For this trip, we used our vouchers from our planned Thanksgiving trip to Brussels that we had to cancel. (If you recall, Paris got attacked, the surviving terrorists fled to Belgium, and the city of Brussels shut down for days. So we visited the Saxtons in Zagreb.) The airline could not seem to figure out how to rebook our trip with our vouchers, thus we had 3 different bookings for the 4 of us. Before we even left Israel, they tried to boot the boys and me from a return flight (but not Geoff), then tried to put the boys on a flight without either of us...all signs leading to our needing to be at the airport extra early in case of mess-ups. This was a good idea.
The lines were long and inefficient, and once we finally were able to check in, the agent told us our flight was delayed which would cause us to miss our connection. They rebooked us on an El Al flight, with a layover in Milan, and this caused us to have to do the Home Alone run through the airport. We even got called out over the intercom! But we made it, only to suffer through a Kosher for Passover "meal" even though Passover did not start until sundown! (Kosher and Kosher for Passover mean different things. Kosher for Passover basically means no bread, and when you have two picky boys, that is trouble.)
Once we hit Milan, it took some finagling to get on the next flight as well (THANK YOU Czech Airlines for accommodating us!) But we made that one too. By that time, it was pretty late, and both boys used me for a pillow that short flight to Prague. I was uncomfortable trying not to move an inch, but it was a very calm and quiet hour after a rough day.
We got to our apartment earlier than planned, thus the lady who was supposed to let us in was late, but after 15 minutes of waiting at 11 p.m., we made it inside! While I got the boys' teeth brushed and pajamas on, Geoff struggled with the pack 'n play provided. It proved beyond our abilities that night and poor Sam had to make do with a pallet on the floor.
I heard him whimpering in the middle of the night and went to check on him. But I could not find him! A bit of panic set it. I woke Geoff and found a flashlight, thinking Sam was just up and wandering around a strange apartment! But I found him under Liam's bed. He had rolled off his pallet and underneath the bed. He was restlessly sleeping on the hardwood floor under the bed! Poor baby!
Once we woke up in the morning, we decided to explore our neighborhood (Žižkov) and look for a breakfast joint, and once we had eaten and had our coffee, we explored a bit more. We found an outdoor market and we played at a playground, just enjoying not being on any sort of schedule. The morning of our first full day in Prague was easy and lovely!
Our breakfast joint. We ate there twice.
Enjoying palačinka (aka pancakes)
This tower was right behind our apartment.
It's the tallest structure in Prague
and a remnant of communist times.
It was designed to block Western media,
but wasn't finished until after the Velvet Revolution.
More info to come!
We then found our way to this interesting church.
There was a market set up in the park behind the church,
and we took full advantage,
buying apples, fresh juice, and bread.
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