January 2nd 2015 - Prague, Czechoslovakia - Day 138
Our first day in Prague was bleary eyed. We had not slept well for two nights now (New Years Eve Party + Overnight Train) and we were all just tired and a bit crabby. We arrived into the main Prague station at 6:30 AM and after getting some money headed out to catch a cab. One small problem, we got to the cab station and there were none there and none in sight. In fact it seemed completely deserted. I am not sure we were thinking clearly, but we decided to start walking - even though we did not have any idea where we were going. Life without a phone has been largely wonderful, but in times like these having a phone with an internet connection to jump on Google Maps for directions would have been wonderful. However, we wandered for about 10 minutes until we found an open coffee shop with free wifi and went inside. We ordered some really weak coffee and jumped online to see where we were. The streets were still completely deserted, however we did notice the tram running by frequently. We found the Sheraton and it looked like we could catch the tram for a stop and then walk the rest. I went next store, bought us tickets and then we jumped on board, we were in the lobby about 20 minutes later feeling like veteran travelers, but still tired and crabby.
The experience at the Prague Sheraton could not have been more different from the Krakow Sheraton. The person checking me in was not helpful and did not seem to know much about the hotel she was checking me into. Our rooms were not adjoining as requested. We could not get breakfast, the rooms would not be available until 4:00 in the afternoon etc, etc. I was not in the mood so I asked for the manager - she was not there and would not be for another hour. So we waited and once the manager was in she fixed everything. We would indeed have adjoining rooms and they would be ready at 12....nice.
So we had some breakfast and went out for a walk, but of course it was raining. We grabbed some umbrellas from the hotel and headed out anyway. Prague is a wonderful city and great for walking. We wandered around and grabbed our first Trdelnik - this wonderful, hot rolled pastry covered in cinnamon and almond slivers -I could eat like 1000 of these, and the way they cook them is so cool too, over hot coals with a chain driven roller.
We made it back to the hotel just before noon and our rooms were ready. We hustled up there and jumped right into bed for a nap.
When we woke up we decided on an easy dinner and Stacie suggested Thai food. We all agreed that Asian sounded good and she found a place about 10 minutes walk from the hotel. The food was fantastic and a nice break from the Western food we have been eating for months. The last Asian food we had was Indian in Burford almost three months prior. It was a nice way to end a very long couple of days.