Re: Prague

Hi janet, all,
Renting a car at the airport, and from an international rental car  
company, is straightforward.  More expensive than in the US, though.   
I cannot advise the budget deals you may get from local companies or  
individuals.  Also keep in mind:
a) cars of a given rental car class are smaller than in the US---much  
smaller---so go for full size minimum if you are 2+ people with  
suitcases.
b) Stickshifts are still very common, especially for the smaller car  
classes.  Make sure to rent an automatic, if you think you need it
c) the Hilton is just outside the inner city and has ample hotel  
parking, so keeping the car there is not an issue.  Forget about  
using the car in the inner city---no spots.  But then, the inner city  
is extended walking distance.
d) Driving in town is similar as in most other European major  
cities---US folks would consider it somewhat aggressive.  But it's  
quite survivable.  Once you leave the immediate vicinity of Prague,  
people drive fast, but safely, and there's not too much traffic.
e) Buy all insurance you can---saves hassle and discussion time in  
case you have a fender bender.
And with respect to the horror stories re taxis:
I have had perhaps 10 taxi rides in the Prague vicinity over the last  
four years.  In this, I had one incident where I driver attempted to  
grossly overcharge me.  I was alone in the cab, but it had stopped at  
my destination, so I simply opened the door, put one foot out, and  
threatened to walk away.  The reaction of the driver was to come down  
with the price, fast.  I'm not a body builder or anything.  This  
stands in contrast to an experience I had in NYC in the late 1980s,  
where I stupidly boarded a grey cab, and found myself and hour later  
in New Jersey, with no money and credit cards whatsoever, and the  
first-time-in-life experience of a gun near my head...  So much about  
common sense when hiring cabs.
Finally, with respect to meeting venues.  I think there's value in  
distinguishing Canada and the US.  Meetings in Canada are typically a  
pleasant experience; decent folks at immigration, reasonable lines,  
reasonable hotel rates and restaurant prices, decent cabbies, ...  I  
can't say all that for US meetings.  And I carry a German passport.   
Colleagues of mine, who are very good technologists and would be an  
asset for IETF face to face discussions are not even considering  
attending US IETF meetings, because they are at the disadvantage of  
being born in a predominantly muslim country...  So that would be a  
factor to consider as well.
Regards,
Stephan






On Mar 7, 2007, at 8:38 PM, Janet P Gunn wrote:

> For those of you with experience in Prague/Czech Republic-
> How practical is it to rent a car?
> There are a couple of places outside Prague I would like to visit  
> on the weekend (in particular the JAWA Motorcycle Museum of  
> Konopiště, about 20 miles outside Prague), and I am considering  
> renting a car.
> Thanks
>
> Janet
>
>
> "David Harrington" <ietfdbh(_at_)comcast(_dot_)net> wrote on 03/07/2007  
> 12:30:20 PM:
> > Hi,
> >
> > I travelled to Prague after the Vienna IETF in 2003.
> > It's a city; you need to take city precautions.
> >
> > There are signs of poverty, mostly outside the city center. I was
> > surprised when I arrived (by train) by people aggressively trying to
> > rent me a room in their house, and by taxi drivers who grab your bag
> > and try to lead you to their taxi. Things might have changed by now,
> > or not.
> >
> > I accepted a room in a private home from a person at the airport, 45
> > minutes by train outside of Prague, where people are striving to  
> make
> > enough to join the middle class. My landlord was a doctor, who found
> > it more profitable to rent rooms in his house than practice  
> medicine.
> > Most IETFers will be better off financially, and will show it, so we
> > become obvious targets.
> >
> > In three weeks of travelling through the Czech Republic and  
> Slovakia,
> > with no reservations and usually renting a room (a zimmer) in  
> private
> > houses, I met many wonderful people and never had a problem. I
> > travelled alone at night usually. I was probably lucky, since I did
> > not take many precautions that are simply common sense.
> >
> > Prague is a wonderful tourist spot with good food, good bier,  
> quality
> > shopping, lots of culture, and many interesting things to see. I  
> rate
> > it as one of my favorite cities in Europe.
> >
> > So I agree that Prague is very survivable.
> >
> > David Harrington
> > dharrington(_at_)huawei(_dot_)com
> > dbharrington(_at_)comcast(_dot_)net
> > ietfdbh(_at_)comcast(_dot_)net
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Dave Crocker [mailto:dhc2(_at_)dcrocker(_dot_)net]
> > > Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2007 12:03 PM
> > > To: IETF Discussion
> > > Subject: Re: Prague
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Edward Lewis wrote:
> > > > I will attest to Prague being survivable.  I have been there  
> once
> > > > already and suffered no ill effects and was not robbed.
> > > I.e., don't panic.
> > > ...
> > > > At 14:52 -0500 3/6/07...:
> > > > ...
> > > >> Under the entry for taxis from the airport they say "Warning:
> > > >> Prague's taxi drivers ...
> > >
> > >
> > > When the IETF started having the meetings outside the U.S.,
> > > there seemed to be
> > > two basic reasons.  One was to adjust the burden of attendee
> > > travel, with a
> > > slight shift towards more fairness for attendees from outside
> > > the U.S.  The
> > > other was to have our presence in the locale serve to
> > > encourage improvements
> > > to the local infrastructure.
> > >
> > > The former is obviously still valid.  By and large, the
> > > latter hasn't been for
> > > a number of years. So it really is not reasonable for us to
> > > go to places that
> > > have poor Internet services, except that I'm one of those
> > > folk who think that
> > > having to go through a meeting venue learning curve for
> > > installing and
> > > debugging the net makes our meeting more fragile than it
> > > should be.  But even
> > > that issue has gotten far less risky around the world, even
> > > for first-time
> > > IETF presence.
> > >
> > > But it occurs to me that there is an additional benefit that
> > > has been lurking,
> > > and I think it just surfaced:  We kind folk from the U.S.
> > > tend to have very
> > > little understanding of what is "normal" elsewhere in the
> > > world.  Even those
> > > of us with real travel experience often are so sheltered in
> > > those trips, or
> > > narrow in our venues, we have no serious basis for
> > > appreciating what to worry
> > > about, and what to merely be cautious about.
> > >
> > > A month before the Paris IETF, I was in Paris, at the same
> > > convention center,
> > > and had my wallet stolen as I was leaving the Metro.  First
> > > such experience.
> > > Very traumatizing.  But I'm hard-pressed to view Paris as
> > > more dangerous than
> > > any large U.S. city.  And Amsterdam has public signs warning
> > > of pick-pockets.
> > >   Should we avoid it, too?  My Paris trauma came at the end
> > > of a fabulous day,
> > > and although during IETF week, I had a bit of a tremor when I
> > > had to use the
> > > same metro station, it was, still, the same, wonderful Paris
> > > of the travel books.
> > >
> > > Frankly, I have the same worries about Prague as John. I have
> > > read the same
> > > sorts of cautions that he has and must admit that seeing such
> > > cautions show up
> > > in a Frommer's is pretty unusual.
> > >
> > > So, I fully intend to be on guard.  (And I am staying at a
> > > place that will
> > > require serious use of the transit system.)
> > >
> > > But, then, that's the lesson:  Some places are seriously
> > > dangerous.  We should
> > > stay away from them.  Some merely warrant caution.  And most
> > > places that
> > > American's worry about are no worse than most cities in the
> > > U.S.  Just different.
> > >
> > > Yes, it can be a challenge to find credible ways to
> > > distinguish between the
> > > two, but it's clear that the otherwise review of published
> > > reports is not
> > > sufficient.
> > >
> > > d/
> > > --
> > >
> > >    Dave Crocker
> > >    Brandenburg InternetWorking
> > >    bbiw.net
> > >
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