Aunt Maybelle Says "Hey"
Thank you for all of your kind words. Very sweet of you.
Do keep encouraging the old folks to travel. In 1995 I had a trip to England, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Sweden; crossed the North Seas twice. A Globus tour and very interesting. In 1996, went to London for four days then through the Chunnel to Paris for three days. In 1997 I went to Hawaii for my 90th birthday.
For next year it's the Orient Express, London to Istanbul.
Aunt Maybelle
Walnut Creek CA
Munich Hotel
I don't believe I told you we stayed for a few days last December at the Hotel Exquisit in Munich.
They were wonderful; took very good care of us as well as upgraded us (4 persons) to a "maisonette" room.
They also sent us to some great places to eat. One Italian restaurant stood out very plain and lots of locals fantastic food. Try it. Rustico is the name.
Randy Baker
Cincinnati OH
Prague Resource
I want to advise you of excellent service our party of four received in Prague from a Mr. Jiri (George) Prazsky, owner of the Prager Agency, Zelena 26/1747, 160 00 Praha 6 - Dejvice, phone/fax 420-2-3111979.
I found information about Mr. Prazsky's agency on the Internet after being unable to reach our hotel of choice directly for reservations. I contacted him by facsimile and received an immediate response in English. He was able to obtain bookings at the Hotel Pod vezi, (Mostecka 2, 110 00 Prague 1, tel. 420/2 533 710, fax 420/2 537 361) which turned out to be exactly what we had hoped for - newly-renovated in an elegant manner, with a welcoming and responsive English-speaking staff, an exceptionally clean and authentic atmosphere, and a perfect location in Mala Strana at the foot of the Charles Bridge.
During the months prior to our trip, I had occasion to corresponded with George by fax numerous times, and always received immediate responses. He arranged cars to meet us and return us to the train station and airport (circumventing the corrupt taxi system) and also theater bookings, recommended excellent and inexpensive restaurants, and even was so kind as to handle cancellations when one couple in our party was unable to travel due to illness. We found his costs to be extremely reasonable and certainly competitive for the services we received.
When we arrived in Prague, George's assistant was waiting at the train, as promised, and delivered us and our luggage directly to the hotel. There, George was waiting. He helped us with questions and saw to it that we were settled in our rooms. He further instructed us about Prague and insisted we call him at any time, day or night, should we need assistance. This we did for transportation to the Austrian consulate, which required some time, during which his assistant graciously waited and then drove us up to Hradcany Castle. We also contacted him to pick us up from a performance on the outskirts of the city late one night. That evening, on his own and as a true gesture of kindness (and pride in his beautiful city), he drove us up to Hradcany Castle to look out over his Prague by night, an outstanding view.
On our last morning, when the other woman in our party had to leave alone to return home, George not only drove her to the airport but also accompanied her to her gate, since she did not understand Czech.
I have mentioned these services in detail because I want to stress how George and his assistant went far beyond what would have been expected. Their kindness gave us a great deal of confidence in a city where we did not know the language. George made our visit to Prague an unforgettable experience and a highlight of our entire trip, not only due to the ease with which we were able to navigate it, but in the experience of meeting two fine people, who gave Prague a human and welcoming face.
I exuberantly recommend the Prager Agency. George truly was "our man in Prague."
Jan Quinn Freyberg
Brookfield WI
(Ed. Note: Ms. Freyberg told us she paid about $200 per night at the Pod vezi and $75 for Mr. Prazsky services. In addition, the driver was paid about $20 per trip.)
Munich Airport Hotel
First, a thank you for your recommendation of Berggasthof Panorama in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. We enjoyed our night's stay there (mid-September) very much, and in fact wished that we could have stayed longer. Hotel staff was most accommodating (our request for room Number one was honored), and we enjoyed a nice dinner on the patio and the plentiful breakfast buffet the following morning. All in all a most pleasant beginning to our vacation.
For our last night we chose the Mövenpick Hotel at Hallbergmoos, near the Munich airport. The hotel's location, in an industrial park, is kind of off-putting, but we were able to overlook that aspect. Our spacious room (in a nonsmoking wing) was brightly decorated and comfortable and came equipped with terrific reading lamps. The bathroom was similarly well-equipped, with hairdryer and makeup mirror and good-sized bath towels.
Dinner in the hotel restaurant was better than expected; the entire staff was unfailingly polite and helpful. At the height of Oktoberfest the place was quite crowded, but everything seemed to run smoothly.
The hotel operates a shuttle to/from the airport at a cost of 10 DM ($5.70) per person. We didn't partake of the breakfast buffet since we felt the charge of 23 DM ($13) was pretty exorbitant.
At l95 DM ( $111) per night, we feel this is a viable option to much pricier downtown hotels. It was a short drive to the airport in the morning where we returned our rental car.
Charlotte Olstead
Redwood City CA
(Ed. Note: Ms. Olstead sent us a Mövenpick brochure which lists prices as follows: both singles and doubles 175 to 195 DM ($100-$111) and a very reasonable weekend rate of 135 DM ($77) for both singles and doubles.)
(U.S. Dollar prices quoted in this issue of Gemütlichkeit may be inaccurate for these reasons:
* Prices in local currency have not been updated since the date of publication of this newsletter, and...
* The dollar prices shown were obtained by using exchange rates in effect at the time of publication.)
October 1997
