Prague Part II

Day 2:
Well we are big on castles in this group so that was the first destination for the day. It's a pretty long walk, but everything is! We tried to stay along major streets that didn't break up to keep us out of the twisty turning maze. It worked fairly well...we really only got "lost" once. And we figured out our mistake pretty quick and fixed it. However it did allow me to get a photo of some Czech duckies! Now I have French and Czech duckies! Sorry you can't really seem them, but they are there!


The climb up to the castle reminds me of going to Sacre Coeur, or Montmartre, the wrong way! It got to be a bit steep near the top, but it was a pretty neat castle. We decided against paying for the tour to go inside. Nobody really knew enough about Prague to want to spend the money on a tour that might not have interested anyone. I wish I had done a little more research before we went. But we don't really plan ahead very well as a group yet. It's early in our trip and I'm hoping to fix that eventually. Cross your fingers!


So on the way down we went across the Charles Bridge, the old one with all the cool statues and tourists. It was really easy to get to from the Castle, but it wasn't so easy to get across! The bridge was loaded with tourists, street musicians, and vendors. It felt like it took an hour to get the whole group across the bridge. I didn't really take any pictures, because there were so many people everywhere. A good picture never really presented itself. But I did buy a picture/print of the bridge from the castle gift shop. I know that is way better than anything I could have done in the middle of a busy day!

At this point it was about 1pm and out group was getting a bit hungry and tired. It's a lot of walking, and the cobble stones seem to make everything worse. Rather than try and find a spot that 8 people could agree on we decided to split up and meet back at out square at 3pm. I went with Megan U. and Kristyn to a close restaurant that advertised traditional Czech food and pizza. We decided it would be good to have a back up in case the traditional food didn't seem like our thing. Which we all ended up buying pizza because the traditional dishes looked a little odd. Plus the menu English was a bit sketchy, however I was glad it was there at all so there's really no cause for complaint. Too bad we picked the WRONG restaurant. Before we sat down we specifically asked if they took cards, because Kristyn and I were both out of Czech money. They said yes, great! So we ordered and over an HOUR later Kristyn and Megan got their pizza. Ten minutes after that I got my pizza, well I got a pizza. It was not what I ordered but was close enough that I let it slide because we didn't have the time to fix it! I had to scarf that down in 15 minutes so that we could quick get going to meet everybody back at the square. It was a mess. Then when the bill came I gave him my card, again no problem. A couple minutes later he comes back..."I'm sorry the card reader is down...do you have cash?" Um...NO! They took American dollars and Euros though so between the three of us we got it figured out, but it was a mess! Not the best dinning experience I've ever had.

After meeting back up at the square we basically decided that it would be best to head to the train station. Everyone was carrying their backpacks today and nobody had gotten very much sleep. We were tired and had seen most of what we wanted. Nobody was looking forward to the 6 to 8 hours of travel, but it was cheap. It was a long night but we made it home a little after 1am on Monday morning. I called the taxi service again and asked if my bag had been turned in. They said no, but to call back tomorrow night. I don't know if that is because the guy who was driving me might not have worked again yet or what. But I'm thinking it's a lost cause. I will however keep calling...maybe until this weekend and then give in. The lesson I learned was don't put your bag where you can be allowed to forget it! And don't put anything in it you couldn't live without!! Here's a summary of my missing bag experience/stuff:

Tally of lost items:
1 Pair of comfy gray activewear pants (PJs)
1 Reba/Brooks and Dunn Concert Tee (PJs)
1 Sweet Sixteen UNI tee
1 Baby Blue backpack
2 Pair green LB panties
1 Travel size hairbrush
1 Toiletries bag...Lands End
1 Spare Toothbrush in Travel Case
1 Bar Soap in Travel Case
1 Pepto stash
1 Travel Shampoo
1 Spare Deodorant
1 Small bottle of Bath and Body Works Body Mist
Unknown quantities of tampons

Items to be mourned:
Lands End Toiletries bag...they just don't make 'em like they use to (and Grandma no longer has her discount)!
Sweet Sixteen Tee...I hate to lose a "comfy" tee right now!
Travel Size Hairbrush...I don't know why, but I'm attached!


Reasons to be thankful:
I had thought to bring my MP3 player, in my backpack.
I had also thought to bring my book...my out of print book, in my backpack.
I did not bring a change of pants...I have at least two more pair of the "comfy" gray pants at home waiting for me!!!
I did actually clean out my toiletries bag before I left and so my number of tampons lost is a lot less than it would have been...since I took the space to bring them over in the first place.