It is late Saturday afternoon and we know that the rugby world cup has started today so once we sort the van out; take the bikes out, plug the electricity in, set up the bathroom, set up the tv, take all the stuff off the bed and put in it’s appropriate place; Scot then figures he will see if we can get tv reception so he may be able to see the games. So he turns on the tv, tunes it in and Voila! He gets the start of the South Africa vs Japan game and he is stoked. I am sure everyone would have heard him In Aus and NZ he was so happy (and rightly so after 5 months with none). So we watched that game, or at least Scot did, I watched the first half and then got chatting to the next door GB neighbours and didn’t get to see the last part. That was an amazing game – Japan won which was the hugest upset of all time. Unfortunately the channel we were watching didn’t play the second game. We had a great tea and had an earlyish night so we could get into the city early in the morning. The camp we are staying at is on an island in the middle of the river just a short ferry ride away from the city. We could hear music booming reminiscent of Stockholm and it got louder and louder, it turned out to be a large party boat full of revellers with a disco full on lights and all. And then we were treated to a cool fireworks display.
The next morning we get up and head off to the ferry. It is a very small boat that can take only about 9 people. The last ferry goes at 8.09pm which is a tad too early but if you want to get home the easy way you make sure you are there. Apparently though if there are more people than seats, you get left behind.
So we get off the ferry (and yes we did pay him but wish we hadn’t paid him until he had got us home again – more later) and started walking into the old town. We needed money – Czech krowns, a sim card and a city map, well a better one than we had. We are walking along one street and we come across a Cat Café. So me being me, we had to go in and check it out. They charged one flat rate for the first hour which included as much coffee, tea and bikkies that you wanted and free wifi which was a good deal as it was only aud5 equivalent each. There weren’t enough cats though which means they don’t come near you very much since they are probably already sick of people. Never mind we stayed for a bit and left to get our list sorted. We were actually quite a bit out of the old town but didn’t realise it as all the buildings are amazing. They ornate architecture is just amazing and is everywhere. After a lot of searching we eventually found the avenue where Wenceslas square was and then found an information place. No wonder we weren’t in the right place, where we had been was very quiet and where we arrived at was packed. We found a place for a data sim and money so we were set. After walking a bit we found a lovely quiet island on the river where we could sit and eat our sandwiches. Whilst sitting there a couple came and asked us if we knew where the pink tank was. Huh?? We had no idea so we researched it and as it turns out it isn’t even in Prague. It is a tank from the war that was coloured from green to pink and back again many times – it’s a long story and I won’t go into it here.
We leave the little island garden and then walk up the esplanade and find the most walked over bridge I have ever come across. It is absolutely packed and they are all tourists. Holy crap where did they come from??? Anyway we make our way through them and have a look at the stalls on the side of the bridge as we walk across. At each end of the bridge are great archways – I never got to learn about their history but they are obviously very old and at the far end you can walk up the stairs to the top which we did. Great views over the old town and around the other side of the bridge.
We walked around the other side of town for a bit and eventually decided to go and find a bar that would be playing the All Blacks game that night. We figured that any of the Irish bars would be playing the game so we found one on the other side so got our seats ready. The game kicked off at 5.45pm and we needed it to be finished by 7.30 so we could get the ferry home. A great game was enjoyed with a few other Kiwis that were in Prague. One couple sat with us and they were from Auckland but lived in Sydney. They were travelling around for a couple of months. Not a good idea to get chatting really as when the game ended we finished up our chat with them but by this time it was 7.45. So we had to make a very fast exit. We ran most of the way, but it was a really good couple of kms away. Scot ran ahead of me but when I got there the ferry wasn’t in sight. We were on time – it was only 8.05 and it wasn’t supposed to leave until 8.09, however we figured that being Sunday night the ferryman must have wanted to get home so trusting him was not a good thing. We could see his ferry light on the other side but when it went out we realised he had gone. We had to face the 4+km walk back to the camp in an area I would rather not have walked really. It wasn’t late though so was ok. The island didn’t have any street lights so was very black walking trying to avoid the pot holes on the road.
The next morning we decided we would bike into the town and not worry about the ferry. That way it wouldn’t matter about getting home. We biked along until we came to a part we thought it was ok to leave the bikes. We stopped for our morning coffee at a lovely place on the river. Then we went in search of the John Lennon wall. It was more difficult to find than we thought it would be, but it is a piece of a friary wall that people had started to put up Lennons message of peace etc around the 80’s and the friars kept on painting over the graffiti. But the people persisted until eventually the friars gave up and now there is all sorts of graffiti on the wall, but some of the John Lennon stuff remains. There is a lot of crap there as well now, but does make for a colourful photo.
We spotted a lot of cars that were convertibles that you could hire for touring the city. They were obviously stretch replicas of old looking cars. Although not the real mccoy they were still cool looking cars. A bit too expensive for us though. We decided to buy our lunch today and as per usual we found it difficult to find an appropriate place, but settled on a goulash type soup in a bread bowl. We then walked up the hill opposite the old town to find The Strahov Monastry which was up a huge hill past a whole lot of beautiful buildings and souvenir shops etc. It was quite a walk but the view from the top was great. We didn’t go into the Strahov Library even though it was supposed to be amazing, but it was expensive and you couldn’t actually go in, you could only look from the doorway, so I didn’t see the point. We did go into the monastery and have a look at the paintings and painted ceiling there. Quite cool really. We went to the brewery up at the top and Scot had a beer of course. Then we went back down again and had stopped on the square to have another drink. By this time I was starting to feel chilled and unwell. I just thought is was from having a big day and it cooling down early but how wrong was I. After the drink we decided it was time to find the bikes and bike home before it got too dark. We had remembered our lights though. Prague or Praha as it should be called is quite a big city and the normal 2 days just wasn’t going to cut it. We still had seen hardly any of the old town so we decided we had to spend another day there since all the buildings here are just so beautiful. I had to stop taking photos as there are just too many buildings with amazing architecture. We both just love this city and we can understand why there is a massive amount of tourists here still at this time of the year. It would be amazing to come back when it snows.
The next day I was sick. I had picked up some kind of flu and was horridly achy and I had the start of an inflamed throat which I believe turned out to be strep throat (something I don’t reckon I’ve had for over 20-30 years). So I took my double cup of concrete, many drugs and we put our bikes on the ferry as this was the only way I was going to get anywhere today. We got off the ferry and biked along to the old town. We wanted to find some art supplies for Scot and then there were a few things in the old town we hadn’t yet seen. So we went right up to Wenceslas square this time, found the art supply shop and then found the Astronomical clock that was very widely painted all over. The clock was amazing and on the hour it plays a tune and has a little characters coming in and out above the clock. We got there just before the hour and wondered why there were so many people just standing staring at it. Then we realised it did it’s little ‘thing’ on the hour and then everyone moved on. This must be the most photographed and painted feature in Prague. We did quite a bit of walking, visited a soup kitchen for lunch which was fabulous – 94 krowns 6aud for a plate of soup, a piece of quiche, a glass of juice and a sweet pastry for desert plus all the bread you wanted to have with your soup.
My cup of concrete was wearing off so we decided we had to get home so I could go to bed. It is so difficult being sick on holiday. You can’t not do anything because you know you want to see everything and time is marching on, it really is crappy. We rode back to the ferryman who didn’t leave without us this time – only because we were well before the last ferry.
The next morning, I didn’t feel like going anywhere, but I got myself up, drugs taken, cup of concrete etc. The showers weren’t working – no water – so my wake up shower wasn’t going to happen. My throat today was so swollen I didn’t feel like swallowing anything. I started wondering whether I should see a doctor but really didn’t want to be bothered, although you just never know what kind of germs are hanging around a huge tourist city like this. I had been taking our colloidal silver which I make here to try and kill any bacteria but it seems it wasn’t working enough, so I decided to step up my dose in a huge way and really attack that bacteria. We got ourselves packed up and headed out of Prague down south towards a place called Cesky Krumlov.
Note: Prague was such a full experience that it was impossible for us to remember everything we did especially since we couldn’t get to write about it straight away, but it is a measure of the city that there is so much happening and to see. I took more photos than any other city but it would be ridiculous for me to put them all on the blog, so what you will see is only a handful. If you want to see more – get off your butts and come and see for yourself – it would be one of the best cities in the world for sure!
