Blogs from New Town, Prague, Czech Republic, Europe

Well we are finally off the river ship. We spent two days in Vienna which was pretty good. Apart from other things I went to where all the Hapsburgs are held in a crypt (read your European history on who the hell the Hapsburghs are!). 160 of them are right there, not buried or in coffins all bricked up, but right infront of you in brass sarcophagi that you can touch. 2nd last night on the boat was the Captains Farewell Dinner. I was wondering why not the last night, but found out when I couldn't get out of bed the next day! We went to Budapest for the last two days on the boat. Pretty cool city and amazing to actually be in Hungary and Eastern Europe. Travelling from there to Prague was also interesting ... read more

I was woken up very early by a couple getting ready to check out. In the hostel world it is known courtesy that if you have to leave early you need get your stuff ready the night before! You are usually sharing a room with 7 other people and it’s just common courtesy. (Elyane says she is going to make noiseless zippers) After they left I couldn’t go back to sleep so I got up, got ready, and ate some breakfast before I was supposed to meet the girls because we were getting some coffee together before we all went our separate ways. We all met up and I decided to bring my pack along since the coffee shop wasn’t too far away from the train station and I had the earliest train, with it leaving ... read more

We are living in the Left Bank of the ’90s. For some of us, Prague is Second Chance City; for others a new frontier where anything goes, everything goes, and, often enough, nothing works. Yesterday is long gone, today is nebulous, and who knows about tomorrow, but, somewhere within each of us, we all know that we are living in a historic place at a historic time –Alan Levy in The Prague Post, October 1, 1991 (first issue) Thick foggy darkness embraces our coach as we approach Prague, the medieval city swallowing up the coach like a sacrificial offering. In the darkness, away from the immediate city centre, the spirit of the city can still be felt. And as I escape the confines of the coach I can't help thinking that this is it, I am ... read more

Prague: Capital of Bohemia. Then Czechoslovakia. Then Czech Republic. Not part of the global odyssey, this was a little trip away for the new year for myself and Áine. I thought I'd give it a write up as practice for the full on blogging lark. We departed from Dublin's new Terminal 2, which is noteworthy for having been incredibly easy and hassle free. Mainly because there were probably max. 100 passengers in it the whole time we were there. It took about 15 minutes to get from checking in the bags, through security and out to our gate. Could have spent another hour in bed. This easy travel was a theme for the weekend break; the metro, trams, taxis and even the flights were hassle free. Unprecedented ease, and no small contribution to relaxation. We got ... read more

We posted an entry several years ago about the Carpathian Church of St. Archangel Michael which is located on Petrin Hill. At that time the church was in rather poor condition on the outside. The church, except for the glass windows and metal bars over them, is totally made of wood with even the 'nails' being wooden. Since the building is hundreds of years old the wood was quite weathered and some of the overlapping shingles looked like they were going to come apart. We were able to peek through the windows at that time and the interior appeared to be filled with materials being stored there. We were sad to see such a treasure as this neglected and lonely. That has changed greatly. The parts of the steeple that are supposed to have paint ... read more

Hi everyone! I am so tired this morning, even though it is almost 10 am. My eyes swell up every morning when I wake up and I can't quite figure it out, but it certainly does not help the waking up process. Ok, besides that gripe, we are doing very well. Finally kicking the cold! I've been pushing the water and taking multivitamins and drinking protein powder (thanks to Justin) and I still don't feel 100% but things are looking up. It has been so nice to hear from you all! It is hard only being able to talk to one other person for weeks. We haven't managed to kill each other quite yet. Hopefully that will continue through Friday when I come home! Anyone volunteering to pick up Justin and I from the airport on ... read more

Day 18-Prague 9/3-Wednesday This was our last full day of the trip. We decided today to follow the Rick Steve’s tour of the New Town. It was fun to find all of the highlights noted in his book. We acted like we were on TV’s Amazing Race. We started at the top of Wenceslas Square and stopped at all the highlights. After walking north for about a quarter of a mile, we turned west to the Vltava River. Then we went south to find the Dancing House. Afterwards, we found a Metro station to ride back to the Flora Mall to meet with Jay and Camille for lunch and some shopping. I was not surprised that Jackie and Camille purchased some new funky shoes. They have that on their mind since one of our shipmates, Joseph, ... read more

We arrived at 7:30 am to our hostel (Hostel Rosemary - I highly, really, recommend it). After discarding our luggage, we headed to the nearest popular area in search of breakfast - Wenceslas Square. We found ourselves some breakfast - well, breakfast for Ahmed included a roasted chicken leg with veggies and taters, and about an hour later he had a street sandwich, a fried chicken cutlet. I was so happy to be in Europe! Egypt is great, but Cairo is oppressive...we follwed our crazy Spy Map of Prague (just hilarious) and after running into some amazing monuments/towers/etc. along the way, we found ourselves in Old Town Square. I loved this big, open space. We did what my brother said we had to do - we watched the Astronomical Clock ring in the hour - I ... read more