We packed up our things and after a hearty breakfast departed our most beloved ship and saying good byes to a few of the friends that we had made on the boat, climbed aboard our bus for the eight hour journey to Prague. thank goodness there was a break for lunch ( meals provided) I was looking forward to a nap but did not get one as the scenery was actually very interesting.
The tour guide gave us a bit of information about some of the sights that we came across. There were loads of wind turbines all over the place. Europe is so much farther ahead than Canada when it comes to generating electricity. lots of farmers fields with canola in bloom that were very pretty.
We passed through Hungary and into Slovakia at the old Communist check point on the highway. We were not in Slovakia for too long, just the tip of it really and from there into Czechia and finally Prague.
As the day progressed the weather turned from sunny and warm to cold and wet with wonderful threatening grey skies ahead promising all kinds of foul weather. The promise came to pass and we were slowed several times by the sheer quantity of water falling out of the skies.
There was lots of wildlife too in the farms and fields along with livestock of all kinds. dairy cattle, meat cattle, pigs and birds. I tried to get photos but between the rain on the windows, trees and the trucks passing in both directions the was probably the best shot of a white tailed deer I think. Although it might have been something else too.
We passed some signs for cities and towns like Tata, Gyor and Bratislava. Some of the larger cities we saw from a distance but we did not stop at any of them. Our tour guide for the trip also pointed out things like the Folks wagon plant , the largest in the world and the BMW (bring my wallet) plant, which made us all laugh.
There was the inevitable road construction crews slowing us down but not too badly. The rain and the traffic slowed us up more than the construction. the roads were in pretty good shape as they had been working on them since leaving the USSR.
Our lunch break was a kind of rest stop at a mini mall in the middle of the highway. It must have been Czechia as the time frame seems about right but I m not sure. My meal was boiled vegetables but they were pretty good and lots of potatoes which filled me up so I was happy. Margie did not see anything that was appealing so she had French fries. not the best meal we had had on this trip but the staff were friendly. A quick run through the "Mall" and we were on the road again, past more farms and cities and construction and rain.
We arrived in Prague in the late afternoon during a kind of sleet storm, a very cold greeting but the Corinthian was a lovely hotel. We were signed in, given instructions on how to get to the subway from the hotel and where there was a restaurant within walking distance outside the hotel.
We were told where the restaurant for breakfast was in the hotel and what time to meet for the tour the next day. As the hotel had a restaurant inside, we just went there and then went exploring. The hotel had two floors of restaurants, bars and shops which one was a jewelry store with some very pretty jewelry. On the top floor was a spa and an indoor pool and on the next floor a little bar with a great view. we thought we would avail ourselves of both the next day.
We put on may layers of clothing and went out for a bit of an explore. We did not go too far as it was really very cold outside. We wound our way out of the hotel grounds by a rather circuitous route wandering around the neighbourhood a little bit. There was a lovely park with a great view of the city. Did I mention it was very cold out, so we headed back to the hotel and our nice warm rooms.
Our room had a view of, we found out the next day, the ugliest building in Europe, a radio station it seems that no one liked, ever, the building that is not the station. Our room also had the softest pillows I have ever slept on and I wanted to steal one but did not. Our room also had cold bathroom floors. We were spoiled on board ship because even though our suite was small, our bathroom had heated floors. We missed the heated floors but by bedtime we ended up snug as bugs in a rug with our super soft pillows chatting about adventures to be had the next day. Even though we had sat in a bus for most of the day and not walked miles of sightseeing we were tired and drifted off pretty quickly.
No comments:
Post a Comment