Off to Prague

First a little update!

I finished my first last semester December 16th and headed to St. George to spend some time with Hunter before heading back home to Ontario for Christmas. Hunter had a few days off so he came back with me. My mom was glad to have me home and it was nice to be able to spend time with her. I also met up with my dad for breakfast one day and dinner another. It was wonderful!

Arrival into Ogdensburg on the 20th

December 26th, 2019, I headed to IAD to preposition for the flights to Europe on the 27th. I left from OGS at 2pm and arrived at 9pm as I had to take a creative route. Hunter left from Vegas and arrived at 7am on the 27th. We got a hotel with a 2 pm check out so I was able to sleep and shower and Hunter could do the same once he arrived. We also got free breakfast at the hotel which was nice!

 Inside OGS airport for my departure 

ORD sunset

On the way to IAD

We left our hotel at 1pm after booking tickets to Copenhagen on SAS! We were attempting to take United to Frankfurt, but it filled up due to the previous few days weather issues. Hunter and I have been wanting for quite some time to fly SAS because we have a business zed with them and while a bit more expensive, it seemed like the right time to do it. We had been reading reviews and were excited to experience it ourselves. 

When we got to the airport, we already had our boarding passes and seat assignments as the flight was very empty in business class. We were in 5D and 5F with no one beside us in 5A and 5H. We cleared security and headed for lunch at Chef Geoff's. Lunch was delicious! We had chips and guac to share and Hunter had a salad while I had a fancy salmon wrap. Both were delicious and very filling. 

After lunch, we headed to the Turkish Airlines lounge which was right beside the gate we were departing from. We didn't do much here, however, last night I had my dinner here before going to the hotel and the food was delicious! 

Lunch with Hunter in IAD

Picture from my dinner the previous night

At 4pm we left the lounge and went across the terminal to our gate. Before we knew it, we were boarding and into our seats. While waiting for the plane to take off, I found the purser and gave them a little goodie bag of candies I made as a thank you for flying during the holidays. The purser was very happy and said it was very sweet. We were soon in the air on our way to Denmark.

Hunter found a BA A380

Welcome to SAS Business Class

The cabin was very empty, almost 25 empty seats

Once at altitude, dinner service began. They have quite an extensive, and pretty, menu! 

The beautiful menu cover

Goodbye sun

I got the non-alcoholic cranberry special they offered

  

My starter

  

Hunter's starter

Hunter's main

  

My main

Hunter had the pie for dessert, while I opted for some coffee icecream

After our tummies were full, it wasn't long before Hunter was asleep and I was watching some Netflix show I downloaded before departure. It didn't last long tho and I was shortly asleep too. We were awoken at 1.5 hours till arrival for breakfast. We had quite the selection. Before we knew it, the plane was landing.

Ready for some sleep

The snack bar in flight

 Hunter's Breakfast

My Breakfast

My review of SAS: great crew and service, excellent food, nice seats, but soda choices were limited, and the bedding was very minimal. Maybe I am just used to the US carriers long haul products, but while this flight on SAS was lovely, it wasn't exceptional for me - I bet for anyone who loves alcohol tho, it would be a dream come true. Also, the seat controls were very sensitive and multiple times I accidentally made my seat go up when it shouldn't have. Another interesting thing to note was that the seatbelt sign never turned back on during the flight, even when there were a few bumps, whereas the US carriers would have had the seatbelt light come on.

We finally arrived in Copenhagen on December 28, 2019! We cleared immigration, received a passport stamp that was unfortunately very faint, and went to find where our next flight would be to get us to Prague. As normal in European airports, the flight did not have a gate yet, so we instead went to the Aspire Lounge we have access to with our priority pass. It was a lovely little lounge and we found a good couch to sit on. I took a little nap because I was still tired while we waited as our flight wasn't going for another two hours.

some snacks at the Aspire lounge

  

We left for our gate an hour before departure, which was smart because it was quite far away. We had to walk down a few very long halls. When we arrived we talked to the gate agents and found out we wouldn't be cleared until 20 minutes before departure aka just before boarding ends. We were lucky and got seats beside each other on the quite full plane, but we had to check our bags because there was no more overhead bin space. The flight was about an hour and a half and they kept the temperature very hot. Hunter and I slept most of the flight.

The plane to Prague

We finally arrived in Prague and exited the plane where a bus took us to the baggage claim. We waited about 35 minutes before our bags started arriving and then headed to buy transit passes and catch the bus and metro to meet Hunter's parents at their AirBnB. It didn't take too long to get there and having my phone functional made directions very easy!

A metro station in Prague

We dropped off our things and then headed to the Old Town Square. We first went and looked at the Astronomical Clock. The clock shows Old Bohemian Time, Babylonian Time, Central European or Old German Time, Star Time, The Tropic of Cancer, Calendar Dial, The Zodiacal Ring, The Astrolabe, The Moon, and The Sun. More information can be read here about it (https://www.prague.eu/en/articles/how-to-read-time-14302). It is very complex but extremely fascinating. After admiring it, we headed into the tower to see the views of Prague. We climbed up 3 stories of stairs and paid 400 CZK or about 18 USD to enter the tower. We took the very cool elevator to the top and went outside. The area was very cramped as there were a lot of people who all wanted to get every picture they could, but it was still very fun. We spent about 40 minutes here and then headed back down to explore the market.

Fancy buildings 

Entering the Old Town Square

The backside of the clock tower

The chruch

The Astronomical Clock

As we made our way to the top of the clock tower we found some interesting pieces

The elevator to take you to the top of the tower, there were also stairs, but I didn't feel like getting dizzy from the circles

The view from above

Looking down at the area in front of the clock tower

A neat panoramic

Lots of people in the area to walk outside which could barely allow two people to stand side by side

The angle where we came in

The market at the Old Town Square

The elevator back down

We were quite hungry, so we first got a market sausage. It was 95 CZK and Hunter and I shared it. It was quite delicious. We continued looking at all the stalls which were selling things such as cheese, candy, wooden trinkets, metal trinkets, hats and mitts, and many types of drinks. It was nice to see the locally made things. 

The fancy sausage we ordered - kind of reminds me of the Costco hotdogs

Metal Trinkets

Nativity scene

We met back up with Hunter's parents and went to see a church, however it was closed till 3pm, so we had to wait. While waiting, Hunter wanted to get a hat, so we found an H&M in a mall. It was quite a large H&M and we were also enjoying the warmth as it is quite cold outside. We also found a bathroom, and as typical, it was 15CZK to use it. Luckily they took tap, so I could pay with my phone as we didn't have any coins.

After we were done in the mall, we walked back to the Old Town Square but stopped along the way to see The Powder Tower which formerly served as a gunpowder store. It was pretty neat and we were all surprised that it was still standing.

The Powder Tower

It's me!

Hunter in his new hat and my gloves from Grandma Honey!

The view when we exited the church

We continued on to the church and went inside. We were not allowed to take pictures, but it was beautiful. After admiring the church, we went and booked a river cruise and Bailey really wanted to go on one. It was already 4pm, so the next available one was 5pm. We got our tickets and walked towards the river, stopping along the way as a gingerbread store Hunter's parents wanted to go back to. We bought two little gingerbread pieces for 50 CZK which is just over $2 USD. 

We finally got to the boat cruise dock and waited to board the boat. There appeared to be many people, but we were at the front of the line so we could get seats in the heated section of the boat. We picked a spot near a window and began out 50 minute cruise. Unfortunately, the gently rocking of the boat lulled a few of us into brief moments of sleep, especially Hunter and I since we hadn't had much sleep overall. Nonetheless, we enjoyed it. When we got off, we took a tram to our chosen dinner spot - The Street Burgers and Cocktail Bar. We always try to hit up artesian burger spots in our travels and boy did this location prove amazing! 

  

Waiting for the boat cruise with Prague Castle in the background

We started with drink orders where Hunter and I both ordered homemade lemonade for 65 CZK each or about $2.85 USD. We were not expecting anything like what we received and were blown away with its appearance and taste. I want to already go back and order more! Hunter's mom got a coke zero and his sister and dad picked different kinds of beer. 

Hunter's Dad

We started our meal off with nachos (165CZK) which were extremely tasty and then ordered burgers with fries (about 250 CZK). Hunter and his dad ordered a bacon jam type burger, Bailey and I ordered the four cheese burgers, and Hunter's mom ordered a cheeseburger. When they arrived, they looked amazing! Unfortunetly, they messed up Hunter's burger and had to restart it, so he waited to get his which came out when everyone else was almost finished theirs, but he said his was still delicious!

After dinner, we headed back to the Airbnb where I showered and was soon soundly asleep. 

Our AirBnB

The shower

The kitchen

Living room and bedroom