Went to the station in plenty of time and even though the platform clearly showed our train I was anxiously checking that everyone else stayed on the platform and didn't transfer to another. I had written down clearly what carriage and seats we had & got Cam to triple check I had it right. We had booked carriage 260 seats 55 & 56.
The train pulled up late and there was no carriage 260. I asked a railway employee but they didn't speak English. We didn't want to be left behind so just jumped on a carriage and took a random seat. I left Cam there and walked the whole train (through corridors rather than getting off) but it only went to carriage 258.... Great system especially since we paid extra to reserve our seats!
Anyway the train left & our seats were ok so we stayed put. Our tickets were checked a couple of times and we were obviously on the right train. The train was warm & the rocking motion made us feel sleepy. 
We barely noticed crossing from Germany to Czech Republic. There was no obvious sign and no checking of passports or anything. The few towns we passed through looked quite run down & relatively poor.
Some girls in the seat behind us asked a train ticket inspector how we would know we were at Prague main station & he said 2 more stops and you will be there at 11:25am. I was pleased to know others were getting off with us. At about 11:15 lots of people on our carriage started getting jackets on and getting their bags ready, so we did likewise. At 11:24 we pulled into a station that said Praha-Holesovice so we all got off. We were surprised that the station was really rundown and didn't seem to be much of a town nearby. Found an ATM machine so I could withdraw some local currency as euros are no good here. Then used my phone to get directions to our hotel. It said 15 minutes away which was further than I thought but we started walking....but there were no other people & it didn't seem streets we should be walking. Tried a different app on my phone & it became apparent that 15 minutes was for driving & it was an hour to walk....this was not on dragging our bag! So we went back to the station, went to a ticket office & bought a 3 day train, tram & bus pass for the area & google searched the closest metro. Turned out there was one right there but obscured from view and not many people around. Luckily the metro map is relatively simple with only 3 different lines, so Cam sussed it straight away. We had to change lines once but relatively quickly found ourselves at the station we wanted & walked just minutes to our hotel. This was more like we were expecting.
We had to fill in an hour before our room was ready so went for a walk nearby, had a coffee, & found a supermarket. We bought drinks & some local chocolate & in the bakery area got some filled breads & a donut to share for lunch. By now our room was ready so we checked in and felt very happy indeed. The room is big, newly renovated, trendy & has a fantastic bathroom with posh toiletries . We also have a fridge, bathrobes & scuffs . 
I remember the prices were quite reasonable when I booked Prague so I selected a slightly more upmarket hotel. It is more a boutique hotel - not that big...and breakfast is included. We will enjoy the next few nights. Just feel bad that we aren't sharing the experience with Nick....especially after the bunk hotel in Berlin!
In our room we had a short break to eat our lunch, and used the internet to check my train booking from this morning. Turns out our ticket said Praha hl.n - which must be the stop after Praha-Holesovice. Could the German train service have been any worse? We wonder what happened to all the others that got off when we did, & you'd think that someone might have questioned so many getting off before the main station. We can only hope the French trains we have booked next week will be better. At least we'll have Nick to understand the language.
Around 2:30pm we headed out to explore the area properly. The street names are relatively easy to find here & there are brown signs everywhere pointing to attractions. We didn't really have a plan, just admired the gorgeous buildings, some shops 
& walked the streets looking in whatever direction seemed to have a grand building - of which there are plenty. We saw Dvorak museum,
Wenceslass Square 
& the national museum
....among others. After a while we decided to use the metro (some of the stations are very cool) 
& check out Prague Castle. This was all nice & easy and we walked the steep path up the old castle steps to the castle gasping at the views. 
We were very impressed with the buildings around us and ever corner we turned there were more...and they seemed to keep getting better. There are museums, shops & churches all in the Castle area. 
We were too late to go into the museums as they close at 4pm over winter. We kept on walking & the photo opportunities were endless. We saw the Black Tower, Toy museum, 
Basilica of St George, St Vitus Cathedral, 
the Treasury, 
Archbishops Palace & National Gallery. 
Eventually we were heading back down the hill on the other side of the castle & the narrow winding streets were so picturesque. 
Apparently this is Mala Strana (LesserTown). Gorgeous little cafes, bars, glassware shops, puppet shops, etc..
We kept walking crossing the Charles Bridge (a cobbled bridge over the Vitava with many baroque statues, entertainers & artists)....
and were now in the old town.
Our feet were getting sore now as all the paths in Prague are uneven cobbles - thank goodness my foot isn't hurting anymore. We intended to get on a tram somewhere, but there kept being sights to see, and eventually we ended up back near our hotel. We have walked nearly 16km today....and we really only got going this afternoon.
And there are lots of Absinth (a very strong liqueur) shops selling hot absinth, hot absinth beer, hot cannabis & who knows what else! We didn't go into these.
We stopped and tried a trdelnik (a warm sweet pastry dusted with sugar & almonds...yum!). We had another short break in our room and them went out to the surrounding streets looking for something to eat. I wasn't hungry after all the food we've had today, but Cam needed something, so settled on a Prague classic sausage in bread from a street vendor. He said it was nice, but yesterday's was better.
Our day has been good & it's hard to imagine there can be much more to see in Prague, but apparently there is.
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