Rick Steves Europe: Prague & Budapest
Sunday morning, we switched hotels, relocating to the Old Town Ungelt courtyard, where our tour group would be staying with us at Hotel Metamorphis. We visited Kampa Island, where there was an outdoor church service in progress, and we talked with a family from the area, a couple and their two children, who happily told us about their city & heritage, and even volunteered information on Czech politics and religion! This kind of conversation was far more interesting to us than information from books - these were people who had lived through enormous national changes and had a unique perspective to share.
After a leisurely afternoon, we met our Rick Steve’s group for the first time, in the hotel’s cellar restaurant.
Our lead guide, Jana Hronková, told us about herself and gave us lots of practical information about the time we would be spending together, and we soon set out for our first group activity: a walk across Charles Bridge and through the Little Quarter, past the Lennon Wall, and to our restaurant destination, Baráčnická Rychta. The place was a cozy traditional pub, and we were able to chat with some of our fellow tour members as dinner was served. As a surprise, Jana had arranged a small concert for us, featuring two musicians from the Prague Castle Orchestra, and we were entertained by many traditional songs on their flute and accordion. To close the evening, we were given small glasses of Becherovka, a local herbal liquor, and we learned to toast each other in Czech: “Na zdraví!”
For Day 4,
Travel Tip from Today
It’s a good idea to ask your hotel about any construction on public transport routes, as those changes wouldn’t be noted on the transport maps.
Public Transportation Tip
We have some previous experience with public transportation, and we found the Prague metro system easy to understand - our hotel provided us with a map. The tram system was more difficult to pick up, and after our first attempt to wing it, we planned our routes more carefully.