The Prague Profile

Our adventure in Prague started with a long wait in Berlin the morning of the 24th. Check out at the Berlin hostel was at 10am, and this left us with a good four and a half hours to kill before we had to board the train. We spent the time utilising the hostel wifi, shopping for leggings and shoes, and breaking my phone. Nice one Beth! Eventually the time came to get to the train station, and without too much hassle we found both the right platform, and the right compartment where our reserved seats were. Stepping on to the train we were greeted with the beautiful sight that the train we were on was essentially the Hogwarts Express, with the long aisle down the side and the different compartments with six seats each. Completely content to spend the next four hours on the train, we settled in with our various entertainments for the journey through the German and Czech countryside. And what a beautiful journey it was. Germany was flat, but had a picturesque quality about it which lasted through the forest until we hit the stunning mountains and rivers of the Czech Republic. The rest of the journey was spent in awe as we fell further in love the deeper we went into the country. Once in Prague, the next challenge was to navigate the metro! After getting out some koruna (600 to be precise), we worked out the ticket machine, which we had obviously googled the day before, and with more ease than we had anticipated we made it to the right stop, and exited into the bright sunshine. What we hadn't expected was that it would be trickier to find the hostel than use the metro, and after wandering in circles through the pretty cobbled streets, we eventually asked someone and soon after we were settled in for our whistle stop stay. The evening was spent using the wifi (in our room, such a luxury), and working out the plan for the next day, before settling in for the night.

And what a night it was. Not only did we have to contend with loud drunks in the street outside, but at the oh so pleasant time of 5:30am, a thunderstorm hit right above us! Luckily, once we'd eventually woken up at a more sensible time, the rain had gone to leave a sunny day in its place. After dressing and making full use of the free breakfast, we were off to the nearby shopping mall to explore and buy me a phone and Emily some sandals. Exploration and sandals achieved, it was off to do some sightseeing and lament about just how beautiful every single area, road and tiny alley was. Without planning it, we'd managed to come to Prague in the middle of some kind of folk festival, so everywhere we went there were people from all over the world dressed in traditional dress and dancing and singing. It was utterly magical.

Next it was on to the Charles Bridge, which is possibly the most majestic bridge I have ever seen! (Sorry tower bridge). The gothic architecture lends an air of mystery, whilst the views across Prague are perfectly complimented by the variety of musicians spanning from traditional folk music on the violin and accordion, to Michael Jackson played on instruments including a violin, a clarinet, and a double bass. After admiring both the views and the musician, it was time to find the John Lennon wall, and this took much longer than we had anticipated, Prague's winding streets not being kind to us. But find it we did, and it was so worth the initial getting lost. It's essentially just a wall dedicated to the memory of John Lennon and all he stood for, but is covered in the brightest and coolest graffiti. After a quick photo session, we set off again to find the Starbucks with the (apparently) best views of Prague.

Unlike so many times before, Starbucks did not let us down. It's at the top of a hill right next to the castle, and after grabbing much needed ice tea and a bagel, we settled in a window seat with the most glorious views across the whole of Prague. It so lives up to it's title of the city of a thousand spires. We spent a good long time admiring the view and expressing our amazement at the fact that this trip is actually happening, and isn't something that we are just planning! Eventually we tore ourselves away and made a quick trip around the castle and saw St Vitus church, which took 585 years to build, and it's easy to see why. Whilst we were walking around the castle, Emily threw a coin into a fountain for the first time, crossing it off her list! Our feet were very sore by this point (darn new sandal syndrome), and so we headed back to the hostel for some chill time. After spending a few hours resting, it was back out to buy me a phone in the form of a Nokia brick. We also went to a Czech restaurant for dinner, where I had goulash served in bread, Emily had chicken and bacon, and we shared some chips. Dinner over, we headed back to the hostel to pack up our (again very messy) room, write this blog post, and prepare to travel on to Vienna on the morrow!