First, came Prague...

We arrived in Prague at 11 p.m. Saturday night for our 14-hour layover, hoping the airline would keep good on its promise to provide a free hotel for the night (after the airline canceled our original flight, we negotiated for compensaton; however, communication with the not-quite-so competent airline reps left us doubtful). It was touch and go for a few minutes, but the girls and I ended up checking into 3 separate rooms, full breakfast compris, in the Courtyard Marriot right across from the airport. Thank you Czech Airlines!

After the requisite primping, we hopped on a taxi in search of beautiful sites and nourishment in the form of Czech beer and Czech food (still unclear on the latter). The first was easy to find. Even in the dark, Prague is a beautiful city, with its centuries-old medieval buildings and castles, and an Old Town Square dating 600-700 years back. The Czech food, however, was not so easy. It was after midnight by the time we were dropped off at city center, and though we perservered through the language barrier and windy streets (sans map), we were unable to find any bar or restaurant or even late-night snack stand serving food. The streets were filled with drunk Europeans running around, but as most weren't Prague natives, they were of little help.

Finally, we found 2 young Czech men walking around with a pizza box - at this time we were well into early morning. Fortunately, Dennis and Peter (American versions of their Czech names) were tres sympa and willing to guide us to Czech's version of late-night food. We got our Czech pizza and followed the boys to their favorite Prague sports bar, Non Stop, where beers were 1 euro a piece - unheard of in Paris! After a Czech beer and a Czech vodka (we wanted the full Czech experience), the boys decided we had to see Charles Bridge, which spans across the Vltava River with a great view of the city. The bridge is covered with statues, including the Statue of St. John of Nepomuk. According to the boys, it's traditional to touch the statue and make a wish. We all made our wishes, and then, despite the late (or early) hour and impending flight, we let the boys convince us to have one last drink at a ''must see'' Prague night club.

The night club was a must see, with multiple rooms, ranging from a modern looking dance floor to older brick pub rooms to a bar with dancing naked women. We ordered a bucket of champagne, danced for a bit, then finally, sense took over, and we hailed a cab back to the hotel at the early hour of 6:30 a.m. Only to wake up 2.5 hours later and walk across to the street to the airport.

Goodbye to Prague and...