JULY 2006
So have spend the last week soaking up the sun (you would not believe how tanned I am) and the atmosphere in the beautiful city of Prague. (Jealous?)
The flight was a nightmare (easyjet.. blugh), and the trip into town was not pleasant either..
the bus was so crowded I felt I was on a cattle truck or similar.. plus the heat! I though I left this heatwave behind in the UK but alas.. it followed me to the Czech Republic. The hostel that I stayed at, the Czech Inn was more like a hotel than a hostel, with enormous pillows and super clean modern bathrooms. And it was reasonably close to everything. So was very pleased with the decision to stay there.
So did all the main touristy stuff, Wenceslas Square (Of Good King Wenceslas Fame) is the main street, with alot of high street shops, nothing particularly interesting, but keep on walking down and you get to the Old Town Square, which is just beautiful, with markets, cafes and a big
astronomical clock tower thingy.. which on the hour death rings it bells and the apostles bless the city. Aparently the King was so pleased with it that he cut out the clock makers eyes so he couldn't create something more beautiful for another city. Poor Guy.
So if you can make your way through the crowds of american tourists and not fall down on the cobble stone streets you get to Charles Bridge.. the famous bridge.. apparently they used it in Mission Impossible? No idea.. but it is beautiful.. EXTREMELY crowded but stunning nonethless, with views of Prague Castle and the Vlatva river. I dragged Alex back there twice to walk across it at Sunset.. so beautiful. Plus they have all these musicians busking, the best was this awesome jazz quartet, they were really getting into it, especially the guy on the clarinet.
The flight was a nightmare (easyjet.. blugh), and the trip into town was not pleasant either..
the bus was so crowded I felt I was on a cattle truck or similar.. plus the heat! I though I left this heatwave behind in the UK but alas.. it followed me to the Czech Republic. The hostel that I stayed at, the Czech Inn was more like a hotel than a hostel, with enormous pillows and super clean modern bathrooms. And it was reasonably close to everything. So was very pleased with the decision to stay there.
So did all the main touristy stuff, Wenceslas Square (Of Good King Wenceslas Fame) is the main street, with alot of high street shops, nothing particularly interesting, but keep on walking down and you get to the Old Town Square, which is just beautiful, with markets, cafes and a big
astronomical clock tower thingy.. which on the hour death rings it bells and the apostles bless the city. Aparently the King was so pleased with it that he cut out the clock makers eyes so he couldn't create something more beautiful for another city. Poor Guy.
So if you can make your way through the crowds of american tourists and not fall down on the cobble stone streets you get to Charles Bridge.. the famous bridge.. apparently they used it in Mission Impossible? No idea.. but it is beautiful.. EXTREMELY crowded but stunning nonethless, with views of Prague Castle and the Vlatva river. I dragged Alex back there twice to walk across it at Sunset.. so beautiful. Plus they have all these musicians busking, the best was this awesome jazz quartet, they were really getting into it, especially the guy on the clarinet.Visitied the Sex Machine Museum, which was a bit dissapointing, and slightly disturbing. Some of the instruments they used where a bit gross.. the sort of thing where you tilt your head and go how the hell does that work? But I make it a point to go to the erotic museums in places that I visit.
We also did a day trip to Kutna Hora to visit the Ossuary or Bone Church, from the outside it looks like a regular church, you go in and the the altar, the decorations, the lamp posts are all made of bones.. real bones.. peoples skulls are just there. Plus they have these four massive piles of bones and skulls in each corner. Apparently they ran out of room in the cemetry when there was an epidemic of plaque (we think they got the translation wrong and it is supposed to be Plague?). The smell was disgusting, kind of like dirt and mould.. and it was all a bit disturbing
but very glad that we went there.
Prague Castle, another of the major tourist attractions, was so much fun. St Vitas's cathedral was stunning, with stained glass windows with incredible colour in them. Also trekked up the 287 steps to the top of the tower.. not as hard as St Pauls in London, but still an extremely sweaty experience. But the view over Prague was worth it. There was a few other buildings that
we went into, but nothing to write home about.
We also did a day trip to Kutna Hora to visit the Ossuary or Bone Church, from the outside it looks like a regular church, you go in and the the altar, the decorations, the lamp posts are all made of bones.. real bones.. peoples skulls are just there. Plus they have these four massive piles of bones and skulls in each corner. Apparently they ran out of room in the cemetry when there was an epidemic of plaque (we think they got the translation wrong and it is supposed to be Plague?). The smell was disgusting, kind of like dirt and mould.. and it was all a bit disturbing
but very glad that we went there.
Prague Castle, another of the major tourist attractions, was so much fun. St Vitas's cathedral was stunning, with stained glass windows with incredible colour in them. Also trekked up the 287 steps to the top of the tower.. not as hard as St Pauls in London, but still an extremely sweaty experience. But the view over Prague was worth it. There was a few other buildings that
we went into, but nothing to write home about.
As for Prague and the Czech Republic in general.. it is a bit of mixture. On the one hand you have all this beautiful architecture and history, and most of it is really old as it escaped the bombings in WWII.. and in the touristy areas everything is well maintained, but head out a bit and the
streets are dirty, and these beautiful buildings are covered in graffiti and falling to bits. You can tell that the city is still recovering from the Communist regime.
The people are a bit of a mix too.. they are either really friendly and helpful or grumpy bums, and either really clean and attractive or look like they haven't showered in months. There also seems to be lots of homeless and beggars on the streets.. although the one begger with clean shoes and levi jeans i though was pushing his luck! (although this is a potentially lucrative market for backpackers running out of cash). People also tend to run into me alot and not apologise... but this could be just me! Another very bizarre thing is the tendancy of the Czech people to wear socks with their sandals.. everybody does it. all very bizarre.
streets are dirty, and these beautiful buildings are covered in graffiti and falling to bits. You can tell that the city is still recovering from the Communist regime.
The people are a bit of a mix too.. they are either really friendly and helpful or grumpy bums, and either really clean and attractive or look like they haven't showered in months. There also seems to be lots of homeless and beggars on the streets.. although the one begger with clean shoes and levi jeans i though was pushing his luck! (although this is a potentially lucrative market for backpackers running out of cash). People also tend to run into me alot and not apologise... but this could be just me! Another very bizarre thing is the tendancy of the Czech people to wear socks with their sandals.. everybody does it. all very bizarre.
The food was delicious... dumplings and pizza.. not that Pizza is a Czech speciality, but we found a delicious little restaraunt and kept going back. Mmm. All in all the sort of romantic holiday you read about in books, but that never really happens to you... I'm glad this one did.
No comments:
Post a Comment