I fell in Love with Prague, it was gorgeous, I had heard so many people rave about it and I wondered whether it would lose some of its magic with my expectations being so high, but not at all! Lillith and I just made it on the train puffing and panting, Lillith stressing even though we were actually on the train which came as quite a surprise! Most of the train trip was along the river which was beautiful, although I slept for about an hour, I enjoyed the wakeful moments of scenery anyway. We were planning to find somewhere to stay when we arrived, which maybe wasn't sensible after my previous national park experience, however we were rather unexpectedly met at the train staion by a number of older men and women with very good english offering rooms rather forcefully. There were a couple we met on the train who also needed somewhere to stay so we stuck together the 4 of us to make a decision about which mad Czech we would be taken hostage by. We eventually decided on the first man that had approached us which turned out to be a good choice. We had a little apartment with 2 rooms, one for us and one for the couple and we shared the bathroom, it was perfect and much cheaper even than the 10 bed dorm I had in Dublin! We spent most of our time sightseeing with the couple, David from Ecuador and Nora from Germany, they were great company. The first night we explored the city, I think it was perfect to see Prague first at night time, the lights are gorgeous and the whole place looks like a fairytale. Unfortunately it was packed with tourists, which obviously I can't complain about because I'm one of them but it be nice to walk the streets without having to push past people and getting bumped all the time.........ok maybe thats an exageration but there were lots and lots of people. The next day we went to the Mucha museum, Alfons Mucha was an art nouveau artist his work is absolutely exquisite, there was a film about his life too which was very interesting and loads of souvenirs to tempt you in the shop! We then had a picnic on an Island in the Vltava River before hiring a little rowboat for an hours float on the river, all of us realisiing we were pretty hopeless at rowing, but we managed in the end and it was great fun, and amazing to see the city from the river, such a different perspective. The following day was our castle exploration, it was yet another perspective of Prague, completely different from the River, it was high on a hill looking out over the whole city, the rooftops of Prague are all red with some beautiful pastel green ones dotted in between. The Saint Vitus Cathedral in the heart of the castle was the highlight for me, the most amazing stained glass windows I've ever seen, the colours were incredible and they were all blended together so beautifully. One of them was actually designed by Alfons Mucha himself and that was the best one. That night Lillith and I met Rosa's niece for dinner and beers, she was great fun and introduced us to the best Czech beer Gambrinus, which I have to say is nothing like Australian beer because I could actually drink it, and I enjoyed it which was a new combination for me and beer. The next day was raining so we didn't feel very inspired to explore but after locking our bags at the train station we headed back in to the city, we just wandered then the rain got heavier and heavier......I didn't have an umbrella so I spent a ridiculous amount of money to buy one which turned out to be the crappest umbrella I've ever seen within 5 minutes of purchase it was virtually useless and within half an hour had me and Lillith in stitches, we couldn't stop laughing it was turning itself inside out at the slightest breeze, had metal sticks poking out in several directions and had a few dangling dangerously close to my eyes...........all in all, a waste of money! We found a nice cosy cafe with cheap pizza and pasta for lunch and decided it was better to sit inside for the 3 hours before Lillith's train than to wander around getting soaked under useless umbrellas so we sat down very relaxed, ordered delicious gnocchi and chatted away over our drinks. She decided to check the train times yet AGAIN maybe only the 10th time, to suddenly realise the train she planned to catch was only on sunday and the train she had to get instead left in half an hour so she went into a mad panic and stress once again! We got our meals takeaway, power walked to the metro, arrived at the station with 20 minutes to spare, and read on the board that the train was delayed by half an hour. I couldn't stop laughing, but I don't think Lillith could see the funny side, she was still panicking. So instead of being nestled into a cosy cafe for lunch we were sitting on the big train platform where it was raining! That night I met Angela again and she'd offered for me to stay at her place which was really generous, I was so grateful to stay in someones home again, its great to be able to cook and eat well. I have to say I felt very spoilt, but it was lovely! We met at the Big horse statue in Wenceslas Square, the same meeting place from the night before. We went to her place and relaxed watching the olympics in Czech so it was good when they just showed the event rather than talking about it which we didn't understand. The next day poured with such heavy rain the whole day so I stayed at the house, being lazy in my pyjamas most of the day, it was great, in the afternoon I watched Chocolat and ate chocolate, at night I had a relaxing bath and basically I didn't do much the whole day, it was a good break after a busy sightseeing week. My last day in Prague I organised my bus trip for the following day, then went to see the church which lonely planet said was fantastic, but compared to Saint Vitus Cathedral in the castle it was quite disappointing, it was very lavish and extravagant all gold and marble but it didn't really impress me like the other one. I also walked up the clock tower in the old town square for a beautiful panoramic view of the city and get this Lillith......I saw the clock do its magic, it was so short and not really very amazing but I saw it!........The twelve apostles come past the little blue windows above the clock and then in about 10 seconds its all over! I went to the jewish quarter in the afternoon but all the sights were closing so I missed that which means I'll have to go back another time. That night I met Angela and her friends at Vysehrad to go to a beer garden with amazing views across the city then we were both falling asleep so we went home. Her and her boyfriend Jan were so welcoming, I felt so comfortable there, I really enjoyed home cooked food, it was so good! This has been a really long update so I need to finish up now but just quickly and I'll do more depth next time, on Monday morning I left Prague for Cesky Krumlov, which is almost more magical in a fairytale sense than Prague, but it is much smaller which helps to give it that feel. Tomorrow I head to Salzburg for 2 nights then I'll be with Michaela for the few days around my birthday and Lillith will come down to celebrate with us in Munich where Michaela lives. I'll write again soon, keep the emails coming, love hearing from everyone! Hey Sol, did you get my msg today? I'll let you know MIchaela's number when I get there but in the meantime my email is clarealison87@hotmail.com thats probably easier for you than this travellerspoint, it doesn't matter to me though because it goes to my email anyway. It was great to hear from you, can't wait to show you my photos, you should come to Sydney in the holidays and I can show all the photos and tell you lots of stories. Can't wait to talk to you on the weekend, lots of love, Clare xoxPRAGUE, PRAGUE, PRAGUE!!! remains copyright of the author clarebare, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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