Prague; Paris of the East.

So, Prague again impressed with just how beautiful it is. It proved impossible to take a bad photo of, though James did try and having said that James admitted his first thoughts of the city were “Prague really is a sh*thole!”. To be fair, we did somehow take a wrong turn and end up walking through the red-light district of the city...

Anyway, not to dwell on this, we ventured out on our first full day on a tour of the city which ran us through a smorgasbord of scenic locations and key icons. The most notable of course being Prague castle, which itself represents a huge area and took us over an hour to walk through. 

James and I with the view towards Prague Castle

Overlooking Prague Old Town

Changing of the Prague Castle guards

 

Following this we walked back towards the Old Town via Charles Bridge – by which time the weather had turned fantastic and made for some spectacular views of the city across the river. 

The Vltava River and Charles Bridge

 

The tour concluded in the Old Town Square where we watched the famous Prague Clock tick over the hour with a little animated show.

We then decided to climb to the top of the City Hall Tower and with great timing – sunset was fast approaching (though only 4pm!) so we were given a beautiful set of views all across the Old Town. As all the lights were turned on it only made it more breathtaking. Just look at the photos!

Overlooking the Church in Old Town Sqaure

Just one of the spectacular views from the clocktower

That night James and I went in search of proper Czech cuisine. We found a small-looking brewery which turned out to be massive underground and filled to busting point with customers. The meals we ordered were fantastic – roast boar, potato dumplings and spinach sauce for myself, whilst James attempted a supposed 'healthy' option, choosing two meals; one consisting of 5 types of cheese melted into each other, while the other was some kind of muesli seasoned with a large amount of salt. Needless to say he failed hard on the intended health-factor, however I sampled both and they were very tasty!

James tucking into his 'healthy' meal

That night we took the opportunity to sleep in as we were still reeling from NYE in Berlin. After rising late-morning we walked out to Petrin Tower – a monument built on a hill near to Prague Castle. This structure strikingly resembles the Eiffel Tower – and with good reason; it was apparently based entirely upon it. Though it stands at a much smaller height itself, when on the hill it clears the city as the highest point and provides a fantastic lookout point to see Prague and beyond. We spent the day at various museums; that of Communism, Medieval Torture and others I have forgotten – not much seems to warrant distinction of 'museum' in this city as some featured barely a couple of small rooms. Either way, all in good fun!

Petrin Tower

Prague Old Town far below

Later in the evening we met up with some familiar faces; two girls, one from Adelaide and the other Melbourne we met first in Berlin had 'unknowingly' followed us to Prague. James had caught wind of a 'caveman'-themed restaurant and so we all followed his directions there. This was certainly quite authentic! We were greeted with a pretty wacky décor and waiters who dressed in sheaths of material with tribal make-up and spoke in grunts and vague nods.

'Caveman' restaurant interior

James digging into his pork knuckle

It was explained that to order, we must write down what we wanted on paper and then bang a supplied rock on the table – which would call our caveman waiter running and then later deliver our food. Quite a bizarre experience but good fun! After a few late drinks at the hostel bar we called it an early night for once and got some sleep for the travelling ahead.

The following day we would set off to Vienna in the afternoon. Before this however, we utilised our time by seeing a little more of the city. 

I can only imagine that James will no doubt continue to tell the following story to generations of his family because I have certainly heard it enough times myself. Throughout the time we were in Prague James had become increasingly interested and then genuinely obsessed with the idea of the KGB Museum he had seen advertised on posters in the city. In order to track down where it was, he had asked a number of people, all of which pointed him in the wrong direction to another similar exhibition, the Communism Museum. Death threats and foul language aside, James had eventually discovered the whereabouts of the museum and I followed him on the journey to find it. Once there, it was quite strange. 

James and I in KGB gear (don't laugh..we'll shoot)

Small and quirky, but plenty to see and read, the owner seemed intent on a 'personalised' tour and so we had to try on different Soviet hats and weapons, and learn about spy devices from the WWII-era. Quite interesting and a bit of fun, but I am glad that we managed to escape before we were somehow conned into wearing full Hazmat suits and gas masks.

All in all, a beautiful and very fun, though short visit to the Czech Republic!

 

********James to add possible rants and strange comments at a later time so check back soon!*******