Elegant Elbe: Day 6
Day 6: Friday, November 03, 2023 - Kraków, Poland
The day's statistics:
- Weather: low 60s, overcast then raining
- Steps: 7,014 Linda; 8,144 Steve
- Miles traveled (approximately): 309
Today was our departure day - from Poland - and transition to Prague, Czech Republic (again).
The Czech Republic is less than 10% Catholic, versus Poland's 85%.
Our luggage had to be out by 7:00.
We took our belongings with us to breakfast. We ate, and were on the bus by 7:55 for an 8:00 departure.
We passed some repeated sights on the way out, and a couple new ones.
In town there is a series of three buildings in a row, and they have names on their buildings: Edison, Newton, and Galileo.
BP, KFC, and Lidl - it's like we're in some town in the US.
We arrived in the town of Olomouc (pronounced oh-lo-mouse). It happened to be the home town of our driver.
In Europe, during medival times, beer was consumed by everyone (diluted for kids) instead of water because straight water wasn't healthy and
it was unknown at the time that the heating process when making beer "purified" the water and made it drinkable.
When we got off the bus, it was raining a little.
For such a seemingly small "unknown" town, there was an unusual amount of large, fancy fountains. And then there's the clock too.
We walked to the center square where there was a church, an astronomical clock, a fountain, and a monument. After our fairly short tour,
we had some free time to explore on our own, shop, and have lunch. We were supposed to be back at the fountain at 12:55.
As it was a little before noon, we visited a lavender shop that was sort of off a mall. At the end of a short hallway were some stairs going up.
We didn't have to wait long before the noon show.
After the chiming, we headed the half-block or so to the four story mall, primarily because we were told it had a free water closet -
but that info was a bit dated. There may or may not have been an incident where a young lady was having trouble with the machine accepting her coin
and "someone" may or may not have held the entry door open for her and told her to "go" pointing in the direction forward...
On the top floor we also found a spot to sit and eat our sandwiches which may or may not have been carried-over from our buffet breakfast.
While we were eating, we also saw another traveling couple though the husband and wife were temporarily separated.
We sat in the dry warmth for a little before visiting the supermarket in the lowest level to pick up some cough drops. It wasn't long before we
had to head to the fountain to meet the group.
One couple was a few minutes late, but it wasn't that bad. We started our trek back to the bus.
We continued our journey.
After another couple of hours, we had a technical stop.
One of the magazines they were selling in the convenience store was a Simpsons® magazine.
The bus arrived at the Prague Marriot at about 5:00 - it was a long drive.
At this point, our extension ended and the Elegant Elbe cruise officially began.
We were directed to a gathering spot where we would receive our hotel paperwork. The person giving out the papers was: Tomas. I asked him
"Were you at the Hilton last week?" He said "Yes." "We spoke to you about our need for transportation from the Hilton to the airport."
"Oh, yes. How did that work out?" "Kalin got us a car, so we were all set, thanks."
It turns out Tomas was going to be our Program Director for this entire trip.
He distributed the papers - it included what group we were in (the white group), and timings of the excursions for the next three days.
We were directed to check in at the desk, received our room keys, and headed up to our room.
We had about an hour to get situated.
Before we knew it, it was 6:30 and time to make our way downstairs for our dinner excursion "Prague Folklore Dinner".
We had about a forty-five minute bus ride to the restaurant
Číĉovický dvůr,
in Číĉovice.
We had an entire room to ourselves.
When we arrived, we had a welcome drink - a local liquor.
This was followed with: a potato soup; an entreé of ham, pork, chicken, red cabbage and sauerkraut
(served in a single family style bowls [no picture for some reason]); and apple pie. It was all really good.
We sat at a table for eight, and across from Tom and Liz from Washington; as well as Marge and Bart, and Lynn and Frank.
We grabbed a selfie at some time during the dinner.
The highlight of the dinner was the entertainment. There was a trio of musicians, as well as a singer / dancer, and three additional dancers.
I didn't capture all the performances - partially because I was also eating and chatting with our travelmates - but here are some of the performances.
After the meal, we boarded the bus again, and took our 45 minute or so drive back to the hotel.
It was another busy and long day. We relaxed, washed up, and went to bed.