Czech Republic with class

Hi all

We are snuggled in our fine apartment hotel in Praha/Prague. It's got a large living room with a comfortable pull out couch. Simple but nice kitchen. Large children's bedroom which we gave to the children, so we can watch TV (although there is not really anything on that we can watch, mostly Arabic programmes). We arrived here last night after driving from Fuerth, Germany where we've been relaxing.

We should be in Morocco all going to plan but no. Henry had his birthday on the 15th Nov and he got sick for his birthday. Was doing helicopter chunders with high temperatures and looked like a ghost. We took him to the Doctor as I thought we'd be able to claim insurance for the loss of tickets to Morocco. They were 1cEuro so non refundable (actually added up to 88Euros once tax etc added). We then found out only travel booked from NZ is claimable. So we used the credit and paid a little extra for changing flights to Faro, Portugal. So that is coming up next week. He's all better now by the way. He didn't actually do Heli chunders but it sounds more dramatic.

Luckily our gracious hosts, (Tiziana below), let us stay on again as we let him recover quietly. He seems fine now and as I write he's jumping on the bed with Miss Muffet who's hair looks like Bjorn Borg currently (she has a very interesting way of putting up her hair with the hair band!). She now has a temperature, yay! She has hot rosy cheeks and is a bit more grumpy than usual. At least she can relax in the buggy as we wander around Prague.

Slacky it's now 10:15 am on Sunday morning and we are just lying around after having gobbled down our breakfast. I called down this am and 5 minutes later we had fresh coffee, milk, orange juice, lashings of bread, butter, jam, ham, cheese and yoghurt and one little tiny thimble of cornflakes (Wendy says no one really likes Cornflakes) - Well my Dad and I like cornflakes but no other sane people. Too much food for us we'll have to make sandwiches ( my father will be so proud of me for saying that. Now if only I could find a way to use the ends of the carrots and dried up bits of cucumber left in the fridge he'd give me a medal!). We're not cheap just have genes that like to remind us they have Scottish ancestry mixed in there somewhere with all the other bits and bobs and gristle. You never know there could be an emergency one day and we'll be glad of the things growing under the bottom tray in the fridge. Hopefully not.

Ok enough blah blah. So we drove from Fuerth along the E50, Andreas told us it will take you all the way to Prague. We believed him! Oh dear...It was all going well but after about an hour of driving, 3 toilet stops, a coffee stop, a snowball fight and 12 arguments about how Wendy should hold the map, we came to the end of the E50. And we were'nt in Prague or even Praha, (not even Czech Republic) and no signs pointed that way. Hmm. We drove this way and that, I thought I'd broken the car as I pulled off to turn around and there was a big hole, ouch. it seemed to still drive ok only a slight dragging sound coming from underneath. Wendy re-orientated the map making sure the longest edge was lined up with the edge of her coffee cup and covering my steering wheel almost completely. I must give her credit as in the maelstrom of roads and spaghetti junctions she guided us back to the right road. I had to stop, I was in shock and couldn't breathe.

Again we drove and drove and eventually came to the border. I pulled our passports out as the border looked kind of intimidating and we were waved through. Entering CZ you have to buy an autobahn pass. So we got one of those and didn't exchange any Euros at their bad rate. All was going well. Soon we saw signs to Pilzn/Pilsen and decided to stop. It's in the Lonely planet and is worth a look. They specialise in meaty dishes of traditional fare with buckets of beer. I was driving but tried the Pilsner and declared it good. The wild boar ragout, Pilsner Goulash and Roast beef with dumplings sauerkraut and gravy went down a treat. Also food is really inexpensive here compared to the rest of Europe, we paid 24 E for our meal with 1 entree, 2 soups, 3 mains, 2 beers, 2 juices, 3 coffees and a Becherovka liquor. In Germany this might have been 45 - 60 Euro.

We went for a wander around the centre looking at buildings. There is a beautiful church in the middle and amazing buildings around, apart from one realy ugly hotel. It was raining and dark though so we didn't want to go too far. But we all needed a stretch. Wendy honed in on an internet cafe so we trudged in and visted Albert and Hubert the Cockatiels. Wendy printed off the driving directions then we went to pay. Only Krona sorry and I only had two. A helpful Welsh stranger helped out our by paying for our internet. We offered to pay him in Euros but it was only 70p to him so not a big deal I guess. Thanks nice Welsh stranger.

With our directions we were set. And within 30 minutes we were hopelessly lost once again. The Czech's have adopted the French street sign system of having signs occasionally for looks but making them so small that unless you are stopped and standing on a ladder with a torch in front of them they are practically useless. We drove and drove and drove knowing that stopping for directions would only cause embarrasment and add to our overall unease. Eventually I gave in at a petrol station, partly as Bella needed to "GO TO THE TOILET", at the top of her lungs. The helpful man circled where we had to go and off we went. Driving in Prague is not easy, it is a very old city and wasn't damaged in the WWII by bombing. Many cobbled streets and trams criss cross the roads. Also at night in the rain it's hard enough to even see the lanes. We made it to within a Km of our hotel but were stopped by the road turning into a cycle lane. The best map I could find wasn't at a very detailed level but it would have to do.

We backtracked and drove around the embattlements(?) the map doesn't show that you have to go around and over a big hill that way and that every second road is a one way. Suffice to say we got here but I drove:

1. On the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic once
2. Through a parking building once and back out the same way (we didn't have to pay thankfully)
3. Along the tram lines on a special raised centre platform for 100m
4. Up a one way street for one block
5. Through a one way pedestrian area in the old city and back out

It's true. Unfortunately I find it hard to read the map and drive and Wendy has to re-orient the map at every turn. I at last decided I would stop after every turn to give her a chance to catch up. Hard to plan a route when we are forced to turn onto another bit of one way every few blocks. All was great here and they spoke perfect English. Wendy couldn't stop raving about the nice room and is still going on! We're about to go see some more of Prague now. As you can see from above we've seen quite a bit already. My impression so far is of a beautiful majestic city with many grand buildings. We'll let you know how it goes.