I got my coffee at 5:45 as the first person to attack the breakfast buffet. This was a typical German offering of cereals, rolls of every kind imaginable, yogurts, bread, coffee, cold deli meats and cheeses etc, etc. I was stuffed for the day and it was only 6:15 am. Ann awoke and joined me.

We were on the autobahn at 7:40 and careening down the highway at breakneck speeds in the 60-70 mph range. I know that is rather lame on a road with no speed limits. The downside of a car that gets 65 mpg on the highway is that it does not easily go faster than the miles per gallon rating. I spent the next five hours avoiding cars going 125 mph in the fast lane and trucks going 50 mph in the slow lane. I made 6,749 lane changes - approaching the European one day record.

We arrived in the beautiful city of Prague with Ann driving the car and her trusty computer navigator (me) at her side. With the two of us, a laptop computer, a cigarette lighter power adapter and Microsoft AutoRoute 2005 Europe we made the easily followed directions into a disaster with the help of large doses of Prague road construction projects. Ann was her cool and calm self just wanting to know “right, left or straight ahead” at each intersection. The answers, of course I could not give because where I wanted her to go seemed always blocked by construction or one way streets (yes, the wrong way).

We made it to Dlouha #40, our apartment address, in the center of town. Jan met us and gave us the key. I went to the Bancomat with him to withdraw $320 for the three days at this beautiful, large apartment in the center of Mala Strana (Old Town). Jan and I played out a scene from the scam “pigeon drop” where I withdrew 6,960 Czech Krouna and turned around and handed it to him. I felt that anyone looking would have felt sorry for the dumb American being duped by the wily Czech scammer. Jan has PhD in sports education, is very articulate and spoke excellent English. The apartment is fantastic within walking distance of everything we wished to see in this wonderful town. In this very old building, on the fourth floor with an elevator, is our newly decorated apartment. I do not understand why people would pay $150 - $200 a night in a hotel with one room when this can be had for less and is more comfortable.

Parking. Therein lies the rub as Willie Shakespeare would have said if he had to park his horse in this town. Usually towns founded when there were only three digits in the year did not have the foresight to plan for parking garages in the city center. Parking a car for 24 hours costs $20. As our friend Zdenek says, ”Prague is ‘no’ for cars”. We will be here for three 24 hour periods. Zdenek got us a place to park in a secured lot (Very important) for $5 for 24 hours some ways from the center of town. Now this is not the kind of place I would trust with my car normally but “when in Rome…” The interesting thing about this dirt lot with a sinister Eastern European guarding the gate is that if I do not have the scrap of paper he gave me with my license number on it (that was my “receipt”) when I come to get the car, I do not get the car. Simple as that. Zdenek suggested that Ann be in control of this all important “scrap” of paper. I had to agree.

Zdenek met us at our apartment at 5:00 pm to take the car to the parking lot. We had dinner in a little tavern type of restaurant when we returned. For Zdenek to frequent a pub or restaurant he checks the price list outside in the window. If a liter of malé pivo (small beer) costs more than $1.50 he will not patronize the place. He feels that that restaurant is only for tourists, and he means tourist in the worst way, if the beer costs more than $2 for a liter. This eliminates most places that serve good food. We have had good and mediocre meals with him never great. This night the food was somewhere south of mediocre.

Lesson for Day 3: Good money begets good food.