PRAGUE – Part 1 - 7th to 12th Oct

Arrived in Prague after a 7 hour train ride, on time and not too stressed. Only one change and most of the trip was 1^st class so not too stressful at all. It was at the station that we got our first taste of ‘Czech hospitality’. We were charged 25 Euros for a (less than) 10 minute taxi trip our hotel. Once at the hotel we found it should have been no more than 7 or 8 Eros! Lesson learned!!! (We also almost got screwed again later in our stay but more of that later.

The hotel was great and although very modern inside was very tastefully decorated. Our hotel was based a ten minute walk from Wenceslas Square and most of the great attractions of Prague.

Once we registered and ditched our luggage we were off out for a walk to explore the area.

Overall we loved Prague and it’s a great city if one can get past the dirt, commercialisation and graffiti. It’s a shame to see such a great city savaged by neglect and rip-off merchants.

Every other store is a souvenir shop and the rest are the capitalist fast food chains – McDonald’s, Starbucks, and KFC etc.

Having said all that, there were some great food stalls around and it was easy (and fun) to get stuck into the local dishes of sausage and cabbage. I’m not so sure about the state of my cholesterol after these past few days!

Wonder what I'll have for dinner today? - A nice bit of pork? or ......

A piece of 'steaky'? ........

Prague is an emerging democracy and only 23 years out of communism so I guess it’s a pretty fragile democracy at present. Evidently the Czechs go to the polls next month to elect their first truly ‘people elected’ Prime Minister. Until now the PM has been ‘elected’ by the government!

So, enough of the complaints; we had a great time anyway and once we got the feel of the area and the metro system we were off and running.

Although somewhat clichéd we decided to take a Prague Tour showing all the major sights so we got the chance to do a ‘Japanese Photo Stop’ at a number of places.

Astronomical Clock

Here we took a trip on the river,

visited Prague Castle, the seat of government

and even got to watch the changing of the guard.

At lunch time we enjoyed a meal in a medieval restaurant. Now, that was an experience in itself.

All in all a great time was had and it's really a bit unfair of my criticism. On the whole, once we got through the tacky facade Prague is a fantastic place to visit. 

More in a day or so.