Day 2 - Prague (Stare Mesto)

26 Feb 2010

Paris-Prague
After breakfast and checking out of Holiday Inn Express, we board the 'Black Bus' to Roissypole.

We had a little bit of a trouble finding CDG Terminal 3 in order to check in for our flight to Prague. Initially, we thought Terminal 3 was located in the same building where the bus dropped us off but that was not the case.

In order to get to Terminal 3, we had to walk for about 7 minutes from Roissypole, first by following a 'blue' coloured pathway which took us to the outside of the Roissypole building where we could see the bus terminus on our left. Thereafter, we had to cross a road and then walk along a subway (tunnel) in order to get to the terminal building. (Note: In France, they used the 'down' arrow on their signs to indicate that you should move forward, not for you to find an escalator / stairs to go one level down!).

Our journey to Eastern Europe proper began with Smart Wings, flight QS1035 from Paris CDG Terminal 3 to Prague. The flight was good and we were even served complimentary sandwiches and drinks.

Prague
We arrived at Prague International airport at about 10.15am. Prague airport is clean, very functional and with clear signage. We took an airport car, which came with a fixed rate of CZK650 (about EUR 28) to our hotel, ACCOR Century Old Town. Although the Czech Republic is member of the European Union, they still use their own currency, Czech Crown (CZK).

Tip
Do not exchange a lot of CZK at the airport, just change enough to pay for your transport to your hotel. You get better rates in the city area (namely around the Celetna area of Stare Mesto). Look for money changers with 0% commission. Most money changers put up an attractive rate but they also charge a commission. We also encountered a lot of touts who claim that they offer better exchange rates than banks / money changers (we simply ignored them).

Stare Mesto (Old Town)
Our day starts with exploring Stare Mesto (Old Town district), which is about 8 minutes walk from our hotel. Czech may be a republic, but Prague has two kings - pork and beer. The pork knuckles and sausages were brilliant. Just a few doors away from our hotel is the Palladium, a large shopping mall where we could find food, ice cream and to get ourselves momentarily 'thawed'.

Roast Pork

Beer is cheaper than water or Coca-Cola, therefore choosing my beverage during meals was a no-brainer. Czech Beer (Pilsner Urquell) costs about CZK 33 for a pint at most restaurants. Buying a 6 pack from the supermarket was even better. CHEERS!

The picture below shows a skilled blacksmith at work. He's got some nice works like bells, but rather pricey. A simple bell costs about CZK459 (equivalent to SGD 40.00). So, we did some window shopping at his shopping cart.

Skilled Blacksmith at Old Town Square

We took pictures consist of day and night views of the Church of Our Lady before Týn. It is a beautiful old church and one of the main symbols of Prague. I prefer the night photo, though.

Church of Old Lady before Tyn, (day view)

Church of Our Lady before Tyn - night view)

One of the unique things we saw at the Old Town Square was the Astronomical clock. The clock itself is unique and we saw hordes of tourists gathered around the clock to watch its hands move at the hour and also to hear a trumpeter signaling the start of the hour.

Astronomical Clock