Daleys Mum!

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We arrived into Prague station and were immediately struck by the level of poverty. There were homeless people scattered all over the station and it smelled of wee! We spent our first hour in Prague wandering around in search of a laundrette but gave up our search after being called "bag ladies" by some English stag night tourists, grrr. We met claire and michelles mum in Hotel Raffael (which had a bath and tv!) then went for a monster pizza and beer in a traditional Czech bar, opening pressies into the wee hours! It was really nice to catch up, sad to hear that home had more snow than we have seen on continental Europe!

The next day we finally found a laundrette before heading into the quaint Old Town via Wenceslas Square, timing it to perfection for the chiming of the astrological clock in the Old Town Hall Square. We had drinks in an Icelandic cafe with a random picture of a fat woman on the wall (?!), then headed down one of the pretty side streets to get to the famous Charles Bridge over the river. The views of the castle hill and the river were amazing, and the bridge itself was decorated with dramatic statues of the old saints and ornate lamp posts. As soon as we reached the other side of the river we headed into a really nice restaurant for a gourmet lunch.

After lunch we headed up Castle hill to take in the incredible views of the city and see the ornate buildings such as the castle and the cathedral. There were also some really pretty cobbled lanes, one with lots of quaint little houses which looked like something from Hansel and Gretal. After stopping for hot chocolate in the Old Town Hall Square, we headed back to the hotel to get ready before heading to dinner in a restaurant with a nautical theme and paintings nailed to the ceiling! We walked along the little cobbled streets of the Old Town and stopped for a drink back in the Old Square in time for the midnight chimes of the astrological clock.

Saturday we spent the morning wandering around the sophisticated and pretty streets of the Jewish Quarter. We stopped in a market in search of birthday cake, instead Ciara bought a flying fish for Dylan! We saw many amazing buildings in the Jewish quarter such as the oldest synagogue and a Jewish cemetary which contained thousands of victims from World War Two and was preserved as a museum by the Nazis. We headed back towards the river, past the home of the National Philharmonic Orchestra before seeing some amazing views of the river from the bridge along from Charles bridge. We wandered along the little streets, finding a really nice quirky restaurant - snail taps in the bathroom and really original furniture and ornaments. We stopped off for birthday cake and Kafka t-shirts before heading back towards Wenceslas Square. we went to the train station to book our tickets for Krakow whilst Mum went to the National Museum to enquire about Mozart concerts, and along the way we bumped into Emma (Australian girl from Dresden). When we finally reached the Museum, Mum was standing across the road waving at us - we had five minutes until the concert started. The concert was a selection of Mozart Arias from his famous operas, staged on the main staircase of the Museum in traditional costumes. It was really relaxing, there were lots of children and one especially busty opera woman! We headed back to the hotel for Champagne and cake before returning to the bar from the first night for a quick pint.

Next morning we went to the Communist Museum on Wenceslas Square, then had lunch in a fittingly communist restaurant and headed back to the hotel to grab our bags before running to the station for our train to Krakow. Prague was a really nice place, especailly the Jewish Quarter and the Old Town Hall Square. It has changed a lot in the last few years, mainly due to the number of tourists it attracts, but still remains a very pretty European city.

It was really nice spending the weekend with Mum Daley. We were really sad to say goodbye but had a really great time. Thank you for looking after us and giving us a taste of luxury after over a month of slumming it!!!!

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Comments

[Daley's mum]

We had a great hen party in prague!!
Yes it was a great weekend mixing the old with the new, communism and democracy, birthday cake and champagne, kafka and mozart but not mixing the sunshine, laughter, leg pulling, good food and banter which was all up to the usual standard. Lots of love to you all from everyone at home XXXXXX