Prague #7of7

At the McDonald’s near the Charles Bridge, we had an ice cream sundae and a Coke. We found that McDonald’s prices for ice-cream and French Fries in Prague, are about what we remember from the US (we don’t eat there often enough to remember details). In Germany, prices seem double, at least.

This time the restrooms (next door to McDonald’s) were not free, exactly. Approximately 12¢ for a woman, and 8¢ for a man. Something about a difference in our plumbing or theirs – well it was one or the other.

At an antique store across the street from this McDonald’s, I bought an excellent addition to my cane collection, ($20). When people ask where I got this very nice cane, I always say, “Across the street from McDonald’s.” Then I quickly add, “… in Prague, near the end of the Charles Bridge.”

In Prague and Paris, in Athens and London, in Heidelberg and Venice, they each have special scenery, and as you move from one spot to another in each city, there is one remarkable sight after another. As we had noticed previous times, in Prague there are more street musician groups than most other cities. Several were near the castle, some in the Old Town Square, many on the Charles Bridge, and on the steps from the St. Vitus Cathedral down to Marla Strana (Lesser town).

As we strolled on Wenceslas Square (where the crowds gathered to overthrow the government in 1989) we saw a sign that said there was a McDonald’s 150 meters in either direction, a Kentucky Fried Chicken store was nearby.

At one place the sidewalk was narrowed because of construction, and as we tried to squeeze by a group of young men, I noticed they were “moving in” as if to take my camera bag, Emmy’s purse, or whatever. Emmy said she watched one man concentrate his eyes on the camera bag. I hurried Emmy ahead, we jumped over the barricade, and on we went. It’s just as well we never knew for sure. This was the second time in Europe when my walking stick or cane, might have come in handy as a defensive weapon. Boy, were they ever frightened of me(!). Well, since the nearby McDonald’s had a guard at the door, perhaps it’s not hard to guess what might have happened if we had not been so attentive.

While we hear that crime is up, the people on the streets are obviously much happier. In 1985 they said no one would break into our RV if we parked on the street. Maybe that would not have been a good idea in 1995.