Friday : A day without an organized tour. So what else to do but seek out Marks and Spencers in Prague. The nearest branch (yes, there are quite a few here) was but a short stroll away. On three floors it pretty much follows the UK model, ladies and gents clothing and on the top floor, a food hall and a small cafe, where we had coffee and a rather stodgy doughnut each.

Then we crossed the road and looked round Debenhams. If you recall we’d already located Tescos, so I half expected to find an Asda lurking round the next corner desecrating the frontage of a 16th century building. Luckily Asda have yet to explore the retail opportunities in this city. Worn out by this surfeit of Britishness, we retired to the apartment to lunch on our M&S prepared salads and a large bag of ‘hand cooked crisps’.

Our intention today was to attempt our own walking tour, without the need to follow someone with a rolled up umbrella. I do have a malicious idea, which is to buy a suitable umbrella, stand at a Prague street corner, hold it aloft for a minute or so and then march off and see how many tourists would blindly follow me….perhaps next week..

We made our way towards Old Town square, stopping off to gawk at the truly naff nesting dolls in a shop window. We began to leave when the shop owner appeared at the door and in accented English said, “Where are you going sir?”. To which I replied, “Away”…..

The area round the Astronomical Clock was a noisy melee of international tourists and having taken the obligatory photo of said clock (without I might add, any thought of using the opportunity for a selfie) we found our way to the river. Although quieter here, the tourist sightseeing boats seemed to be quite full. We found a spot to view the Charles Bridge…..

By this time it was late afternoon, so we made our way back to the apartment, braving the teeming masses in Old Town Square and resisting the urge to trip up a tour guide and thereby promote mass panic.

We returned to Portfolio tonight (without getting lost though discovering a branch of Hamleys) and the meal was equally as good as before. I even had a ‘dark beer’ and a strawberry couscous dessert complete with syringes which I had to eat from an offset goldfish bowl….

Tomorrow we explore across the river…we may catch a tram….yet another adventure..