Prague, day 2

I slept until 9am, but was very tired still. Another beautiful, hot day. Andrew and Robin had already gone for a walk along the river, and the others started to appear. I ate breakfast and had a shower. Nik and Sandy went to fix up the apartment people for the glass Sandy had broken the night before. By the time we were all back and ready to walk out the door, it was about midday. I’d said to Nik that we should have been out earlier. He said he agreed, and suddenly rounded everyone up. The plan was to get lunch first, and we stopped at a Giros place on the way to the metro station. It was so hot that I couldn’t face anything hot, so I ate a salad and bought a roll to take with me. It was decided that I would do my long itinerary the next day and that we’d go to Vyšehrad.

We set off walking up past where we’d got the cake, and over the bridge, snapping photos as we went. Robin finally found a Snoop Dogg poster and Nik was forced to grovel and apologise for doubting him. We crossed the road on the far side of the bridge to look at a statue. We crossed back and walked along the river bank, and Robin and Sandy found the first idiot box quite quickly. They were quite restrained though, acting out what looked like an eighteenth century drama.

By the time they got to idiot box number two, they were right in the swing. Nik and Simon started it, and everyone joined in. There were such gems as the ‘man pose’ with Sandy, Robin and Nik, after which Robin grabbed Sandy, pulled him out the back of the box and Nik and Robin carried him over to Andrew and put him in his lap. Simon pulled a muscle pose, then Nik grabbed him and picked him up. Then Sandy and Clare being a scared young couple with Nik menacing them, complete with claws and teeth. We took a timed photo of all of us, only it’s a revolting shot of me.

We gradually got everyone moving again, and walked through a traffic tunnel in search of the entrance to Vyšehrad. We went too far, so pulled out the maps to sort ourselves out. Without being sure of whether we’d get there, we plunged blindly up the hill, through lovely green country and tunnels, and somehow found ourselves inside the entrance. After all that effort, we stopped for an ice cream, and Sandy and Clare decided they wanted to go back to the apartment. First, though, we walked around the top of a look-out and took some photos. I walked to the opposite corner and spied a roundabout down at the bottom of the park. I alerted Nik to it, who alerted Robin to it, and they plotted an attack on Doug to get him on it (for a reason that still escapes me).

They blindfolded him, sat him on it, and pushed it around. Doug jumped off immediately, but was soon back on and having fun, as was everyone.

This fun included giving Nik high fives on the way past, and smacking Sandy’s backside, and Andrew and me taking action shots of the roundabout in motion. We found a non-functional water fountain.

It was time to move on, and those of us who wanted to found the cemetery, and went in search of Smetana and Dvorak. I found Smetana, and someone else found Dvorak. We stopped for a little rest, then went in search of the museum in the dungeons. The dungeons were from a building that no longer existed. Nik was particularly amused that the King, not being very partial to his brother, the bishop, built a new palace to get away from him.

It was now time to get back to get ready for the opera, and so back at the bottom of the hill, we caught a tram back to the apartment.

We had showers and spruced ourselves up. While I was having my shower, they all started inventing their own board game, called Destination Westwood (I wasn’t part of the joke) and headed out for dinner first. It was similar to the search for cake: there just weren’t many places to go. We eventually settled on a Mexican place and ate in record time so that we wouldn’t be late. Robin asked me whether I’d mind if he came on my long, early morning mission the next day. I agreed enthusiastically.

We ran to the tram stop, got a tram, and walked fast through the shopping precinct, only just making it to the theatre in time. We walked up lots of stairs and found our seats. I was between Simon and Alex. I was disappointed because it was not the same theatre as in the guidebook, which I’d showed everyone. The orchestra was very good, and Donna Anna was amazingly good. Other cast, like Leporello and Masetto were good, but Don Giovanni couldn’t project his voice, and kept getting behind the beat. I was also put off by the small company, and so missed Nik’s huge ‘Don Giovan-ni!’ moment. It felt like half the action was missing. I don’t think that Nik was wonderfully impressed either, but he certainly didn’t complain.

We filed out, and went in search of ice cream and pubs, but finding neither, we looked for the nearest metro station and got off at Andel. Except we took an exit we’d never taken before and ended up a little bit lost. Nik and someone went on a reconnaissance mission and found where we were meant to be. So we got back to the apartment close to midnight, and after talking to Nik briefly about my plan for the next day, I almost immediately went to bed. And slept like a log.