Greta and John in Europe 2013

We arrived in Prague without too much trouble on our flights. A little late out of Cedar Rapids due to some storm activity but nothing major. The stewardess on the flight from CR scared everyone by telling us that the landing was the roughest she'd ever been on, and that they tried to land the plane twice before making it down on the third attempt - so that's why they were so late. This caused one person to want to get off the plane...further causing delays, but she was finally convinced to stay and we were on our way.

Arriving in Prague we took a 20 min bus to the subway, and the subway to the center and after some trouble located our hotel. Rick Steves mentioned in his guide that a map is very important in Prague, and that has proved to be absolutely true. The streets are mostly all on angles and the names change every couple of blocks. Add to that the overcast and rainy skies and we could rarely tell which direction we were going. I think we are both typically pretty good navigators but we had our map out yesterday after every couple of blocks.

We are staying at the Dahlia Inn in the New Town, which is about a 15 min walk to the center. Our host, Mark, is great...very outgoing and full of good information.

After a shower and a nap we headed out to explore and get some dinner. A couple of highlights were:

One of the best brewpubs in the city, Pivovarsky Dum, is right across the street from our hotel. Warmed up the journey with two fresh brewed 0.5 liter beers. They has some nice open fermentation vats going in the room next to the pub and the whole place smelled like yeast and fresh brew.

Coffee at the Municipal House cafe which is an old style high ceilinged place with big chandeliers.

Dinner at a place called Lokal on the north side of the old town. Fresh Pilsner Urquell, sausages with mustard and horseradish, potato dumplings, garlicky cheese with pickled onions, and fresh potato salad. There was some very interesting artwork in this place that we will post photos of. A long (smoky)beer hall with surly service and great atmosphere.

After dinner we walked to the center and looked around for a bit and eventually made our way back to the hotel. So far it has rained constantly, and I mean without a 5 min break. Looks like more rain today and tomorrow.