Prague; Saturday, 17 December, 2016

I had a leisurely breakfast in the hotel and then, leaving several other guests waiting for the expensive half hourly hotel hoppa bus that would take 20 minutes to get them to the airport, I crossed over the road and picked up a local bus (which in the surrounds of Heathrow are free for everyone to use) down into the airport, arriving less than five minutes later.

I walked over to Terminal 3, checked in and wandered through to departures, wondering – given the almost solid fog that was outside – how late my flight would be.

In the end, we were only an hour late pushing back from the gate, though it did take another 40 minutes to make it out onto the runway and started on an uneventful flight to Prague.

Landed and through security I picked up my bag, purchased a 72-hour public transport ticket and caught the bus from the airport to the end of the metro line and then the metro to the stop closest to the hotel.

Thankfully it was only a very short walk to the hotel as in the process of getting off the metro the release mechanism on my luggage broke meaning the handle was stuck in its half-up state, with one of the supports broken away from it. I nursed it the short distance to the hotel and, after checking in, my first port of call was the neighbouring shopping centre to purchase some replacement luggage for the journey home.

Luggage sorted and left back in the hotel I headed out into town and caught the tram up to the castle to have a wander around (and to see if they might have a Christmas market up there). I was surprised to see the much-heightened level of security to get into the vicinity of the castle, with soldiers searching and metal detector-wanding every person going in.

I had a long wander around the castle area, including taking in the Christmas market that was up there, before walking back down the hill and having a wander through the area at the base of the castle hill where I knew there were a number of decent restaurants.

I found a very nice one near the Charles Bridge and had a very pleasant dinner before wandering back over the Charles Bridge itself and down through the Old Town square (making a note of its Christmas market) before heading back to the hotel and turning in for the night.