19 July: Prague with tour group
We enjoyed a most sumptuous breakfast (Inc gluten free bread Madame!!) in this palatial hotel and were obediently waiting at the bus to be transported to the Hrad Castle on the hill. All we had to do was sit there and follow our leader. No thinking required 😃 The splendid castle was founded in the 9th century by Good King Wenceslas (who wasn't particularly good).
Prague calls itself the city of gold with 17 bridges, 7 hills and 7 rivers.
We donned our voice boxes which allow us to hear our tour guide without having to cling to her elbow.  A brilliant invention that one. Those of you on Facebook will be able to flick through a selection of photos of this huge castle which was a seething mass of tourists by the time we had finished.
Then we were driven back to our hotel to start our walking tour. Great to be led through the streets we had already trodden and be given so much of the history of the buildings. We came into the Square  and secured our position in front of the famous old clock where everyone's pockets are picked while they watch the wonderful mechanics of the clockwork figures when the clock strikes on the hour. I was so proud of myself getting some good photos while noone stole my raincoat or my drink bottle which were all I'd taken. The tour ended there so we immediately set about getting lost as we tried to make our way to Charles Bridge. But we saw so much more as we twisted and turned through the quaint alleyways. Stumbled across a brilliant cafe in a brick wall at the end of one alleyway.  There were no customers but fabulous food and a gorgeous young chap who spoke good American and made iced coffee by putting pistachio ice cream into to a cappuccino.
Eventually we did get to the must-see Charles Bridge and dutifully crossed it in a howling gale just as the many vendors were packing up their wares away from the up-coming storm.
We actually got back to our hotel while the storm went somewhere else. It obviously got lost.
Tonight we have booked for a Czech and Slovak traditional folklore show with dinner. Sounds like fun doesn't it. At least by now Peter can enjoy this entertainment. We met a couple from Howick last night and the wife had missed half their tour because of this bug. She was nothing like as ill as Peter was but then she's a woman. It's the men it's felling.