Tag Archives: lunch

Tour Of Prague, Walking Tour

This morning, Don and I opted out of the walking tour. It was a  4 km walk, but because of me (I think) our guide was so thoughtful to order a bus for part of it. It still left 3 km of cobblestones up hills and down, so we will meet them at noon in the square for lunch and to see the Bohemian crystal.

Tonight we are going on one of the optional tours for a traditional Czech dinner and musicians in traditional costumes for entertainment. I will catch up later….

Okay! We took a taxi from our hotel to the Old Town Square. We went early enough so we could look at a few places and also get our bearings. We waited until the allotted time to meet the group and began our search. There were hundreds of people, some on their own, most in different tour groups.

I thought of turning on our little handset and, lo and behold, I heard our guide for the day, George. The astronomical clock (6oo years old) started chiming at noon and then we were told where to shop for the famous Bohemian Czech crystal. He did not lie. WOW…this shop must be a block long and a block wide. Crystal like you have never seen before and probably will never see again. And of course we did……

Then we went to a little restaurant called U Dvou Sester. Lucille and I had a Caesar Salad with chicken and bacon (ham) and Don ordered the goulash. It was quite tasty. The best thing here is that they serve pepsi and also 7-up with ice. No one uses ice here so that is a treat.

Back at the hotel at about 3:30 p.m. and we go for dinner at 7:00 p.m. We get to dress up a little so that will feel good.

As an aside….the Tour Directors of Insight do not have an easy job. They are responsible for 39 people, all the luggage, hotel rooms, times of arrival, departures, meals, optional tours, counting bodies constantly so as not to leave anyone behind. Constantly on the phone in one language or another. Bob speaks 5 languages himself.

Now our driver, Franco. He is Italian and boy, of boy, it shows. He can drive through, past and around walls, cars, buses and people and not lose a coat of paint. What a thrill to see how he manages this vehicle. He never gets lost in any city, country or roadway. He is worth everything to the passengers.

Just got back from our dinner at a traditional Czech restaurant. Let me tell you, they know how to party. The food was traditional but the entertainment was exquisite. Singing ,dancing and getting everyone to participate was so much fun. “There were 7 busloads of tourists in this restaurant from all over. They played a song to welcome each and every country represented and the evening went from there. What a blast….

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Brussels, Belgium

We arrived in Brussels this morning. The biggest difference we saw was the condition of the train (very unclean) and Don saw the toilet and said ‘don’t go there’. The station in Brussels is huge and not very clean. Not at all like Antwerp.

There are no elevators to go from one floor to the other, so lugging the suitcases was fun. Thank goodness Carole came with us as she carried them on and off the train, in and out of the station.

When you come to Brussels, be sure to insist on paying the meter fare NOT a flat rate. They wanted 15 Euros to go about 6 blocks. Actual cost was 6 euros. At the hotel they told us another woman paid 20 euros. So just be careful.

We are staying at the Marriott Hotel and this is a 4 star plus hotel.

We walked down to the Grande Place and had a wonderful lunch in the square. We walked into some shops, looked at others and then saw the Manneken Pis. He is cute and not as large as you would think.

Walked a bit more (can’t you tell that Carole was our leader still?) had a soda and then walked back to the hotel.

In about an hour we will go down and meet the tour group, have a light supper and drink and prepare for tomorrow to return to Amsterdam.

 

 

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