Well that didn’t go as planned!

We’ve been to Prague a couple of times before. Both times we had thought to take a tour to Cesky Krumlov but it didn’t eventuate. So we came this time so that we could finally go there. Our tour was booked with Viator a couple of months ago, with hotel pickup. We were in the lobby of our hotel patiently waiting until we got a phone call asking why we weren’t at the meeting place. Apparently Viator hadn’t told the operator about the hotel pickup. The guy argued that it was our fault and hung up and wouldn’t answer the phone when we tried to call him back. So we missed out again! Discussions are continuing about a refund. I suspect we will have to put it through our credit card as Viator don’t seem to be willing.

A few disappointed and frustrated tears later, we set off towards the river and decided to take a soothing boat trip.

While we were on the boat trip we noticed some smaller boats that were going around near Charles Bridge and going down a side canal - Prague‘s Venice. So we walked along the river until we found some chaps in sailor suit costumes who showed us where to get the boat tickets. It was an interesting and entertaining trip with a character of a boat driver who showed extra photos to complement the commentary. The trip included a free hot drink or beer, and a free icecream or gingerbread.

Also included was entry to the Charles Bridge museum.

After that we wandered around town going round in circles, unsuccessfully looking for the house of illusions - Phillip with a very small map ignoring what Google maps was trying to show. It proved to be an illusion itself as we didn’t find it and were by now so tired we got a taxi back to our hotel. It seemed like a roundabout way and cost more than expected but if that was our only rip off for the trip it wasn’t too bad. Found a nice little Italian place for dinner and had dishes with wonderfully fresh vegetables. On returning to our hotel we found that the street outside was the meeting point for a pub crawl. They were noisy! Later on we were entertained again by the pianist next door. Really good but not at 1 in the morning.