Interesting journey getting to Prague. Sitting at the gate in Minneapolis (MSP) at the very end of the concourse (very end=nowhere to go) waiting for our flight, three CBP officers quietly approach the group seated behind Tim, talk to a man, and handcuff him. Guy sits down, another CBP officer joins, and within minutes lead the guy away….never to be seen again. Impressed with how the CBP handled themselves but confused as hell as to where they came from and where they took the guy. Seriously – we were at the end of the concourse!!
Pre-boarding finally started and then abruptly stopped. The announcement said something about slight delay due to issue with door. And then another “thanks for your patience, slight delay” announcement. And THEN….”boarding will be postponed due to an accident with the door”. WHAT!?!?! Final announcement before boarding said something to the effect that the door issue was not something that would affect our flight. *whew* Was beginning to think this was NOT a good sign! Left about an hour late, which meant we would have to hoof it through Charles de Galle (CDG – Paris).
Never been through CDG airport, never need to again! Worst airport we have ever seen. Fortunately flights were delayed due to thick fog which allowed us time to get to our gate, time which was much needed! We disembarked from our MSP inbound flight, immediately leaving a secured area….no Customs.
Then we had to go through security to get to the transfer area for our gate. Then we got on a bus and drove for freaking ever to get to our gate. We literally drove under jetways, within feet of the noses of aircraft. It was a tangled mess of roads!! We were dropped off in front of our gate 58, but when we went in the doors, we were at gate 20 something. Our gate was on the other side of a glass wall – we could see it through the window. Keep in mind we are AT a gate. A secured area, AT a gate. We followed signs (past other gates) to get to Gates 40-70 or so… following the signs led us to… Customs. Okay, no big deal, not long lines, so we went through Customs (even tho we were already in a secured area). Still no big deal, until we rounded the corner with a loooong line in front of…. SECURITY??? We walked through multiple gates to get to the security? Really?
Once we passed security, we had to walk completely around the inside of the building to wind our way to the gate. Finally time to board (almost 2 hour delay), we line up, boarding passes checked, and then we’re shoved on a very tightly packed bus. Once again, we drive through some crazy tangle of roads (even crossed a runway, first waiting for the jet screaming down the runway) to our plane on the tarmac. So crazy. Takeaway lessons – AVOID CDG at all costs when possible, and anyone who says that ATL/ORD are the worst airports in the world have never flown through CDG!!
Once settled at our hotel in Prague we walked about 1.5 miles from our hotel toward Prague Castle/Old Town areas, mostly walking along the Vltava River. The sun set while we were out so we were able to enjoy a lovely view of Prague Castle at night. Once finished wandering around we hopped on the tram and headed back to the hotel for the night.
Charles Bridge with Prague Castle in background…
And of course, it’s always yummy to grab some local street food…
