Wilmslow and Prague
On Monday, we caught up with Tacit/Bravura ex-colleagues for lunch. As before, it was good to catch up with peoples' stories and see what's been going on while we've been away. Some dramatic changes (Duncan is finally engaged, and Carl has a fancy Chrysler Crossfire) and some small. Monday night Sonia and I revisited another favourite place in Wilmslow - or rather Alderley Edge. The Alderley Edge Hotel is still there, and still has a great restaurant. This used to be a regular haunt - maybe once a month we'd head there for dinner on a Saturday night. A very civilised place, with a great menu and excellent wine list (check out the website). Some of the faces are the same, and the service is still excellent.
For some reason Monday night was a difficult night to sleep properly. The room was a little warm, so maybe that was the problem. Anyway, Tuesday morning was taken up with washing clothes at the laundromat in Altrincham, then heading to the Honey Bee (English family pub) in Wilmslow for lunch. In the afternoon we packaged up clothes that Sonia bought from Next (an old favourite of the nieces and nephews in NZ) to send back to Auckland. A short break in Cafe Nero (new since we lived here), which has better coffee than our old haunt Best Barista. From what I hear the multiple changes of ownership of Best Barista have degraded the service levels and quality over time. A bit of a shame as it used to be great. Next stop was Mailboxes Etc to post the parcels, then back to the hotel for a short snooze to map up for last night.
Then back out to meet other friends from NZ who have been living over here. Dinner was at the Cedars of Lebanon - new since we were in the UK. Great food, and we ordered about 12 starters between us and just dug in. This was much better than ordering individual plates, as we took the opportunity to sample a number of dishes that we had not had before.
Wednesday morning was an early start (comparatively) - we needed to get the car back to Budget and then catch a 10:45 flight to Prague. Over the next week or two, we will be spending three nights in Prague, four in Milan (Lake Como area), then two in Paris. Then it's back to KL via Singapore. There is not long left!
We've had our first full day in Prague. Sonia dragged herself out of bed at 10am, and we then battled with the Wifi connection in the lobby until 12 noon. Walking into the city turned out to be vey doable (we are staying in the Art Hotel). The actual street that the hotel is on is not great, but the location is generally good - outside of the city centre (therefore cheaper) but still close enough. It turns out that we are situated right behind the Sparta Football Stadium (for anyone who is actually interested in football/soccer). The artwork on the walls is interesting - a sample from one wall of our room.
A very nice city, full of old buildings. I do wonder if it was as nice under communist rule. We walked into town and through the Prague Castle. Amazing buildings, although not that much to look at other than in the cathedral inside the Castle. We did find one unusual statue inside the castle grounds:
And then there was the Barbie Poster (still inside the Castle):
Towards the end of the day Sonia managed to find a wine bar that serves Cheese Fondue. We ended up spending about and hour working our way through a fondue, a plate of Italien (sic) sausage, and glasses of French red wine.
Walking back up to the hotel area about 7pm, we decided to have dinner at one of the local restaurants. The menu posted outside had both Czech and English, but the one inside was only Czech - bit of a problem. I ended up taking the menu outside, working out what I wanted and then coming back in to tell the waitress.
Anyway, back at the hotel now, time for bed, I think. Another day of walking around and taking photos tomorrow.
For some reason Monday night was a difficult night to sleep properly. The room was a little warm, so maybe that was the problem. Anyway, Tuesday morning was taken up with washing clothes at the laundromat in Altrincham, then heading to the Honey Bee (English family pub) in Wilmslow for lunch. In the afternoon we packaged up clothes that Sonia bought from Next (an old favourite of the nieces and nephews in NZ) to send back to Auckland. A short break in Cafe Nero (new since we lived here), which has better coffee than our old haunt Best Barista. From what I hear the multiple changes of ownership of Best Barista have degraded the service levels and quality over time. A bit of a shame as it used to be great. Next stop was Mailboxes Etc to post the parcels, then back to the hotel for a short snooze to map up for last night.
Then back out to meet other friends from NZ who have been living over here. Dinner was at the Cedars of Lebanon - new since we were in the UK. Great food, and we ordered about 12 starters between us and just dug in. This was much better than ordering individual plates, as we took the opportunity to sample a number of dishes that we had not had before.
Wednesday morning was an early start (comparatively) - we needed to get the car back to Budget and then catch a 10:45 flight to Prague. Over the next week or two, we will be spending three nights in Prague, four in Milan (Lake Como area), then two in Paris. Then it's back to KL via Singapore. There is not long left!
We've had our first full day in Prague. Sonia dragged herself out of bed at 10am, and we then battled with the Wifi connection in the lobby until 12 noon. Walking into the city turned out to be vey doable (we are staying in the Art Hotel). The actual street that the hotel is on is not great, but the location is generally good - outside of the city centre (therefore cheaper) but still close enough. It turns out that we are situated right behind the Sparta Football Stadium (for anyone who is actually interested in football/soccer). The artwork on the walls is interesting - a sample from one wall of our room.
A very nice city, full of old buildings. I do wonder if it was as nice under communist rule. We walked into town and through the Prague Castle. Amazing buildings, although not that much to look at other than in the cathedral inside the Castle. We did find one unusual statue inside the castle grounds:
And then there was the Barbie Poster (still inside the Castle):
Towards the end of the day Sonia managed to find a wine bar that serves Cheese Fondue. We ended up spending about and hour working our way through a fondue, a plate of Italien (sic) sausage, and glasses of French red wine.
Walking back up to the hotel area about 7pm, we decided to have dinner at one of the local restaurants. The menu posted outside had both Czech and English, but the one inside was only Czech - bit of a problem. I ended up taking the menu outside, working out what I wanted and then coming back in to tell the waitress.
Anyway, back at the hotel now, time for bed, I think. Another day of walking around and taking photos tomorrow.
posted by Andrew at 4:17 AM
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