Czech-ing In

We arrived into Prague at about 10pm and as a result we missed the last bus that went straight from the airport to the city centre. The bus timetable at the airport indicated that we could catch an alternative bus which would take us to the "main station" so we decided to hop on believing that by "main station" they meant the main train station in central Prague. No such luck.

We stopped at this dodgy looking train station which was the closest one to the airport, and we were told it was the end of the line. We walked inside and tried to read the train information which was all in Czech, then tried to ask the attendant who wouldn't get off her mobile to say more than two words to us. In the end we figured out how to get to the right station but it was going to take two changes on the train. We had directions as given by our hostel, but they were so convoluted that we were sure there must be an easier way. They suggested that once we arrived at the main station we take a tram, but as we stepped out of the station I knew exactly where I was going from my last visit to Prague with my sister Gemma four years ago. It was only a 5 minute walk to our hostel from the station, and I found myself walking past so many familiar buildings only to end up at our hostel which was literally around the corner from where I stayed the last time.

Our hostel was awesome, it was brand new and smelled like cold concrete, which I loved (I told you I love the industrial look). We had a four person room to ourselves because no one showed up until the third night, and we even had two toilets in the room. After the state of our rooms in Liverpool and Amsterdam it was like staying in a five-star hotel.

The next morning I got up early to do some much needed washing while Shereen slept in a little. When I was done we wandered over to Wenceslas Sqaure to find some breakfast and Shereen was exposed to her first Czech dining experience complete with people at the table next to us drinking beer and coffee at 10am. We both chose pretty tame options, however, and proceeded to the Old Town Square when we had finished.

We watched the Astronomical Clock strike the hour, which Shereen was less than impressed with, and headed over to the river for her first glimpse of the Castle. After a couple of photos we headed back to the square where we met up with a free walking tour. Our guide was from New Zealand and we were thanking our lucky stars we had her and not the super annoying American girl who had been talking to us at the sign up point.

 

The walking tour was only of the old town which I hadn't really explored the last time I was there. It was really interesting learning about so much of Pragues history. It's a city that has been subject to take-over after take-over. After centuries of foreign rulers Czechoslovakia was finally proclaimed an independent country at the beginning of the twentieth century, only to fall again under the rule of two different successive dictatorships, the last of which it escaped from only 22 years ago to become the Czech Republic. Seeing as this was the year I was born, the stories hit pretty close to home.

We were shown around the old town including the old Jewish Quarter and learned about what life was like for the people of Prague both under Nazi and Communist Rule.

Shereen and I both said to each other how close you felt to the history of the city. To think that some of the most dramatic events in the city's history took place in the lifetimes of our parents and siblings is quite scary and it makes you appreciate even more the freedoms that you often take for granted in Australia.

For dinner Shereen found a place that had good reviews on Tripadvisor And we had delicious traditional Czech meals. To start we shared a wheel of baked Camembert cheese with apple and balsamic vinegar, I had duck with red cabbage and potato dumplings and Shereen had beef cheek with mashed potatoes.

The next day the weather was dramatically different. It had been beautiful and sunny the day before and I had thought how different the city looked in summer compared to winter when I had been there before. That day it rained ALL day. Sometimes drizzling, sometimes pouring, always precipitating.

Unfortunately we had booked ourselves on a walking tour the day before that took us up to the Castle, and as we had already paid for it we had to go. It was like travelling back through time to when I was there years ago, except it was slightly warmer and there was no giant Christmas tree outside the church. On the way down I decided to take a photo for my sister, the same as she took of me 4 years ago.

That night we tried Czech beer (I hated it, as I hate beer in general, but it was free so...) as well as Beef Stroganoff with traditional dumplings, and Pork with Sauerkraut.

My next post marks the start of our Contiki tour of Italy! Stay tuned xx