Blogs from Old Town, Prague, Czech Republic, Europe
April 6th 2012
Well it has been a while since I have writen anything on my blog but then since my last entry myself and Katharine have had a beautiful daughter and havnt really had chance to go anywhere until now. At 7 months we thought it would be a good time to trial a short break with our daughter and organise a city break which wasnt too far away on a flight. We are also in training for a marathon later in may so we wanted to find somewhere we could incorporate our run. We decided to head to Prague and also entered the Hervis Prague Half Marathon as well. We flew in to Prague on the 29th March with Jet2.com, last time i book a flight with them as we got stung on top of our booking ... read more
Battling with the Tourist Hordes in Prague!
Published: March 17th 2012Europe » Czech Republic » Prague » Old Town
March 15th 2012
If ever there was a former Soviet buffer zone country to shake of its communist past, then the Czech Republic was that nation. More or less as soon as it gained a democratic government in 1989 it turned itself around and in the process became the third most peaceful country in Europe (number one and two are Iceland and Denmark respectively). When budget airlines began flying into its capital city the country saw its annual visitor numbers rise to almost four million, making it the sixth-most visited city in Europe. That was the great thing about Prague: not only was it so damned pretty it was also cheap and easy to visit. Just hop on a plane, arrive, see the sights and sample some of its famous beers. The bad thing about the Czech capital was ... read more
From Tourist to Expat – A Year in Prague
Published: January 26th 2012Europe » Czech Republic » Prague » Old Town
January 26th 2012
It’s coming up to my one year anniversary of escaping the north of England and moving to Prague. I moved here to do get my TEFL qualification (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and then see where life took me. Circumstances dictated that I stayed in Prague and so far that decision has turned out to be a good one as Prague is an excellent place to live as well as to visit. Now the bragging begins. By some lucky fluke, I live right in the middle of the beautiful Old Town and from my bedroom window I can see the thirteenth century Tyn Church at the end of my street. Imagine how much how difficult it would be to find a place next to Big Ben or the Leaning Tower of Pisa. By expat standards ... read more
Czech Republic: Prague Halloween Weekender
Published: April 20th 2012Europe » Czech Republic » Prague » Old Town
October 29th 2011
Usually with my trips overseas, I aim to get back on the Sunday night to maximise time abroad, but on this occasion, I arrived back on Friday morning. The first reason was that I moved into a new flat for my last 8 weeks in London. The second, and more important reason was that the Rugby World Cup Semi-Final was on Saturday morning. I met up with Renee, who was visiting London, and headed bright and early to the bar to witness one of the best All Black performances in my memory - and against Australia no less! A World Cup final beckons..... After a week of catching up with friends, Sunday morning arrived and I, like more than 1,000 others was at the Walkabout at 7am to get a prime spot for the World Cup ... read more
October 19th 2011
Hey everyone - I'm back onto this and it's our last day in Prague and then tomorrow we're off to Vienna. We landed and got our luggage with no problem so it seemed as though everything was going smoothly. We cabbed it over to our hotel just out on the outskirts of The Old Town and upon our arrival it reads "This hotel is no longer in service from now on.". What? We were pretty tired and were definitely caught by surprise, so we ask our driver if he knows of any place and he places us in front of two hotels next to each other and we go into Hotel Clement. They were awesome and thankfully had a room for us for the remainder of our stay. Thank goodness! So whatever you do don't stay ... read more
October 4th 2011
It was about 11am by the time our train arrived in Prague, and it had already been a long day. The unexpected all-nighter in Hof was definitely taking its toll! Still, I was happy to be in Prague, even if it was 12 hours later than expected. As I'd missed my hostel booking I had nowhere to go; I was only in town for the day, and would be catching an overnight sleeper train that evening. Fortunately Marta & Clara, the Spanish girls I met in Hof, decided to adopt me and let me use their hotel room! After a life-giving shower I was ready to explore a new city, and perhaps rejuvinate some of the memories I have of Prague as a 10 year old boy. Without a real plan for the day, me and ... read more
Pooches in Prams; Czech this Out!
Published: November 17th 2011Europe » Czech Republic » Prague » Old Town
September 29th 2011
Within 2 hours of leaving Germany I arrived in the Czech Republic. Europeans have the luxury of exploring many countries on their door step and can be in a different country within minutes! Unlike Australia where it can take 30 minutes just to get across the Harbour Bridge! The bus drop off point was 6 tram stops away from the city, and the hostel I was staying at offered something no other one on my travels did; a pool! It was indoors and even had a sauna to get me warmed up before a splash, but the cold water wasn’t holding me back from a dip after England’s lack-of summer weather didn't allow such an opportunity. Oh it was a great feeling and brought me back to last summer when I did laps at Cabarita pool ... read more
September 22nd 2011
I awake from my overnight train, and I am Prague. This city was under communism for over 40 years and seldom visited by tourists until 1989. Then the Velvet Revolution of 17th November 1989 changed that (now commemorated as a Czech Republic public holiday) and today Prague is one of the most popular destinations in Europe. It is no exaggeration to call Prague one of the most attractive places on earth. I noticed this right away as I was walking to my hostel. My directions to my hostel were pretty clear, and I made it without any problem. I could not check in due to the time, so I decided to take a walking tour. I felt this would give me the best opportunity to see Prague from the eyes of an expert. Lucky for me, ... read more
September 16th 2011
St Pancras International station has been beautifully restored and feels a fitting place to start our trip. The Eurostar train is very swish and looks like a Japanese bullet train. We are immediately whizzed into tunnels and miss both London and the Thames. A flash of the Medway and a few Kentish farmers, then finally, the Channel tunnel. Emerging, it still looks like Kent but it is France and then Belgium and soon we slide, on time, into Brussels. Here we board the equally swish German ICE train to Koln. It looks even more like a Japanese bullet train. We can't tell when we change countries but soon we are pulling in to Koln station. This is our dinner stop and time for us to stretch our legs. We found the cathedral on the square outside ... read more
September 15th 2011
The bus journey itself to Prague was certainly a highpoint in our visit funnily enough. Having spent a lot of time in cities and not really seeing much countryside, the journey to Czech was a feast for the eyes - and the soul! Firstly, when we boarded this fine coach we were given water and tasty treats to eat. There were radios in back of the seats and the chairs reclined close to a sleeping position. As we left Dresden and Germany, the scenery became more and more stunning. Beautiful woodlands and hills rolled on forever and every now and then a huge industrial building reminiscent of some kind of communist nuclear reactor would appear in the middle of it. For around half an hour we traveled along side a vast lake with wooden houses and ... read more
