Prague, Welcome back

The clock was set to 5 am, but for some reason I have not noticed it. Probably, I did not keep in mind how I had skipped the alarm. Anyways, I should hurry, because obviously the bus is not going to wait for me, as well as the plane.

Today I fly to Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. Yet again, the trip is spontaneous. I planned it only two weeks ago. However, I already have the draft plan of my forthcoming staying in the city. Moreover, I have already booked some excursions.

We were at the airport Tolmachevo in 34 minutes with the bus from the central railway station. It is pretty fast, and the price of 38 roubles looks very attractive.

There are no queues at the airport, because my flight is the only one for this morning. So, I checked-in, passed through the passport control and was inspected really fast. And now I am waiting for boarding.

Honestly speaking, this is my second visit to Prague. The first trip was in 2011, and I also wrote a story about my journey, but at that time it was inked in Russian. Anyways, the previous post is available by the link: Trip to the Czech Republic June 2011. 

It is very handy that from my last trip I have some crowns left (for the information, 'crown' is the name of the national currency in the Czech Republic).

So, I am on board. The plane is fully loaded. The taking off was a little bit delayed. The brief information from the pilot: the distance between Novosibirsk and Prague is 4500 kilometres; we are racing with the speed of 850 kilometres per an hour at the height of 11400 meters; the temperature outside is minus 56 Celsius degrees; we are going to fly over Belarus, Poland and the Czech republic.

Six hours have just gone away, and, in the end, I am in Prague. An officer at the airport did not ask a single question, and I easily crossed the board.

First, I bought a bus ticket from the ticket machine for 32 crowns and went to the bus stop, which is located 20 meters from the entrance to the airport. Actually, the ticket is valid only 90 minutes. So, I cannot move slowly. Immediately, I take the bus 119, which should deliver me to the terminal stop, where the underground station is located.

It is 10:40 a.m.. The weather is hot. The grass is scorched. Maples, lindens, birches are everywhere. Everything looks native. It seems to me that I haven’t left my homeland.

Another 20 minutes have gone, and I am in front of the underground station called Nadrazi Veleslavin, which is the part of the green line. My next point of destination is the station Mustek.

I am on the Old Town square (Staromestske namesti) taking some "stock" photos. There are many things to admire, but I feel very hungry.

I have googled in advance about some cheap places to eat in the old town. One of the found recommendations was Svetozor canteen. The dish Switchkova and orange water cost me 124 crowns. It is not expensive, but at the same time it is not the cheapest option for a budget tourist. Just for your information, Switchkova is the traditional Czech meal, which is beef with sour cream, usually served with dumplings.

Well, the first day I am staying at the hotel Peko. The hotel is very good, and it has very attractive price. The only disadvantage about this place is that it is located rather far from the old town, and it is impossible to walk there on foot. However, the trams go regularly, and the trip to the city centre would take only 18 minutes.

After checking-in I had a short break, and then I went to the city centre by tram, which is a very comfortable type of transport in Prague and goes strictly to the schedule.

First of all, I have visited the Vaclav square and the Staromestska square. These two squares are very often visited by tourists, and usually they are the starting points for many excursions.

On the Vaclav square I located the Marks and Spencer shop, where they offer delicious food, and sometimes it goes with a good discount.

On the Staromestska square I tasted for 60 crowns the local baking which is called trdlo. It was not bad, but I would add to the original recipe some cinnamon.

Surprisingly, the price for trdlo at different places is more or less the same.

At 9 p.m. my first excursion started. It is called "a night watchman". We made a walking path from the Powder gate to the Charles Bridge with the city's guard carrying a halberd and a lantern. Our historical character told us about his duties in the past time and about the history of the city. In fact, there were many executions, plagues, bloody wars and religious battles between Catholics and Protestants. I also learnt that the most important historical personalities were Jan Hus and Charles the Fourth.

Yet, it was the informative and nice introducing to the charming city of Prague.