Sat 25th July 2009 Prague - Marianske Lazne

We leave Prague today for Marianske Lazne, a spa resort about two hours away and the perfect antidote to the hustle and bustle of Prague.
The cases had to be outside everybody's room by 08;45 and we are departing at ten o'clock.
I approach the hotel at 09:40 and wait near to Debenhams form where I can see the hotel and the porter trying to move a minibus and car from the area I need to stop in. He manages this and waves at me to drive to the hotel. He has all of the cases ready on trolleys and it doesn't take long to load them especially with Brian helping.
The porter has been great and taken all of the problems I expected away. There is a bit of a mix up with the refund to my account for the permit to let me down to the hotel but that is soon resolved and we are on our way.
Ten minutes later we stop by the quayside and I go to thye ticket office to see where our boat goes from. Quay 7 I am informed, this is the last pier ahead of us.
I want to go on the boat but am not sure about parking so I quickly drive over the bridge and turn left across the carriageway where I probably shouldn't (no probably, I shouldn't) but I have a boat to catch! The parking lady says I can stay for 3 hours and the cost is 300 Czech Crowns per hour but I can have the last hour for 100 Crowns. Deal!
I walk back across the bridge to wait with the group at pier 7 but not a lot is happening except it is raining.
At 11 o'clock I walk back to the booking office and see if there has been a change and sure enough our boat is at pier 2 at the other end of the quay!
We are soon on the boat and there is a buffet of hot and cold food that would feed 100 let alone 22! We have all had breakfast but duly get stuck in for an early lunch. The food is delicious and I wish I was hungrier but I do enjoy what I have.
We sit downstairs to eat and accompanying us is a man playing the sqeezebox.
The top deck is more open and offers better views and after we have all eaten everybody except Ray makes their way upstairs for a better view and the fresh air and sun. The sqeezebox man also makes his way up to the top deck and continues playing!
Now, I'm sure he is very good and a nice man but I cannot stand the sound and have a good mind to go back downstairs! The passengers seem to be enjoying him which is the most important thing but I just don't get it!
The boat trip is nice but could do with some commentary as we go along especially when navigating the lock we pass through.
All in all it is a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours and I would definitely do it again but maybe an hour later and no squeezebox!
We return to pier 2 and I walk the group back over the bridge to the coach and off we go.
Apart from the roadworks, where they are building a tunnel under the city, we have a good run out of Prague and are soon on the motorway.
I have a stop for fuel, the first this trip, and then we carry on to Marianske Lazne, arriving just before 16:00.
There is a cycle race on in the town so we drive the back way to the hotel and I have to leave the coach there until six o'clock when the cyclists will be finished and I can get to the parking place behind the Bohemia hotel.
Our hotel the Olympia is a super hotel that is only 4 years old and pretty much faultless from what I can see of it. The rooms are excellent there is a nice lobby area with a bar and the evening meals are a buffet. The coach is parked a 5 minute walk away and the town is on our doorstep. The only slight downside is that there is still a lot of smoking inside the hotel but at least there is smoking and non smoking areas. The staff are also very attentive and pleasant. Yes I like it here! Good beer too!