Prague - Time to see what all the fuss is about.

---

After a night with no sleep, and listening to a stupid Australian, Stephen didn't really have a great impression of Prague.

But after spending a couple of days here I think he has changed his mind. It's a wonderful city full of such atmostphere and energy. That may have something to do with the soccer being shown on big screens in all public squares, but it's still a great city.

Our first day was filled with exploring the Prague Castle and you know what there is actually things to see in the castle, which is a nice change from Brastislava Castle. We started by exploring the Old Royal Palace, which was big, but nothing overly impressive.

Since our trip has also been Tour De Changing of the Guard we waited for midday and watched the changing of the guard. It was on a grander level that Sofia, Greece and Russia, and their uniforms were blue and sharp. They certainly didn't move, nor sing like in Sofia.

From there we headed to St. Georges Bascilla - it was beautiful. It's a little hard to appreciate it's beauty with such large crowds, pushing and shoving, all in competition for the best photo. But still it was lovely. From there we explored the Golden Lane, which dates back from the 15th Century. This small street is lined by 11 historic houses, which exhibit medieval armoury and textiles, as well as selling tourist souvenirs. And oh did they sell souvenirs in Prague, for everyone one tourist attraction there are five souvenir shops pushing all the same things. The next part of the Castle we explored was the Daliborka Tower, the place where so many people were imprisoned and tortured; it was really cool.

The highlight of our visit to the Prague Castle was the St. Vitus Catherdal, where inside they had St Wenceslas Chapel dedicated to their patron Saint, St Wenceslas, of "Good King Wenceslas" Christmas carol fame. It had amazing angels made of silver and many statues. Again it was had to get a good look with all the pushing and shoving. It was really starting to annoy us, and the biggest thing people are so rude about it.

That night we decided we'd enlisted to do McGee's Ghost Tour. There are many tour companies that offer these tours, however McGee's were the only one to have "Moo Wah Ha Ha" on the brochure and that sold us. It wasn't as spooky as we expected, but it was really good. We were taken around the old town and informed of the gothic and ghostly history of the city of Prague. It was a great tour and it was just the two of us. We also were able to see a Trabant which is a car completely made plastic, made in 1978 during the communist era.

The next day we went shopping but instead of buying lots of little things like we previously thought we bought some amazing marionettes. It's certainly going to be fun carrying those through the next two countries and flying into England. We also ventured to find a statute of a Trabant on legs. When the Germans left Prague after the wall come down they had to leave their trabants behind and the streets where lines with them. The artist said "Many of these cars were left behind by our fellow countrymen. And it symbolises this move, which was the beginning of the end of the communism in Europe." It was a great way to mark the end of communism in Europe; the statue used to be in a garden surrounded by a hedge, and it was hard for people to see. Many German tourists came to see it, but after having great difficulty they wrote to the embrassy in Prague and they decided to put it in the embassy garden instead. We unfortunately couldn't get into the garden, but still saw it through a fence.

That night we headed out to the Prague Castle at night - it was magical. Not too many people, quiet and just lovely. I would recommend anyone who is heading to Prague to go to the castle at night. It's open until midnight, free after 6pm and very safe. We wandered the streets of the old city, all lit up and looking lovely. And that ended our experience of Prague, a wonderful city with atmosphere and character - where you can walk the streets and come across a mini opera going on in little city sqaures. Just magical.

We head to Krakow today, a short 7 hour train journey.

Missing you all, hope to hear from you. (Feel free to leave a comment below.)

Lots of Love,
Michelle and Stephen.
xoxoxo

---

Photos

Stephen on Charles Bridge
This bridge was originally the only way across the river. It is famous for its 30 statues.

A view of Prague Castle
The view from Charles Bridge.

Inside the Old Royal Palace.
The main area we were allowed to visit was this beautiful hall.

St Wenceslas' Chapel
This was inside St Vitus Cathedral.

Michelle in the Town Square
Just waiting for our Ghost Tour to start.

An Original Trabant
This one was owned by our Ghost Tour Guide. Each one is unique but they all have 2 stoke engines and can go from Prague to Moscow on 30 litres (1 tank) of fuel.

Cubist Architecture
The only building of its kind in the world, it's a great example of Cubist Architecture.

Statue of Don Giovanni.
Outside the only theatre still standing that premiered a Mozart opera while he was alive. If you write the name of someone on a piece of paper and throw it into the statue you will never meet that person again.

Astronomical Clock on the Old Town Hall
This clock tells the time in so many different ways that we can't write them all here. On the hour the skeleton chimes the bell.

Trabant on Legs
The world famous plastic car at its best.

Comments

[Andrea Tuck]

Ahh I see
I often wondered what the interest was in Prague, I didn't get it... but now I do, it's beautiful!