only a large bus, so I returned to the lobby and we waited some more. Finally the driver came in looking for us. It turned out that he was the driver of the bus I had just seen. Seemed like a waste for a full sized bus to take three people, but c'est la vie. We eventually made it to Prague, though the driver had a little trouble finding our hotel, the Mamaison Hotel Riverside. It was on a narrow dead end street into which the bus drove. We were not sure how he got out once we checked into the hotel, but somehow he did. We were met in the lobby by Barbara, the VBT representative in Prague who gave us some orientation and suggested a dinner cruise on the Vltava, which we agreed to. She then took us on a walking tour up the left bank of the river as far as the Karlův Most, at which point she left us. Not the greatest tour; her English was somewhat strained, and there wasn’t much of importance to see. We had lunch at a restaurant near the foot of the bridge, then walked over. It was really quite crowded with tourists and others, not at all as I remembered it from my earlier visit. At the other side we parted: Debbie and Leigh to see the astronomical clock and the old town, and I to the Rudolfinium to exchange my ticket authorization for an actual ticket. We were both disappointed. The clock was undergoing repair and the ticket exchange would have to wait until the night of the concert. I then took the metro (for the hell of it) from Staroměstká to the Můstek stop at the head of Wenceslas Square where I found a Prague tee shirt in souvenir shop, I returned to Staroměstká and took a tram back up the right bank to the Fred and Ginger building and crossed Jiráskův Most to the hotel. (The Fred and Ginger building looks like a Frank Gehry design.) I met Debbie and Leigh in the lobby about six, and we crossed back over the river and took a tram to the boat landing, where we got on and were assigned our table. There was a jazz trio to entertain. The trip was something of a disappointment, as you really couldn’t see much since it was dark out, but it was at least relaxing, and the food, if not great, was at least decent. It was buffet style, but if there were lines to get to the food, there was at least enough for all. After the cruise we took a tram back, and walked back over the bridge to the hotel.
Saturday was the day I had planned to visit the Pražský hrad. I walked from the hotel to pick up the #22 tram which climbed a hill that, even with the switchbacks, I would have expected to be too steep for a rail line, and brought me to the entrance to the castle. Then it was follow the crowd to the entrance, at which there was a long line, as there was a security checkpoint that slowed things down considerably. Once it had been determined I was not a terrorist however, things were more straightforward, and you usually just walked at your own pace to wherever you wished inside the castle grounds. I decided not to get a ticket for full access, as there was enough to see for free. The only real line was for entrance to the cathedral, but that moved fairly quickly. St. Vitus cathedral was in Gothic style with a very high ceiling. After the cathedral visit, I wandered the grounds, looking at the other buildings and briefly watching a medieval trades demonstration. When I had finished, I repaired to the west end of the castle to the cafe/restaurant for lunch. Following that, I waited on the moat bridge to see the changing of the guard. Caught a tram back to the city and walked to the hotel to rest up. That evening at the Rudolfinium the Czech Philharmonic as part of a Dvořák festival presented the Sv Ludmilla oratorio for chorus, singers, and orchestra. After dinner at a nearby cafe, I went to the Rudolfinium and exchanged my chit for a ticket for the performance. It was all in Czech, but the music was first rate, as you would expect from Dvořák. Because of the language, it is probably not performed much if at all in the US, which is unfortunate. I regretfully left at the second intermission, as I had a very early call for the airport the next morning, taking the tram to the hotel.
After a short sleep and an early call, there was no chance at breakfast, but the hotel kindly provided a box of food, though at the early hour I was up, I only had limited appetite. Arrived at the airport in the dark and checked in. The upside to the early hour was that there was no waiting in line, either to check in or for security. After being certified wholesome, I went to my gate and waited for the flight to Amsterdam.