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Prague 2002 |
Off
to a good start on our long "Vice" weekend in Prague!
[That's Vice for Vice-Chairman, not vice as in debauchery! - Ed.]
Vince realized he'd forgotton his passport halfway to the Airport,
so some of our contingent almost missed the plane. At least they
all remembered our special hats. 
Arriving at the Kafka Hotel near the centre of Prague, bags dumped,
and we headed for the centre of town on the tram. It didn't our
Chairman long to find the first McDonalds, where he abandoned the
rest us to the elements - and the persistent attentions of the "working
girls". Fortunately we were able to give them the slip to sheltered
from the rain in a bank foyer, where we were accosted by the lovely
Nina, who planned out a night's entertainment for us (thanks, Nina!).
Off
to music bar Double Trouble for drinks; friendly locals and girls
dancing on the bar! Then off to the Arena Disco - via the Kebab
stand - to dance off some calories, and back to the Magic Club until
6:00a.m!  Tommo, unable to take the pace. |
There was some garbled story about bailing out some Germans caught
short - and red-handed, so to speak -but the details seem somewhat
blurred and personally I have doubts about its authenticity.
Next
day, up bright and early (i.e. about lunch time) off to the Music
Bar near the Hotel. Great food, and cheap! Then headed to the Old
Town Square for a bit of sightseeing (St. Nicholas, The Old Town
Hall & Astronomical Clock, Tyn Church) and along the river past
the Manusev and Charles Bridges.
Navigating by consent in a group of 12 people was pretty hopeless,
so a couple of us decided to head off to explore the Old Town across
the river and leave the rest to it. An hour or so later we returned
to find the others still arguing 
about
the way to a Jazz club. The club was found , but unfortunately was
still closed after the floods. Sadly Vince never got the chance
to find his second choice (the Vagon Club). After a meal back at
the Music Club, the evening was spent in the Jazz 'n' Blues Club.
Some headed home for a relatively early night, but three of us headed
back to the Old Town to Zanzibar's for a quiet drink, and our first
experience of Czech Absinthe (yuk)! Trust Marrow to scald his mouth
by drinking a flaming B52 too slowly. Thick fog was developing by
the time we headed back, making the Charles Bridge very spooky.
Next
morning, we took the tram to the Funicular railway and climbed to
the top of the Petrín Tower. You could just about make out the view
through the thick fog, but at least no more rain. On the way back,
we hit the first bar we came across for pancakes and a game of Fuzzy
Duck - a bottle of whisky being polished off in about 15 minutes.
Then moved on again for some Goulash and Dumplings. We watched the
changing of the guard at the castle, which inspired Primo to vault
the bollards all the way to our next stop at ... yet another bar.
Now dark, we headed back to Double Trouble for another drink or two, and then to the open-air U Prince restaurant in the Old Town Square.
Heading
off to explore, we ended up at the Jaguar Bar for a while, then
in a re-run of Friday p.m. went to the Arena again (B52's all-round),
and then to the Magic Club, some of us finally being evicted at
8:00a.m. after spending the whole night chatting away to the nice
Russian staff.
10:00a.m. Monday we were rudely awoken by the Hotel maid as it was check-out time - barely an hour's kip! Time for a Kentucky breakfast (Primo's idea, not surprisingly) then some shopping before we headed back to the Music Bar for lunch and to await our transport to the Airport. The flight was delayed, so we finally arrived back at Bristol at around 1a.m.
We never did get to the Novomestský Pivovar, so a return trip will just have to be made!
USEFUL LINKS
For those who aren't coming - see what you're missing. For those who are - plan your weekend.  Czech
Republick News and links to everything about the Czech Republic.
Budweiser
The original Budweiser, and Premier Czech beer.
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