We just keep going back
This was my 3rd visit in just as many years but with two differences, one was that the weather was very hot reaching 33 degrees, and the other was that I had picked up a throat bug at the start of the week which meant very little sleep and lots of coughing and wheezing.
The previous holiday was during October which was a bit fresher needless to say. The travel book seemed to show that the average was around the lower 20s for this time of year so being 30+ degrees was out of the ordinary I believe. It reminded me of our visit to Budapest during January this year where it was expected to be minus 10 to 20 but ended up 15 degrees or so. That's global warming for you.
As I had been twice before I was in no real need to do any major sightseeing or chasing the clock dashing here and there. Just nice to be eating and drinking in a different country and all for a similar price of staying in the UK.
Flying from Bournemouth for a change
Now that Thomson fly from Bournemouth airport life is so much easier. No more leaving early for Gatwick along with the petrol and parking fees. Just a 10 minute trip there and back.
We departed around 6pm on Wednesday night. Didn't get to the hotel until about 11pm local time just to catch the end of the Liverpool v Milan game.
We booked the Ametyst Hotel through Expedia. Got 4 nights for the price of 3 but seeing as we got there pretty late it was just as well. On the map it looked miles away from the centre in the remote outback. It didn't feel that much closer after our Cedaz taxi ride at night.
After checking in we just headed downstairs for dinner as it was easy. In comparison with bars/restaurants outside it was pretty expensive but as expected really. We saw Liverpool pull one goal back but it was all over on Milan's second goal.
The hotel and area
The Hotel Ametyst is small, only about 84 rooms, modern and clean. The aircon in our room was pretty noisy though and the baths are small so I could only just stretch out after a hard days walking. Breakfast had a decent enough mix of cereals, fruits, eggs, sausages, cheeses and ham.
On our first morning in Prague we walked out of the hotel and was taken aback with the heat. We had a stroll and found the main road that leads to the Museum. We headed in that direction and turn down the road outside the Ibis Hotel that we stayed during a previous trip.
We walked for ages and even made a detour at Tesco to arrive back there by mistake on our search to get to the Old Town Square. It was time for a beer. Quickly walk past the English and Irish bar and at the next block there is a small doorway. Go through there into a small courtyard and you will find Dumecek Cafe. We had a quick beer and sandwich stop here. A handy little place to avoid the ripoff prices.
Travelling around
We bought a 3 day travel pass which is a good idea even if you hotel is a few stops. The ticket covers the buses, metro and trams. All very efficient. Our hotel was only two Metro stops up from Mustek which lies at the bottom end of Wenceslas Square. The Metro stop is called Namesti Miru (A line/green line) and there is tram stop even closer called Jana Masaryka (22 or 23).
If you get a ticket, of any kind, may sure you get it stamped as you board your first piece of transport. We got spot checked once but the inspectors here are not as mob-handed as in Budapest.
Eating out and about
We went back to U Vejvodu for some food and drink that night once our friends Kathryn and Terry turned up. This was where we all came to last time. Angela had her leg of pork again. Time to find a new place. Getting charged for 4 covers and all 8 pretzels on the table does take the biscuit.
The next day was hot. 33 degrees hot. We jumped on a tram, went over the bridge towards the base of the Castle area. We aimed to do a 2 hour walk but after going past the Czech Parliament and further up we dived into a bar called U Kocoura to cool down. We cut the walk early and headed for lunch down by Charles Bridge. I thought I would have a light snack but ended up with a huge portion of pork ribs. Time to get back to the hotel for a cold bath.
We stayed local that night and went to Pizzeria Grosseto. This is a really nice place and the food is excellent and good value. I have seen many recommendations for it on the Internet as well. It is right by Namesti Miru.
On the last night we stayed local again. Came out the hotel and turned right and there is a restaurant/bar called something like Zovanarka on the street called Jana Masaryka, which has a large patio area at the back.
At first I thought the area was going to be a bit to remote and quiet but our stroll after dinner showed that there were many other restaurant and bars around. The area actually grew on me and given a cheap deal again I would consider going back and staying around there.
The price of beer!
One thing that gets my goat is the wide range of beer prices. For half litre <30Kc is a bargain, up to 50Kc is fine in my books, up to 90Kc is taking the mick and 133Kc at the airport is downright outrageous. Terry found a place that was selling it for 19Kc.
I just wished I didn't have a bad throat on this trip.
A very hairy landing back in Blighty
We arrived in Bournemouth airport amongst wind and rain.
What was scary though was the blooming landing. Having a window seat I could tell that we were already a fair way up the runway before we were close to touching down. Not a good sign. Once all tyres were on land the reverse thrust kicked in.
I had the feeling that a lot of runway seemed to be passing underneath us and when the reverse thrust was so strong that it starting shuddering the plane I just began to see the lights that signalled the end of the runway coming into view. I thought, oh dear this could be tricky.
Luckily a final slam on the brakes brought it all to a sudden halt, with literally yards to spare. It was a tight turn to get the plane around and taxi towards the arrivals hut.
A round of applause went up and everyone was thankful for being OK despite all the wind and rain.
I found this handy web site for pubs in Prague: praguepubs.co.uk
