Prague 2018

Prague 2018. We said we’d be back. To do the other bit. The hilly bit, Round the castle.

One more time, Aer Lingus out of Dublin, hour and a bit we bounced down in Prague. Prague out, was a mirror image of Dublin in, whisked straight through.

Not that everything wasn’t thoroughly searched or there were any short cuts made on my behalf. Having done it so often, I made it as easy for them as the did for me.

One of the reasons I always try to fly Aer Lingus, it just works.

Bag properly packed, pockets emptied. straight through.

Out the far side the travel scooter was loaded into the waiting Skoda Superb and away we went to the hotel.

Travel scoot. Folds up. Traps fingers, (both hands) Fits into car boots, great in hotels, railway stations, airports. Not great in urban streets or eastern european pavements. Tram lines or cobblestones. Saving grace, is the thing called a stadium cushion, the extra bit of cushioning literally saved my hide.

The scooter. Careco Travelscoot. Folds up. Small seat, small wheels, minimal ground clearance.

Brilliant in airports, railways, hotels, museums galleries.

Outdoors not so good. We used an android App for distance walked. The battery level started blinking at 5 miles which meant we had a mile to go.

That mile got us to the hotel where it died. Dead. Really quite good considering the terrain and the size of the battery.

Couple of hours charging up, out later that evening and an overnight charge when you get in. don’t forget the charger and don’t forget to let the hotel know you need a plug which doesn’t switch off when you leave the room.

We went for couple of beers and a book.

Forget the driving, if you’re in the front you’re on the wrong side with no steering wheel.

Just be thankful you aren’t doing the driving.

If you’ve been before, its funny how bits come back. Dropped at the hotel bags in, scooter deposited and in you go.

Hotel Elite is in the new town. Straight, low level in. Ramps to the lift and the lift goes to all floors. in my usual style I only got used to what floor I was on when we were leaving.

Pavements where they exist are narrow and have a bit of a slope, especially the cobbled bits out of double gated parking areas. they really are on a steep slope. In the wet (which there was, really not nice).

Sloping, low level kerbs at each end were something of a rarity, you’d get one and not the other or there would be none at the first bit and one at the end of the pavement run. (if that makes any sense)

Being a small scooter and not wanting to wreck it, it has to be gently lifted down on to the road.

The streets are cobbled, and very rough. The streets are narrow and ill lit. So using the roads, even if you’ve got lights on isn’t doable.

Certainly not on a non suspension folding travel scooter.

Again, a quick recce saved a lot of trouble, other bits of Prague aren’t quite as bad.

But in continental Europe, they love their cobblestones.

Thats why you see so few wheelchairs.

So we did the initial area recce. Got something to eat and they brought beer. Had a quick skelp around the area to get the lie of the land. Stopped off for a couple of beers accessibility is hit and miss.

Its nothing personal, so we found one on the way back, step in. But doable accessible bar and loo. And it serves a perfectly good alternative to Pilsner its called Kozell and its really quite good. They serve them in half litres. Thats enough.

Plan B, knowing the limited ability of the scooter. Brilliant in an indoor, airport, railway, office building, hotel set up. Outdoors and knowing Prague. We got a taxi. minivan to the castle. This was a VW and even it was getting it rough.

Round the castle, cobblestones, squares. Across the square had a look at the castle and the church, while we were there we saw Golden Lane.

Steep, really roughed cobblestones and oriental tourists. Its brutal. Only talent and not overestimating the stupidity of other people prevented a series of international incidents.

Loretto house. more steps and because your high over the city theres a breeze. Not much of a problem in the summer but by late September thats why they put the blankets and wraps over the chairs at the outdoor cafes,

Once again while getting around, try and stay on the pavements as much as possible. Where they’re smooth they’re great, unfortunately they aren’t exactly in an abundance.

We took to the covered in walkways between the cues and the chairs, beautifully smooth and a welcome bit of a break for me and the scooter.

Where next. The Charles Bridge and across town.

Thats steep, but its all downhill. Eek, again the roads, cobblestones are a no no. The pavement quality ranges from the good to the ‘who the fuck thought of that’ (Really narrow, left right slope with a two foot drop into the road.

Great for single line pedestrians, scary on a narrow scooter impossible on a wheelchair. It just wouldn’t fit. You’d have to take to the street.

We did the bus tour to get a sweep of the city. very good you get a sense of scale. and where to go next..

We’ve usually been lucky with the weather, but as we hit later in September than we usually do the temperature drop was noticeable.

We had thunder and lightening one night. So bad, the locals decided not to leave the bar. A good move, as they knew what was going on we waited it out in a gesture of solidarity. it was the least we could do..