LOCAL SHOPPING, EATING OUT

For everyday foodstuffs such as milk, bread etc it is a good idea to use the small but very good supermarket called Klabacka (pronounce Klabachka) which is virtually next door to the flat. To get to it, please enter the building situated on the left of the front door to No. 165. Go through the big automatic sliding glass door. After about 20 metres you will see the supermarket on your left, although to get to its entrance you have to turn left go past a fitness centre on your right and then turn to the left again. The shop is accessed from outside. It sells all the basic foods including good fresh bakery produce, dairy products and has a deli counter.

Other shops, such as bakery, butcher, chemist, electrical shop, can be found on Starostrasnicka street. For gifts, clothes etc there is the new Flora Palace shopping mall about three tram stops up the road - tram 11 or metro Flora stop. Flora Palace also houses a multiscreen cinema. In the basement is a large Albert supermarket and there are a number of eating places on the first and second floor. Similar malls are dotted all over Prague.

A good place to eat locally is the Italian restaurant practically 20 metres from the front door. There you can get good food, including salads and good house wines - a meal including drink costs on average about £5. If you want to go really local, go to the pub called U Slamu on Starostrasnicka street, the first corner on the left - it has a green sign. In lunchtime it has a good, quick and cheap menu (£2 dish), in the evening you pay about £4 for a very good dish and a glass of beer. The pub sells great Pilsner Urquell beer at about 60p a pint! Otherwise there is the Blue Mauritius next door, a good value Italian restaurant. Generally, you will find that eating away from the centre is much cheaper and better. Most places take credit cards, but beware you will be charged an extra fee for using these, so it is better to have cash.

CHANGING MONEY

It is a good idea to change the basic amount of money on arrival at the airport. There is a Thomas Cook office just before you go through the passport control desk. Always change your money in the bank - do NEVER change it in the street no matter how good the offered exchange rate may be. There are a number of ATMs close to the flat - there is one virtually next door, by the entrance to the other residential bloc - marked CSOB; across the road on the corner of Starostrasnicka street is a branch of the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank (big yellow sign) with an ATM inside the bank. In general, there are many ATMs all over Prague.