Monday, October 28, 2019. Panoramic Prague and Prague Foodie Tours, Czech Republic

20191028 Monday, Prague- Czech Republic

The morning began with a trip to the Hilton Breakfast Buffett, which was a good Buffett with a wide selection of foods.  There was a selection of sausages- Beef, Chicken, and 2 different styles of Pork as well.  There was also an omelet station, but more unusually, there was a semi-DIY egg griddle where the chef cracks eggs on the grill, but you can use a spatula to take them off exactly like you like them- sunny side up, over easy, over medium, or over well.  An unusual sight was an older Indian couple in the corner who packed up a huge take out container (4qt capacity) with the help of the hostess.  We felt a little guilty just leaving the dining room with a banana and bottle of water for stashing in our day bags.  

Last night’s storm clouds had cleared off, revealing scattered cirrus clouds in the morning with the promise of better weather for today’s planned tours.  Our day will start with an included Viking Panoramic Prague tour, which should run from 8:20am to 1:30pm.  We have signed up for an optional Prague Food Tour to follow the Panoramic Prague tour, so we should be kept busy all day.

We met our Panoramic Prague tour guide, Thomas in the Viking lobby, and loaded up with about 6 other couples into a 40 passenger bus.  There were couples from several different Viking River Cruise boats, and some were pre-cruise, like us, and others had completed their cruises.  Interestingly enough, one woman said she recognized us from a prior cruise.  She had been to Cuba on Viking, so that may have been where we had run into her before.  

Our bus drove us through the outskirts of Old Town and crossed the Vtlava River and climbed the hill to the Hradcany or Prague Castle district.  We disembarked our busy few blocks from the entrance to the Prague Castle, along with several other large buses filled with largely Asian tourists, including Koreans, Japanese and Malaysians.  As a large group of Malaysians filed by us, lead by their tour guide waving a Malaysian flag at the top of a staff, Thomas introduced us to his mother, who was leading the Malaysians.  Small world.  Thomas told us how he had spent 2 months in New Zealand- a more than 20 hour flight from Prague.  Then on a recent tour, there was a man from the same district within New Zealand where he had lived during his stay.  So tourism can certainly make the world seem smaller.  

It is interesting to note that Prague and other European destinations have become very popular with Asian tourists.  The locals don’t seem to mind this so much as they do seem to mind and resent tourists now coming from Russia, since the Czechs and Slovakians lived under Russian occupation from the end of WWII to the fall of the Soviet Union.  They celebrate the “Velvet Revolution” that triggered independence from Russia.  It is called the “Velvet Revolution” supposedly because no bullets were ever fired, but the Russian military police sure beat the heck out of a large group of student protesters.  

Western music is popular throughout Prague, but Russian music- not so much. Michael, our night tour guide from last night had on a popular Czech radio station that played mostly American and British pop and hip-hop, and at the Gate Restaurant where we dined last night, the TV monitors had on MTV music videos.  We also found out that many places are happy to take US currency, although at a highly marked up exchange rate.  

Anyways, getting back to the Prague Castle, we did have to go through metal detectors and have our daypacks searched before entering the complex.  We soon found our way to the facade of the St Vitus Cathedral- a huge and ornate Neo-Gothic cathedral, replete with quite a collection of gargoyles.  

Inside is the Royal Mausoleum where St. Wenceslas (the same Jolly King from the Christmas song) and Charles IV are interred.  

The stained glass work and vaulted ceilings are as spectacular as any in Europe.  This is the most important cathedral in the Czech Republic, and the site of coronations for Czech Kings and Queens.  The present structure is the third religious structure on the site with the first being erected by Prince Wenceslas in 925.  The present structure was begun by King Charles IV of the Holy Roman Empire in 1344, but wasn’t completed until 1929.  

Next stop was the main entrance to the Prague Castle to see the changing of the Guard.  There are ceremonial guards who have to stand like statues on each side of the main entrance, not unlike the Beefeaters who guard the Tower of London.  There are also younger soldiers wearing body armor and toting machine guns nearby to ensure actual security of the Castle.  The ritual changing of the guards involves some fancy rifle work with shiny bayonets and precision footwork, and our guide got us front and center as the guard marched right in front of us.  We had stood outside the same gates last night during our night tour, and the contrast is literally day and night.  There are many interesting sculptures topping the fence posts in front of the castle.  

There is a large plaza with a sweeping view over the river and Petrin Hill neighborhood.  Of course there is a Starbucks coffee shop front and center, and on the edge of the roof, we say some young Koreans taking a potentially hazardous selfie.  

Since the bus was kind enough to deposit us on the top of the Hradcany hill, we walked down through cobblestoned streets to the Church of St. Nicholas, perhaps the finest example of Prague Baroque architecture around.  The fine green patina on the copper cupola is quite a landmark.  It was constructed in the mid 1700’s.

Stories abound regarding the 79m tall belfry and it’s upper windows, which were favorite roosts of the Nazi SS and later KGB observers because it has direct sight lines to the American and Yugoslav embassies, as well as the access route to the West German embassy.

Our walk took us to through the Malá Strana or “Lesser Town” neighborhood of Prague, whose main landmark is the pedestrian Charles Bridge.   King Charles IV ordered construction to begin in 1357 on the 9th of July at 5:31am because of his beliefs in numerology and serology that the numbers 135797531 would bring good luck.  

We were given some free time to shop and find a bathroom at the Malá Strana Bridge Tower.  We found a local specialty called Trdelnik or Sweet Chimney Cake, consisting of bread baked around a ceramic cone, rolled in sugar and filled with yummy pistachio ice cream to tide us over until our afternoon Prague Foodie Tour.  It was delicious- the “Cone” is like a pastry, but you need to be aware that the bottom is not watertight, so be prepared to deal with ice cream dripping out the bottom if you don’t eat it fast enough.  

Sweet Chimney Cake

East German Trabant has a plastic body and lawn mower engine.

We walked across the bridge and found it to be very crowded.  There were a few beggars working the crowd, but one, who looked like an original thalidomide child (no limbs below his waist, and only a stump of a left hand and partially formed right hand), looked like he truly deserved a handout, even though Prague boasts an unemployment rate of only 3%.  There was a jazz ensemble playing New Orleans jazz in the middle of the bridge, causing a huge bottleneck, and a pick pocketer’s paradise.  We were fortunately able to navigate our way through that with our pockets intact, and cell phones still in our possession.

The Charles Bridge is lined with statues on each pillar, but the statues that we see today are all replicas, with the originals apparently in storage in some national museum warehouse, but that doesn’t stop millions of tourists from touching the bronze plaques flanking the statue of St. Jan of Napomuk, crowned with a halo of gold stars.  

He was martyred by King Wenceslas IV (not the Jolly Wenceslas, but the evil brother) for either protecting the confessional secrets of Queen Sofia, or disrespecting the King by confirming a Monastary without his permission.  The plaque on the right depicts Queen Sofia, while the plaque on the left features a dog.  Touching the images is said to bring either good luck or a return visit to Prague.  

Just downstream of the Charles Bridge is a tiny neighborhood served with narrow canals like a micro-miniature version of Venice.  It’s easy to miss if you don’t look carefully.

Once across the Charles Bridge we entered the Klementinum, which started its life as a medieval Dominican monastery dedicated to St. Clement in the 11th century.  Today, it houses the National Library of the Czech Republic.  It has an astronomical observatory tower that holds the oldest records of weather in Czech lands dating to 1775.  

We emerged from the Klementinum in front of Prague CIty Hall and soon found ourselves in Prague’s Old Town City Square, with its famous Astronomical Clock, which was installed in 1410.  It is the 3rd oldest astronomical clock in Europe, and the oldest clock still operating.  There is supposed to be a “Walk of the Apostles” on the hour, concluding with the skeletal figure of Death ringing in the hour, but we didn’t stick around to see the show.  The clock itself is sheathed with netting, apparently to protect it from pesky birds, but makes the clock look a bit messy.  The astronomical clock in Rostock, Germany, doesn’t have to contend with birds since it is located inside it’s cathedral.  That clock was built in 1472.

From the Old Town Square, we wandered up into the old Jewish Quarters, which had been largely depopulated during WWII, but the now is the most exclusive and expensive neighborhood to live in around Prague.  We saw a Ferrari and a Lamborghini on the streets. 

We walked by the entrance to the Jewish museum, which is a complex including the Jubilee Synagogue and the old Jewish cemetery, but none of the brightly hued Moorish exterior was visible from the street we were walking on- just a plain looking brick structure from the backside.  We concluded our Panoramic Prague tour at a rather odd bronze statue of a giant gorilla laying on his back with his basketball sized highly polished golden balls proudly on display.  The sculpture is named “King Kong Balls”.  I guess it’s about on par with Helsinki’s Peeing Bad Boy for distasteful public art.  

From there, we broke off on our Prague Food Tour.  Our new guide, Helena, rounded us up, along with one other couple from the Hilton’s Viking group, and we ended up joining two other couples from a different hotel.  

Our first stop was a restaurant called Vitejte ve Spejli, which was like a Czech Tapas restaurant where small dishes are made and placed on a counter and customers can choose plates from a wide variety of open face sandwiches and other finger foods.  The prices are indicated by the number of skewers in the dish.  We began our progressive dining experience with an egg salad sandwich and roast beef sandwich, prepared with fresh greens and other toppings including cheese and pickled red onions.  This was intended to whet our appetites.  

There was apparently one couple that canceled at the last minute, but the restaurant still had extra dishes on the table for them when we arrived.  There were some extra sandwiches we hated to see go uneaten, but our guide assured us we didn’t have to worry about finishing our tour hungry, and that we should save room for the entrees.  

The second stop was at The Restaurant At The Blue Duckling- a fancier place specializing in duck.  The interior was very nicely decorated with the ambiance of old Paris.  Our first course here was a combination of smoked duck breast and veal pate.  

These were served with some mixed greens and berries, along with fresh rye and wheat breads and herb butter.  The second course was veal with a Czech mushroom sauce.  Creamed potatoes on a baked apple slice were plated with the veal.  

And the final course was roast duck with stuffing and a prosciutto filled dumpling roll, with caramelized onions and cabbage.  

We were also served a choice of Czech beer or Moravian wine.  The Pilsner Urquell that they served out of bottles, was quite good.  Compared with the Staropramen lager we had last night, this one had a brighter hoppy character, but not the bitters associated with pale ales I usually drink.  

Our final stop was a coffee and dessert cafe across the street from the National Theatre, which was a favorite hang out of intellectuals and political dissidents.  It somehow managed to survive the Nazis and Communists somehow.  

We were served finger desserts including a fruit cup filled with local berries, a glazed creme puff, and a chocolate mousse cake.  They were a bit slow on bringing out the coffee, but the espresso drinks were well prepared and tasty, and Janet had a nice big pot of tea.  The desserts would have been right at home in an English afternoon Tea Party tradition.  

Everything was delicious, and we were quite sated, but as I was finishing my cafe latte, I experienced a bit of gastro-intestinal distress, and headed for the bathroom, which was fortunately just behind our table, but down two flights of stairs.  Somehow, everything seems to require stairs in this part of Europe.  I don’t know if it was something we had during our Foodie Tour, or earlier, but I don’t think anyone else was similarly effected.  I was happy that was the last stop of our tour, and our next stop was back to the hotel.  

Everything was better after a couple doses of bismuth subsalicylate (Pepto Bismol), Imodium and a nap.  I guess if this traveling always entails some risk of GI issues.  

We called it an early evening and decided against wandering back into town tonight since our feet were tired. Our Apple Watches logged 15,000 steps or 6.1 miles on cobblestones and hills.

Tomorrow, we will head out on another optional Viking Tour to Kutna Hora, once an economic and cultural rival to Prague, built on the silver mining industry in the 13th century.  This will give us a chance to see some of the countryside surrounding Prague, but will be a full 7 hour excursion.

Saturday October 26, 2019 and Sunday October 27, 2019: Seattle to Prague

20191026-27 Seattle to   Prague. 

Today begins our 54 day trip around the world by heading to Prague in the Czech Republic via Frankfurt Germany. The first leg of our trip was courtesy the Whidbey Sea-Tac shuttle which took the Clinton Ferry and I-405. The weather was cool and cloudy, but no rain. 

As we crossed from Clinton to Mukilteo, we were reminded of our end of the boating season trip when we took our boat from Oak Harbor to Champagne Point on Lake Washington via the Ballard Locks.  That was the furthest south and longest cruising trip we have made with our boat. Highlights of that trip included spending time with family and friends, as well as successfully navigating the Locks and Locking through the large vessel locks each way. We were also treated to a most incredible thunder and lightning show from my Brother’s home on the shore of Lake Washington. 

The Whidbey Sea-Tac shuttle only runs every two hours, so we arrived nearly 3 hours before our scheduled 1:50pm departure time. 

There were no delays checking our bags, but it should be noted that the Europeans are much stricter about luggage size and weights. When they say 8kg for carry-on bags and 23kg for checked bags, they mean it. They weighed our carry-on bags and then raged them with a dated “Carry-on Approved” tag. 8kg in a carryon bag is barely more than 2 changes of clothes and a toothbrush bag, so the bag is only half full. US domestic airlines don’t generally care about carry-on weight, unless it’s over 12kg.Going overweight costs $200, so it’s a good thing we weighed our bags carefully while packing them. 

It took us less than 5 minutes to get through the TSA Pre-Check security line. Our Nexus membership gives us a Known Traveller number, which gets us Pre-Check status on all US flights. 

Sea-Tac has been remodeling the food court and has removed the Burger Kings and Wendy’s restaurants so only expensive places remain.  We bought lunch at “The Greedy Cow”.  They have pretty good burgers, but boy, are they expensive.  It was $39 for two burgers and two orders of fries with taxes and airport fees.  We greatly prefer the Burger King 2 for $4.99 Whopper Junior meal deals, which include burgers, fries and a drink.

Our flight from Seattle to Frankfurt Germany was on a 747-400 aircraft. This was our first flight on a 747 since the 1980’s. We flew premium economy since Viking River Cruises was sponsoring our flights. We could have flown for free in coach, but had the base coach fare subtracted from the premium economy fare. 

Viking Air was willing to work with us on a flight deviation so we could fly into Prague at the start of our trip, and out of Singapore at the end of the trip, even though the interval exceeded their usual 30 day booking window. 

We had seats just behind the bulkhead where the rear upper deck stairs join the main cabin floor. Seating ahead of this bulkhead and on the upper deck is business class, where seat pods fold out into flat beds. The premium economy seats have plenty of legroom and the seats recline to about 40 degrees with a leg rest that comes up to support your legs and feet. Being behind the bulkhead, we had video monitors and tray tables that folded out of the armrests, but there was ample hip room so our elbows didn’t touch unless we wanted them to. 

The only bugaboo we had was the overhead storage bins in the center of the dual aisle jet were only large enough to accommodate a single roll on bag, so bags had to be spread around a bit to find space for everything, and since we were behind the bulkhead, we also had to find bin space for our day packs. 

We had complimentary Bailey’s Irish Creams on the rocks to begin the flight. A dinner was served with wine or beer about an hour into the flight. The dinners were nothing to rave about, but the hot entrees were hot, and the salads weren’t wilted. Nowadays, we consider ourselves pampered if we get served anything besides peanuts or mini pretzels on a flight. 

The flight crews passed out over the ear headsets and our seats each had a pillow and blanket, as well as a nice zippered pouch containing socks, toothbrush, toothpaste, ear plugs and sleep mask. We also had a 20oz water bottle at each seat. 

We watched the Movie Big Fish after dinner and then tried to sleep for the rest of the flight. The flight crews had dimmed the cabin to try to simulate Frankfurt time in the cabin. Janet manage to also watch Aquaman. Overall, the experience in Premium Economy on Lufthansa was close to equivalent to Premium Economy on Delta Airlines. Lufthansa had more comfortable seats for sleeping, but Delta was certainly more liberal with cocktails. 

As dawn broke out at 30,000 ft, the cabin lights came on and they served breakfast, which featured a plain omelet with spinach and tomato. 

It was about 8am local time when we deplaned in Frankfurt, Germany. We arrived in the Z gate of Terminal 1, and our connecting flight in the A Gates in Terminal 1.  Our luggage was checked through to Prague.  We did have to go through Passport control to go from the Z Gates to the A Gates, but the booths were well staffed and operated with German efficiency. There is a large duty-free mall between the A and Z Gates, but it’s all in the airport’s “sterile” zone, so we didn’t have to go through any security screening checkpoints to get from our arrival to our departure gates. 

One oddity we noted was there were several flights of stairs that had to be negotiated in the jetways and a bus was used to get us from the terminal to our connecting flight to Prague. 

The flight from Frankfurt to Prague was not completely full, so we had an empty seat between us.  We were also pleasantly surprised to have a cheese sandwich  and  drink service  on the short hour long flight. 

From the air, Prague looks green, European and beautiful.  Our plane was greeted with an enclosed jetway, but once inside the terminal building, we had to go down 2 sets of stairs.  We did not have to clear customs or passport control, and had no trouble reclaiming our checked bags.  A pair of Viking representatives greeted us just outside the baggage claim hall.  They were expecting two couples, each going to a different hotel, so we had a private transfer in a small Mercedes sedan, like an Uber ride.  

Our transfer driver was pretty aggressive on the road, making us cringe a bit, but he got us to our hotel- the Prague Hilton- in one piece.  A bellman immediately whisked our luggage off while we were instructed to go inside and check in at the Viking service desk.  So it turns out that Viking has their own reception desk, one floor down from the main Hilton check in desk.  

The Viking service desk had complimentary coffee, tea and bottled water.  Several couples were getting checked in.  Our Viking concierge was able to get our room ready for early occupancy, which was appreciated since we felt a bit like zombies by then.  We found the room to be very typical of a nice Hilton or Hyatt Regency hotel.  

The elevator banks in this Hilton are controlled in a unique way.  To access, you tap your room key on a pad.  The pad then displays a message telling you which elevator to board.  Once you’re in the elevator, there’s no pushing floor selection buttons.  It takes you up to your floor non-stop.  So it appears that the software running these elevator banks optimizes the elevator usage to minimize the number of cars needed and needless stops at intermediate floors. 

We showered up, brushed our teeth and set an alarm to get us up at 3:45pm because we had arranged with our Viking Concierge (Zuzanne) to have a private car guided tour of Prague’s City Lights for the same price as the optional Viking excursion, which had sold out.  

After our naps, we walked around the hotel a bit to familiarize ourselves with the neighborhood and to check out a place for dinner that Zuzanne had suggested.  It was within an easy 5 minute walking distance from the hospital. 

When we returned to the Hotel, Zuzanne introduced us to our guide, Michael, who drove a nice Mercedes sedan with the largest navigation screen I’ve ever seen in a car.  When we got into his car, it had started to rain.  Michael basically took us to all the tourist areas of the city and filled us in on the political history of the Czech Republic.  We got out to walk around at one fo the cathedrals with a view up the river at the series of bridges that cross the Vltava River, and at a spot under the Charles bridge for a quick walk on the bridge.  

Basilica of St. Peter and Paul

View from Prague Castle Hill

Charles Bridge and Cathedral of St. Nicholas

Charles Bridge Tower with Cathedral of St. Nicholas and St. Vitus Cathedral

Dome of the Cathedral of St. Nicholas and Belfry

Basilica of St. Peter and Paul

“Dancing House” Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire as interpreted by architects Frank Ghery and 

Vlado Milunić.

Prince Wenceslas

Czech Presidential Palace

Our last stop was the presidential palace.  By then, it had started raining hard.  Michael dropped us off at the Gate Restaurant, at our request, for Czech food and beer.  

The Gate restaurant has a contemporary interior with a very large bar and casual atmosphere.  Ben ordered Czech goulash stew with sausage while Janet ordered Czech dumpling filled with pork (which turned out to be diced ham).  The beef in the goulash was surprisingly tough, and the goulash itself was more like brown gravy.  The local beer on tap was less expensive than water by a long shot.  Janet had heard that it is safe to drink tap water in Prague, but this restaurant charges nearly a dollar for tap water, so beer it is.  The local brew is a Pilsner lager, kind of like Miller or Budweiser.

It was a short walk through light rain to get back to the hotel.  We were both totally exhausted with jet lag and were ready to collapse into bed.  Tomorrow, we have a Viking inclusive tour of Prague at 8am.  The breakfast Buffett opens at 6:30am, so we’re setting an alarm clock.

Sunday, May 26, 2019. Disembarkation Seattle

Sunday, May 26, 2019. Disembarkation Seattle

We awoke to see the Golden Gardens marina outside our balcony, across from the Smith Cove cruise ship terminal.  That view was eventually blocked as the Holland America Westerdam tied up on it’s berth.  

The dining room was open for breakfast, so we all met for breakfast and had a relaxing last breakfast.  Towards the end of breakfast, the dining room staff was anxious to get us on our way because the ship was getting turned over for the incoming passengers.  We had set our suitcases out the night before, and were down to just our day packs to lug around.

We made our way to the disembarkation lounges, and said our farewells.  There was very little delay on disembarkation, and no crowding around the lounges when we arrived. This was in stark contrast to the troubles we had encountered on disembarkation from the Ruby Princess at the end of our recent Hawaii cruise.  Perhaps it was the late departure time we had requested 10AM- the last batch, since we had no flights to catch.  Having a nice sit down breakfast was certainly preferable to the crowded and hectic buffet during the early morning hours.  

George’s au pair drove Franklin’s mobility van to pick the Hu family members, while Ciara picked us up so she could spend some of the Memorial Day weekend at home.  

After we got home and unpacked, we went for a hike at Fort Ebey.  As we walked the bluff trail, we saw the Star Princess headed back out of Puget Sound with it’s next load of passengers, headed back for Alaska.  

Over all, it was an enjoyable but brief Alaska cruise.  Dealing with Betty’s disabilities and coordinating with Ben’s brothers did present some unique challenges, but Princess Cruises did a very nice job of making things as easy as possible.  The ADA stateroom was surprisingly large and convenient, and the portside staff were always eager to help with Betty in her wheelchair.  Franklin’s battery powered blender made it possible for Betty to enjoy the delicious and constantly changing cuisine, and the dining room staff were always very helpful and respectful in dealing with the mess associated with  having to blend her food at the table and feed her.  

We did manage to walk away with 5 trivia wins and a pile of loot from the Wake Show drawings.  Most of the Trivia prizes were given away as souvenirs for Dave's family and other passengers, but we do have some Star Princess coasters to add to our collection of Princess ship coasters.

There were obvious compromises in the itinerary with the 5AM arrival at Tracy Arm, and 7PM arrival in Victoria.  We would recommend future travelers to carefully examine the itinerary to  note the times of arrival and departure.  We failed to do this because we had booked this on significantly discounted last minute standby fare deal.  We suspect the prime port call times were given to the larger and more profitable Royal Princess.  But we did see some spectacular sights in Tracy Arm, and did enjoy seeing the Butterfly garden, especially the monster Atlas moths.  

For those looking to book a round trip Alaska Cruise itinerary from Seattle, we would recommend finding an itinerary that includes a visit to Glacier Bay (infinitely more spectacular from the cruise ship than Tracy Arm, although the  passengers who took the optional excursion on the catamarans to the base of the Sawyer glaciers probably had a spectacular view) and one that arrives in Victoria during the early morning hours, so you have a full day to enjoy in Victoria.

As for our first experience as Elite level passengers, we did really have to push ourselves to get through the two coffee cards, and would have preferred to have been upgraded to a soft drink package instead, if that were a possibility. There was no way we would have gotten through the provided minibar set up in a week.  We’ll ask on our next cruise about trading the minibar for a soft drink package instead of coffee cards.  

We were a little surprised by how long it took to get our laundry back, but Ben’s shirts have never looked so good as they did coming back starched and pressed on hangers.  The laundry service will be especially handy on our long Rome to Singapore cruise coming up this winter.  It was also nice to be able to cut to the front of the customer service lines, but traveling with Betty also gets you a pass to bypass all the lines on Princess because they give first priority to passengers with disabilities.