Hi everyone,
We made it in to Prague yesterday right on schedule after a couple of uneventful flights. I even got about 3 hours of sleep on the plane which was really good because it allowed me to stay up until 22:00 and thus get to sleep on time.
We did have a little adventure getting to the hotel as we decided to take the cheap public transit option. While it was definitely cheap and efficient it really was quite something to haul three heavy suitcases, one small roller, two backpacks and the paddles on the crowded bus then two subway lines right in the middle of rush hour. The look on some of the locals faces was priceless. We’d have had the same looks if we saw a couple of people board the SkyTrain at Broadway station during rush hour with all their bags. Jerks!
Once at the hotel we took the free shuttle bus over to the mega Tesco supermarket. I’m sure the shuttle pays for itself many times over as there is a lot of big apartment blocks in the area and probably a lot of people don’t have cars so they wouldn’t be able to get to the big store. The prices for most items was the same or less than at home with local produce being high quality and lower price than we’d expect to pay. Cabbage, Hungarian peppers, and small, sweet nectarines are our favourites.
Today we got up fairly early after both sleeping more than 8 hours and had a couple of team meetings. Then we headed downtown with Erica, Leah, and Chris on the subway for a day of sightseeing and jet-lag erasing. I actually don’t feel jetlagged at all, but I know that the travel will have had some effect on me – we’ll see on the water tomorrow.
The buildings in Prague we’re really amazing; I’m not really a student of architecture or art styles like Catherine but I was definitely impressed. The narrow winding cobbled streets were quite interesting with pedestrians all over them. You almost forget that cars drive on them until the odd one comes screaming down the street. It’s crazy that anyone would try to drive in the old town, but the odd few do.
We crossed over the Charles Bridge and had a nice lunch on an outdoor patio overlooking the Vltava river. Then we climbed the hill and went through the cathedral at the top. Definitely the most impressive building inside that I’ve ever been inside. We took a lot of pictures and we commented about how my Dad would have gone crazy with the picture taking. Our feet were tired and as Catherine said we had “beautiful building fatigue†so we headed back to the hotel on the metro.
We’re going to cook up some Thai-style coconut rice and vegetables tonight and then maybe watch a movie. Then we’re up early tomorrow for our first practices. We’re both looking forward to getting down to the real order of business.
Thanks to everyone who has emailed us good wishes, we really appreciate it.  Take care and we’ll try to update again soon.
A few pictures from today:
King Wenceslas on upside down horse
