Colossal Waste: EuroTour 2010, Day 22, Rome to Prague

Rome has felt like home during our third visit here, but I cannot help but be excited that today we fly to Prague. But before I get to a land where I do not even know how to say, "Thank you," we have to get the flip out of Rome.

Barbie ordered an omelet for us to share. Easier than going down to the dining room and takes less time while gathering our stuff together.

We checked out and hopped into a taxi headed to Leonardo DaVinci airport.

How happy was I that the drive took us by the Colosseum? Happy enough to stick my arm far enough out the window to take this shot. Add in the blue sky and this is a computer wallpaper worthy pic, traffic or not.

That dang bus slid in at just the wrong time, but the sky makes this one Waste-worthy.

The view from inside the cab. How surreal is it to live in a place where your bumper-to-bumper traffic takes you by a 1,900 year old 50,000 person amphitheater?

A look out the back window at the Arch of Constantine and the Colosseum.

I shot a a bunch of video in the cab. A lot is too bumpy and shaky to share, though it accurately represents a Roman cab ride. However, this one I shall include because it is the perfect arrivederci to Roma.

This is the view of our cab pulling away from an Aurelian Wall of Rome, into the newer suburbs and toward the airport. Antiquity fading into the distance.

Our fist time at Leonardo DaVinci Airport. We have always taken a train or a cruise ship into this city, and either a train or a smaller airport out. Many describe this airport as a nightmare. We got fairly lucky with it, aided by the fact that we are relatively travel-savvy and know that in some crazy airports there is a listing of ticket counters that look just like flight listings. The woman at the counter of Czech Air told us that our business class seats would get us into Air Italia's lounge. Molto bene.

This airport lounge is pretty dang hip, utilizing as much red plexiglass as I have ever seen in my life.

And they had my favorite, Schweppes Limone, which I could rarely find in Rome.

Barbie as seen through the red plexiglass. SFFTW. (Sci-Fi-For-The-Win.)

Barbie checking her blackberry on her Air Italia Lounge lounge chair. (How often do you get to accurately use the word lounge twice in a row?) I believe the name of the lounge is Sala Boromini, which has a nice ring to it.

Airport Candid, Roma. July, 2010.

Outside the airport they had signs reading Leonardo DaVinci Airport. Inside, not so much. The Italians are not very stringent on consistency. This explains why their gardens are, how you say, not over-manicured. (Fun nerd note: Spell-check wants to change DaVinci to deviancy.)

Not a bad view of the coastline outside Rome.

Neither of us ate much. The sesame crusted chicken was not bad, but there was something not too food-like about it.

We were the only two in business class on our side, and on the other side of the cabin was a lone gentleman. We would not know it until landing, but he must be some sort of Czech celebrity. A delighted Czech woman got his autograph as we waited to deplane. Always funny to be oblivious towards a person and then find that others feel their hearts pounding as they near them.

Sometimes you cannot help but take a picture from the plane. One example; when you pass over beautiful cloud formations gracing the snow-peaked Alps.

Does anyone miss last summer's maps of Europe with finger traces of how we moved around? Nobody has said anything. I can bring them back, but the airlines have gotten in on the game with their technowizard screens.

My frist view of Prague, and what I assume is the Vltava River.

We flew Czech Airways, which means that not only am I adding another country to the list, I have added another airline to the list. And I officially wish that I was a Rainman-like savant who kept lists of everything in his life.

The Prague Airport, and this could totally be me allowing unconscious thoughts to bias my opinion, had a very utilitarian, Soviet vibe to it. As we all know, this nation did its time behind the Iron Curtain. It was braver than most, paying a price for its courage and spirit.

Explanation. I blew it. We walked by the Welcome to Prague / Vitejte v Praha signs and I failed to take a picture. I immediately regretted it and tried to correct the error. Of course, you could not go back through that door. I do not know why this airport exit sign is serving as a substitute.

On the way into the airport, I snapped a pic of this Soviet era housing. You will not see this again. Prague stands as a fortunate city that suffered almost no damage during the two World Wars. Therefore the Soviets did not get to rebuild their emotionless cubes all over the place. The heart of town, where we are staying, is pretty much as it was since the city's apex in the fifteenth century.

We arrived at our hotel, but I do not have a picture of it for you yet. But... It is a Rocco Forte Hotel, which loyal readers (should I acronym Loyal Waste Readers as LWR? Nah, Wasters is better.) know is the chain which put us up last year in Frankfurt, Berlin and London. Basically, they have spoiled me and now I dislike nearly all other hotels.

The view from our window. Our hotel, The Augustine, is a former monastery that was recently converted into a hotel. I am told that there is a wing which still houses monks. If these monks got their accommodations refurbished by Rocco Forte, that would make them the savviest monks on Earth.

Two brownies and a note from the hotel chef, welcoming us to Prague.

A fruit plate and water bottles with a note from the general manager, welcoming us to Prague.

These treats and welcome notes are in addition to the greet and handshake at the front desk from Lucie Kotlariwova, Sales Manager, welcoming us to Prague.

It is good to travel with Barbara Howard.

Sidenote: Lucie handed me her card, which explains her full name being here. Ridiculous as it sounds, I am often handed cards by hotel people. On a lark I nearly printed up business cards for this trip that read, "Jeff Howard. Editor, Colossal Waste." Sometimes I regret the self deprecating blog title, until a friend reminds me that it is, after all, a blog. (Thank you, Machy.)

Barbie presents to you our temporary Prague home. Did I mention that the beds that they put in Rocco Forte hotels are the best in the world? They are very firm yet still wildly comfortable. If only they were available in the USA, but they are not. (We called to find out when buying our last bed and opted to not have one flown over from Europe.)

Okay. There is no WiFi because the monastery walls are too thick. This means that only the laptop plugged into the ethernet cable on the room's desk is online. I thought maybe I had found a workaround when I tested the TV's internet and was able to sign into my google account. (Explaining my Parma food pic on the TV, hello!) This would allow me to get to typing the Waste on the TV. Alas, I was thwarted. Not only was it a rather sluggish connection, but it soon asked me to pay, and if I am paying I would rather have internet on my netbook. So for you, Waster, I have connected the netbook to the ethernet cable, signed it up for internet, and then run down to the lobby where there is WiFi. Because that is what I do. For you.

Around the corner from our hotel is St. Nicolas Church of the Lesser Town Square. This is clearly an odd translation, as the negative connotations of lesser in English are not meant. We are staying in Mala Strana, Lesser Town, while across the bridges you find Old Town and New Town.

This church is considered the most important High Baroque building in Prague, and was built in the 1700's after the Jesuit Order demolished the church which stood here previously. In case you were wondering.

The Vltava River running through Prague, looking from the Lesser side.

Everyone deserves their supermodel moment.

The Charles Bridge, built by King Charles IV. King of... a whole lot.

Czech history is something I have to read up on, and fast. First of all, this was Bohemia until 1918. Charles IV was the King of Bohemia during the height of this land's influence. In fact, Charles IV was the King of Bohemia (1346), King of the Romans (1346), King of Italy (1355), Holy Roman Emperor (1355), and then finally King of Burgundy (1365) to become ruler of all the kingdoms of the Holy Roman Empire.

For the record, the Holy Roman Empire is not to be confused with the Roman Empire of antiquity or the Byzantime Empire, which you probably know as the Eastern half of the Roman Empire that lasted until the 1400's. The Holy Roman Empire was, essentially, a Central European Empire that included everything from Eastern France to Germany and Austria over to Western Poland, and down to Northern Italy. This Holy Roman Empire tangent of the Waste could go on forever. The more I read the more interesting it gets. What fascinates me most? That the land that was home to the "barbarians" that had raided the city of Rome itself 700 years earlier chose to name their empire after their former enemy and occupier.

For now, let us just accept that King Charles IV controlled much of Central Europe and took very good care of his hometown, Prague, spending much of his 32 year reign building the sites and sights that still stand today.

From history to Haagen Dazs. Note you can see my hand and my wife reflected in this plaque. That was intentional.

Tyn's Church at the Old Town Square, hidden behind a row of stores and restaurants. It is actually, "Church of Our Lady before Tyn." This Gothic church was built in the 1200's and added to throughout the centuries. By 1511, it looked pretty much as it does today.

The spires of Tyn's Church. Those towers are 260 feet tall, not counting the spires.

The other St. Nicolas Church. I have no idea why the Lesser Town and the Old Town both have a St. Nicolas Church.

The Old Town Square, absolutely filled with people. Prague is the sixth most visited city in Europe, after London, Paris, Rome, Madrid and Berlin. That is some good company to be keeping.

The Astronomical Clock and Tyn's Church. The Astronomical Clock, or Prague Orloj, has a dial showing the position of the sun and the moon, as well as a dial showing the month. Built the old fashioned way with gears by a clockmaker in 1410 (sun & moon) and 1490 (calendar), this clock is and should be considered a marvel of the analog age. For the time, you must look at the clock near the top of the tower.

We soon spotted a landmark that made Barbie's heart sing; the Prague Hard Rock Cafe. A shot glass was purchased.

The view of the Lesser Town from across the Vltava. Prague castle rests atop it all.

Our hotel is basically THERE.

I rarely turn the iPhone from landscape to portrait. I made an exception for the moon reflecting on the river.

The towers which marks the end of the Charles Bridge, with Lesser Town's St. Nicolas Church between.

Barbie presents the courtyard entrance of The Augustine.

Do you remember this little joy morsel from last year in Berlin? Newer Rocco Forte Hotels all feature this key that works by proximity. I stick it in my wallet above the driver's license...

...and then all I have to do to open the door is hold my wallet to the sensor. Pulling out a credit card key is, well, I do not want to even consider it.