Day 2 - Arriving in Prague

-Uneventful layover in Abu Dhabi; read my book for two hours; and the ticket checker at my gate called me "Miss Toolee".

Abu Dhabi airport

-Nothing to play with on Czech Airlines except the window shade. After my earlier encounter with Etihad's "coffee," I opted for a glass of red wine with my 'breakfast' of breaded chicken, potatoes and chocolate creme pie. Finished the first 100 pages in my Stephen King page-turner Different Seasons, and, wanting to save some for later reading and not daring to open the window shade for fear of blinding myself on the bright white clouds, I resigned to staring at the seatback in front of me, pretending to understand all the conversations going on around me Czech. This went on for another hour and a half until (FINALLY) the captain announced our final descent into Prague Airport.

Boarding the plane

Our "snack" on the plane...

-Our flight attendants consisted of one nice but boring-looking middle-aged male who was almost completely bald, and two bleach-blonde females who might as well have been clones of each other; their only differentiating feature being one's horrid dark aqua-gray eye shadow which only served to startle the living daylights out of me when I'd look up to what looked like a zombie offering me "coffee or tea?"

-Arrived in Prague where it was a crisp 7 degrees Celsius, and promptly changed into warmer clothes (the Czech airport staff gave me so many funny looks and gasps when I exited the plane in shorts and a half-sleeve sweater).

-There was no one in line at passport control when I got there (apparently I was the only non-Czech on my flight), and when I handed my passport through the window, the officer first scoured every single page, and then proceeded to put my entry stamp right smack on top of the "endorsements" page! When I got my new passport two years ago, I requested the 52-page one specifically so this would never happen. 35 empty visa pages, and he stamps the endorsement page. Ugh. Moron.

-My immigration stamp soon became the least of my worries when I approached the currency exchange counter and the woman smugly informed me that "we don't accept Thai baht here; you'll have to go to a bank in the city, and you'd better hurry because it's Friday and they close at 3pm." I looked at my watch - 1:50. Well, shit.
Figured I'd look for a bank on the way to my host's apt, but it was only a short bus ride and I didn't see one. Luckily, after much googling and a few phone calls we were able to locate an exchange office run by a Turkish man that said he would accept Thai baht. Irena and I met Pavel on the way there, and after some careful counting and quick decision-making I walked away with enough Czech koruns (pronounced "crowns") to last my 4 days there, and the rest in Euros (which would be accepted for exchange in the next 3 countries). euroexchange.cz

-As a thank you to Irena and Pavel for being so helpful and understanding, I cooked dinner (with Irena's help). We hit up the supermarket for ingredients, then I/we made DIY soft shell beef tacos and broccoli cheese balls(http://www.staceysnacksonline.com/2011/01/broccoli-bites-for-kids.html). Everything was delicious, and we all went to sleep that night very happy campers.

Getting ready to cook!

Broccoli bites

Mmmm taco

Appetite satisfied, ready for bed!