Today marked the official start of our Central Europe
ABD (albeit not until much later in the day)! First up on our to do list (after sleeping in, which had become our norm) was to change hotels from the Sheraton to the Marriott, which was pretty much a non-event. We took a cab from one hotel to the other and arrived at the Marriott around noon. We were amazed by the mass of humanity in the Marriott lobby when we arrived. There was luggage piled everywhere and desks for Tauck River Cruises, Viking River Cruises and at least one other tour group in the lobby, in addition to the ABD desk. We spotted the ABD desk right away, but unfortunately, we had arrived during the guides lunch break, so they were not there to greet us. However, the Marriott had all of our information and was able to check us in. For both of our ABDs, we have opted to get two rooms for the four of us. It is really nice to have the extra space, and many European hotels cannot accommodate four people. As a note, the Marriott is the only hotel where we had connecting rooms, although I think we had requested this when we made our reservations. Really not a big deal. As I recall, I dont think any of our rooms on our Scotland ABD were connecting rooms either. One of our rooms at the Marriott was ready when we checked in, so we were able to see our luggage deposited into one of our rooms before heading off for more Prague sightseeing prior to the welcome reception. We left a note at the guides desk asking them to text us to let us know what time to be back for the welcome reception. This is one of my minor complaints with the information ABD sends about the trip prior to departure. It would be really nice if they printed the start time of the welcome reception so it is not a guessing game. Luckily, Jennae and Betti did find the note I had left, and Jennae texted that the welcome reception started at 5pm.
Our first goal that day was to do the mirror maze that we had seen earlier in the week that my daughter had an unshakable bee in her bonnet about doing. So we walked from the Marriott to the base of the funicular on Petrin Hill only to find a
really long line at the funicular. None of us (except my daughter) was willing to wait an hour or more in that line. We were contemplating walking up the hill when I decided to try to find out how late the maze was open to see if it would be feasible to come back after the welcome dinner or on Sunday night. When the second hit on Google came up with a Trip Advisor review captioned Worst Mirror Maze Ever, we decided we werent walking up the hill in the heat. Plus, it turned out the maze was open until 10pm, so plenty of time to come back either Sat. or Sun. evening.
Instead, we decided to go to the Loreta, which was the last remaining dont miss item from our guidebook that we had not yet seen. The Loreta is a Baroque historic monument and place of pilgrimage. The treasury houses the Prague Sun, a monstrance (vessel in which the host is exposed for the adoration of the faithful) that contains 6,222 diamonds. It was a bit of a hike up to the Loreta, and we got there just in time to hear the 2pm carillon of the bells (hourly on the hour). We enjoyed our visit, but the Loreta was probably my least favorite of the sites we visited in and around Prague. So if you are pressed for time in Prague, in my opinion, you can eliminate the Loreta from your must-see list. One nice surprise is that, as we were finishing up in the treasury, we started to hear organ music and went back into the chapel where we were treated to a live organ concert, which was very cool.
When we exited the Loreta, we realized we were actually pretty far up the back side of Petrin Hill and decided to see if we could hit the mirror maze before heading back for the ABD welcome reception. It soon became clear we were not going to make it in time so we decided to head back down (did I mention that the worst mirror maze ever had become the bane of our existence? Actually, I should probably clarify why we didnt just tell my daughter to get over the mirror maze and move on. My daughter is a child who almost never asks for anything. This is in marked contrast to my son who always has an extensive birthday and Christmas list in progress at any given time. So on the rare occasions my daughter asks for something, we try to make it happen if it is within the realm of reasonableness.) Making it back to the hotel in time to have a few minutes to freshen up before the welcome reception required a pretty quick pace. This was quite challenging on the Charles Bridge which was noticeably more crowded than it had been earlier in the week. For the first time, we noticed quite a few tour groups on the bridge. So if you are doing the bridge on your own before the ABD starts, I recommend doing it on a weekday. Similarly, we had noticed that the Old Town was much more crowded on Friday night than it had been earlier in the week. Lots of boisterous activity spilling out of the pubs and cafes.
We did make it back to the hotel in time to get into our second room and make ourselves presentable for the welcome reception. This was held on the mezzanine level above the lobby. It was fun to meet Jennae (who I had heard a lot about since she has been with ABD since it started) and Betti for the first time. At the reception, the guides introduced themselves and previewed the trip a bit, and then they had each family introduce themselves and share what they were most looking forward to on the trip. The ice caves were a recurring theme, but the answers were varied. We also received our first pin of the day.
Our welcome dinner was held in the hotel restaurant. The tables in the back of the restaurant had been reserved for our group, but we werent in a private room. While some of the junior adventurers sat together, most of the families sat on their own, since most of the tables were set up as four-tops. My only other experience with a welcome dinner was on our Scotland ABD, which was in a private room, and I prefer that format. It made the dinner more of an ABD event, and with tables of 8 or 10, you had the opportunity to get to know some of your fellow adventurers. Because most families sat within their family units in the Marriott restaurant, there wasnt a lot of getting to know you at the welcome dinner. My husband and I ended up sitting by ourselves after both of our kids decided to sit with other junior adventurers. But then Jennae came to sit with us, which gave us a great opportunity to get to know her a bit. Dinner was a buffet, and it was good, but I wouldnt say great. I will note that almost all of the meals covered by ABD on the trip included two adult beverages (beer or wine).
The dinner wrapped up before 8pm, so we decided at long last to fulfill my daughters burning desire to do the mirror maze on Petrin Hill. There is a metro station not far from the Marriott, so we opted for the metro since we had already done so much walking that day and didnt want to be out too late since we knew our sleeping in days were over. The metro was easy to figure out. We purchased the 24-hour tickets that were also good for the funicular. We hopped on a tram (which our 24-hour metro tickets also covered) after exiting the metro at what I think is the station you would take to Prague castle, and the tram dropped us off pretty much at the funicular. No line at this time of the evening, so we got right on to the funicular and went directly to the mirror maze. I can confirm that it might just be the worst mirror maze ever, just as the TripAdvisor review had proclaimed. It took my daughter and me probably about 45 seconds to get through the maze, so we backtracked and did it a second time just because. At the end of the maze is a room that has all the different mirrors that distort your proportions, so we also spent a few minutes in there. However, despite the subpar mirror maze, it was a beautiful evening in Prague so the outing ended up being one of those fun, silly family outings that we will remember for a long time.