PRAGUE TAKE 2

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Ten years ago we attempted to visit Prague. It had been on Narelle’s wish list for years and although we arrived at Prague Airport we (read Narelle) never got past Immigration. For some reason that only politicians could explain and still equally oblivious to us, New Zealanders did not need a Visa but Australians did; you can see the developing predicament we were faced with. Basically we were deported in the nicest possible way and Easyjet were fined for illegally flying Narelle and in a wonderful display of gratitude kindly sent us back to London when we had flown from East Midlands. We had the associated costs of a rental car to get back to our own car, and for the two bottles of Piper Heidsieck we slurped while waiting to be deported. It was a fun 36 hours. Travelling this year has been made easier by the fact that the Czech Republic is now part of the EU (lucky them) and no Visas are needed (lucky us), which meant that we finally made it out past the luggage carousels and into an awaiting taxi.



As I said in the last report, due to the demise of Malev Airlines we had to fly to Prague via London, which in the long run made little or no difference to our actual time in the city but did mean it was late in the day when we made our hotel. It had also been slightly weird to be watching the Map facility on the TV screen and see Prague out the right hand window as we flew from Budapest, but after the debacle of Spanair it was nice to have had six months to prepare us for such a day. It also gave me chance to enjoy a whiskey for the last time in a few days – the Czech Republic had adopted Emergency Prohibition due to laced and black-market spirits killing 20 in the last few weeks. So all drinks with an alcohol content of over 20% are off limits and off the shelves – and they are serious about it. I have no complaints and it did no harm – although some of the homeless may have a different opinion as a few were walking in circles starting to sober up. But better sober than dead.



Even today as I write this I am yet to decide how much I appreciated Prague; for as much as I enjoyed it I still do not feel I warmed to it in the way I did Budapest. I cannot put my finger on why I feel like this although my first thought is that the city has moved away from what it was and their desire for it to be a tourist mecca may overshadow some of the sites you go to see. The jewel in the crown of visitor sites in Prague has to be the Castle. Situated high up on the hill overlooking the Old Town and the river it is a stunning site and conjures up enough mystery and intrigue to ensure you walk the many steps to enter it grounds – just the roof of the St Vitras Basilica, which towers above all else should create enough curiosity. It really is a magnificent sight. Not that we walked the most direct of routes – Narelle kept saying to me that she was yet to get her bearings and that was the reason we ended up crossing the river two bridges up from the correct spot. Sadly she told me this just after advising two other tourists who had asked us where the Charles Bridge was – they may have ended up back in Budapest as that’s where they were headed when they left us. We bought the all-day ticket at the Castle, which meant we were able to look around most of the rooms, exhibits and basilicas on the grounds and because of it I made one of the worst errors of judgement. St Vitras Basilica is the largest building on the site and if I visited it again I may have better feelings for it. Undoubtedly it is a stunning basilica with ornate stained glass windows, exquisite sculpturing around the walls, and high elaborate ceilings – I know this because I have seen Narelle’s pictures. My visit was overshadowed by entering the building with a mass of other people who gave off few positive vibes about human nature. They pushed, they pushed in, they farted, they man-handled, and they clambered over others; they made the entire visit ghastly. I went in, entered the wave of people and was basically spat out on the exit steps some 15 minutes later – the first person I saw was Narelle. My mistake was to enter with all the coach tours that stand there for the opening and tell their people to go for it – and it is everyman (or woman) for themselves as they are back on the coaches twenty minutes later. If I had stuck with Narelle I could have wandered the building as she did later in the day. A tranquil experience? No. Good advert for human nature? No. My fault? I would say most definitely for entering too early but not for the ghastly people. I don’t even apologise for quietly implying that one schoolboy may have been a f*****t for starting, of all things, a conga line – not sure he understood; he looked Russian. That issue aside I did enjoy the visit to the Powder Tower, St George’s Basilica, and within the walls of the actual castle. The Powder Tower gave an amazing insight into the Czech Republic’s military history and how presidents through the years have been protected. As with Barcelona and Budapest the view back to the city was quite magnificent and we could also chart our walk back to the Old City ensuring we crossed the iconic Charles Bridge.



The Charles Bridge is fun. It is the entrance way to the Old City but it is full of entertainers, buskers, and market stalls all selling their little bit of Prague memorabilia. Places like this also seem to attract an inordinate amount of caricature artists. I am not sure where they all learn their craft but I do find it funny that they all have caricatures of celebs outside their booths. I have never worked out if they alter a George Clooney or J Lo to fit your face or they hope you will be swayed by the fact that George and J Lo just happened to call by last week and have their pictures done. I must admit that caricaturists are not high on my list at the moment as we had one done at a ball earlier in the year and we showed more resemblance to C3PO being out with R2D2; as such we did not keep it. Once across the bridge you enter the Old Town and all stresses are forgotten. It is a magical place and standing at the Astronomical Clock with all the other tourists (nice orderly ones this time) is quite a unique feeling – there was the countdown to the hour, then the cheers as the clock mechanisms start to do their thing, which build to a bigger cheer as they finish and the trumpeter begins from the bell tower. We did this under the blackest of skies, which made it feel more impressive and slightly eerie. The square is stunning and we came back during the evening for coffee and hot chocolate – Narelle’s hot chocolate made to an old Czech recipe of six parts chocolate one part hot milk. You could stand a spoon in it. It washed down the Hungarian Chinese meal we had enjoyed – I know that sounds wrong but it was perfect in every way.



After the amazing weather we experienced when we visited the Castle it was staggering to wake and find out that it was raining and cold – from a high of 26° it plummeted to 12° the next morning. The desire to wander around looking at sites evaporated fairly quickly so we did the travellers ‘go to’ activity – we went to the laundry. Now a laundry day is not one of the best ways to spend time but in most cities we have been pretty lucky; even luckier when staying with friends and could use their machines. We used Google Maps (for one of the last times due to new Apple software – and after now downloading I may never find a laundry again with Apple Maps) to find three laundromats in walking distance of the hotel and set off with our last soap tablet and bag of laundry – after six months of travel whites and colours all go in together. We are the Rainbow Nation of washing. The first one we went to had only two working washing machines, one working dryer and a grumpy lady on the desk who told us to come back in an hour – or maybe next week. The second one was empty; as in the place had been cleaned out and all that remained was a few pipes hanging out of the walls. The third place – well if I could recommend a place in Prague it is Andy’s Laundromat. What a fantastic place to meet people, catch up with postcard writing, discuss travel plans with others, and generally fill in the hour and a half while your washing goes round and round. The man at the desk – Andy I presume? – could not have been more helpful in telling us how to put the machines on, making us a coffee, and sorting Wi-Fi for us. We sat round a table with two middle aged (older than me) gentlemen who were travelling together and entertained us as they went through and checked their latest credit card statement – it seemed to be based on where they had eaten strudel, or apricot Danish, or enjoyed a very nice bottle of Rose. It sounded a wonderful trip without even seeing a photo! So, if you are ever in need of a laundry in Prague pack your ‘dirty dirties’ and get to Andy’s place – brilliant. Best commercial Laundromat we have used in the last six months.



Our departure from Prague was the first leg of our trip to Dubai. We flew to London and made camp in the Terminal 5 Lounge and next to a very nice retired couple from Melbourne. They were celebrating their 45^th year of marriage and we overheard him say “go buy something – money is no object”, which had made his wife laugh and say she did not want that much. I told him if she didn’t want something I was happy to sub in - then we just started chatting and the two hours just flew by – they were heading to Hong Kong on BA at about the same time we flew to Dubai. They will not be far from Flinders Lane so we are now expecting them for coffee too. Then it was on-board; Narelle had the bed out not long after the seatbelt sign went off and I did not hear from her until our descent into Dubai. We have a week of nothing planned and when the heat hit us for the first time (40° plus) we felt we had made just the right amount of plans.

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