Some shots from the trip:
A few hours later... we arrive in Prague, to find my friend Christina had looked up our arrival time and come to meet us! Clever that she is, she found as at the ATM getting cash out to pay for our hostel. She then took us by public transport to the hostel she had recommended, where we said Nashledanou until Thursday.
The hostel we stayed in was called the Czech Inn, a very stylish and modern but friendly place just outside the centre of town. Our room mates were very chatty which instantly created a much nicer atmosphere for the evening, and we investigated the area and the hostel bar. We ate an average but very very cheap meal at a Chinese restaurant not far from the hostel, and then had some very cheap drinks at the bar. As you can tell, we thought Prague was cheap.
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| The Vltava River (definitely didn't have to look that up just now) |
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| Picturesque hill near the hostel |
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| Kostel Sv. Ludmily near the Namesti Miru metro stop |
Day One: started out a little cloudy with some disappointing showers throughout the morning (the one day I don't bring my coat...) but turned into something beautiful with a sweltering sun around midday (I've become accustomed to obsessing over the weather).
We decided to go to the opposite end of the map from our hostel, to the famous Prague Castle. It's definitely worth paying for as it's a good morning's worth of stuff to do. There was a nice Cathedral, some good views, well preserved interiors and some cute reconstructions of what the inside of a butcher's house or fortune teller's studio would have looked like.
It may become obvious from the pictures that I really loved the style and architecture of Prague's buildings, and also that I take too many pictures...I'm also somewhat obsessed with European public transport (the metro is cool though...) After the castle we walked back towards the historic centre via the famous Charles Bridge, and shortly thereafter we found my dream cafe (it was in fact exactly what I was hoping to walk into at that moment); we wandered in the afternoon, aiming to walk back to the hostel via various sights, such as the main square with the Astronomical clock, the famous theatre and opera house, and my favourite- the new Synagogue.
The day starts with some tasty pastries
The metro, marked by this cute little bear.
Funny piece of trivia provided by Christina, the Prague metro was payed for by the Russians!
The metro is cool
The metro also only has three lines, making it worthy of nicknames such as 'baby's first metro' or 'world's easiest metro to navigate' etc.
Pretending we're rich with notes for 200
Weird advert
Royal gardens by the castle
'Beard day 4' (I've already lost count)
Back of the castle, nice scaffolding
It has indeed started to rain...disappointing
The cathedral- pictures are awful due to the white cloud/rain situation
Everyone was taking pictures- so I did too...
Sneaky panorama shot from inside the castle
One of my favourite buildings- small Church and chapel. The colours and little statue of the Madonna on the left are what caught my eye- so pretty!
Back of the Cathedral
Snack time!
We love our juice
100%...what? (likely to be apple)
Reminded me of a giraffe
Cute alley of model shops (and real ones)
"Delicious original sweet pastry"- a Czech specialty we didn't get around to trying, one of my few regrets of the trip!
Me complaining to Sam that he wouldn't take nice pictures of me.
Sam taking pictures at the wrong moment, again.
Real man playing guitar next to statue of man playing guitar...cute.
More of that genius map reading
I really loved this building, especially in front of such a beautiful sky! The way the corner has been decorated was really pretty, and who doesn't love a good sun dial...
Below are a couple shots of a really cute cafe/bakery where we had lunch, near the Charles bridge. Just as I said "I want to find someplace small, that isn't a tourist trap, where we can have a light lunch", so we turned a few corners and found Cafe Ebel, an intimate place run by some young women a little older than myself. The artwork on the walls had no theme and included anything from a large picture of a man (visible below) to little paintings in different styles with mismatching frames. The old wooden furniture was also a quaint touch. I had a slice of quiche and fresh orange juice, and Sam had a bagel with a frappuccino or some other fancy drink. If I were to ever run my own cafe, this would be my starting point!
The Astronomical clock
The old town hall... (maybe)
The new synagogue! So individual in its style (at least, it's nothing like anything else I've seen) and the colours are just the kind of thing I loved about Prague.
The name amused us...culinary jokes aside...
Flicky hair
Day Two: Starts out with a nice breakfast at a chain bakery, some pastry with apples and another with chocolate maybe...it was all a mystery in Czech! We then made a trip to the little Museum of Communism; well worth a visit. It was packed with history and information on Prague's relations with the USSR and their fight for independence. We then proceeded to Wenceslas Sqaure, where a lot of the protests and demonstrations we had just learned of took place. The afternoon was very chilled, we wandered around looking for sights and eventually crossed the river to see the large metronome on the hill, where we also found a nice skate park to kill time in. We met Christina for dinner in the evening- I requested something traditional, and she granted my wishes. The first restaurant we went to was full, and the waiters pushed us out; this lead to us trying a different place (potentially of same ownership, it was all a little unclear) where the waiters were equally rude. Waving the waiter down to order or ask questions was near impossible, despite the restaurant being half empty and our waving being quite vigorous. We were then made to feel like we were almost inconveniencing them by giving them business- I was assured this was normal! After dinner we went to see Lennon's wall- a little tribute from the hippy days which has turned into a tourist stop-followed by a traditional bar/cafe hidden in the back of a newsagents; bizarre yet very cool!
A very large and disproportionate Stalin dominates the small museum.
Wenceslas Square
Another cute cafe called 'Soup in the City'
Something pretty
Franz Kafka...apparently
I thought this was very interesting, despite it not being particularly attractive. My guess was that this is what most buildings looked like after the flooding (apparently it was 2002 but I remember reading about something more drastic happening earlier than that) and is a testimony to the great refurbishment work that must go on in the rest of the city- this was the only 'ugly' building I came across
Subtle messaging Czech-style
It doesn't look like a lot of stairs, but it sure felt like it
The shoes were an added bonus
Big metronome were a huge statue of Stalin used to be
A couple taking risks on the edge...
I got a few good action shots of people jumping
A storm brews over Prague... run back to the hostel!
Watching the storm move past us
My dinner: I believe it was two little pieces of meat (pork or beef, I forget) in a sort of sweetish sauce with bread dumplings. (and cream! what the hell?)
Christina's meal- Salmon or something if I remember right.
Christina!
Delicious dessert- could have had 3 slices!
Lennon's wall
In the little drinking place
The menu, decorated with old cartoons and adverts about manners, very cute
Walking out via the newsagent
Memorial to the Holocaust victims
Leaving Prague! (Also getting to the station quite early in the morning to find out the train is delayed, and that we have to share the train with a group of incredibly loud and impossibly annoying Irish backpackers...)
Beard day.... 6?
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