Jon arrived in London early this morning, took the tube to our place in Chelsea only to turn around to the airport an hour later. We got through security much faster than we expected given that it is a 4 day weekend here (Easter holiday). We had horrible seats on the plane - 25e and 25f - last row window and middle - plus a smelly guy next to us who kept pushing me with his elbow. I got so annoyed, I had to ask him to stop and he replied "why don't you ask for the manager?" On a plane?? Whatever.
We took a Cedaz mini-van from the airport to the Mandarin Oriental after the driver had a blast chanting "Mandarin, Mandarin, Mandarin" (pronounced Mandareeeeen) for everyone to hear where we were staying. We thought it would be a van that took everyone staying at particular hotels to their destinations, but instead we got on the van and found four other travellers in the same van off to other destinations. I was not happy, especially when the driver stopped at the second terminal to try to get more passengers, but at least in the end we were dropped off first.
We arrived at the hotel, which is a converted monestary, and got an extensive tour from a woman working the front desk - very stange and uncomfortable seeming and we later learned she was a trainee, which probably explained that.
Our room was great - yes, I said great! No complaints. I got all my special requests and the room was very spacious with a large bathroom.
We took a Cedaz mini-van from the airport to the Mandarin Oriental after the driver had a blast chanting "Mandarin, Mandarin, Mandarin" (pronounced Mandareeeeen) for everyone to hear where we were staying. We thought it would be a van that took everyone staying at particular hotels to their destinations, but instead we got on the van and found four other travellers in the same van off to other destinations. I was not happy, especially when the driver stopped at the second terminal to try to get more passengers, but at least in the end we were dropped off first.
We arrived at the hotel, which is a converted monestary, and got an extensive tour from a woman working the front desk - very stange and uncomfortable seeming and we later learned she was a trainee, which probably explained that.
Our room was great - yes, I said great! No complaints. I got all my special requests and the room was very spacious with a large bathroom. Jon decided to get ready for dinner and tried to take a shower but couldn't figure out how to use the overhead shower so we called housekeeping for help and instead of explaining it over the phone, they sent someone over to help. I was in the bedroom while the man showed Jon how to work the shower and all I heard was Jon saying "Do you want a towel?" The poor man got soaking wet from showing Jon the overhead shower...
We made all our bookings for dinner from London, thanks in big part to Dave who guided us through the in's and out's of Prague (note to everyone visiting Europe: I'm trying to convince Dave Pitluck to publish Dave's Guides to Europe - he always knows where to go, so when in doubt call him :) ). Tonight we were off to Cowboy's, part of the Kampa Group of restaurants.
We were a little surprised by how many restaurant groups exist in Prague, I figured that was a more New York/London thing... Anyway, it was quite a hike up to the restaurant and thank goodness I wasn't wearing higher heels. I learned quickly that Prague is a city for flats - it is not only hilly, but cobblestone streets abound. Anyway, Cowboy's is a in a great space - all exposed brick with beautiful archways and high ceilings. It was a totally American joint, complete with cowhide seats...Jon got some great ribs and I got a rib eye steak - not the most Czech way to start out our trip, but definitely yummy. And thus starts the theme of this trip - gastonomy extravagnza, with all worries for healthy diets thrown out the door.
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