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Published: March 16th 2017
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Prague... Prague is a city that sort of seems as if it came from nowhere- all of a sudden everyone started talking about Prague and everyone was going there. It is somewhere I have wanted t visit for years... since I was 15 to be precise, so that is a long old 18 years to wait! We married 6 months ago and wanted somewhere we could pop to for a short weekend break to celebrate a whole half a year of not killing each other, and Prague suited in terms of flights and being able to fit it all in. Over the years I had began to feel a little apprehensive about visiting Prague due to its popularity and a stag and hen party destination, and I had also heard it was a little sleazy and seedy, but I figured I was there to see the city, not to party...and ended up doing both!
Arriving around midnight, we grabbed an uber to out hotel that was in the city centre and headed straight to bed (I swear by Ubers to get around everywhere now- they are cheap, reliable, safe and above all else when you arrive late into an airport
and you have no cash it is so easy- I used them all over Africa and veer had a problem, Europe has shown no different!). We got up early to following day and set off out to explore this stunning city! We were staying just off Wensleslas square and walked around to discover the national museum to be closed and covered in scaffolding!! Gaah! It is the story of our traveling life, everywhere we go we are guaranteed to encounter scaffolding! First thing we had to do, in spite of how early it was, was to source and icecream and nutella filled trdelnik- which are essentially cone shape cinnamon and sugar doughnuts filled with heaven. Five minutes into searching and mission accomplished- there are stands for there EVERYWHERE and there is an assortment of fillings and toppings- amazing! A must try and I would advise trying as many as you can to make sure you have tried the best of them- any excuse!
Moving into the old town, we visited the old square that houses the ancient astronomical clock, the Jan Hus memorial, the church of our lady and St Nicholas Church. It is absolutely beautiful but jam packed
with visitors. it is worth taking a slow wander around the square and enjoying the architecture, and perhaps stopping off in one of the many bars and restaurants to have a coffee and enjoy the sites. Masses of people accumulate around Prague Orloj, or the old clock, for when the clock hits the hour, but to be honest it is a bit of a let down as not much happens, and not worth enduring the prodding and poking from the hoards of people waiting for a look. You will also encounter- and I am saying this as it happened every time we passed this stunning antiquity- an exhibitionist thinking she is Cara Delavigne in front of the clock while her mousy pal takes a whole heap of snaps of her! Gaah!
From there we set up google maps and went in hunt of 'the pissing fountain'- an odd attraction but a friend of ours enjoys checking into strangely named placed on facebook- and the pissing fountain featured recently. Crossing over the bridge (adjacent to Charles bridge), it didnt take long for us to find the fountain and it is surprisingly cute and peculiar! Worth a look if your humour
is of the lavatorial kind! While on that side of the river we popped up to the castle which is fabulous, the views are to die for (the queues and bag searches however, are long and annoying but worth it in the end). The highlight of Prague castle is the stunningly beautiful St Vitus Cathedral! Incredible!
There are a number of towers that can be climbed to admire the views out over Prague- these are well worth the sweat and exhaustion as what you see from the top is fantastic- to be honest, they are all much of a muchness so save yourself a fiver a pop and go up one or enjoy the view from the castle, it is gorgeous!
Crossing Charles Bridge is fun! This incredible land mark of Prague is amazing, there is no doubt, but packed, and what should be a 2-3 minute crossing took us over 20 minutes. It is busy, people are jamming in selfies and it is irritating. We went early the following morning again and it was less crowded- avoid from mid day onwards as it is torture, but is it a must see in Prague! From then on, we
felt as though the main architectural elements of Prague had been covered- there are streets after streets of very pretty buildings to mooch around and it is well worth just taking off with a take away coffee and getting lost because the majority of the structures are beautiful and there are fantastic metro lines that run through the city so if you get too lost, there is always a way back. It is a very enjoyable city to just wander around, so go off the beaten track and you will find some pretty treasures that the guide books wont tell you about!
On a less cultural note, after we crossed Charles bridge we found ourselves mid afternoon in Pragues ice bar- overpriced and a bit of a rip off- 200Kr for one drink and a 20 minutes stay in there but for the random silliness of it and the chance to wear a daft silly silver cape, it is worth it. The drinks are strong too, so from there we found ourselves in the sex machines museum! What a hoot! 1920s porn- I never knew it existed! This place is about 300Kr per person to enter and quite small,
but worth it for the giggles! Then dinner and beers called...and the rest is history!
Czech beer and food is very nice, quite typical of eastern europe with lots of hearty casseroles, dumplings and sausages! Goulash is a popular dish and is delicious! There is plenty of beers to choose from, my drink of choice is the dark beer! Fabulous! Eating out is very reasonable and drinking is even more reasonable, your money goes a lot further in Prague than at home! Definitely a place to visit (if you can deal with the crowds!) and well worth the wait to go!
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