Saturday 7th January 2006

No dogs to take to kennel for our Prague trip thanks to Marie who very kindly agreed to housesit them. We arrived at the airport in good time, but a bit anxious about how we would be treated with kp being a wheelchair passenger.

We needn’t have worried. Easyjet were superb and really looked after us. They explained how wheelchair passengers were boarded etc etc…. It really put my mind at rest.

The big challenge for the day was the surprise for Michelle who had NO idea we were going with her on her 40th birthday. The plan was to get to the departure gate BEFORE they did and get a viewing seat to catch them entering the departure lounge. The best made plans of mice and men………………

We got Marie to phone Michelle to find her whereabouts. She was late – typical Michelle. We chose a convenient vantage point in a bar where we could see everyone entering the departure area. I say “we”, kp couldn’t pick out faces from the distance we were at. I spent 70 minutes drinking beer and watching EVERY person entering. Well, either the beer or my poor eye sight let me down and we didn’t see them. We were fretting that they were going to miss the plane as I was 100% sure they hadn’t come through.

Boarding time came and we had to go to the gate.

We were intercepted en route by name and ushered towards the Batmobile, well, the ambulift (but batmobile sounds better). . They must have been only expecting one wheelchair passenger at that time but it was still nice to not have to announce yourselves to someone. They took us to Gate 7 where we boarded the batmobile. It’s like a hollowed out catering supply van which goes up and down. We boarded, it went down. Someone drove us to the airplane where we boarded the starboard door. Here is kp in the batmobile……..

And here is kp going up towards the starboard plane door……

We were the first on, and got front seats. Yay ! We were very anxious at this stage, because we hadn’t seen Michelle and Freddy (Michelle’s partner). Gail, the Senior Air Crew, sensed our anxiety and kp explained all. She VERY kindly reserved 2 more front seats for Michelle and Freddy. She said she would help with the surprise by shielding us from their view. She stood in between our starboard front seats and the cabin door so anyone enetering the plane couldn’t see us.

She inspected everyone’s boarding card looking for Michelle’s name and when Michelle boarded COMPLETELY oblivious to our presence………..

Gail :- Are you Michelle Nelson ?
Michelle :- Yes (worried look on her face).
Gail :- Are you 40 today ?
Michelle :- Yes (even more worried face)
Gail :- I have a surprise for you…..

At this point, she stood to one side…………..

Michelle was GOBSMACKED !!!! AND nearly took a fit !!!!

Michelle took about 5 minutes for everything to sink in……

She said she was having heart palpitations…..

We had planned the surprise so much, the plans went completely tits up but worked out being better than we could have ever planned !

By the end of the 1hr 55min flight Michelle had got a control of herself and was ready to enjoy a lovely 3 days in Prague.

On the first night, we went to a restaurant around the corner from the hotel which kp and I had been to 1 of our previous trips to Prague. It was about 200 yards from the hotel and kp said she wanted to walk it. Walk it she did (Yoda voice).

We had a lovely meal and each had a cocktail. kp and Michelle had a Pina Colada, Freddy stuck to his whisky and I had a B52. Gorgeous………..

kp with her Pina Colada……

kp, Michelle and Freddy on the first evening meal…..

We walked back. By this time, kp was starting to feel a bit worse for all the walking. But, she made it back and got ready for bed…….

Here is a photo of our room……….As soon as I had taken this photo, Karen said “You can delete that”. I don’t think she wanted to appear on the blog in her nighty. Well, I have compromised and blotted her out(ish)…..

Sunday 8th January 2006

Before bedtime, we told Michelle and Freddy to be down for breakfast by 10.15am so that we could be ready for our trip with George around Prague by 11am. Being Sunday, breakfast finished at 10.30am. At 10.45am, kp and I were back in our bedroom after a typically continental breakfast, a bit worried that we hadn’t seen Freddy and Michelle at breakfast and that they might miss the tour with George.

I phoned their room. A cheery Michelle answered.

Michelle :- Good Morning
dp:- Are you all set for meeting George ?
Michelle :- Yup, but we’ll see you down at breakfast first.
dp:- Breakfast is finished. It finished at 10.30am.

Michelle and Freddy had forgotten to adjust to Czech time. They thought they had an hour to spare. They hurried to be ready for the tour with George. They were only 5-10 minutes late.

George is a native Czech who grew up in Czecholslovakia under Communism and has seen the big changes the country has undergone in its fascinating history including the split of the Czech Republic from Slovakia. He speaks excellent english and his tours are second to NONE. Every time we go to Prague, we book up with George and we have never been disappointed. If you go to Prague, book a tour with him. You won’t regret it. His website is http://www.praguemaster.com or you can email him at george@praguemaster.com.

Prague is NOT designed for wheelchairs. Finding a pavement with tarmac is a rarity. More often we were faced with mosaic-like pavements with mosaic pieces missing. These made for a very bumpy ride for kp and a very concentrated drive for me. It only takes one of the mosaic pieces to be missing for kp’s wheelchair to stop in its tracks and for kp to move quickly towards the pavement heads first. Thankfully, she only “nearly fell out” once, although there were a number of emergency stops. The worst ones were in the middle of the roads (with cars hurtling towards you), when a wheelchair wheel would get stuck in a tram rail track

It made for an interesting ride.

The weather outside was BITTER. It was -2′C before taking any wind into account. kp was in the wheelchair and wrapped up to the hilt with coats, scarves, hats and the added fleece Marie had got her to cover her legs.

Within 15 minutes of us walking, kp was freezing. Because she wasn’t walking, she was so much more susceptible to the cold than us. So………what do you do……..you have your first pit stop (or should that be pub stop). Mulled Wine for George and I, Freddy’s usual Double Whisky, Michelle and kp sensibly had hot tea (with cream (NICE ! )

George took this photo of us all. I think the mulled wine had taken its toll on his photographic skills……..

Warmed up, we carried on through Wenceslas Square to “Old Town” Square, then following the river, we passed the famous Charles Bridge. At this point, George took a much better photo (the mulled wine must have worn off)……..

At this point, kp was soooooo cold we had to get a tram to the Microbrewery, a favourite haunt of Karen and I’s (and George’s !). Here, they brew their own variety of beers (Banana, Walnut, Vanilla, Cherry etc…) and they also do a lovely lunch.

We enjoyed the different beers and spent a good 90 minutes in George’s company hearing his stories about the Czech Republic. He is good company and a good laugh to boot.

Here he is with kp in the foreground……

George left us after lunch and we returned to the hotel for a snooze. kp was exhausted (and so was I). We had a few hours sleep ready for a night in Prague. Unfortunately, when we woke up, kp was feeling grotty. She had done a bit of walking during the day (to try and keep warm) and I think it had had took its toll. Couple that with the rocky wheelchair rides and lots of concentration, she was not a well bunny. She didn’t want to leave the hotel. So, I did what all good husbands do, left her alone in bed and went for a meal with Freddy and Michelle. I did have the Royal Seal of Approval and the restaurant was within spitting distance (if you really cock your neck back).

It wasn’t the same without kp, but we made the best of it, and Freddy had a doggy bag prepared for kp. When we got back, kp was feeling much better and she invited Michelle and Freddy to the room. She devoured Freddy’s doggy bag………And then Michelle and Karen pretended to be asleep for the camera……..

Yes, she REALLY does sleep with a grimace on her face. It’s a known family joke !

kp couldn’t keep a straight face !

Monday 9th January 2006

The following day, kp and I were too tired to get up for breafast, but Michelle and Freddy made it. At about 11am, we all headed in to town to spend a bit more time exploring the sights and the shops with the usual frequent stops in bars to warm Karen up.

Here is a photo of Freddy, Michelle and Karen in “Old Town” Square in front of a famous church (I forget the name, sorry George).

Soon after this, we went for lunch and I started to get a Migraine It was horrid. We would have stayed out longer, but under the circumstances, I needed to get back to the hotel asap to lie in a dark room. kp had to come with me, but I think she was ready for a snooze anyway.

We had booked a meal for the evening (8pm) at a restaurant George had recommended and we had planned to meet Michelle and Freddy back at the hotel at 7.45pm to get a taxi to the restaurant. They didn’t show. We were a little bit worried. We tried to contact them by every means possible (no sign). We went to the restaurant. At about 8.30pm (30 minutes late) we started to receive communication from them both via mobile phone. They were both drunk and lost in Prague. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr ! I had to leave Karen alone in the restaurant to go and find Michelle (by this stage Freddy and Michelle had fallen out and gone their seperate ways). It was 9.10pm when we ordered our meals (minus Freddy).

kp and I were both a bit peeved to say the least. This evening aside, we had a great time in Prague with Michelle and Freddy. Karen found the reliance on the wheelchair to be a bit much at times and I know she hasn’t enjoyed the holiday as much as previous trips because of the accident, but as my dad said on the phone to us while we were out there, she is VERY brave for even thinking about taking a trip abroad so soon after the accident and so early in her recovery.

I hadn’t thought of it like that until he said that, but Karen, you are very brave, and I am very proud of you for making the best of the holiday that you could !!

Well done love……………

Tuesday 10th January 2006

This morning, Freddy and Michelle had made up……….

Today, there was no time to sightsee, only time to breakfast, pack and come home. Karen and I got pre-boarded because she was in the wheelchair, which was great. First on the plane, front seats, which is great. The flight was delayed because a poor chap (on the inbound flight) had chucked his passport away (by accident) in the rubbish, so the cabin crew had to search the plane high and low to try and find it. Peter (Senior Cabin Chappy) found it in the end by searching through all the rubbish from the plane (which was now out on the tarmac). Nice one Peter !

A nice couple of endings to the holiday.

1 – Because kp and I were last off the plane and we had to wait for the batmobile to come, the pilots invited us onto the flight deck for a look around. kp had never seen a flight deck before and was well impressed. Me too !

2 – And the best bit, we got home to a sparklingly clean house courtesy of Marie. Thanks Marie, we are very grateful, although you have smeared some of the glasswork in the front room