Prague, Prague, Prague, why did you have to greet us so poorly?

We arrived to the train station in Prague at about 5:30, walked outside and about a block to the tram stop. It was dark, we had all of our luggage and too be honest the czech are a rough looking crowd...

Getting to our hotels from the train stations is always a source of stress for us, new city, new language....and we have no idea where to go. We did know we had to get on the number 9 tram to our hotel in Prague. As we approached the stop there was a number 9 tram that had just pulled up. We ran up about to get on and then double thought and wondered if this is in fact going the right direction. We get to the door and I look in the eyes of this old lady and ask, "Andel??" She looks through me like I don't even exist and wanders away. She was with an equally old grungy looking man. So we miss that tram and take a moment to look at the map. Good thing we didn't hop on, as we needed to be across the street going the other direction. So the correct number 9 train comes and we step up on the first step and then Sarah quits moving, I think there must just be a lot of people trying to get on and finding spots, I am getting jostled from behind, again thinking people are rushing to get on this tram. I then crane my neck to see what the heck the hold up is and it is the old man from before! He is standing on the top step with his arms open wide holding onto the bars so that we are completely blocked to get on. This is odd I think....and then we started getting really irritated, I start pushing and yelling move and Sarah is behind yelling, "scusi! scusi!", her Italian must come out under duress :) Then I feel something against my hip and realize the old lady is trying to get into my coat pocket! I instantly start hitting her hand away and yelling profanities, at the same time, my 45 lb. backpack throws me off balance and I am falling backwards into Sarah! I frantically check my pockets to remember what I even had in there and to make sure nothing was missing. I was rookie enough to have had my brand new iphone in my coat pocket, thank goodness I had the waist straps of my backpack latched because the wide strap went directly over my pocket, not allowing the wretched lady to get in. As I continue to yell profanities the 2 old people just casually wander away across the street. My heart was racing and I was completely shaking. What a way to start a new city.

We had read and been warned a million times about these pickpocketers but of all the cities we've been too we've felt so safe and really just had our guard down. Since being in Prague we've devised multiple scenarios of what we will do if we see those pickpocketers again wandering the streets. None of the scenarios are very nice :)