Rachi
Well … I am so tired…! Hard to be at work today, my eyes were so red this morning and my legs are sore from all the walking …!
What a weekend, starting Saturday: Got up at 5am on Saturday morning after a pretty good sleep. My cab driver arrived on time. Oh what a nightmare he was! Sleazy guy who was talking to me throughout the entire 30 min journey asking me if I had a boyfriend (which I stupidly said no to!) and I told him that I was moving back to Australia to which he asked if I was keeping my bank account open! How dodgy! So I told him No, I was closing it.
Had a very easy trip through check in, the flight itself was very turbulent though! Arrived in Prague to sunshine. From the airport I bought a three day travel card which proved invaluable as it covered me for buses/trams and the metro. I caught the bus to the station and then caught two lines to Vysehrad where I was staying. This is where the “fun” began …
Prague is extremely tricky to navigate I think! I managed to get lost a number of times on my first day! After a few wrong turns I found my hotel and checked in. A very cliche “European” tubby man with a long moustache. Not very friendly at all; reluctantly he checked me in, but it was good as I was able to check in 2 hours earlier! My room was lovely and I was so happy to have booked somewhere nice.
I freshened up a bit then made my way to the tram stop which was located 500m from the hotel so that was handy. The transport systems are very efficient and unlike the street names, very easy to work out. I caught the tram to Staromestka which ended up being my starting point for much of my travels as it became familiar to me after the first day.
I walked across the Manes Bridge and took some gorgeous photographs; it was a truly stunning warm day, if a little bit foggy. I walked back across to the Old Town Square and to the Astronomical Clock and watched it chime (which my tour book recommended), even though you are left with the feeling of “is that it”!
From there I went on a mission to find Sephora! (“a leading beauty retailer offering the finest in fragrance, cosmetics and facial skin care products”). What a mission it was! The streets are so twisty and windy and it is so easy to get lost! After about an hour I stumbled across a massive department store built in late 2002. I rushed inside and asked the info desk who confirmed that, Yes Sephora was inside. Success! It was a smaller version of the one I found in Paris The service was definitely not as friendly and helpful as there.
I asked her to advise me on colours. I ended up blowing my budget in Sephora!!! I panicked a little but hey, it will last us for a few years right…! Eeek.
That made me panic a bit. Anyway the products are still as lovely as ever; perhaps they have pushed up the quality as they were definitely more expensive…perhaps just in Prague I’m not sure. I did find that souvenirs, clothes, make-up etc was very expensive in Prague but food and drink, as expected is not.
I shopped for the afternoon (well browsed …)
It had grown dark outside so I walked slowly back to Old Town Square. It was so beautiful and lively and the lights of the buildings and outside heaters lit it up perfectly, very picturesque.
I decided to pop out to dinner at the restaurant which had recommendations on one of the websites – U Ceskych Panu. Well I managed to go around and around in circles, getting lost, turning wrong corners, entering dimly lit side streets and did have a little panic!
I almost decided to hail a cab and head back to the comfort of my lovely hotel but having heard about the sky high prices they charge I persevered And ended up finding the restaurant!!!! I wandered in and down into the gorgeous medieval style cellars, ready for a feast.
Guess what?
It was booked out for a party!!! By this time I was feeling tired, hungry, frustrated and a little scared of the dark so I walked down the main street and popped into the first cafe I could find … a “soulless” cliche tourist spot. I had pancakes and a glass of red and they were actually very nice, if a little overpriced. Then I headed back to my hotel! I bought a bottle of red and some dark chocolate and hopped in the jacuzzi! I even indulged in a movie from the selection you pay for. They had such a small selection of “normal” movies and a alarmingly large selection of porn! I chose The Truman Show as I haven’t seen that before. Really enjoyed it.
Day two was the day of my tour. In the morning I had the free breakfast which was fairly average but what you would expect in Europe and much the same as breakfasts I’ve had in Helsinki and Paris; perhaps not quite as nice!.
I went to my usual tram stop and headed to the bridge. I walked up the Old Castle Steps to the top which had an amazing view of the city! At the top I also stumbled across the toy museum I’d read about in my guidebook which had a floor dedicated to Barbie!!!!
I had to see that and I can tell you now, I don’t regret it. It was fabulous! I took so many pictures that I wore my camera battery out for Monday!
By this time it was 1030am so I walked back down to the Astronomical clock which was the meeting point for our tour. I bought a take away coffee and waited with the guide. Three other people turned up. I guess it is the low season but every other tour guide from rival companies seemed to walk off with a much larger group. Did they know something I didn’t know about my tour… seems so! It was pretty crap!!
By the first hour I knew I didn’t want to be on it for another 3 hours!! Anyway we walked through the streets from the town square and the guide spoke about anything and everything to do with the architecture of the buildings…don’t ask me to tell you anything about what he said. I found it all too boring.
We walked through the Jewish quarter where 80,000 Jews were buried (remembered that from my guidebook!) and saw the tombstones which resembled a mouthful of crooked teeth (again, a quote from my guidebook!) From there we stopped at a bar for some hot drinks and lunch. I had a big breakfast so I just had some mulled wine as everyone seemed to be drinking it in Prague. Delish!
From there we walked to Charles Bridge. By this time we had all started talking amongst the three of us. Two ladies from the UK who were absolutely flabbergasted at me travelling alone and one NZ girl travelling on her own who incidentally had been on my flight (I didn’t recognise her but she recognised me!)
I loved the Charles Bridge, so beautiful with all the statues and lined with market stalls. The tour guide seemed to get more frustrated as we stopped to take pictures of each other on the bridge and check out the markets. We walked across and caught a tram up to Prague Castle.
By this time I was bored out of my mind. We were all getting rather frustrated by the tour as well. We walked through the castle and he stopped to tell us more boring facts. (Don’t feel sorry for him; he was rude). The gardens around the castle were lovely and green with all the autumn leaves scattered. It was lovely.
I took some amazing photos of it all.
By this time churlish Guide had begun to run over by 30 minutes! I helplessly watched as the sun sank lower in the sky. When he finally decided to finish, NZ Yianoulla and I decided to head off back down to Charles Bridge and check out the markets.
We bought the most delicious cinnamon scroll from a street vendor and made our way through the tightly wound cobbled streets towards the square. The sun had gone down so we decided to head back to our hotels, freshen up, then meet back at Mustek and head to the U Ceskych Panu, hoping that it wouldn’t be booked out again which I doubted on a Sunday.
It wasn’t!
I ordered a traditional Czech dish of tender lamb in a wine sauce with bread dumplings and it was absolutely delicious! Yianoulla had a chicken dish with rice. We chatted about our terrible tour over a red and exchanged Facebooknames. The service was very good so I tipped quite well! A nice blonde Czech man!
Monday I got up early, had breakfast again and then went off to make the most of my final day! I retraced the steps of the tour, taking it all in a little more than I had on the tour, and explored the famous market looking for souvenirs. I was not impressed by the quality or price of the souvenirs so I ended up going into a shop called Manufaktura which was a gorgeous warm and welcoming shop.
I ended up spending a lot in there on souvenirs. The shop assistant who was also nice wrapped everything up beautifully! I crossed the bridge to the “pissing fountain” you must see the photos, its hilarious! My camera died but I was so happy to get one or two photos of the fountain!
I explored some more and didn’t manage to get lost at all; you really get a feel for Prague by the second and third day and realise how compact it really is!
I headed to Cafe Louvre as recommended, and initially I wasn’t going to go in! It seemed really noisy and expensive and I thought it would be way over my budget. By this time I was very hungry so I decided to grab a seat anyway and see what all the fuss was about.l I’m glad I did! I had two rather gorgeous and very attentive waiters who were fast and efficient on their service!
I ordered the pea soup which seemed to be on every menu in Prague so I wondered if it was one of their typical dishes? It was lovely. The waiter bought the pea soup out in a little jug, with a bowl which had a lump of potato gnocchi mixed with pieces of ham and croutons. He poured the soup over it. Mmmm! I had that with some lovely crusty bread and butter and in the end it wasn’t too pricey! I’m so glad I went! My last tourist stop was the Dancing Building. It was rather stunning and a short walk from Cafe Louvre.
I checked out and went and sat on a bench in the sun in Vysehard park near my hotel before heading to the airport.
I had a lovely trip. Not quite as good as my time in Copenhagen … a city of great friendliness with exceptional service and wonderful food and a lovely atmosphere. Prague didn’t quite have that … but is one of the Must Visits!
