Prague: The Novel

            Well, it appears I have left Prague with more than a {incredible} memory to follow me throughout my days. I also, left Prague with a newly acquired sore throat AND cold. It appeared today, not long after Frank complained of his throat hurting. I don’t know who gave it to whom, but I think its justice that we share in the misery together, ha ha. But man-oh-man, did we have a great time on our trip. I am so very glad that my first trip to Europe was to Prague. The city is so quaint and beautiful, and I am also so glad my first visit was with him. I wouldn’t want to share the experience with anyone else. I haven’t had time to really sit down and recall my trip to write about it, I was too busy while in Prague, and I planned to fill it all in when I returned to work yesterday, but I ended up having to train a new person, so, there went that. But I want to write Prague by the day and include pictures! So this will take time since Frank is hogging the pictures and I need him to send them to me, ha ha.

            Day 1-2.  The adventure started at 2am Wednesday, December 27th when I packed up my car, said my good-byes to Mom and David and hit the road to Saint Louis where the plane to JFK awaited me. (Well, with a brief layover in Detroit, but who wants to admit willingly going there? Lol.) I got to the car park in Saint Louis, took the shuttle to the airport, and proceded to wait in line to check in approximately,  2 hours before a ticket clerk decided to show up for work. Finally I got my bags checked and was able to rush through security and to my terminal 30 minutes before they began boarding the plane. I thought that the bad luck so early in the morning would be a sure fire sign that everything would be off all day. At 7am my plane departed for Detroit, and then the plane from Detroit left for JFK. On the plane to JFK, I was just getting situated in my seat when I noticed my traveling partner I guess, expressing her upset that her friend had to sit in the back of the plane. So the nice person that I am, I told the ladies I’d take the seat at the back of the plane so they could sit together. I ended up sitting next to a woman who’s father was born in Czech Republic!!! (Well, Prague.) She knew the culture and language, but had never been there herself; I thought the coincidence was kind of neat. She also had met a man in NYC and has been having a long distance relationship with him. So we had a lot of “in common” things to talk about! Made the flight go by pretty fast.

            Finally we landed in JFK, I collected my bags from baggage, called Frank and told him I was there and was heading to the Delta International desk. (Who then directed me to another terminal to check into instead, since Air France hosted my plane.) I got all checked in and called my mom, and right as I hung up with her and put my phone in my bag, I look up and see my Frank walking down the concourse right towards me! I felt my stomach explode with excitement, literally. I hopped up off my seat and gave him the biggest hug and kiss ever. I know I had a stupid cheesy grin on my face, ha ha. Then we sat there and chatted about all the places we wanted to see and things we wanted to do while in Prague. It was just so great to be sitting next to him again. I kept touching him to make sure he was real. Our trip was actually happening!

            On the plane to Paris we had pretty big comfortable seats. Each with our OWN T.V. built into the seat in front of us. You could watch movies, play games, listen to music, shop, etc. I tried my best to sleep on the flight because I knew the next morning when we got to Prague he’d want to begin our adventure. And when he’s on the go, he’s ON THE GO! But I dozed off on and on. Played some games, and we chatted. He’d rest his hand on my thigh, or hold my hand…some times would lean over and kiss the top of my head. Just gentile gestures like that. For dinner on the flight, they served us Fish, rice, bread, cheese, pudding, cake, crackers, and a personal smaller bottle of Merlot. They gave us sleeping masks, ear plugs, headphones, moist wipes, personal pillows and blankets. You’d think we were flying first class!! We were only coach! I can’t even imagine what kind of treatment first class WAS getting, ha ha. But the flight served us like three times in a 7 hour flight, full on meals too, lol.

            The Paris airport was insanely set up. So disorganized. We had to take a very crowded bus from terminal to terminal. And then when we got to what we thought was the right terminal, we had to wait 30 minutes for them to tell us what gate we needed to be at. When that finally came around, we went to our gate and then had to go through security all over again, and then take a ANOTHER EXTREMELY crowded bus to our plane. Then we had to walk up 3 flights of stairs just to get to the plane, lol. On top of it, the airport was laid out very poorly. Our plane ride from Paris to Prague didn’t last long at all. No more than an hour. But that flight also served us breakfast! We had just gotten done eating breakfast on the flight to Paris, ha ha. Europeans like to eat yet stay pretty thin…Go figure. When we got into Prague’s airport, we collected our luggage and hopped into a cab and headed for our beautiful hotel! Crowne Plaza! (Which was made in 1954 when the communist party ruled Prague, and this was the building they used during that government period, before it went back to the parliament style government and moved back to the Castle.) The lobby was BEAUTIFUL though. It looked like we were staying at the Ritz or something. Our room came with a down comforter, and his and hers robes. I wanted to steal one, ha ha, but at the end of our trip, I had no room left for a robe! The room even had a mini bar, but we never used it.

            We relaxed for a little while, I laid down and never thought a bed felt so good! He laid down too and we cuddle and kissed and cuddled and kissed, and soon enough we couldn’t get enough of each other. We couldn’t get close enough. After that, we were even more tired then we started out so we napped for about an hour or so. He woke me up when he got out of the shower. Complaining that the robes weren’t that comfortable and they were kind of small. I didn’t think anything of it. So I grab the other robe and head for the shower, I come out and I am like, “Frank, I don’t know what you’re talking about. These terry robes are GREAT. So roomy and soft”…and I kind of spun around. He was still wearing the other one, prepa

ring to get into his clothes when it dawned on me. I busted up laughing, and he just looked at me like I was crazy….”Frank, you’re in the ‘hers’ robe!!!”  He rolled his eyes and mumbled something under his breath and I just laughed harder. Poor guy. Next morning though, he beat me to the shower and took the good robe, lol.

            After we got showered and dressed, we went to Stare Mesto (Old Town) and wandered around a bit. That is where they had a big Christmas market set up, a HUGE Christmas tree all lit up, and a stage set up where local singers were singing. (This was in the center of Old Town.) It began to snow, little white flakes were fluttering everywhere, but the ground was wet and soggy, and with my injured ankle I was terrified I was going to slip and fall and cause further damaged. So I watched my feet most of the time to make sure nothing like that happened. We ran into an Opera house and the man outside said the tickets to Carmen were sold out, but that there was an orchestra performance in one of the other rooms, and so Frank bought our tickets, and since we had time to kill before the show, we wandered around to look for a restaurant.  The streets in Prague are very narrow, and cobble stone. They all twist and turn, and weave into each other. The town seems to be an endless source of mini hills. On a small, not very well lit side street, we found a small restaurant, and went in. The waiter asked if we’d like to sit upstairs or down. Frank asked what was down stairs and the waiter said the other part of the restaurant, and that was built during the 1300’s. (Not intended as an eating establishment, but just that’s when the building was first constructed. See, a lot of Prague’s buildings were ground level. But the river was constantly flooding Prague’s buildings so they began building up, making the lower levels the basements. A lot of bars and restaurants take up both floors. ) So Frank and I opted for the downstairs, which was beautiful!!! The walls were made of brick, a creamy color. The tables and chairs were all elegant beige, and the entire area was lit with candles. Fine, eating utensils and glasses. I orderd steak, and I forget what Frank ordered. But I remember my steak was SO delicious. It had so much flavor and marinade. It was incredibly good. (Oh, I think he got salmon or tuna, some kind of fish, which was also good.)

            I had never had food with so much flavor before. And even though it didn’t look like a lot of food on my plate, by the time I finished, I felt satisfied. Full, but not over stuffed like I do when I eat here in America. In fact, at every place that we ate, they always served just enough food to satisfy you. When you left the establishment, you didn’t feel like you had eaten too much. After dinner we went to the show, which only lasted about an hour, and although the musicians did a good job, fatigue started setting in for both of us and we found it hard to stay awake during the four numbers.  After the show, we walked around some more, and then decided to go back to the room and try and sleep at a decent hour so we wouldn’t sleep in too late the next day. So we got back in the room, got comfy. Kissed and cuddled, kissed and cuddled, and repeated the afternoon’s adventures 😉

            There is so much to say of Prague that can’t be captured in words. It is hard to explain how it looks, except that I have never seen anything like it in my entire life. When I post the pictures you will see what I mean. It is as if each building was doted on, and designed to look magnificent. Buildings have statues, are trimmed in gold, have designs, paintings, just, nothing you’d ever see here in America. And there are SO many buildings that just seem to connect to each other endlessly. The people are very friendly, hospititable, and they seem genuinely happy. Another thing I noticed was that couples and friends were very affectionate with each other. Some would stop on the street just to kiss the other person. I think maybe because in European countries families are very close to each other, and to kiss or hug some one is how we give handshakes here. Only maybe they mean those kisses and hugs. It’s not just tradition, but just a way of showing respect and adoration you know? American’s are very reserved and untrusting people. We just don’t trust other people. We always keep people at a distance. Worried what they may want in return for one of those hugs and kisses. You know? Just something I observed. I will post pictures tomorrow, and also update more on days 3 and 4 (Friday and Saturday.)