We have decided that Prague would definitely be a place to return. Everyone we met was so friendly and the city is so clean and walkable. Our second day, we stayed pretty close to our hotel and just recovered, both from the long flight and from the last few weeks of dealing with Gregg’s Mom (Jeanne) being in the hospital, all the while trying to get her dishwasher repaired and deal with some unwanted critters that got into her house.
Honestly, our trip was on again, off again, for the couple of weeks leading up to the actual day of departure. Thankfully, Jeanne is on the mend and Gregg’s sister, Carrie, was able to come and work at her house while keeping up with her move from the hospital to rehab facility. She’ll be in the rehab facility probably until we arrive home, so we’re making the most of our vacation before we go back and get her settled back home. Anyway, so Day 2 was mostly a recovery day. It was kind of rainy and Gregg went to the spa for a message, and we did a lot of resting and reading. We ended up having a really nice meal in the hotel restaurant to end the day.
On Day 3 (Saturday), we headed out to explore the Old Town. The weather could not have been more perfect. The sun was shining but it was cool with a light breeze while we were exploring. After Old Town, we decided to do the HoHo bus to carry us around to the other parts of the city. And this is where I was able to get some quality entertainment in the way of eavesdropping.
While waiting in line for the bus, the organizer went to each person to explain how the app worked. It was really pretty simple – you just open it up and when you reached each stop, the app would detect your location and give you the audio to explain where you were. But the lady in front of me in line just didn’t seem to grasp the app. Her husband had the patience of Job and kept explaining over and over. When we did get on the bus, this couple ended up behind us. I couldn’t hear her side of the conversation, but he kept his voice at an even, kind level through this whole exchange, that lasted the whole 45 minutes were riding around on the bus:
Him: No, don’t touch it. It will automatically play.
Him: No, I’m not sure why you’re messing with it. It knows where you are. You don’t have to do anything.
Him: Why are you touching it? Just let it play.
Him: No, you’re now 4 stops ahead of us because you keep manually advancing it instead of not touching it.
Him: Jesus Christ, what are you doing? Why are you still touching it?
And finally, Him: No, I don’t know why yours is now in German. You shouldn’t have touched it.
So in between listening to the audio and listening to the guy behind us, it was quite entertaining. But we finally decided to exit the bus when it came near to the St. Charles bridge. We found a restaurant over the water and had a very nice lunch, then meandered our way toward the bridge and then finally back to the Old Town and then on to our hotel.
On our last full day (Sunday), the Prague 2024 Marathon was happening all throughout the Old and New Town. There were barriers set up everywhere and this was obviously a huge event. So we took an Uber to avoid the barriers and went to the Saint Cyril and Methodius Cathedral. This is church is known for it’s role in Operation Anthropoid in WWII. Operation Anthropoid is where the assassination attempt on Reinhard Heydrich was carried out. Heydrich was a commander in the German Reich and principal architect of the holocaust. His car was bombed and he died a few days later. One of the assassins, along with a few others, hid in the crypt of the church. They were discovered and were killed there. It was very interesting to be in a spot where there were bullet holes in the building. There is a resistance museum in the basement and crypt and while small, it was very interesting and well done.
After another nice dinner nearby our hotel and a trip to the nearby mall to look around, we came back to pack and get ready for the train to Berlin, where we will meet up with the WWII Tour, The Rise and Fall of Hitler’s Germany.
