We were scheduled to leave Prague today but booked one more night, mostly because we had a bit of a fiasco trying to use the washer & dryer at the hotel. We managed to get all of our clothes pretty much washed but never could figure out how to get the machine to spin & dry them so we ended up with all of our clothes being soaking wet. There's a dryer but I guess they're a bit different than the ones at home (more like a dehumidifier) and don't do that great of a job. The machines have a buttons with symbols here and there but are pretty confusing to figure out. We hung most of our clothes on the balcony but, of course, it rained during the night so they're worse than before. We're going to ask for help today so that at least we can leave town with dry clothes. It's a soggy day today, anyway, so not a bad one to stick around.
Everything else is going great. Prague is a great city and we're seeing a lot of it. We'll need to get moving soon, though, to keep costs down. It's not too expensive here, for a big city, but it should be cheaper in the countryside. A meal here (in the tourist areas, which are most places) is $10-12, beer is the cheapest thing at $2 or so a pint, bottled water and sodas are probably twice as much as beer. We'll look for a grocery today to stock up on a few cheaper articles.
The architecture here is the highlight of the city, with most being over 400 years old. We're staying just beneath the main castle, in one of the older neighborhoods but one that was destroyed by fire in the 1500's and rebuilt as it is now. It's quite ornate and with very steep streets. We are in the Mala Strana district, which is the quieter part of town compared to the other side of the river, including the "Old Town", which is the main tourist area. There are quite a few tourists, though, walking up our street between the two biggest tourist attractions in town: the Charles Bridge and the Castle. Our room has a balcony that overlooks the city, as well as a wooded hillside, monastery, and gardens. It's a beautiful spot and we'll hate to leave. I'm sure we'll see equally impressive sights along the way, though.
There's so much more to tell but I'm writing "off the cuff" and don't have time right now....maybe later. We're headed to the suburb of Pruhonice tomorrow, where we'll find a place to stay and then start the heavy-duty walking the day after. I'm a little nervous about being able to find lodging every night along the way. I probably should have brought a tent, just in case, but was trying to travel light. Oh, well...we'll just have to have a certain amount of "faith" that things will work out. I think they will.
Later...
