Notes of a beginner hawker. Note number 1. Introductory practical
The Vorobeichikovs have reached Prague. Finally!
I never got gloves for touch screens : ))
This is the very first trip to Prague. We prepared (thank the Internet! ), but still there were some mistakes. Do not look for clear recommendations or examples of routes in this text. And since it has been written and rewritten about Prague, it is unlikely that anyone will find anything new here. Rather, these are memorabilia for myself beloved and for a report to friends and acquaintances who are simply too lazy to retell the same thing. And then I threw a link - read : )). Of the practical usefulness, perhaps links to sites of objects.
It was a long time ago - in October 2018. Therefore, if any numerical data is given, then for then.
Note No. 1. Introductory Practice
Prague!! ! Oh, this Prague…
Our friends and acquaintances, and even some relatives (we are simply considered in our provincial worker-peasant family to be a completely riotous couple abroad) have been to Prague, but we still can’t get there. It became almost awkward in companies when discussing the merits of Czech beer and shank. No, it won't work like that! It's time for us to have a good beer in Prague : ))
There was a wonderful occasion - my husband's anniversary, which it was decided to spend on drink in Prague pubs. We got to and got out of Prague through Karlovy Vary, about which I miraculously managed to write a review "Karlovy Vary in transit".
And here we are in Prague, at Florens bus station. Ninth o'clock in the evening. Dark. We are already tired and slightly crippled. We go down to the subway. No checkout. There are no turnstiles. And absolutely everything is completely calm somehow without tickets. Well, straight, some kind of communist miracle! Why don't we go with everyone : )). But no, we read about formidable controllers and high fines. Yes, indeed, later we saw them several times, and watched how accurately they caught “hares” from the crowd.
Our calculation was as follows: we were in the city for three and a half days, not counting this evening. We will buy a travel card for three days in the morning for 310 kroons, it starts to work from the moment of the first validation, and it is still unknown when we will do it. So we can quite meet until the moment of departure on the fourth day. And now we need to get one-time tickets for 24 crowns. Of course, we already knew that we should have some change to buy a one-time ticket in the machine, because the machine does not give change, but we could not imagine that it would be difficult to get hold of this little thing. In shops and kiosks everywhere there were notes that no exchange was made. And the ticket office of the bus station was denied. I had to buy some garbage in a store at the bus station, I don’t remember what, but I remember that it seemed very expensive. Later, at one of the metro stations, we met a ticket machine where you could pay with a card, and there is a menu in Russian. I would like to believe that such a miracle of technology will spread to all stations.
And the next morning, we already bought travel cards at the newsstand at the entrance to the subway, and they were just enough for us until we left the city. Oh, there was a funny situation here: the husband started a speech similar to English, with the seller. He listened carefully, did not interrupt, patiently waited for the pauses between words (well, how the hell is he) and answered... in the purest Russian: “Yes, good morning, guys!... ”.
Cheerful earrings from what was. . .
About money. Somewhere they paid with a card when the cash ran out, but the exchange rate of our bank was not very encouraging. Yes, and often there were establishments where they immediately warned that the terminal had broken down today, and payment was only in cash. Guided by numerous online recommendations, we went to the so-called "Arab" exchangers for Czech crowns. But even there it is not so simple. On the Street of Political Prisoners (Politickych veznu), in one of these percentages, they wanted to foist 30% less from the declared course. But we were saved that my husband did not have time to sign a piece of paper until he counted the money. Or maybe the Arab behind the glass was convinced by the calm tone of the person’s conversation, but with a twitching eye, in a mixture of English-Czech-Russian speech, seasoned with non-literary expressions (in a whisper, though loud). We quarreled a little, but the Jews returned. But the guys were standing nearby, trying to call the police, they signed the receipt... In general, we changed at a good rate and without hidden fees on the same street nearby. And the sign was designed in the same way, sort of like one office. Oh well…
Often in the recommendations for a trip to Prague they write "demand to show the amount received on the calculator", and this is true. If to your question, they say, how many crowns I will receive for so many euros / rubles / tugriks, they poke you on the scoreboard with the rate, then you definitely won’t get that much : )). If they dial the amount on the calculator, it is. Checked! On myself : )). It seems like the government of the Czech Republic planned to restore order in the exchange area by the spring of 2019. So it may very well be that my horror stories are no longer relevant.
Our location in Prague was chosen hotel La Fenice 3 *, which is a three-minute walk from the exit of the Jiriho z Podebrad metro station on the green line, this is the Vinohrady district, which belongs to the administrative division of the city to Prague 2. We were quite satisfied with the hotel. You can read more about it in separate review.
Hotel La Fenice 3*
As an audio guide we used pre-downloaded excursions in the izi. TRAVEL application on phones. The only thing is that my old "stubborn" copy categorically refused to do this. So my husband and I were, sometimes, connected by one chain headphones between ourselves and his smartphone, but for once we were at least arm in arm, almost hugging : )). In this situation, wireless headphones would help out, but we don’t really need them in everyday life. But it's time, probably, for the children to buy something, and then rent it from them. They love this business (renting from them) very much : )).
Note No. 2. Wet Prague
Note No. 3. Postcard Prague
Note No. 4. Prague is incomprehensible to the mind
Note No. 5. Cholesterol-alcoholic Prague
Note No. 6. Zoo Prague
Note No. 7. Bone
