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Published: October 22nd 2007
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Main square in Prague
Me in old town square Hi again, we have just arrived in Krakow, Poland, fresh off the overnight train - and what better thing to do than head straight for the free internet at the hostel! We had a great time in Berlin and the Czech Republic, although time is flying by and soon I will be on my flight back home =(
Berlin Our first day in Berlin was spent buying a new camera. We trekked back and forth between shops trying to decide on the best deal, eventually choosing an Olympus one. We did the last of the free walking tours in Berlin, and our guide was excellent, although I think it would be hard to give a bad tour in a city that has so much interesting history. I learnt a lot of WW2 history and all about the Cold War. We spent 5 nights in Berlin, and I think we saw quite a lot of the city. We certainly ate a lot of the local food. Lots of sausage. And cabbage. And beer. We visited Checkpoint Charlie (the Soviet-American border of East/West Berlin), the Jewish memorial, the topography of terror (a wall of photos and information at the spot where
Astronomical Clock
Astronomical Clock in the main square of Prague the SS headquarters were once located), and the building where they filmed part of that new movie starring Tom Cruise. Apparently our tour guide went to the opera on Friday night and Katie and Tom were sitting in front of him! We also saw the sight where Hitler's bunker was located, although there is not even a sign there to mark it. Rightly so, as is may be a shrine for any neo-Nazis. We went to the museum at Checkpoint Charlie, which explains and exhibits the different and creative ways that people tried to get from East to West Berlin during the war e.g. inside a surfboard! We also visited the museum at the Jewish memorial, which was very sad. It went through the stories of 12 Jewish families and what happened to them during the war. One family was from Greece - I'd never even considered that there would have been Greek Jews too. It was sad. Our final night in Berlin was the first night of a campaign where they are lighting up the major sights, including the TV tower, cathedral and the Brandenburg Gate. We went to the movies (again) to see Superbad... it was mindless but
Us in Prague
Beautiful view from Prague Castle funny.
Prague We both enjoyed Prague very much, it was beautiful but very cold. It's also a lot more touristy than I expected, which spoiled it a little. It's still really cheap tho, especially the beer, which Stephen likes a lot e.g. a pint is about 25 Czech Crowns, or $1! We came straight to Prague from Berlin, but the bus stopped in Dresden to drop people off, and then again at a concentration camp called Terezen, in the Czech Republic. The border was a bit scary, as the guards came onto the bus and checked all the passports, then took them all away to stamp them. But I got two more cool stamps in my passport! And Stephen got none... that's what you get for having an EU passport!
We arrived in Prague in the late afternoon and were glad to find out that we had our 4-bed dorm to ourselves. We caught the metro into the old town and had dinner at a vegetarian Indian restaurant, as we couldn't find the traditional Czech pub that was recommended in our Lonely Planet. It was so cheap, like $5 each! The next day started out as a
Snow in Cesky Krumlov
Stephen rugged up for the early cold weather lovely sunny day, but by 1200 it was pooring with rain and freezing cold. And of course, we didn't bring jackets or an umbrella, and we were due to go on a walking tour at 1230. The rain didn't last long though, so we still did the tour, but it was freeeezing! We went to the Astronomical clock in the main square, Charles bridge, the Jewish quarter and the castle/palace, which has a great view of the city. We took some good photos too. The camera is really good and we are slowly learning how to use it! It's very different from the old one. The guide took us to a Czech pub and we had more cheap food, I had beef goulash and Stephen had potato soup served inside a huge bread roll.
The hostel is a way out of the centre of Prague, so we have to catch the tram or the metro. But it's really new and nice, with a kitchen and free breakfast and it even has a swimming pool and sauna! But we sent our bathers home with Stephen's uncle Stewart so we couldn't use it!
Cesky Krumlov From Prague we caught
Us in Cesky Krumlov
Panoramic view of Cesky Krumlov and it's castle a local bus to Cesky Krumlov, a small town 3 hours south of Prague. It was very pretty, with cobble stone streets, apparently virtually unchanged since the 18th century. We stayed only one night there, but we had a good cheap dinner at a pub where a traditional band were playing, and watched the rugby at another pub on the other side of town (well, I watched a game of something, but I have no idea what was going on! I tried, but I just don't get rugby!). It is such a small place that it takes about 15 minutes to walk from one side of town to the other! In the morning, we explored the castle gardens, and spent the last of our Czech crowns. We actually didn't mean to spent the last of our money until dinner, so we were forced to eat dinner on 17 crown (=$1!). Vegemite is our friend. We caught the bus back to Prague to catch an overnight train to Krakow. We'd heard dodgy things about those overnight trains so we booked a double couchette. It was about 40 euro each, but worth it cause our stuff was safe and we got to
Me in Cesky Krumlov
Playing in the Autumn leaves sleep a bit. We're spending three nights here in Krakow, then catching a bus to Budapest for three nights.
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Justin
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Witty Title
Am i the person who comments on your blogs? What happened to your "friends"!