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" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 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 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Dave Crocker [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > 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 > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Ietf mailing list > > Ietf@ietf.org > > https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Ietf mailing list > Ietf@ietf.org > https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf
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