Blogs from Old Town, Prague, Czech Republic, Europe - page 20

It was off to Prague bright and early on the bus with Dax. We stopped off on the way at Terrizen Concentration camp for a tour and a look at what really went down in these Nazi run playgrounds. Its hard to believe that humans could actually treat other human beings this way...The cells were tiny and dark and the conditions were undescribable. We even got to see the execution grounds were their was a deadly feeling in the air...All together it was a really confronting experience and tis so hard to believe all this went down only 50 odd years ago. We pushed on though and it was onto Plus Prague Hostel. The hostel had its own pool, resteraunt and bar and was a pretty cool place to stay. Entering Prague you could tell we ... read more

So we didn't do much yesterday before the bike tour. Just people watched and showed Gina some of the town. The bike tour, Praha Bike, started at 5:30pm. There were only 7 of us. My group of 5 and 2 girls from Minnesota/Chicago. They had also came over from Munich so we shared Oktoberfest stories. The tour started out rough. We all got ponchos because it started to drizzle. David, our tour guide, took us over the river and made us carry our bikes up a few flights of stairs. Not fun. We were all winded only 10 minutes into the tour! Poor Gina hasn't ridden on a bike for a while and was not understanding the bike gears and therefore was peddling really fast and not getting anywhere. She ended up walking her bike up ... read more

Yikes, a quick flight 750km north to Prague and I've gone straight from summer to autumn. It was unusual to be in Prague without constant sunshine and hot weather, but the three days here have been cold and dull. Beer in the square just isn't the same when it's chilly. On top of this, most of the bridge is undergoing renovation, ruining any photographic opportunities. Nevertheless, it was great to be back in Prague and nice to be in a familiar place that you don't need to explore completely in a few days. The off-season has also kept the crowds down a little, have never seen the castle so empty. Spent the days wandering around the Old Town, Jewish Quarter, Mala Strana and the riverbank, seeing familiar places and some new spots like Slav Island and ... read more

We had a 4 day break in Prague at the end of June. We had a great time. We loved it. We didn't do too much ... except to walk, and walk, and walk and walk -- actually we really overdid the walking, I estimate 20-30 kilometers a day -- was pretty exhausted at the end -- crawled back to our hotel every night, falling into bed, groaning in pain. Even took a bath, using those bath salts the hotels always give you and that I never use. I think it helped a bit. By the end of the 4 days, I was feeling better and just about ready to climb mountains. We also took a day trip to Dresden -- so got to recover a bit before our evening run up to the castle and ... read more

I was awake early this morning after a reasonable sleep. Being in the roof of the hotel means it attracts the heat of the day and it stayed hot until at least 2am. Breakfast in the hotel was passable, though the staff were far from friendly. Not that they were nasty it was more that they found if difficult to muster a smile. Having witnessed the crowds of the evening before I decided to head off to the old town square before the masses. The Old Town Square's most notable sights are the Church of Our Lady before Tyn and the Old Town Hall Tower & Astronomical Clock . I entered to church (along with a few other earlier risers) only to discover that the seats inside were roped off and a craggy old character was ... read more