After a good long nights sleep we got up and ready to explore Prague. Of course we had seen some of it the day before but that was marred by the massive bags on our backs causing some sort of complaint from Karl every other step. Luckily we had a room to ourselves in the hostel which we could lock so we could leave all of our belongings safely in there. This was a good job really because the contents of my bag had scattered all over the room and I had no intention of packing them that day.
Unfortunately we were let down by the weather today, heading out in shorts and a vest top was a mistake made apparent a soon as we left the hostel. All of the locals were covered in layers while the tourists were walking around looking pretty ridiculous. It was like walking around the Atlantic in a summer dress and flip-flops. Of course Karl said that Dan and I were exaggerating but he’s ginger, it was honestly warmer in the ice bar.
We spent the first hour of the day wandering around in the icy weather trying to find somewhere for lunch. Being indecisive as usual we ended up in small local shop and bought some baguettes there. What a mistake. We settled for the “Czech Crocodile Sandwich” brand, and although at first it appeared to be chicken I don’t think the contents of the sandwich could have been further from it. I wouldn't we surprised if it turned out to be seal, they would have survived in the cold climate and I feel like seal would have that texture.
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| Never Trust a Crocodile |
After eating we went to look around Prague. We started at some really pretty gardens full of fountains, peacocks and Mario and Luigi style plumbers trying to get themselves out of a fountain on a dangerously rocky boat. I wish they had fallen in.
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| Mario and Luigi are Real |
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| Such a Pretty Garden! |
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| Immature |
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| Casual Peacock |
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| Despite the grey sky the gardens really were beautiful |
Later in the day we headed to Prague Castle which is definitely worth a visit. It’s massive and the guards are brilliant. Unlike the guards at Buckingham Palace the Prague Castle guards are extremely happy and clearly think they have the best job in the world. Maybe their Royal family are great to work for; I might have to Czech it out.
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| Czech Him Out |
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| Playing with the Guards |
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| They wouldn't let us in! |
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| Joining the Troups |
We spent some time relaxing by a lake full of children feeding the swans. I won’t lie. I was hoping that a swan might go a little rabid and create a nice viral video for me, but unfortunately (or fortunately for the children who could have lost a finger) no swans attacked. The sun actually came out for about five minutes while we were here, Dan and I made the most of it. Karl sat under a tree.
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| This swan is not biting the child. |
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| My new friend |
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| How not to catch a Swan |
There was a massive Market going on while we were there with loads of food and street acts, the food was all local and smelled 10 times nicer than my seal sandwich earlier but money was still being carefully looked after and nice food couldn't be a necessity. It was nice to look around though and the man creating giant bubbles with some sort of home made contraption was great entertainment.
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| This woman loved the band, we dubbed her Czechy J |
Before we headed back to the hostel for a bit we walked across the Charles Bridge which is definitely one of the top things to do in Prague. The view is beautiful and there are artists doing caricatures and street or bridge acts which were actually very talented. I wouldn't be surprised if they appear on Britain's Got Talent in the near future. The view is amazing too, and the bridge itself is breathtaking at night.
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| Charles Bridge at Night |
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| My personal favourite picture from Prague |
That night we went to the other side of the city to get something to eat. For some unknown reason we decided on a dingy takeaway which kept all the pasta in tubs ready to heat up in the microwave. I decided on a pizza, paid and sat down. It was when I counted my change I noticed my fatal error. The Czech currency, like the Polish, comes in ridiculously large notes. So 100czk and 200czk notes are the common currency. I discovered that I had accidentally handed over two 200czk notes instead of the one. I told the previously friendly woman about my mistake and she suddenly spoke a lot less English than she previously had. In fact I'm pretty sure she spoke better English than me before she realised she could get a nice tip from a dumb tourist. They counted the till at the end of the night and although it was clear on the staff’s faces they knew exactly where my money was it was also very apparent that it was not coming back to me. I won’t be czeching back there any time soon, (last Czech joke I promise.)
After the unfortunate money incident we walked through the part of town which I never really wanted to see. If we had been there any later I don’t think we would have left alive. An unsuccessful attempt to find cads in the shops in said seedy streets and we headed back to the hostel. We had an early Czech out the next day.
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Credit as ususal for most of the photos goes to
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