A day on our own in Prague

We arrived here two days before our tour group meets up to make sure we've recovered from jet lag before we have to listen to instructions from our guide. So today we wandered in Old Town Prague. I thought we were going to explore the Jewish Quarter, but when we saw the ticket line and the hourlong wait, we decided to walk around town instead. We made our way to the Vitava River, which runs through Prague. We found some shade under a tree (heat wave - high of 91 today) and watched the boats.

Art loves using maps to figure out where we are and where we're going. He got us to a gelato shop a few blocks from our hotel. If you had a late breakfast and it's time for a light lunch, gelato is a good choice! I was too busy indulging to take a picture of my coffee gelato.

Three hours later we took another walk and found a delightful Italian restaurant. Dinner? Fabulous tomato soup and a goat cheese and strawberry salad to share.

Here in Prague, there are little restaurants on just about every block in Old Town. If you go for a walk - even a short one - you'll find something to eat. The ground floors of the buildings are commercial establishments and the upper ones are lodging. What a walkable city!

In addition to being the map reader, Art is the keeper of the money. He's currently carrying dollars, euros and Czech korunas. A koruna is worth about an American nickel and Art has both coins and currency and he appears to know what he is doing when he is paying - doesn't have to translate (20 to 1). He says he doesn't have to worry about it. He just pays them what they want! When we leave the Czech Republic on Wednesday he will exchange the remaining korunas for euros - the currency used in Poland, the next country we'll visit.

I note with satisfaction that tap water is safe to drink here - on our last three international forays (Turkey 2009, Ecuador 2012 and Kenya 2013), that wasn't the case. Love it!