Prague Magic

The Busabout hostel where we were picked up and dropped off was quite a fair way out of the city so we'd booked accommodation much closer to the city right near the Prague markets. As soon as we got off the bus we had to try and work out how to use the public transport system with the help of a London couple who were trying to do the same, Matt and Sally. The Prague metro would have to be, by far, the most complicated and confusing I´ve seen. There's all these rules about how many changes and what type of transport you use affecting how long the ticket is valid for... I think.

It took us about an hour to finally make it to Sir Toby's Hostel, a very cute, homely place with a basement bar - very important! After taking a moment to settle in, we caught the metro to the centre of the city and got off at the spot we thought could have been closest. I guess we got it close enough because ten minutes later we were standing near the ancient National Museum looking down Wencesles Square with a beautiful sunset backdrop, checkout the photo.

As per usual, we had no map and no plans other than to find somewhere to eat, eventually, so we wandered down the main strip into the maze-like cobble streets of The Old Town. It was definately a nice surprise when we stumbled upon the Old Town Square and the astronomical clock tower by accident just as the sun was setting. The place was indescribable. Gorgeous, majestic, magical atmosphere while horses trotted through the cobble square and people sat everywhere engrossed in their conversations. All this beneath a lit up gothic tower and bright, olden, palace-style architecture as well as a water fountain. Even though the prices inside the restaurant we ate at were up to 60% cheaper inside, we thought it very worthwhile to sit outside and soak in the overwhelming majesty of it all over a traditional Czech meal and a few local brews.

After that it was a bit more good old wandering around through the cute, warm alleyways filled with food, laughter and your occassional homeless person until we stumbled upon the tourist-filled Charles Bridge. Perfect opportunity for some photos of the Prague Castle on the hill across the river all lit up. After some potentially perfect shots of the castle that ended up suffering from horrible hand-shake, we called it a night and headed home for a sleep.

Another rainy morning in Europe sank our poor little hearts and our heads back into bed until midday. On the way into the city we stepped into a mini market to get change and pleasantly discovered how cheap Prague really is! The currency here is not the Euro, as in all the other countries in our trip, but they use the Koruna and you get around 30 for each Euro or 20 for each Australian dollar. I bought myself a Twix for 10 Kr! Everything was so cheap. Two minute noodles were only 6 Kr! Thinking back, the meal we had in Old Town Square on our first night was also extremely cheap considering where we were and what we ate.

Once we were in town we thought we'd do all the indoor touristy-type stuff given the weather. First we checked out the National Museum where the outside and inside of the building were impressive enough. Gold statues and red-carpeted stairs in the main hall, large rooms and tall ceilings. Basically much like the home I'll be living in when I become a billionaire! There were exhibitions on Taiwan, mammals full of stuffed models, precious stones in their raw and polished forms along with a few we skipped once it became too much like a school excursion.

A journey back through Old Town, over the Charles Bridge, up a few hundred stairs and getting lost a couple of times along the way led us to Prague Castle, just in time to see the changing of the guards. I've no idea how anybody can stand to attention like that for as long as they do. We checked out the main church while there was a service going on and the organs were filling the place with an eery, holy feel. It was quite an awe-inspiring experience with all the colour and detail as well as just how large it was. Kat grabbed some photos even though we weren't supposed to. The Lord shall smite thee! There's not much else to see to the castle, it's rather empty and bare yet still definately something to see and a great view of the city.

That evening we went back to Wencesles Square for dinner where we had another Czech meal over some cocktails. I had the beef sirloin with bread dumplings in a mustard sauce with cranberry jam and whipped cream. The Czech meals are far too heavy for my tastes but still enjoyable. The cranberry was a surprisingly nice addition I'd never think of.

With every intention of hitting Krumly Lane that night, Europe's biggest nightclub, we went back to the hostel to get ready but ended up all dressed, too tired to go anywhere, so we landed ourselves in the basement bar for a few drinks. It wasn't a waste of a night by any means though. We met two English girls, Lucy and Amy, a Brazilian guy Marcos and a few randoms and spent a good while having drinks and chatting about all the big things.

The sun was out when I finally got out of bed the next morning and met Kat in the basement for breakfast, which was probably why we were in such good moods. First we checked out the Prague markets but they were rather disappointing. Just a lot of junk really, much like Paddy's Markets in Sydney. We didn´t spend long in there and then got a bit lost on the trams until we got off where we thought we should have. We still had to walk around for a while looking for the carnival we read about.

When we did finally find it, we thought it a bit weird it was surrounded by forest and there were more carnies working there than there was visitors. Even though it was a bit freaky, we still jumped on the ferris wheel, rollercoaster and some spinny thing for some mad photos and videos. I was most freaked out when I found some carnie's office with the Beverly Hills 90210 logo and main characters painted on the side. That shit is whack. On the way back into the city we walked past one of the most festive, fun-looking entertainment arena's I've ever seen, here in the photo.

The Jewish Quarter was next on our to-do list but we only took a quick stroll through there since it's closed every Saturday. The Jewish cemetary was very creepy. Back in the day during the opression, the Jewish were given only a certain section of the town to live in. As more and more died, they didn´t have anywhere new to bury them so they had to be buried on top of each other. This resulted in a patch of land filled with old headstones everywhere you look.

We took a walk across the river and up the hillside to get a great view of the city in the very welcome sunlight. I was amazed at the literally hundreds of skaters in the parklands up there. This was the third city that I'd seen from an elevated view and each was as amazing as the last.

Since it was our last night in Prague we couldn't leave without going to Krumly Lane so Kat, Marcos and I headed out to see what all the fuss was about. Unfortunately, it was much ado about nothing. The whole place was very tacky and touristy and the bartenders cunningly tipped themselves by asking to keep your change! I guess with such a cheap economy you'd have to. There were five levels of R'n'B, golden oldies ("Do you come from a land down under?"... why, yes, how did you know?), trance, house and chillout but the whole place was far too touristy so we spent all night chatting away in the chillout area on the top floor. We tried to find another bar to move onto but were gravely unsuccessful and I scoffed at least three burgers and a hotdog before admitting defeat and going to bed.

On the complete other side of the city, we slept through our alarm and woke an hour and a half later with only half an hour before our bus was to leave for Vienna. I immediately went into panic mode and woke up Kat. We packed our bags at the speed of light and rushed downstairs to checkout. Once we'd done that we weren't sure to get a cab or gamble with the public transport but thankfully as we ran for a tram an empty taxi drove past. We jumped in that and told the guy to hurry, just like in the Amazing Race, but the taxi didn't seem to like that as it conked out soon after. He managed to get it started again and thankfully got us there with no time to spare. Matt and Sally followed a few minutes later after having troubles trying to find the right bus and walking around instead. We all caught up through heavy panting as we made our way out of Prague.