Crossing from Hungary to Slovakia

Many beautiful cities sit along the Danube and river cruising is a very convenient way to see them. The ship is a wonderful base to explore each city as the attractions, for the most part, are within walking distance. It is a great way to sample of each stop. I will review River Beatrice next week on Travelers Anonymous.

It is now morning. I am listening to Elton John's Tiny Dancer as I sit on UNIWORLD's River Beatrice sun-deck. I woke up in time to see the largest lock we will pass this trip. It is a man-made canal built inside the Danube. We left Hungary but haven't yet entered Slovakia. There are lots of tiny villages along the river. In the distance a man rollerblades pushing a stroller.

I can't imagine taking a Danube Cruise in the winter but it is July and the weather is perfect, just perfect. Moody Blues New Horizons is now playing on my Ipod as sip a great cup of coffee.

Prague's Royal Castle; Truth or Dare

Can you see all of Prague Castle in a day?

No...but you can see a lot.

There are two types of tickets available; a short-tour ticket or a long-tour ticket.

We bought the later and added the extremely worthwhile audio-guide, which is a must-do!

The historic information is told in an interesting, succinct yet compelling way. And a mega-perk of renting the audio-guide is you do not have to stand in line to enter St. Vitus Chapel.

Since St. Vitus Chapel is considered the most important in Prague there are always massive queues and many, many people.

Here is your choice - Get ready to Stand for Hours or Rent the Audio -Guide and walk right in? No Brainer!

So after we had spent six hours on the Castle grounds, our pace had definitely slowed. The Prague Castle is the 2^nd largest Castle in the world. Even at a brisk pace it takes over an hour to cross the grounds, (and our calf muscles will vouch for it.)

In the Royal Palace, we were in the last phase of our battle with yet another long, steep and winding staircase. We were about to take our last descending step out when a woman assuming we spoke English asked in a snippy tone, “Is there anything to see up there?”

The poor woman was sweating profusely. She looked like she was about to die of exhaustion. Although her eyes pleaded ‘save me this hike’ we just couldn’t do it.

“Go slowly.” was all we said.

She rolled her eyes. Flustered, she barely uttered the words, “come on,” to her granddaughter.

I don't want to know the words she muttered about us.

Surviving the Streets in Prague

Walking through the intimate beautiful neighborhoods of Prague is heavenly. But in order to survive the streets flat shoes are a functional necessity! I actually saw a few women in spiked heels. Brains or beauty?

The narrow cobblestone streets are picturesque but far from perfect. While you want to look everywhere, looking down is imperative. Walking across the Charles Bridge will cause a gleam in your eye but don’t let Prague’s allure fool you. If you forget where you are, it can be treacherous. If you don’t remember you are walking on cobblestone, you’ll be hobbling home. Prague is great but watch your step – literally!

Ultimate Communication Mishaps & Mexican Food in Prague

Prague is not the place you think of for Mexican food but after asking three different locals where they go when they go when they want to have a special dinner out, I kept hearing the same answer - Cantina. Yet, I just couldn’t make myself go.

Although tonight, I wish I had.

Today must have been International Miscommunication Day.

Around 2 pm, I handed the hotel's front desk clerk my friend’s flight information. I requested that he check if the flight was on time.

He phoned and explained that the flight would arrive at 4:30pm. I wasn’t surprised that it was running that late. I had wandered enough in the rain so I decided to see if the hotel’s spa had availability. I booked a 90 minute de-stress treatment – their specialty. If I started at 2:30, I’d be done well before she arrived.

My treatment, by the way, ran over by 30 minutes. I figured that 15 minutes was no big deal, as my friend needed time to unpack and the hotel staff knew I was in the spa.

At 4:45, I hurried to the front desk and asked if she had arrived. There was different staff on duty. They looked at each other, thoroughly bewildered. Arrived? She arrived at the hotel a bit after 2:30 and had waited almost 2 hours before leaving to go explore.

Apparently the person that morning not only got the wrong information, but to add insult to injury, he didn’t let my friend (or the afternoon) staff know my whereabouts. So they kept trying my room... no luck. They even tried the spa... I was listed as having an appointment.

I asked, "Do you know where she went?"

Yes, off to see the Statue of Baby Jesus.

Could they direct me to the right church?

Don’t ask! I could go on and on about how armed with minimal directions, I took off trying to find her but that was not my best decision of the day.

After getting too much exercise in too little time, all stress relief from the massage earlier was gone.

I returned to the hotel, darted up two flights of stairs to my room and picked up the phone in my hotel room. In order to reach my friend here in Prague, I had to dial the US to get connected to her. A million dollar phone call later, we did meet up.

You might wonder why I didn’t I just call her on my cell phone in the first place. Answer is simple; Sprint didn’t activate my International SIM Cards as promised.

Now while the people at Sprint speak fluent English – though they don’t necessarily know how to follow through with requests. Understanding the language of the request and following through with completing the request are not always the same thing.

Had I personally called British Airways to get the ETA of my friend’s flight, this wouldn’t have happened.

Had I left a note under my friend’s door saying I was in the spa instead of asking the hotel employee to deliver the message, this wouldn’t have happened.

Had I taken the time to call Sprint this morning and give them an earful, I would have had my international phone working.

Had I changed my service to A T & T before I left, I wouldn’t have had the problem at all.

Always have the person giving you directions be specifc and ask them to look up the address. Have them hand write the address for you and verify the accuracy.

“Go left at the first street, don’t go in the first restaurant but go though the garden of the second restaurant and that is the place.”

We believe we never found the right restaurant because the place where we ended up dining was mediocre-at-best, horrendously overpriced, had horrific service and the audacity to bring back our bill and argue that we didn't tip. We politely tried to point to the service charge which clearly showed up on the bill as 19% to which the waiter replied, "the service charge is not the tip." At 19% it damned better be!

And so tonight, I am going to dream about highly recommended Margaritas and Mexican food at a place easy to find located... in Prague - of all places.!

Anytime is the Time to Marry in Prague

In a quaint all-day cafe called Il Balcone, I escaped the rain to have breakfast. It was raining too hard for anyone to sit al fresco and watch the baroque charm of Prague. Though early in the morning, the café was far from boring.

At first I noticed the two women seated at the table next to me. They each had well-behaved dogs with them. The women, who seemed to be regulars, enjoyed their coffees while the two dogs enjoyed a periodic piece of ham.

A young couple sat in a booth in the back. The girl was wearing a bridal gown and her groom a tux. The two of them sat alone at the table talking. Maybe in Prague it is traditionally for the bride and groom to have coffee together after they marry.

I asked around and found out that the Bride and Groom were waiting for the rain to stop so they could go around the corner to marry at Vrbouska Zahrada , one of the most beautiful gardens in Prague.

Another customer explained that on Fridays many couples go to the gardens to marry. I know I was jet lagged and all, but I was almost positive that it was Wednesday. But whatever day it is, I guess when you are ready to get married; only the rain can stop you. But then again, what do I know?

The Prague Pub and Insight into Prague Pricing

I checked into my hotel and took an evening stroll through the Mala Strana. It is dotted with embassies, colorful pubs and restaurants. I landed at a very typical, very tiny pub called Uklicu. There were 10 stools but I was told by a customer, “during the summer the garden also has a few tables.” Because everyone was so friendly, I decided not to tell him this was July, which is summer where I come from.

If you have an issue with smoking than better skip Prague because cigarette smokers are everywhere. Though I am a devout non-smoker and usually have an attitude when someone intrudes on my air, I kept my mouth shut.

I sat between a couple locals and ordered a beer. In the background Led Zeppelin played. This pub plays the Oldies Station so the music was great. I stuck up a conversation with a guy who spoke impeccable English. I mistakenly asked him to recommend a ‘Czechoslovakian’ restaurant. “Czech Republic,” he replied correcting me immediately.

I explained that old habits are hard to break. I knew the Czech Republic was formed in 1989. My children’s paternal grandparents were born there, I explained I love spent my twenties eating Czech food and never quite perfecting my ex-mother-in-laws recipes for Czech pastries and ‘Gulas.’ Rather amused, he excused my politically incorrect reference and gave me several local restaurants to try. He explained that many restaurants have menus in English and in Czech. What most people don’t know is the English menus are triple the price!

I thanked him for the information, finished the mug of beer in front of me and headed back to my smoke-free room in my hotel where I took out a guidebook and made notes on how to order in Czech. Tomorrow, I’ll dine from the Czech menu. Gulis Podavany’s, here I come!

No One Checks in Czech; Or Do They?

You can imagine my surprise that after I left the plane, grabbed my luggage and headed to meet my pre-arranged ride. No customs and no passport check.

I stopped to change some currency though I knew better. Banks and ATM’s are always best but I wanted some local currency for tips and did they gouge me.

The driver was there as promised holding a sign that had my name. It was still relatively light outside (8:30ish pm) so I was able to see Prague’s impressive scenery. Generous stretches of gardens are everywhere. It is Green and Clean. The roads

So we drove along and entered the Mala Strana area where I was staying. We turn onto my street, reached a stop sign and were greeted by armed guards holding a mirror under the car and looking for bombs. I though my driver had very good English until his explanation was “They know me but they always look.”

My hotel was a block or two up the slight hill. We passed a few more armed guards. I was looking at them not to my right or I would have noticed the US Embassy, which would have explained the security. Since 2001 there are bomb checks on all cars entering the area. Supposedly they carefully check each vehicle. They look under the car, under their hood and in the trunk. But for our vehicle they briefly scanned the car with a mirror. No trunk or hood check. After all...they knew the driver.