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Published: June 22nd 2008
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Day 1 - Friday 23 May We departed London Gatwick on the 23rd May for a 5 day trip to Prague (Czech Republic), with Erin’s parents, Lyn and David. Our Easyjet flight was uneventful and within 2 hours we had touched down in Prague.
We arrived at our hotel, only to be informed by the manager that they had no power. He had booked us into another more expensive hotel (Hotel Roma) but, thankfully, we would not have to wear the extra cost. We were quite impressed with our “upgrade”. We had quite a roomy 2 bedroom apartment, in a hotel that had obviously been totally renovated, with very high ceilings & very thick walls. There were a few idiosyncrasies, however, that totally mystified us. Despite being an apartment for four, there were only 3 chairs in the living area. This meant that every time that we wanted to sit around the table, we had to carry out a bedside table to sit on! There were cups & saucers but no Kettle, there was a mini bar with wine in it but there were no wine glasses, there was air-conditioning but no remotes to work it. Toilet paper was
rationed out at one small roll per day - somewhat of a challenge for the four of us to make it last the distance! Stacy even tried to borrow wine glasses from the hotel bar downstairs, but his requests (he tried to work his charm on at least 4 different staff members) almost futile. We don’t think they liked the idea that we had our own wine!
Despite these minor frustrations, we still appreciated the hotel which put on a good breakfast & was in a very good location, a location that was much more central than the one we had originally booked. We were able to walk to absolutely everywhere we wanted to go & there were heaps of good reasonably priced restaurants nearby.
After settling in, we decided to walk around the city, where most of the main sights are easily reached on foot. Prague is very picturesque with lovely well-maintained old buildings, quaint little streets, magnificent cathedrals & castles, lots of bridges crossing the Moldau River & lots of towers to climb. As the Spring Music Festival was on, the city was heaving with people. We battled the crowds on the Charles Bridge, which is
Prague’s most famous tourist attraction. The bridge was built by King Charles IV in the 13th century and is graced by 30 statues dating back to the 18th century. It is lined with jewellery stalls, portrait artists and the occasional jazz band or performer. Despite some pretty horrific floods over the years, most of the bridge is still original.
On our first night, we dined at Kolkovna Restaurant, a traditional Czech restaurant. Traditional Czech cuisine contains a lot of meat, dumplings and gravy. Food that was very tasty, but a lot heavier than the food we are used to eating.
Day 2 - Saturday 24 May We spent our second day walking around Prague, absorbing the atmosphere and again taking in the hectic Charles Bridge and Vlatava (Moldau) River. We decided to take a short cruise down the Vlatava with a very informative and humorous tour guide. The cruise helped orientate us and see the city from a different perspective. The cruise took us into little canals off the Vlatava, which is often referred to as ‘Little Venice’.
We then pushed on further into the heart of the Old Town Square, a place alive with restaurants
& thousands of tourists all there, among other things, to see Prague’s famous clock tower. The clock tower is part of the Old Town Hall & is where the famous astronomical clock entertains the crowds on each hour with its parade of apostles and a bell ringing skeleton. We took the time to climb the tower and watched the crowds gather under the clock. The tower also offered an amazing view over the city.
In the evening we took in a concert of music by the Czech composers Smetana and Dvorak in the Smetana Hall at the Municipal Centre. We rushed a dinner in the Sphinx Restaurant near the Municipal Centre, not realizing that the whole concert would be over in just an hour!
Day 3 - Sunday 25 May We started our third day by taking the funicular railway to the Petrin Lookout Tower. Climbing up the tower, we were once again treated to more spectacular views. Then, back over the Charles Bridge through the packed Old Town Square, we found our way to the Wenceslas Square, a more modern & much larger square, which is really Prague’s main shopping centre. The square is the heart
of modern Prague & is the place where the Czechs gather for important celebrations. At one end of the Square is a huge statue of good King Wenceslas on his horse. The king was murdered by his brother & is now a national hero.
In the evening we decided on a little more of a cultural experience by going to a musical concert in a monastery in the middle of Prague. It wasn’t quite what we expected & was much more amateurish than the one we had gone to the night before. We spent a good deal of time trying to disguise our amusement but Erin totally lost it when several of the audience decided it was time for a group photo shoot while the concert was still in progress. It was a very funny night & is one of those occasions that we will always remember about our stay in Prague.
Day 4 - Monday 26 May Monday was the day we chose to tackle Prague Castle, the largest medieval castle in Europe. The castle is really a complex rather than one large building. As visitors were able to wander around the castle complex for free
(some areas required you to buy a ticket) we took advantage of this bonus. We watched the changing of the guards, wandered through the beautiful palace gardens & joined the queue to see inside St Vitus Cathedral. Another strenuous climb up the cathedral tower was also worth the effort. Prague Castle dominates the skyline as it overlooks the city, & is extremely impressive when it is lit up at night.
We spent the afternoon wandering around the gardens below the castle & through the narrow cobblestone streets, an area that is often used in movie sets. In the process of our wanderings, we came across some more very impressive gardens around the Senate buildings of the Czech Parliament.
We had dinner that night at a local restaurant near the river. The whole area had been badly affected by the severe floods of 2002 & everywhere we looked we could easily see just how high the river had flooded to by the tell-tale water marks.
Prague is beautifully lit up a night, so once it was dark enough we tried to capture Prague in its night time splendor.
Day 5 - Tuesday 27 May Our last morning
in Prague was spent trying to fit in all the other things on our ‘to do’ list. Unfortunately it was quite hot that day, but we were on a mission to get it all done. First we went to nearby St Nicholas Church which everyone said was the church to visit. Of particular interest were the magnificent Passion Cycle paintings up in the gallery.
We then headed on foot across to the other side of the city to the U-Flecku pub, on recommendation from JK and Rach. Unfortunately, time was against us as our transfer to the airport was picking us up from our hotel (Hotel Roma) at 1pm, so after a drink or two (and a potent shot of ‘Becherovka’) we had to push on. Before racing to the airport we made a quick pit stop for some ‘Bohemia bagels’ (thanks again JK and Rach!) before saying farewell to this stunning city.
This city is a ‘must see’ for anyone making the journey to Europe!!
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David & Lyn
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What a great time you had in a historically and architecturally fascinating city. You were so lucky to have such fantastic travelling companions as Lyn and David. We look forward to the blogs on Croatia and Western Europe over the next few months.