Journey 11D1: The Three Capitals...Praha1

DATE -- JULY 24, 2016

Cap 'n Baldy here!

   I'm now thinking of the Willie Nelson song "On the Road Again"!

   We are indeed on the road again today ... from Vienna to Prague ... Praha as the Czechs call her! It'll be a long ride ... over 200 miles...

                                   The National Flag of the Czech Republic

    We pass a succession of tidy farms and fields of corn and sunflowers ...

     I start to doze off. Suddenly, we hear Jared's strong bass voice announcing that we are making good time and have arrived at the Czech border for our first pit stop. I look out the bus window ... and ... OMG!

 

    I see a large airplane painted in wild colors, sawed in half and converted into a restaurant ... one strange colorful building is connected to another strange colorful building with dragons on top ...

Jay and Cilla Temple stroll toward the duty-free shop ... what will they buy?

 

     Exuberant Czech music fills the air ... Germanic tidiness has suddenly disappeared ... herein lies an old-fashioned kids' amusement park with human-powered rides ... there is a casino ... and a large duty-free market! This is Party Central in a very charming way! Jared advises us that we now sit on sort of a no-man's-land between Austria and the Czech Republic ... WELCOME TO EXCALIBUR CITY!

                                  This place makes us feel like  kids again!

                                          Amusement parks are FUN!

Kids are as adorable here as they are everywhere!

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   The policemen at the Czech border checkpoint are not terribly interested in a busload of American tourists so we quickly pass through into the Czech Republic. The countryside is not as tidy as it was in Austria. Rain comes and goes. We have lunch at an amiable roadside restaurant where patrons may feed a flock of small goats...

 

        We arrive at our "home base" in Prague ... the NH Prague City Hotel --

    Mozartova 267/1, 15000 Prague 5, Czech Republic !

 

    Our dinner at the hotel is served by an  agreeable college-age wait staff ... we are all a bit punch-drunk from our recent travels ... paper place mats show instructions for making paper airplanes ... and as a result ... 

 

 

    A fierce paper airplane air battle ensues until Liz rips up one of the planes to abruptly terminate our obstreperous merriment ...

      Our Prague hotel consists of two main buildings ... one at the bottom of a steep hill and one at the top ... the buildings are connected by a cable tram ... this is a really cool ride a bit like a slow-moving roller coaster!

 

    This has been a big day! We have a bigger one tomorrow! Get some rest ... y'all will need it!

 

Affectionately,

 

 

 

Baldy aka Bob