A couple of years ago it was decided that instead of buying Grandma a Christmas present we would travel to a European city and have a few days away, last year we went to Berlin, this year Prague.
We drove to Grandma’s the night before, Martin as always equipped for travel, had his supply of clear see through bags as we were only taking hand luggage. He explained to Grandma that all liquids must go in the bag and taken out when going through security. Great, all sorted, I took one of Grandma’s clear bags and she had a bag with a lipstick and face powder, so far so good. We arrive at Gatwick and go through security, Martin and I glide through, Gma gets pulled over, her luggage held back. Half an hour later the security guard was still pulling cosmetics from her bag, I was waiting for a cricket bat, rubber chicken, kitchen sink etc. to appear, as it turned in to a scene from Air Plane! Oh Christ I thought here we go, as Grandma walked away from security she was twittering something about … well I am an old lady I need A lot of cream ha ha, bless her. The 9a.m. flight was fine, all on time, but I have to say Martin and I were stunned when ordering a coffee Grandma ordered a Heineken, they say to watch the quiet ones!
We arrive in Prague, the car was not waiting as it should have been, then bloody Gustuv turns up and piles us in to a van with other people, did you hear me OTHER PEOPLE!! It was supposed to be private hire, well he was not getting a tip.
The Hotel was stunning, Unitas was full of history. A baroque church next door, where you can hear the chant of the convent a place where its history tells amazing stories of the Jesuits, the Grey Sisters of St. Franciscus, Communist Secret Police who took over the building with its infamous prison. The president Vaclav Havel and H.R.H. Prince of Wales have stayed at the Hotel. Well if it is good enough for them ……. The energy was powerful and peaceful.
Prague is a walking city, and every corner you turn there is something else of interest, as you may know I do love to shop, but this time it was to the dulcet tones of Grandma saying ‘where she gone now’ lol. Needless to say my spending was well under control!
The next day we took a bus tour of the City. The guide as lovely as he was, was cross eyed, now, I am not making fun but it was very distracting when he said to look left and his eyes went right. I found it hard to look at the sights as I was quite fascinated by him. Our Fit Bits recorded 17000 steps on day one, we decided to rest with a drink at the Easter market, bursting for the loo it got quite complicated when I ended up in the restaurant kitchen and could not find my way out. The Easter Market was lovely, lots of colour and noise, a real buzz about his place.
Friday it rained so we went on a boat trip, there are many Russians in Prague and they don’t queue like us Brits or have a sense of humour it seems. An elbow fight commenced with me and pushy man as I was not giving up our spot. Martin laughed as he said the determination of me nearly pushed him in the river, well that would have been a shame lol. We came off the boat to pick up the bus, only to have our crossed eyed guide waiting for us, honestly you couldn’t make it up, now we all had the giggles.
One negative about Prague was the food, nothing was hot, and the choices were a bit odd, I ordered a coffee in a restaurant which was almost cold, so I took it back, the barista look at me as if he had scrapped me off his boot as I complained, and he duly stuck his finger in my drink (I have to admit I thought oh f*ck please don’t give it back to me) but I held my stare, he agreed it was cold and duly made me another cold one, and before you think it, no I was not that brave to take it back a second time.
Our last night we had dinner at an Italian, the only real decent meal of our stay, we got a bit tipsy as Grandma and I almost got run over by a car backing in to a space, can I put on the record I saved Grandma from death! We walked to the Astrological clock as it struck 9p.m. (yes we are stop outs) the 12 Apostles moved around the top of the clock looking down on us, then everyone cheered, well not us, they need to get out more.
Prague is beautiful, in fact one of the nicest Cities I have been to, the people are lovely, the place is stunning and the beer and wine is cheap. The Churches and holy buildings dot around the city, which is interesting as apparently 60% are non-believers or atheists, I know that because the cross eyes tour guide told us. If you get a chance GO, you will love it.
