With Prague On Segway we felt very much on our own, not part of the "thundering herd" of
basic tourists in one of those "canned experience" tours.
My wife, Nancy, & I took a vacation trip from NY State to Prague to celebrate our 30th
wedding anniversary. It was our first trip to Prague. My brother and niece had
vacationed in Prague and recommended the Prague on Segway tour. We contacted them via
email from the USA, and were pleasantly surprised by the prompt and understanding
response.
Visiting Prague, we were having a little fun getting our tongues around some of the
street names, and were a bit overwhelmed by all that Prague has to offer. We arrived at
Prague on Segway's site at our scheduled time, and were met by Kate, our guide. Kate was
incredible. She was warm, calm, well spoken in English, learned as to the history and
culture of Prague and contemporary history. Kate asked us what we'd like to see, and we
worked out a tour route in a matter of a very few minutes. Since Prague has so many
sights and covers so much land area, Kate worked out a route that would take us over a
lot of the high ground overlooking the city, as well as the Palace, and some interesting
squares and architectural gems such as cathedrals.
Kate got us situated on our Segways. It was a first for Nancy and me, being on Segways. I
am used to running machinery and riding heavy motorcycles, so the Segway quickly became
second nature. Kate worked with Nancy to reassure her and in a very few minutes, Nancy
was checked out and competent on her Segway as well. Kate took the point, and I took the
back door, putting Nancy in "the rocking chair" position. Off we went, with Kate
carefully checking our progress at mastering the Segways. Kate was ever vigilant, and
anticipated changes in the riding conditions such as ascending or descending grades,
curbs, and traffic. She piloted us through traffic and all sorts of varying road and
sidewalk surfaces. The only way to describe this is based on many years of riding
thousands of miles on motorcycles with one or two trusted buddies. You just know when
the person on the point is looking out for you and is able to anticipate your moves and
ride accordingly. This was Kate. She was fluid and natural, and we lost any stiffness we
may have had initially on the Segways. As Kate put it: "A Segway will become like an
extension of your nervous system".
We toured Prague and packed a LOT of amazing sights into our tour. We used our tour as a
kind of "introduction" or "overview" of Prague so that we could come back on our own to
sights that we had seen on the Segway tour.
Kate took us up some steep grades to the Straihof Monastery and to the Royal Palace, and
all the while she would stop and give a bit of a dissertation about the history,
architecture and some contemporary history. Kate took us to a nice park which overlooked
the City of Prague. There was a beer garden, and we stopped for a drink. It was a nice
break, and we were able to catch our breath and process a lot of what we had been
seeing. Kate discussed the various places with us, and offered suggestions for places we
could visit on our own.
All too soon, our Segway tour was over. It was hard to believe we had spent three hours
on the Segways. The Segway Tour did enable us to then continue exploring Prague using
trams or on foot with a lot more confidence and familiarity.
We asked Kate for recommendations on places to eat in Prague. Kate recommended a
restaurant/beer hall chain called "Lokal". It was the BEST. We had eaten at a pricier
restaurant the previous day, but Lokal surpassed it. Lokal is a new restaurant chain
with several Prague locations, and features what is known as "Slow Food". It is food
made from local produce and meats from local hogs and beefers, meats and wursts being
made by Lokal's own butchers.
The food in Lokal was incredible. The menu varies daily with what they buy in the
farmer's markets and what the chef chooses to prepare. We were the only Americans in the
Lokal restaurants, and we kept coming back for more meals.
Kate made our trip to Prague memorable, and made Prague seem more welcoming than we ever
imagined. Seeing Prague with a local person in a small group (just Nancy, myself and
Kate) made for a perfect tour. We did not want to do the usual "tourist thing", and join
some large group following a guide giving a canned spiel. We saw endless tour groups
with guides holding up flags to lead what looked like 20 or more people, taking them
where the guide/tour organizers wanted to go. We call this a "canned experience", where
you are at the mercy of the tour operator and wind up eating in some mediocre
restaurant, seeing "local people" come out to do some folk dance and going to shops that
probably kick back some money to the tour operators.
With the Segway Tour we felt very much on our own, not part of the "thundering herd" of
basic tourists. We got a personalized tour and we saw and learned infinitely more than
had we either tried to tour on our own from guide books, or joined one of those "canned
experience" tours.
I recommend the Segway tour and recommend that, if possible, anyone taking this tour ask
for Kate. She is the BEST.
Joe Michaels
Catskills Region of NY State