Bags out at 5.30am. What a way to start the day! We did it, well maybe a few minutes late, but all good. Early risers breakfast in the lounge and then check the bags and on the bus to the airport. A teary farewell from our exhausted tour manager, Korana, who is going home to Mum’s for a sleep for a week and to get away from the plague.
We arrived in Prague safe and sound after Gerard was searched head to toe and in his shoes and everywhere because he accidently left a small coin in the bottom of his pocket! He must have terrorist written on his head, talk about a frisk search. They also checked my bag for my little travel toiletries and the guy managed to empty my packet of 300 cotton buds through my bag, what a mess!
Our airport shuttle man was waiting for us with his sign and we were at our Hotel by about noon. After hand washing clothing and drying it in the bathroom on the boat we all decided we need a laundry afternoon to do some washing. It was too expensive to have it done on the boat. 2 euro 20 euro cents for one shirt to be washed and ironed. So we hand washed and didn’t iron and at times our room looked like a Chinese laundry. I used to hang my knickers on the bedside lights to dry!
So we google and search and find an address for a coin laundry 9 minutes’ walk away. We pack our bags and off we go. Hi ho, hi ho, its washing we will go etc. etc. Walking, walking reading maps, walking 20 minutes etc and we cannot find it. We are now in the middle of Prague, our hotel is very central, and we can’t find the laundry for love nor money. We find the tourist information centre and ask and get directions to the laundry 20 minutes’ walk away. Hi ho etc. and away we go. Following directions and map reading in Prague is not easy as all the streets run in weird directions, are narrow and end in squares and the signs are hard to find. So eventually we found the laundry. Not a self-operated coin laundry but a laundry service where we leave our washing with a lady who even had Gerard and Michael shaking in their boots. Grumpy didn’t even cut it, this was the laundry lady from hell who told us it would be ready at 3pm tomorrow and the cost was about 10 euro for the lot. Good value we thought provided our clothes survived the attitude of the lady. We walked back to the main square, had a sausage in a roll from a street stall with a drink and walked back to the hotel. According to my phone we had walked over 10kms to do the washing. Oh for a rock by the creek and the simple life!
We bought supplies on the way back to the hotel and had simple meal of biscuits, cheese, meat, olives and the gin and scotch we had bought duty free on the way here. Great we had eaten so much our stomachs needed a rest. Early to bed and we slept like little logs for about 11 hours.
