Prague Blog #1 - The Flight and Arrival

Greetings from Prague!

First Class Lounge

I had a very nice overnight flight since I had used frequent flyer miles to upgrade  (Woohoo!) to first class.  I still was unable to sleep due to feeling like I need to stay awake to "help" the pilot but I was super comfortable. (I didn’t say I was logical while flying.)  Anyway, if you’ve never been on an international flight in first class, you need to do it.  It is very cool to have your own little pod area.  Of course, I think I am only left with 31 frequent flyer miles now.  The global first class lounges are also really nice with all sorts of yummy food and a large quiet area.  (Better than the regular frequent flyer rooms due to all the free food selections including shrimp, sushi, and other stuff.)  In fact, I just finished snacking on some left-over Sun Chips from the lounge…not that I took any food from the lounge or anything. ;)

My Seat

I landed in Geneva and only had about an hour between flights.  There was a definite lack of signage to make it clear what transfer passengers needed to do but the people were friendly.  To my Francophile friends, I was able to understand some of the things in French before it was repeated in English…especially when the pilot on the connecting flight explained that we’d be delayed for twenty minutes.  So I was excited about my comprehension but then quickly bummed out about the delay. 

I went through passport control was in Geneva but then the customs was super easy in Prague…basically there was a sign for “nothing to declare” that you just walk through.  The Prague airport was around the size of San Diego’s, if not smaller, so it was easy to transverse.

Czech Republic is part of the European Union but they still use their own currency.  I figured that for conversion purposes, I divide the Koruna in half and subtract a zero to get approximate USD amounts.  Of course, after staying awake to help the pilot for so long last night my mind was not able to do the math and subtracted two zeros, I almost withdrew $740 from the ATM in the airport.  And, no, that would not have been my plan.

The drive to city center was pleasant.  There were portions that looked like home and some that looked more like a more Eastern European country.  The city center looks totally cool though.   I can hardly wait to go and explore it but that is going to wait until tomorrow since my sleeping is totally off now.

In case you are wondering, I have seen McDonalds, KFC, and Starbucks here.

Random thing Googled today: Do you flush the toilet paper in Prague?  There is both a bidet and toilet in the bathroom. The toilet paper is very thick. There is a bin between the bidet and toilet.  I have come up with my own answer but won’t say it here in case I have the wrong answer and wreck things in my hotel room. ;)