We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at the hotel in Frankfurt with prosciutto, smoked salmon, and cheese for me, toast and eggs for Glen. There was nothing keeping us at the hotel so we checked out. That's when we discovered our buffet breakfast was not included in the room price. The staff had asked for our room number so we assumed it was (no price was posted). There was no way we ate a breakfast worth 29 euros ($40) each!
Taxis waited outside the hotel and for the first time in our lives, we had a woman cab driver. There was no traffic on the highway so she got us to the airport in jig time. One thing about travelling by air, is you spend a lot of time sitting in an airport waiting. A book is essential. Glen brought The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson and I read Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb. Since I finished my book before the end of the trip, I'm seriously considering investing in a Kindle reader so I don't have to drag two books whenever I travel.
Unlike North America, European airlines still serve food on their flights. We had a sandwich and beer as we flew to Prague. After reading horror stories about gouging done by Prague taxi drivers, I booked a shuttle service on-line. Prague Airport Transfers met us as planned but there was a hitch in getting us to our hotel. There were two downtown Hiltons. Fortunately, I had printed up an itinerary with all our flights and hotels with their confirmation numbers, addresses, and phone numbers. Our driver informed us we'd be staying at Hilton Prague Old Town. I had chosen this hotel because it was close to Wenceslas Square as that was the reason we went to Prague in the first place.
The hotel was lovely and made even better with an upgrade which gave us a king-size bed, free internet and buffet breakfast. We settled in and hit the Executive Lounge to tap into the internet. Imagine our surprise when we discovered the lounge had a fridge full of good Czech beer--Pilsner Urquell (Czechs developed the first pilsner in 1842). We became friendly with a gent from Chicago and had some laughs together. The lounge became a gathering place for people where ideas on the sights and scenes of Prague were discussed. Hors d'oeuvres, served in the late afternoon, included the best wings I've tasted. Thai flavouring with a zip. Sushi and canapés rounded out the menu as did a variety of hard liquors. The wine was from a vineyard in Prague Castle.
We staggered down to supper not feeling like much to eat but had a wonderful meal in Zinc (voted one of the best 25 restaurants in the Czech Republic). We both ate vegetarian as we'd had enough chicken wings to do an entire meal. The Wild Mushroom and Camembert Soufflé was excellent washed down with Prague Castle wine.
Comments for this post
