We didn't sleep too well but were up at a decent time. Breakfasting on muesli instead of pastries was a nice way to start the day and we were soon off on a general walkabout of the city centre. John had downloaded a walk which took in hidden alleyways, and we started on that. It wasn't long before we got sidetracked by Bric-a-brac and antique stores along the way and also trying to rediscover particular second-hand shops where we had bought glass 10 years ago.
With a breather here and there for a coffee then a roll for lunch we finally found success at one shop. We had to wait for it to open in the afternoon and, hey presto, we found a lovely set of little glasses. It made our day.
It was fun wandering around, with no time pressure and no fixed agenda. We completed the alleyways walk and at one stage ended up near Charles Bridge. The latter had plenty of tourists groups, even at this time of the year. We decided to leave crossing the bridge and visiting the castle on the other side for another day.
By mid afternoon and very foot weary we picked up some pasta, tomato sauce and mini meatballs from the supermarket and took it home to cook up for an easy meal. John has been battling a cold for the last few days and we both felt like we needed some feet-up time.
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| Impressively large wagon wheel buffers |
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| Street with Xmas stalls |
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| Fruit pyramids |
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| Each drum contained its on little fireplace |
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| View of Charles Bridge and the castle on the other side of the river |
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| The Powder Tower |
We went to bed wondering what we might do tomorrow, knowing another cold day was forecast. We needn't have speculated. John had a terrible night with a high temperature and felt wretched. I didn't sleep much either. A Covid test in the morning gave an instant positive reading. Darn. Last time we caught it was in Iceland. Again, John had a high temperature that time and felt particularly awful for about 12 hours, however he quickly bounced back. We hope he does the same this time. We think he's probably had it for a few days already. It's another 5 days until we fly home. I'm now wearing a mask and am crossing all fingers, toes and elbows that I don't catch it. I didn't get it badly in Helsinki, but with my ears still playing up I'm worried that any congestion in my system could make my ears really painful.
Unfortunately, despite spending an extremely quiet day indoors, John felt pretty awful all day. We're hoping a good night's sleep might set him on the road to recovery.
