My thoughts on Prague? A truly beautiful city. Almost beyond words. Around every corner was something new to delight - be it a little tree planted square, an obscure sculpture or another magnificent building. Our hotel, Hotel Josef was a gem, right in the heart of the Old Town, but very peaceful and quiet, and very nice staff. But I won't hurry back to Prague. Disinterested and downright rude customer service abounds, we experienced service with a snarl, change thrown at us, change! Oh the change! The obsession with paying with correct change. Sigh. I'm told that my experience is not unique, that it's one of those things, well... sod it, Prague. I'll spend my tourist s elsewhere. You made me do this!
Joking, and cultural identity, and its tumultuous history aside, the scowls did grow very tiring by the end.
So, on the way back, we did public transport again. Very easy though, take the Metro to Dejvick where a connecting bus takes you to the airport. Total journey time, about 30 minutes, total cost: 26Kc (about 85p).
The airport is bright, and bag drop took about 60 seconds and then we headed for security. Or so we thought!
Passport control first, and, given my experience of Prague over the previous few days, it was with hesitation that I asked for a stamp in my passport, but it was forthcoming, with a smile. A Mona Lisa smile nevertheless, but I'll take it!
And then we were at the gates. No Xray machines? No scanner? How odd, we thought.
I bought some chocolates for my work colleagues and then sat in an airport pub enjoying my final Czech beer. Our gate was announced, A3, and that's where security was. This is new to me, and I thought it worked well, as it dispensed with the massive queues that you often get when every airline passenger is in the same queue/s. We joined a short queue and in about 10 minutes we were waiting for our flight. It was delayed by about 10 minutes, but the gate had a fantastic view of the airport so we watched the planes come and go. The flight was very busy - fully booked I think, which was nice to see.
We boarded soon enough, and the purser welcomed Matt on board by name! What was that about? I didn't even get that and I have 3000 BA miles and 0 Tier Points! [:p] He only has 159 miles! But a lovely touch all the same...
We had picked the same row (16), same seats, no Highlife magazine, no Highlife Shop! magazine either, and more sweet wrappers. The safety video was working, and very soon we were off. I hate Row 16, or any row near the wing as you hear and feel all the mechanics, plus Matt must have an aisle seat, whereas I prefer the window. So, again, Row 16B was my seat, and unfortunately the window seat was allocated to someone else so I couldn't move over later. This is the sacrifice I make for the nervous flyer. Who is rapidly becoming not nervous at all.
We had sandwiches, the choice being: 'Chicken and Cheese' or 'Just Cheese', presumably for the vegetarians. Chicken and Cheese was actually a Coronation Chicken sandwich, and a Cheese and Pickle sandwich. Two sides of the same sandwich. Making one whole sandwich. If they could add a third flavour to the mix, they'd have an edible Trinity doctrine. More coffee in a paper cup and some alcohol too. Oh, and a Breakaway biscuit. The stewardess who served us was really really lovely, she had a knack of making everyone smile, so I must remember to write about her to BA.
The display during the flight was incorrect, the 'Distance to Destination' actually showed the Distance from Prague, but it was rectified just over Dover. Things like this prey on my mind. I'm not a nervous flyer, but things like that always make me think 'What else isn't working?'. Which is totally irrational. Also, has anyone else noticed that BA keep on showing Maidstone on the map in the wrong place?
We landed at Heathrow a bit late, walked for miles to the UK Border, which took about 10 minutes (Iris queues were slower, and I couldn't remember if I'd registered or not) and our luggage was waiting for us at the other side. Down to the Piccadilly Line for the tube to Hyde Park Corner, and bye bye weekend break. Hello a roasting hot London, and one more day off before I was back to work...
