An unkempt and rather sour, overweight younger man checked us in, gave us our card keys and directed us to the elevator. I thought from his demeanor that the chubby man was just having a rough day. This was not the case. His disposition remained stuck in grumpy mode for the entire duration of our stay. He did mention, in a rather haughty manner, several times over the ensuing days, that the establishment we were staying in was a 4 star hotel, just in case we might forget.
We headed to our room. We had paid a small premium for a river view. I imagined myself being able to view the river through a window if I stood on one leg and leaned off to one side. Opening the door we almost squealed with delight. Through glass doors at the far end we saw a balcony. Rushing to it and stepping outside we squealed again. Not only did we have a river view but the entire historic area of Prague was spread out before us. It was a wonderland of domes, spires and in the distance, about 10 minutes walk away, was the venerable Charles bridge, one of Prague's premier attractions. The palace complex sat atop a hill, the steeples of the St. Vitus Cathedral looming like sentinels keeping watch over the centuries old city.
We stowed our bags and got ready to explore. As I was waiting in the corridor for my husband I heard the door of another room on the floor being opened. Out stepped 2 men of the same approximate height and weight, round bellied, commonly referred to as Bears in gayspeak. They were from Ft. Lauderdale, the new gay mecca, although one of them had once lived in Prague. We spoke to them briefly on the elevator ride down. "See you again", they said as we parted ways, although we never did run into them after that.
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