Goodbye Prague - Hello Lovedean (UK) - (Minstrel)

Monday 23 July 2018

And here we are, in the UK.  We arrived at Prague airport with plenty of time to spare, so we had a second breakfast at the airport restaurant.

The flight over was uneventful and not unpleasant.  Wim and I both like isle seats and we managed to get one each on opposite sides, so we were still sitting next to each other! ;-)

With a heatwave in large parts of Europe we were not too happy with the freezing air conditioning on the plane.  At Heathrow airport we were of course hit by a wall of hot air!  It was 29 degrees.

As we hadn't had anything to eat on the plane we found a restaurant first, after we had established the train and bus times and found we had plenty of time to have a decent lunch.

We took the bus to Woking.  Was it too cold on the plane, we couldn't complain about that on the bus.  The air conditioning wasn't working and of course, in those modern airtight vehicles windows don't open either.  Add to that that we were also stuck in peak hour traffic, that made for a very unpleasant ride and we were glad to be let off at the train station in Woking where my first deed was getting a bottle of cold water.

The train to Petersfield arrived and soon we were seated for the next part of the trip.  We discovered that we could change trains to a faster one into Petersfield, but what with all the luggage it didn't seem worth the effort, so we stayed seated. 

At Petersfield we asked the price for a taxi to Lovedean, which was just a little bit cheaper than the estimate on Google, so we took a ride to our destination and arrived at the end of the afternoon, just in time to drop off our luggage (after having obtained the keys to the house from a key safe), hop into the car (which meant finding the car keys, the car and the remote for the garage....) and drive to the shops for much needed groceries, because we wanted to have dinner and breakfast....

Pfff, time to sit down and relax after an easy frozen dinner.  No cooking on the first day!

Tuesday 24 July 2018

A new destination always means a bit of exploring, adjusting and what not.  Most of the time this goes well, but today we had a problem getting started.  It took Wim a while to get his shower to work, mine wouldn't work at all.  The daughter of the house happened to email me about a wasps nest, which is situated right next to one of the bedroom windows.  I had already discovered the fact, because there were a few wasps inside as well.  I am not scared of them, but very careful around them, because I am terribly allergic.  It was arranged that someone will come on Friday to remove the nest.  One less worry!  Next we discuss the shower problem and via her father in Australia we get new information and I can finally have my much needed shower.

That out of the way we have breakfast and discover that the ideal spot is on the patio outside, right next to the orangery, where it is already pretty hot inside early in the morning.

We spend the morning doing the laundry, because nothing much was washed while in Prague.  The weather is fine, so everything dries in no time.

After having caught up with most of what we needed to do Wim suggested we drive to Great Bedwyn to have a look at Ken and Gill's narrow boat.

Unfortunately I forgot to take my USB lead and had only 94% charge on my mobile phone, which is not much for a three hour drive (return).  I could use it as my navigator for almost all of the drive.  It died ten minutes before we were back in Lovedean, but Wim managed to guide me by just using Google maps on his mobile phone.  No data means no directions, but the roads were clearly marked.

We found the moorings easy enough and walked up to the boat, where we tried to open it up.  In no time we were joined by the 'neighbour' who asked if we were the Australian exchange partners! And yes we were, so no worries.....  He told us about problems with the bilge pump and offered any assistance we might need.  Nice guy!

The boat appeared to be much like the house, which meant: not exactly new. ;-)  We also looked at a few people who were handling the locks, so if we do happen to take the boat we have some idea of what we are in for...

After our 'inspection' we walked back to the village centre in the hope of finding a restaurant for a much needed cup of coffee, but the only one there was closed.  So, there was nothing for it than to get into the car for the return trip.  This was just a tad bit easier without the few wrong turns on the way in.

We got some groceries on the way back and that was it for the day.  All I wanted was to relax for the rest of the evening.  I did get a phone call though from a very friendly lady who introduced herself and asked if we wanted to join the walking group on Wednesday morning.  As this was already talked about with Ken and Gill, I said 'yes' very eagerly and she promised to pick us up the following day.

And here are some of the pictures taken around the boat:

The first of many locks

Minstrel

A little bird, if you look closely enough...

Minstrel on the other side of the canal

A row of narrow boats

A busy bee!

A row of real English cottages (Great Bedwyn)

Prague - Sunday and Monday (Mlýnský Domov, flight to London)

Sunday 22 July 2018

This is going to be my last update for Prague, as we are about to leave when I am writing this.

On Sunday Wim and I were at home all day, just filling in the day.  Ales was playing golf, a tournament I believe, and Lenka enjoyed her time off and spent the day sunbathing in the yard.

When Ales returned the four of us walked to the restaurant Mlýnský Domov (the Mill House) for a last dinner together as a thank you to our hosts.  The photos haven't been taken with my camera, hence the poorer quality, but you get the gist...

Lenka & Ales

Wim and Marion

The four of us

Monday 23 July 2018

On Monday we were up early, of course, and got ready to leave.  Ales first, as he had a long drive ahead since he was teaching at Pilsen.  We got ready later, but early enough for me to do my blog update.  We'll catch the bus and train to the airport and will, hopefully, arrive at Heathrow early afternoon.  

See you in the UK. :-)

Prague - Friday and Saturday (Dinner with family, Zličín and Anděl)

Friday 20 July 2018

After two full days previously we were happy to hang around at 'home' and relax.  Ah well, relaxing for me generally means catching up with email messages and writing my blog among other things.  I am also reading a book for the book club, but unlike the previous one, this one doesn't interest me.  In which case it will be easy to write my review as it will be a short one. ;-)

Wim was also kept busy, because our aunt, the last living family member of my parents' generation, had passed away that morning and Wim had promised to write the obituary.  We had known the end was coming, and Wim had fortunately been able to visit her the day before he left, but we both would have liked to be there for the funeral, which now is not possible.

In the afternoon we did some groceries shopping and walked around the lake.  It had been another hot day, so it was nice to sit on a bench in the shade and chat a bit about everything and anything...

Saturday 21 July 2018

We would have preferred to go out for one last day, but it wasn't to be, it seemed.  Ales had not wanted to talk about their visit to Australia until I would be here.  Then he said we would talk when his daughters would come for a visit.  This was to happen on the first Sunday after Wim's arrival, but they (Ales and Lenka) had to go away unexpectedly.  Next was talk of one of the daughters coming over with her boyfriend and we would talk then. So, for this reason we were asked to be home and join the family for lunch on Saturday afternoon.  It all was a bit lopsided.  First of all the whole family, accept for Lenka perhaps, speaks English very well.  Lenka is a bit slower, but can get around.  However, all the talking was done in..... Czech!  Next Lenka and her daughter (sorry, I forget names so easily) took off to sit in the garden, as we later discovered, and the four of us were left at the table to have our dessert.  Only then the boyfriend started to talk to us in perfect English and we finally had a conversation.  Then, after lunch, everyone but Lenka, disappeared to go for a swim in the lake.  As there is no communication we generally don't know what is happening or what is expected, so in the end Wim and I decided to go to one of the outlying suburbs and have a look around. No need for more tourist spots!

First we took the bus and train to Zličín and walked around the shopping centre.  It was a big one, but not big enough to keep us occupied for the whole afternoon, so from there we took the underground to Anděl.  I had found, and bought, a new handbag though, because my usual one had a big tear in the leather and had become unusable.

on the bus to Luka

We had briefly walked through part of Anděl when we had walked to the suburb the other day to catch the underground from there and knew there would be plenty more to see.  There were actually quite a number of shopping centres, but also interesting parts besides those.  We discovered the big brewery, and Wim, the lover of a good beer, would like to have a closer look.  There was beer tasting on offer, but.... we had arrived 15 minutes before closing time, so that was out of the question.

Shopping centre at Anděl

We had had a pleasant rest in one of the excellent and comfortable coffee shops in the shopping centre, but by now it was about dinner time so we searched for a restaurant.  As usual there are plenty tucked away in courtyards to be reached by little alleyways, and so also was Beertime.  Like the name? Wim did! :-)

Wim had a bowl of hot chips (a combination of potato and kumura = sweet potato) and a variety of beers (of course, what else do you go to Beertime for?).  I, not being 's-worlds biggest beer drinker, started off with mineral water and duck liver paté accompanied by a basket of bread.  We were in no particular hurry, so I added an ice cream later and finished off with an espresso.  What a fabulous last night we had together!

N.B.  The visit to Australia still hasn't been mentioned......  Perhaps one day I'll find out when that's going to happen and how many persons will be coming.... ;-)

Prague - Thursday (River cruise on the Moldau)

Thursday 19 July 2018

Ales had told us on Tuesday that we had to plan to be away for a few hours on Thursday because the cleaning lady would be around.  We had so wished Friday could have been our day out next, because no matter how great all that sightseeing is, it wears you out.  So, for Thursday we wanted something more relaxing.  Therefore we changed trains at Můstek for Staroměstská station this time, because it was closer to the river where the cruise boats were moored.  We wanted to go on a relaxing lunch cruise.

It was a 2 hour cruise departing from Čechův most (bridge) roughly to where the underground crosses the river at Radlice.  We were welcomed with a drink and bread with a dip and settled in comfortably.  The service was friendly and excellent and when the girl accidentally took away my not-quite-finished drink she returned with another drink for each of us.

The boat itself was large, clean and very modern and the buffet lunch was great.  As I am not a big eater I went for the cold buffet and dessert only, but the choice for a warm meal seemed just as great.

At the turning point

The Dancing House at the right

After our return I took a picture of the huge metronome on top of the hill on the other side of the river and also of the boat we'd been on.

After I had taken a picture of a passing boat and we had watched girls performing folk dances we started off to walk into town, very slowly making our way back to one of the underground stations.  We watched the digital/laser version of the astronomical clock, but it didn't justice to the real one by a long shot.

We had hoped to see a bit of the beautiful Jewish Cemetery, but tickets were needed and we were just too tired to bother.  We only had a glimpse through the gates.  I also had a look at some Bohemian glassware, but couldn't make a choice so I went without, but Wim discovered a massive toy shop, so souvenirs for the grandchildren were bought.

We seemed to be walking in the general direction of Můstek station and Wim had been talking about a beautiful restaurant that he remembered from an earlier visit when we suddenly happened upon it.
We were ready for a cuppa, so Wim offered a treat and we walked into the huge, art-deco restaurant and felt instantly like royalty. :-)

Look at the beautiful Black Forest Cake.  The best ever!

Well, that day had also come to an end.  The blister pack had worked wonders, so walking hadn't been a problem, but nonetheless we were tired and glad to be able to take a seat in the underground.  Unfortunately another long wait for the bus at Stodůlky but then we were finally home.

Ales and Lenka had retired to the back yard and we had our meal there.  Lenka had made two beautiful salads: avocado and fish and we ate them with slices of the local bread.

Prague - Tuesday and Wednesday (Restaurace Na Poustce, Prague castle, Strahov Monastery)

Tuesday 17 July 2018

Tuesday: just a lazy day at home, although Wim and I went out for lunch to the local 'workman's pub' (Restaurace Na Poustce) with Ales, where I had a nice goulash.

Wednesday 18 July 2018

A busy day was scheduled, but became unexpectedly also a very long day.

We took the bus and underground as usual to the city, but this time changed lines and took two more stops so that we arrived at the other side of the river at Malostranská. We had the choice of taking the tram or walk up the hill.  Very courageous we decided to walk up hill.  We planned to visit the Prague Castle, the palace gardens and the Strahov Monastery.

The gardens were closest, so they were visited first.  There was an aviary in the gardens which contained a few big owls.  What the grey matter is on the pictures I have yet to find out, but we saw it later at one of the buildings and it seems to be a kind of calcium stalactites combined with some other mineral which has formed by the dripping of water of time.  However, this is just a guess at this stage.

I may add some more pictures in the future as I have not been taking many and Wim will have some that I don't have...

The path from the gardens to the castle was closed, so we walked through the streets of Malá Strana (Little Quarter) to find our way up the hill, taking a few pictures here and there.  Near the Monastery we took a picture of the view over Prague and sat a while in the shady court yard to recover from the climb in the heat.

Then we discovered that the library, the most important part of the monastery, would be closed until 1 pm, so we went and had lunch in the meantime.  I had seen a few people before having this lovely goulash soup in bread, so Wim and I decided to give that a try.

And when the library finally opened we joined the queue and admired the beautiful halls.  Unfortunately the taking of pictures was not allowed, but these days the internet provides a lot, so I do have one to show you what the inside looked like:

The next series of pictures is of the walk to the castle, the castle surroundings, gardens and views over Prague.

The castle was situated a bit lower on the hill then the monastery, so the way down was very gradual.  When we finally were back at the bottom near Malostranská station we still had some spare time, because we didn't want to go home for dinner.  As the Petrin Tower was not too far away and I still wanted to go there we took the funicular up the hill and walked to the tower.  Neither of us though felt like climbing it or taking the lift up, so we sat down at the little restaurant and had a basket of French fries and an ice cream.  We had our fill of nice views and the view from the top of the tower wouldn't vary much from where we had been standing so these two tired people took it easy. ;-)

After our meal we walked through the extensive park and gardens and meandered slowly down to street level.

As we now were closer to Anděl underground station than Malostranská we walked on.  On the way I bought a blister pack at a pharmacy, because I could hardly walk anymore from a nasty blister on my heel and knew that the next day we would be 'on the road' again.  

Eventually we were home by 9.30 pm.  The train rides are fine in Prague, but the local buses outside the centre don't go as often and generally we have to wait more than half an hour.  That's the part I don't like, but we can't change much about it...