Saturday 28/6 Big trouble in little Prague

Our plane got in 45 minutes after take-off. All the staying up so late and hassle, and it was such a short flight. We got our bags and headed out to the entrance hall area of the airport. After a bit of time we managed to figure out approximately where we were staying. The area looked pretty far out. We got some currency and bus tickets, and caught a bus to a tram station somewhere in the city. At the tram station we caught a tram to where we were staying. The trams were quite awesome, with a great retro design but nicely maintained or restored or whatnot. The interior wasn´t too cramped, having only a few seats in the whole carriage.

It was really far out of the city by the time we got to where we thought we needed to get off. Really far. We must have travelled at least 20-30 minutes by tram alone out into, as Emma put it (to you Londoners), zone 6. It didn't matter all too much because we had chosen to stay at an old Czech castle, so the price for that, I thought, was a bit of a trek. It took us a bit of time to find the damn place, having got off a few stops too early (even though that was the stop given to us by the info lady at the airport).

Well, we found the correct address but something didn't add up quite right. There was no castle. Not even an old building with charm. No, there was a new-ish (relatively) building, looking like a regular hotel, and not a great one at that. We were a bit confused, but it definitely was the right address, and the correct name of the place. To be honest, we were so completely destroyed from the lack of sleep that we just checked in and wanted to get some rest. We thought an hour would do us well to refresh and then sort this business out. We slept for about six hours, waking up around 3pm.

To put it bluntly, we were pissed off. Somewhere along the way something had gone wrong. Had STA not booked the correct place? Was the sight that our STA guy showed us incorrect? The reason didn't really matter. This place (with a cupboard of a room) was most definitely not the one which we were being sold by our STA guy, and being just a hotel, was way too far out of the city to be practical. We packed back up, went downstairs and checked out. We tried to get a refund for the four remaining nights but the lady at the desk couldn't help us in that department because the booking had gone from STA through one or two different local agents and then to the hotel. Damn.

We wanted to just get into the city and find another place to stay, a hostel if it was possible. We thought we´d just catch a tram back in, but nowhere could we see where to buy tickets. Like, nowhere nowhere. No shops sold them. There were no machines at the tram stops. The tram driver couldn't sell to us either (yes, we tried), and was particularly unhelpful in the matter. I thought I had seen a machine a while further down the line, so we started walking in the direction of the city. We never found a machine like that.

Eventually, after a long time of walking with the hot day around us we got a taxi (it was hard, to find one, being the middle of suburbia) and got dropped off near Charles Bridge on the east bank of the river. We strolled down through crowded tourist centre streets and found an info place. The general area, the energy of the place, was refreshing. I think we could both see why people raved about Prague so much, just from this little bit of vibe we got as we walked through.

We got a pamphlet and map from the info centre, and then went about trying to book into a hostel. We got five nights at the Clown and Bard hostel, apparently a great party hostel. From there we made our way to a metro station and over to the area of the hostel. When we got to the station we needed, the directions that the hostel staff gave weren´t entirely helpful. We walked the long way around to the place, taking a good half hour or so. Still, it gave us a bit of a chance to see the area which looked pretty good, filled with bars and restaurants, not too pricey.

We got to the hostel and checked in. Our first night we had booked in a private double, and the other four were in a small dorm. Our room name was Alice. There were other interesting rooms, like White Dragon and Momo. Yep, probably easier to remember than a number when you´ve stumbled in drunk after a long, late one.

We freshened up and then headed out for food. Nearby, we found a cheap Chinese place and had some filling, tasty (but probably not too healthy) food. From there we went back, got ready to go out and then made our way on the metro to find a place called Studio 54, meant to be a good late night place with indie music. Sounded good. Of course, when we got there we found out that it was indeed a late late night place, opening 4am to allow the people who work at the other clubs to have a night out too after they finished work.

We started making our way back to the hostel area. There were a few bars around it that we thought we´d try out. We went into one called Termix which played some dance anthems and some retro stuff, with a dash of RnB. It was a pretty good place. I spent part of the night making out with a cute blond wearing a sweater. We made friends with a group of guys who we then went out with to another club for a bit, at about 4.

Shortly into that place we realised we were both completely exhausted, having not really had decent rest since the morning of the day before. We decided to call it a night and head back to the hostel. Not a bad effort, I think, considering that we were both tired and almost conceded the night before it even started. We got back by about 4:30 and crashed.