December 5 - 6
Our big adventure began Friday evening when our car service from Avanti Limos arrived at 8pm. We were at Miami International Airport by 8:40 and at our gate by a little after 9pm. Unfortunately our flight to Prague, originally scheduled for 10:40 was delayed to 11:30pm departure. As we were waiting for the boarding to begin I pulled out my book and opened it up to read the introduction. A couple weeks ago while flying to visit my family in Ohio I sat beside a gal who was reading a book. I looked over and asked, "Is that the new Dan Brown book - is it as good as the DaVinci Code and all the others?" Oh yes she replied. So I bought it to read on the trip. I open the jacket cover and look at the VERY FIRST sentence....
Yes, a large portion of the book is set IN PRAGUE where we are headed. How ironic! Got on board and by the time we were airborne it had to be well past midnight. But the cabin crew still served a small, warm meal about 45 minutes into the flight. By then Kim and I had been up W-A-Y past our bed time and had no problem falling asleep. We both slept until we were in the final hour of the flight - could not have gone smoother. BUT....because of the delayed start our layover time was now a bit tight. We speed-walked to the gate and as we arrived they were calling for Zone 1 to line up, and we were zone 2! Saw them out the window load our luggage so I knew that wouldn't be a problem. Arrived about 15 minutes late in Prague. A short wait for the luggage, came out (without any customs check like we'd had in Paris) and were immediately met by the Viking representative. Several other couples, including our friends Pam & Bob had arrived in another terminal and so we had a private car pick us up and take us to the Hilton Prague Old Town which is just minutes from the medieval town square and the large Christmas Market. We met our program director "T.J." who will be with us here at the Prague hotel, on board the Viking Beyla, and with us at the hotel in Berlin. Had just been introduced to his assistant, the local guide, Carla who was preparing to make dinner reservations for us when Pam & Bob walked in. After heart-felt greetings we rejoined Carla and made our 7:30pm dinner reservations for a place a short walk away. Up to the room for about 15 min then back to the lobby at 7pm to meet our pals. A brisk walk in the mid-to-upper 30's weather felt great and we had a wonderful meal while we caught up with one another. Headed back to the hotel where it was now about 9:30pm and we were all ready to call it a day!
Tomorrow we have a full morning (four plus hours) walking tour around Old Prague and that will include our first Christmas Market!
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