Hi Everyone! Sorry I haven't written in here for a while, but I've been flat on my back since we got back from Prague, and still am in fact. But I'll bore you all rigid about our holiday seeing as I've got nothing better to do. LOL.
We set out for Birmingham airport on Sunday 1 October early in the morning. We were miles too early for check in so we paid a visit to a couple of friends, Bob and Frances who also live in Birmingham, with their grandson Daniel. We had a cuppa and a catch up chat then we followed them to the airport so they could show us how to get there. By the time we got out of the car it was bucketing down so we had a mad dash to the bus stop to get the courtesty bus to the terminal. Luckily we managed to get the last disabled parking space and it wasn't far from the shelter. We had to wait about 10 mins for the bus but it finally arrived and we were duly dumped at the terminal. With two suitcases and a couple of pieces of hand luggage. We were still too early for check in so we had a wander around the airport for half an hour or so then checked in and got rid of the two cases. What a relief. We then went upstairs to Frankie & Bennie's and had something to eat, as by this time we were both starving. After an hour or so we went to the departure lounge where we found out that our plane was going to be delayed, due to a technical fault. GREAT! Thankfully it wasn't delayed too long and the flight that was supposed to leave at 3.30pm finally took off at 4.45pm.
It was a great flight and I had the window seat, though with hindsight I should have let Craig sit there as he'd never been on a plane before. Anyway, he bought me a lovely pair of crystal ear rings on the plane and we both had a bit of a nap. We arrived at Prague airport about two hours later, got through passport control and collected our luggage, before finding our taxi driver to take us to the Hotel Duo.
It was about 9pm when we got the hotel and checked in. The Duo is absolutely huge, with two towers and is classed as 4*. Thankfully we'd had the foresight to book a disabled room and we were on the ground floor, with a view overlooking the front of the hotel. We dumped our cases and decided to have a look round and get something to eat. There are a couple of gift shops in the main reception, as well as two resaurants and a buffet restaurant upstairs, which is where we went for our meal. Actually I wish we hadn't as it wasn't very nice, although Craig seemed to enjoy it. After we'd eaten we wandered round a bit more then went back to our room and unpacked. We were absolutely knackered, so after a quick shower we were ready for bed and we didn't take much rocking.
After our breakfast on the 2nd, and after Craig had opened his birthday cards, we took the courtesy bus to Ladvi Metro station and took the metro to Prague city centre. We took loads of photos of the National Gallery, Wenceslas Square and various places on the way down to the Town Square, which is where the Astronomical Clock is. We sat in one of the open cafes and had a few drinks while waiting for the clock to do its stuff. Craig then decided he would go to the top of the tower and have a look at the view. We thought there would be stairs all the way to the top but there were a couple of elevators, so I went up too after about 15 mins. WOW! What a fantastic view from up there. I'll be uploading some photos to Webshots soon and you'll be able to access them from the link on the right.
From the square we wandered down to Charles Bridge, which has lots of statues all along the length. We walked to the other side and by then my legs were killing me so we spent half an hour in the park before heading to a metro station to go back to Ladvi and the bus back to the hotel. We had a bit of a rest and got changed then waited at the front of the hotel for a mini bus to pick us up for a tour of Prague by night. It was quite interesting but nothing we hadn't already seen in the daylight. I did come to the conclusion however that everybody who drives in Prague has attended the Totally Insane School of Motoring. Cab drivers, bus drivers and mini bus drivers took the Advanced Course! We were dropped off a pier on the river and spent the next couple of hours on a boat trip down the river. I forget the name of it. There was a buffet dinner served and you could help yourself to as much as you could. There were a couple of Swede's sharing our table and four Brits on the table behind us. We had a good laugh and Craig thoroughly enjoyed his birthday treat. We were dropped off at another pier at 10pm and walked back through the streets to a metro station. From Ladvi we had to get a bus back to the hotel as the courtesy bus wasn't running at that time of night. We had a quick drink in the hotel bar then tootled off to bed, knackered.
The next day we had booked to go on a Grand Tour of Prague, so after breakfast we were again waiting at the front of the hotel to be picked up by the tour company mini bus. We joined the rest of the tour group, or rather they joined us, and pretty much did a quick tour of what we'd already seen before heading uphill to the castle. To be honest it's not a castle as such, it's more like a small estate full of palaces and churches, and St Vitus Cathedral which is huge and has some gorgeous stained glass windows. I'm just glad we were walking down the hill and didn't have to walk up it. We stopped halfway down the hill for a pee break and a quick cuppa before heading down the rest of the steep hill to the mini bus. My legs were about ready to give up by this time and I was well pleased to get back to the bus. We finished off the tour going through the Jewish Quarter and back to the Town Square. We had a look through a couple of shops then went back to the Duo for a rest. We hadn't had a chance to look at Golden Row at the Castle, which I was pretty disappointed about as I'd wanted to look for some beads, but Craig said he would try and go back the following day and see what he could find. For dinner that night we went to one of the other hotel restaurants and had a delicious meal before having a few drinks in the bar. There was an artist selling his work in the reception near where we were sitting so we bought a couple of pictures for us to get framed when we got home. I eventually gave in at about 10pm and went back to the room. I packed most of my case then went to bed.
We were up nice and early on Wednesday morning, showered, finished packing and had our breakfast then checked out. We were able to leave our luggage in the hotel and then I sat and read in the lounge while Craig went back to the Castle to see if he could find some beads. He was back a couple of hours later with quite a few beads, bless him. We had a taxi booked to take us to the airport and got checked in eventually. Thankfully the plane wasn't delayed that much on the way back to Birmingham and we were back at about 9.30pm. I wasn't in a fit state to drive so Craig drove all the way home and we were in our bed by half past two in the morning.
Since then I've been virtually bedbound and unable to walk. It's at the stage now where I can't get up and down the stairs and am confined to bed all the time. The pain in my back and down the back of my right leg is horrendous. I've had the doctor out twice and have painkillers, anti-inflammatories and some muscle relaxants, but none of them are working at the minute. I wish they would cos I hate lying on my back.