Ashley, Stewart, David and I left the hotel at 10 am on Friday morning and took the hotel bus back to Dulles International. We split up - Ashley and I waiting on my still missing luggage (seriously...does it really take 13 hours to find a bag in the airport?) and David and Stewart went up to the ticketing agency to try to get Stewart on our flight to Prague. My bag finally came, and Ashley and I somehow carried all of the carry-ons and our luggage upstairs to meet David and Stewart.
The woman at the United counter was very helpful and managed to get us all on a Lufthansa flight together from Dulles to Frankfurt at 3:45 pm. We went to check in at the Lufthansa counter (which didn't open until 11:30).
Waiting in line at the Lufthansa counter (L-R: David, Me, Stewart and Ashley)The four of us checked in, went through security, and then went back to the United customer service desk and picked up some more vouchers for lunch. We went to the international departures area, which is amazingly cleaner and quieter than the rest of the airport, ate lunch and then watched Lost as we waited for our flight.
The flight left at around 4:30 pm on Friday. It seemed to go by really fast - none of us really got any sleep though. We were surrounded by a group of 60-something people who were going on a tour of Italy. They all seemed to know each other and were very talkative and excited about their trip.
After we landed in Frankfurt (at 6:30 am their time), we got off the plane and onto..the runway? where we were loaded onto a tram that took us to the arrivals section of the airport. There were tons of people and, thankfully, 99% of the signage was in English. We went through a passport check, where we Americans were grouped with "Non-European Union Nationals". It was really weird to be in the "Other" group - especially since we (Americans) are used to being the primary group.
A group of 3 people - 2 men and a woman - cut in front of our group while we were in line. They looked to be Middle Eastern (I didn't get a look at the covers of their passports). The first man and the woman got through the passport check, but the third man's passport was denied after a long wait.
We all got through the passport check and then proceeded downstairs to go through security and then to our gate. The strangest thing about the Frankfurt airport was that they still used the old "flipping numbers" boards to show information. I always associate Germany with technology and innovation, particularly in transportation, so I guess I had expected the airport to be much more efficient and have a more advanced way of displaying information.
At about 8:30 am everyone headed to Prague was loaded onto another tram and driven back out onto the runway to load the plane. The flight only lasted about 45 minutes.
The wing of the Frankfurt-Prague flight
First view of the Czech Republic
First view of Prague and the Vltava River
We arrived at the airport in Prague, which was very nice and strangely quiet. We grabbed our luggage, which all arrived (!) and headed through customs.......where we were directed to just keep walking through after Ashley showed the offical her passport. We got some cash out of the ATMs (they don't charge a transaction fee!) and found the Cedaz Taxi service that Dana recommended.
Our driver was an older man who spoke very little English but who drove like a maniac. He was darting in and out of traffic and not slowing down for pedestrians at all - all while driving a stick. He first dropped of a couple who I think spoke French, then a Korean(?) couple. David, Ashley, Stewart and I were the last group that he dropped off, at around 11 am.
The NCSU group wasn't at the pension (hotel), which we thought would happen. We dropped off our bags in our rooms, picked a pack containing Metro passes, an ID card, and another card (they're all in Czech so these are my guesses) and decided to find the group at the Institute.
Side note: The rooms are tiny - about the size of two rooms and the sunroom of my apartment - and have at least 5 beds in each of them. The beds are flat on the floor and a little larger than a twin bed. Each has a large but flat pillow and one duvet. The beds themselves are basically two boxes. The bottom one has no top and can be used as a drawer, and the top one has a little bit of cotton batting on the top and is covered with what feels like rough fabric that could have been used on a couch. The best part of each room is that it has huge windows (at least 3/4 of the outside-facing wall) with long white or yellow curtains.
The four of us got directions to the Institute and a map from the attendant at the front desk and set out to find the nearest Metro station. There were card readers at the entrance to the station, so Ashley asked the attendant which card we needed to use to get to the Metro. The attendant was very nice and explained that we have an unlimited pass through June 30th, so that we just keep walking through and if we are stopped, we should just show the card.
The escaltor down to the loading platform of the Metro is like a very long tube, with vertical lines that all lead down to the loading platform. You feel like you are falling as you ride down...I tried to draw a picture of what it looks like as you ride down:
The escalator to the Metro. The lines on the side are all from white paneling that goes all the way down in horizontal strips.
After a little confusion we finally got off at our stop (Staromestka) and wandered around until we found the Institute, where an orientation was in process. The area that the Institute is in is very interesting - little shops and restaurants everywhere. Each restaurant advertises themselves based on the brand of beer that they carry, so you have to go to look at the menu to really see what they serve.
David, Mark, Rich, Laura, Lindsay and I grabbed lunch at a restaurant where the beer was cheaper than water. The food took an extremely long time, but was pretty decent (we all got some type of pizza). We headed back to the Institute for a walking tour of the area.
By this time it was 2:30 pm on Saturday, and the four of us that had arrived late were really feeling exhausted. We decided to go ahead and try to do the walking tour (David, Ashley and I were in the same group). We saw the Old Town Square, the building that Mozart lived in, The walked over to Wensceslas Square and saw the National Museum, and...then it kind of becomes a blur. My feet hurt, my ankles hurt, my shoulders hurt...and David and Ashley felt the same way. We ducked out of the tour and went back to the pension and fell asleep.
I woke up at around 7pm and David and I decided to rent towels and finally shower (my first shower of the trip). The shower was absolutely amazing...clean, very hot and very big. Quite possibly my favorite part of the pension.
David and I went out to dinner with Rich and Stewart. The weirdest thing was that there was no one walking around - just the four of us. We found a little Italian restaurant close to the pension and ate there. The food was really good, but the waitress barely spoke English so we broke out the Czech book that I had brought with me and tried our best to talk to her. The food was good ( I had a calzone) and on the way home, we ran into our first fellow pedestrian - a guy dressed up as Superman.
And I crashed. It was amazing - even the rock-bed felt comfortable. So, that was the longest day of my life.
The flight left at around 4:30 pm on Friday. It seemed to go by really fast - none of us really got any sleep though. We were surrounded by a group of 60-something people who were going on a tour of Italy. They all seemed to know each other and were very talkative and excited about their trip.
After we landed in Frankfurt (at 6:30 am their time), we got off the plane and onto..the runway? where we were loaded onto a tram that took us to the arrivals section of the airport. There were tons of people and, thankfully, 99% of the signage was in English. We went through a passport check, where we Americans were grouped with "Non-European Union Nationals". It was really weird to be in the "Other" group - especially since we (Americans) are used to being the primary group.
A group of 3 people - 2 men and a woman - cut in front of our group while we were in line. They looked to be Middle Eastern (I didn't get a look at the covers of their passports). The first man and the woman got through the passport check, but the third man's passport was denied after a long wait.
We all got through the passport check and then proceeded downstairs to go through security and then to our gate. The strangest thing about the Frankfurt airport was that they still used the old "flipping numbers" boards to show information. I always associate Germany with technology and innovation, particularly in transportation, so I guess I had expected the airport to be much more efficient and have a more advanced way of displaying information.
At about 8:30 am everyone headed to Prague was loaded onto another tram and driven back out onto the runway to load the plane. The flight only lasted about 45 minutes.
The wing of the Frankfurt-Prague flight
First view of the Czech Republic
First view of Prague and the Vltava RiverWe arrived at the airport in Prague, which was very nice and strangely quiet. We grabbed our luggage, which all arrived (!) and headed through customs.......where we were directed to just keep walking through after Ashley showed the offical her passport. We got some cash out of the ATMs (they don't charge a transaction fee!) and found the Cedaz Taxi service that Dana recommended.
Our driver was an older man who spoke very little English but who drove like a maniac. He was darting in and out of traffic and not slowing down for pedestrians at all - all while driving a stick. He first dropped of a couple who I think spoke French, then a Korean(?) couple. David, Ashley, Stewart and I were the last group that he dropped off, at around 11 am.
The NCSU group wasn't at the pension (hotel), which we thought would happen. We dropped off our bags in our rooms, picked a pack containing Metro passes, an ID card, and another card (they're all in Czech so these are my guesses) and decided to find the group at the Institute.
Side note: The rooms are tiny - about the size of two rooms and the sunroom of my apartment - and have at least 5 beds in each of them. The beds are flat on the floor and a little larger than a twin bed. Each has a large but flat pillow and one duvet. The beds themselves are basically two boxes. The bottom one has no top and can be used as a drawer, and the top one has a little bit of cotton batting on the top and is covered with what feels like rough fabric that could have been used on a couch. The best part of each room is that it has huge windows (at least 3/4 of the outside-facing wall) with long white or yellow curtains.
The four of us got directions to the Institute and a map from the attendant at the front desk and set out to find the nearest Metro station. There were card readers at the entrance to the station, so Ashley asked the attendant which card we needed to use to get to the Metro. The attendant was very nice and explained that we have an unlimited pass through June 30th, so that we just keep walking through and if we are stopped, we should just show the card.
The escaltor down to the loading platform of the Metro is like a very long tube, with vertical lines that all lead down to the loading platform. You feel like you are falling as you ride down...I tried to draw a picture of what it looks like as you ride down:
The escalator to the Metro. The lines on the side are all from white paneling that goes all the way down in horizontal strips.After a little confusion we finally got off at our stop (Staromestka) and wandered around until we found the Institute, where an orientation was in process. The area that the Institute is in is very interesting - little shops and restaurants everywhere. Each restaurant advertises themselves based on the brand of beer that they carry, so you have to go to look at the menu to really see what they serve.
David, Mark, Rich, Laura, Lindsay and I grabbed lunch at a restaurant where the beer was cheaper than water. The food took an extremely long time, but was pretty decent (we all got some type of pizza). We headed back to the Institute for a walking tour of the area.
By this time it was 2:30 pm on Saturday, and the four of us that had arrived late were really feeling exhausted. We decided to go ahead and try to do the walking tour (David, Ashley and I were in the same group). We saw the Old Town Square, the building that Mozart lived in, The walked over to Wensceslas Square and saw the National Museum, and...then it kind of becomes a blur. My feet hurt, my ankles hurt, my shoulders hurt...and David and Ashley felt the same way. We ducked out of the tour and went back to the pension and fell asleep.
I woke up at around 7pm and David and I decided to rent towels and finally shower (my first shower of the trip). The shower was absolutely amazing...clean, very hot and very big. Quite possibly my favorite part of the pension.
David and I went out to dinner with Rich and Stewart. The weirdest thing was that there was no one walking around - just the four of us. We found a little Italian restaurant close to the pension and ate there. The food was really good, but the waitress barely spoke English so we broke out the Czech book that I had brought with me and tried our best to talk to her. The food was good ( I had a calzone) and on the way home, we ran into our first fellow pedestrian - a guy dressed up as Superman.
And I crashed. It was amazing - even the rock-bed felt comfortable. So, that was the longest day of my life.
