Prague

From Berlin it was off to Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic, along the way we made a stop over at Tezerine, which was where a minor holding camp was set up by the Nazis during the war to hold people before they were sent off the Dachau, Austwich and other concentration and death camps, many famous Jewish people were sent there prior to being trained off to the other destinations.


The bus arrived there in the afternoon and a few of us made our way to a pretty cool bar/club for the night not too far from the hostel. It had all sorts of mechanical and engine related stuff all over the walls very cool, and a fan made with pieces of irons. Nick, the Busabout tour guide, was having his birthday so he recommended the place, it was a great night. There were a few others I met on the bus who are also going to do the Eastern Trekker tour down to Split, as well as the Croatian Sail, so it looks like I’ll have some friends for the next few weeks.


The next day in Prague it was again raining, a pretty miserable day and I still wasn’t feeling 100% so had a sleep in to try and beat the bug before heading down to the chemist again for another round of drugs to try to kick this thing. Once I got my cough syrup and cold and flu tablets I did start to feel a little better, but overall it was a very relaxed day of recovery, the breakfast was pretty good though, eggs, sausage, bread, spreads, cereal, cheese and cold meats, well worth getting up for.


The following day I made my way around town (after downing some syrup, a million tablets and some nasal spray) getting some great photos of the clock tower, the streets and the astronomical clock located in the town square. Each hour it goes off giving a little mechanical show where a skeleton rings the bell and various figures rotate and move about. It wasn’t exactly the most exciting thing in the world but the clock was quite cool. Apparently the maker (who built the clock during the 15th century) had his eyes cut out (or something similar) so that he couldn’t make another more impressive clock in another city. In revenge he got his apprentice to take him to the tower where he sabotaged it and made it inoperable for about 100 years before they could find another clockmaker who could repair and restore it. haha


After watching the clock a group of us from Busabout made our way over the Charles Bridge which was built by King Charles so as to withstand the elements, and it’s been around since the 13th century so I’d say that it has passed the test. Along the bridge there are 30 statues which are all pretty cool, depictions of Jesus, etc. However there is one statue on the bridge which you are supposed to touch in one spot if you want good luck and the other is supposed to make you get married or pregnant within 12 months. However I didn’t know this at the time! Looks like I better start planning a wedding! Haha The group we were with said that you touched the dog and it gave you bad luck but the saint falling was supposed to give you good luck. It wasn’t until later that day after some lunch that we went on a free walking tour of the city to see most of the city highlights and the tour guide said otherwise about the statue!


We made our way around the city, seeing a few monuments recognising the years of communism only two decades ago, to an area where scenes from mission impossible were filmed, stopping at the “pissing statues” of Prague, the John Lennon memorial wall and eventually up to the Prague castle which was quite cool, although it wasn’t so much a castle but rather castle grounds but it contained a church and several courtyards and a garden, as well as a vineyard! That night a group went out for dinner and I had some traditional duck cooked in the Czech fashion with some cabbage and dumplings. It was excellent!


After another night of rest I got up still feeling pretty average but went for a wander again around town, that night I organized the clocktower pub crawl which was, as the name suggests, right near the clocktower. The night started with 2 and a half hours of unlimited drinks for 14 euros, and they had beer pong tables which made for a lot of fun, although I must recommend to everyone to never play people from the US or Canada, YOU WILL LOSE lol The night got pretty rowdy as we moved on before eventually making our way home so I could sleep before I had to get up to catch the Eastern Trekker in the morning.