Day 1: Prague in Prague and the Danube Travel Log

It was 12.30 local time when we landed. Viking has people greeting us and herding us into a bus. It was a smooth transfer. Our hotel was right by the Vltava, but when we got to it, it was about 2pm and we were tired. We listened to our programs (where we need to be to join the tour, where we can get food, etc), and then promptly slept till 5 to get dinner (at the hotel 24 hour bistro, which was surprisingly good - I got a roasted mushroom stuffed with barley, tomatoes, herbs, and brie cheese chunks.

We got an early dinner so we could join the first excursion, which visited the Strahov Monastery garden and the Žižkov Television Tower. Our guide was knowledgeable and funny - she was a natural performer, but the bus moved too fast. We first went up to Strahov Monastery; not into the church, but rather walked around the compound and to the Strahov garden to get a nice panoramic view. The most important part was the brewery, because we got a drink and could wait for sunset so that it’d be dark when we drove back through town to the TV tower.

During the drive there were some sights that looked like they were from a postcard; when we drove across Manes Bridge you can see an almost full moon over the Charles bridge, with the bridge tower at the back behind a bit of fog and the moonlight reflected on the river… but then the bus zoomed by and that was it. The bus drove us around New Town, then we got to Žižkov Television Tower for a panoramic night view. I’m not sure whether it’s better to view Prague here after dark or at the Strahov garden. But the fact that you can see all four directions up there is pretty cool. The building itself is ugly - typical 60s communist architecture. But we enjoyed the view up there.

We’re not very awake already, so we were looking forward to a full night’s rest.

Last updated August 21, 2022