I know its embarrassingly late to post this when I am already 1.5 months into the trip so will get into summary mode and get this thing done.
Boarded the Air France flight from Mumbai Airport on June 26th mid-night after a typically great drive from Pune through the monsoon-striken expressway. Finally Mumbai international airport rose somewhat close to international standards and enjoyed a decent waiting period with my colleague Vishal. Not to forget that tasted beer for the first time in an Indian airport. KFC, Pizza-hut all had their offerings but I settled for pan-fried noodles. There was absolutely nothing to write home about regarding the flight. As usual by the time it was time for boarding it was difficult to keep the eye-lids far apart (so typical for international travelers). Just about managed to get some sleep though its extremely difficult for a 180 cm person to find any space in a A-330 seat. Had no intention to eat and for drinks they were serving only wine so the choice to sleep off was easy. One hindi movie was playing in the channels but don’t remember the name
Arrived at CDG on time and had my quickest immigration ever. It did not even take a minute. Amazing welcome to Shengen territory for someone who is used to waiting for minutes at the long immigration queues and even looked at suspiciously at times (ask the Russians). We had all the rights now to hit the streets of Paris but the connecting flight was in an hour-and-a-half. Half of that time was taken to walk to the terminal and the other half in security and boarding. Enjoyed the short flight to Prague with peanuts and beer.
On reaching Prague, by the time we reached the luggage belt our luggage had already arrived and in no time we were in the cab to Hotel Prague Center Superior, of course after exchanging some money. The hotel had the basic stuff and nothing extra-ordinary. In fact it was definitely not worth the tariff we were paying.
Work started on Monday and so did the most tedious job to find a house to stay. That was quick thanks to the broker networks of the Infoscions and I selected the 2nd house which was shown (and I don’t regret it). Shifted to the house on the first weekend after paying a hefty hotel bill and also had a trip to the famous Prague castle.
The following weekend, had a walk through the old town square and saw the various beautiful landmarks – Charles Bridge (iconic 500+ year old bridge), Astronomical clock and half a dozen church-type buildings which east Europe is famous for. The beautiful city lived up to its billing and it turned out to be a photographer’s nightmare as every single building looks album-material.
Located two Indian restaurants in the first week itself so food is no problem, at least during lunch time. Dinners have to be from your own kitchen
Overall a friendly city, with low population. Not many times will you see an empty road in the heart of the city in India on a Saturday evening. That was some shock for us.