14-15 August 2013
Day 5: Krakow to Prague
We had an early start to catch a private transport into Czech Republic where we then jumped on a train headed for Prague. I haven't really listened to any radio since I've been in Europe but it was going in the car and it sounds exactly the same as any English radio station except you can't understand the words; the announcers speak the same, there's the same sound effects, it's the same.
Train to Prague
The train ride was quite pleasant and as a bonus, we had our first exposure to the Czech beer drinking culture. It was still before midday but a bunch of Czechs were on the train enjoying beer for the whole trip and a few of our group even found themselves in the bar car getting drinks shouted for them.
Arrival in Prague
My first impressions of Prague were good. Really good in fact. I loved the feel of the city because all the buildings look so ornate and even though a lot had construction going on, I finally understood what people were on about when they talk about a pretty city. We caught the tram from the train station to our apartments and you'd better hold on because these trams take off really quick. We had a few people take a dive the first time it took off.
Lunch
Our tour leader organised a restaurant for lunch where I ordered the goulash. It was fairly tasty and came with some peppers that weren't as hot as I expected (or my tolerance to spicy food is getting better). The most interesting dish at the table was the pork knuckle, which was 2kg of pig knee that was served on a wooden board shaped like a pig; quite the feast.
Exploring
After lunch we went for a walk around the city and also visited the Communism Museum, which contains photos and artifacts from the time that Prague spent under communist control. The museum is something I can definitely recommend but there is a lot of reading and because of this, and the fact I'm a slow reader, I lost the other people I was with.
House party
We were staying in apartments and my room mate and I scored a great one that looked out over the main square and had a huge lounge room; perfect for a house party! We raided the supermarket and stocked up and beers then went back to the apartment for a night of beer, cards and talking shit i.e. a great night. Near the end of the night we all went out for a walk to see the city and the Charles Bridge at night and it was just as busy as during the day. My beer buddy and I stopped for some roadies (beers to go) and we bought a cannabis beer and duff; the duff was ok but the cannabis one was terrible (and had no effect).
Day 6: Walking tour
After a nice sleep in I went out and found a walking tour of the city. The guy was a champ and told us a few things I feel are worth mentioning:
The rest of the tour took us past some Jewish Synagogues, which were very subtle and understated, a Jewish cemetery and finally to the riverside where we had a great view of the castle. One strange thing I saw was a giant metronome up on a hill but at first I though it was a really fast moving crane because honestly, who builds a giant metronome?
Hill climb
I wanted to get a good view over the city and the city park (complete with hill) seemed like the best place to do it. It was a pretty decent hill but the disappointing things was once you made it to the top, all the trees blocked any view you could get. This wasn't an accident because they had a fort and a mini Eiffel Tower with great views but of course you had to line up and pay. I opted for the cheapo and time friendly option of leaving the walking paths and finding a spot with a good view just before the treeline started, score!
Dinner
Our wise and fearless tour leader organised a Thai restaurant for dinner and it was amazing. One of the the girls and I shared a masaman curry and phad mi kai and the whole time I was thinking "I'm definitely going past Thailand on the way home".
Nightcap
The tour leader and I stopped off on the way home to try some more of the local fire water; Becherovka. It was fairly drinkable (it's not something you shot) but still extremely strong so it was hard to keep a straight face while sipping it.
Thoughts on Prague
Thoughts about Europe
Day 5: Krakow to Prague
We had an early start to catch a private transport into Czech Republic where we then jumped on a train headed for Prague. I haven't really listened to any radio since I've been in Europe but it was going in the car and it sounds exactly the same as any English radio station except you can't understand the words; the announcers speak the same, there's the same sound effects, it's the same.
Train to Prague
The train ride was quite pleasant and as a bonus, we had our first exposure to the Czech beer drinking culture. It was still before midday but a bunch of Czechs were on the train enjoying beer for the whole trip and a few of our group even found themselves in the bar car getting drinks shouted for them.
Arrival in Prague
My first impressions of Prague were good. Really good in fact. I loved the feel of the city because all the buildings look so ornate and even though a lot had construction going on, I finally understood what people were on about when they talk about a pretty city. We caught the tram from the train station to our apartments and you'd better hold on because these trams take off really quick. We had a few people take a dive the first time it took off.
Lunch
Our tour leader organised a restaurant for lunch where I ordered the goulash. It was fairly tasty and came with some peppers that weren't as hot as I expected (or my tolerance to spicy food is getting better). The most interesting dish at the table was the pork knuckle, which was 2kg of pig knee that was served on a wooden board shaped like a pig; quite the feast.
Exploring
After lunch we went for a walk around the city and also visited the Communism Museum, which contains photos and artifacts from the time that Prague spent under communist control. The museum is something I can definitely recommend but there is a lot of reading and because of this, and the fact I'm a slow reader, I lost the other people I was with.
House party
We were staying in apartments and my room mate and I scored a great one that looked out over the main square and had a huge lounge room; perfect for a house party! We raided the supermarket and stocked up and beers then went back to the apartment for a night of beer, cards and talking shit i.e. a great night. Near the end of the night we all went out for a walk to see the city and the Charles Bridge at night and it was just as busy as during the day. My beer buddy and I stopped for some roadies (beers to go) and we bought a cannabis beer and duff; the duff was ok but the cannabis one was terrible (and had no effect).
Day 6: Walking tour
After a nice sleep in I went out and found a walking tour of the city. The guy was a champ and told us a few things I feel are worth mentioning:
- The name Bohemia comes from the phrase home of the Boiis where Boii is the name of the people who lived there
- He said after he'd told us about the history of Prague that we'd be Czechxperts
- We learnt a cool word: Defenestration. It means to throw someone out the window and it happened on a few occasions in Prague's history
- We were told about a funny incident where the president stole a pen on international TV and thanks to YouTube, you can see it too
The rest of the tour took us past some Jewish Synagogues, which were very subtle and understated, a Jewish cemetery and finally to the riverside where we had a great view of the castle. One strange thing I saw was a giant metronome up on a hill but at first I though it was a really fast moving crane because honestly, who builds a giant metronome?
Hill climb
I wanted to get a good view over the city and the city park (complete with hill) seemed like the best place to do it. It was a pretty decent hill but the disappointing things was once you made it to the top, all the trees blocked any view you could get. This wasn't an accident because they had a fort and a mini Eiffel Tower with great views but of course you had to line up and pay. I opted for the cheapo and time friendly option of leaving the walking paths and finding a spot with a good view just before the treeline started, score!
Dinner
Our wise and fearless tour leader organised a Thai restaurant for dinner and it was amazing. One of the the girls and I shared a masaman curry and phad mi kai and the whole time I was thinking "I'm definitely going past Thailand on the way home".
Nightcap
The tour leader and I stopped off on the way home to try some more of the local fire water; Becherovka. It was fairly drinkable (it's not something you shot) but still extremely strong so it was hard to keep a straight face while sipping it.
Thoughts on Prague
- As I mentioned earlier, there's lots of construction
- Prague is a fairly tall (not much under 3 stories) and modern feeling city
- The city feels very rich, with all the nice houses and cars, but it's still quite cheap
- All the roads are cobblestone. Or at least once I started looking I didn't see any that weren't.
- I like Prague, it's somewhere I could definitely go back to.
Thoughts about Europe
- Europe stinges on traffic lights. Most intersections only have one light and it's impossible to see from the first few rows of cars. Barcelona is where I first noticed it but it's everywhere.
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| Panorama of the main square |
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| Panorama out over the city |
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| Charles bridge |
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| Charles Bridge and the castle at night |
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| Trying some of the local beers |
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| Trying some other beers. The Cannabis one was terrible, even when we added Absinthe |
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| The padlock thing is everywhere in Europe |
clearly, people are desperately trying to secure 'love' :P
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