Thursday 15th May 2008

Home time, but not quite yet. We had to be out of our room at 12.00 and we weren't getting picked up for airport until 7.00pm so we went out for the afternoon and managed to fit a lot into our last day including sitting in the park having a sandwich from Subway, walking over to the Charles Bridge area, shopping, a boat trip and Tom even managed a trip up to the Petrin Tower up the hill, whilst I did some more shopping for last minute gifts.

We found a lovely restaurant for food at about 4.30pm called the Pizza Coloseum, just off one of the side streets from Old Town Square. It's a chain restaurant and you can find out more about these restaurants at www.pizzacoloseum.cz. The interior was really nice and unusual with a model of the Colosseum with candles in at the front. The dishes were mainly pizza, pasta and salad and is definitlely recommended. We wished we had found this place earlier rather than on our last day!

Eventually we were back at the hotel and got a taxi to the airport. Our flight was delayed again on the way back by about 3 hours. We actually were all on the plane and then had to get back off for a few hours and then go through airport security again before we could get back on the plane a few hours later. Apparantly there was a radar fault in Germany and no flights could get through to the Uk. The problem got fixed though and by about midnight UK time and 1.00am Prague time, we were on our way. Thanks to a few air control short cuts we made it back really quickly and got home at about half two in the morning.

We had an amazing time in Prague and would recommend it to anyone for a weekend or even a week long visit. I would say that to really get to know the city and find your way around you should stay for at least 3 nights if you can. Our hotel was in a great location, called the hotel Bila Labut. Although we also passed and heard about a number of other great hotels. We were told by one of the Prague guides that the Four Seasons Hotel is the best hotel in Prague and the Hilton the second best. So if money is no object I would go for one of them. Otherwise there are loads of 3 star and 4 star hotels close to Prague centre offering a comfortable place to stay.

We are already planning to go back about the same time next year so at least that's something to look forward to as I browse wistfully through my Prague photos wishing I was still there :-)

Wednesday 14th May 2008

We made it up for breakfast this morning and have spent the day wandering around the Mala Strana area which is on the other side of Charles Bridge to the Old Town. We walked up the hill to a place called Neozobik where we stayed when we came to Prague in the winter. It looked so different in the sun and is a great spot to have a drink and fab views over Prague, probably my favourite spot in Prague.

It's only about a 10 minute walk up the hill from the city centre but you feel as though you are miles away amongst the greenary and its so quiet and peaceful. This is also a great restaurant too. Well worth making the effort of going up the hill for. You can take the cable tram up there too if you don't fancy the walk.

For the night we had booked a Dinner Boat Trip at 7.00pm with live music. When we got there we got shown to a table and offered an apperitif. The pre-dinner drink and food was all included in the price and we had to pay for wine and any other drinks. The house red wine was nice though and good value.

The buffet was really good with a wide selection of food including salad, cold meats and hot dishes including chicken, chips, pasta and vegetables. There was also a table absolutely full of cakes for dessert. You could go back to the buffet as often as you liked, and we made the most of this. During and after dinner a jazz band were playing, and you could also go up on deck to watch the scenery from there. All in all I'd say this was one of the best excursions we did.

Tuesday 13th May 2008

We woke up early after an unusual almost alcohol free night the night before and got picked up by coach to go on a tour to Karlstiejn castle which is about 40 minutes by coach outside of Prague. I really enjoyed this tour as you get to see outside the city centre and away from the hustle and bustle for a while. The drive there is through countryside and the castle is set in a picturesque green location.

The tour included an English speaking tour guide pointing out some sights of interest on the way on the coach, and then a guided tour around the castle for about an hour when you get there. Lunch was also included but not much choice, basically steak or fried mushrooms. We were the only English people amongst a group of Italians and Russians although the guide around the castle was all in English. Other nationalities were given written guides to translate.

We got back about 2.00pm and went back to the hotel for a rest after a very busy 5 days so far in Prague!

On Tuesday night we decided to do the Prague Ghost Tour for a laugh. It cost 400 CZK each and lasted about an hour. There was a group of about 10 of us and the guide told some funny ghost stories around Prague Old Town which were apparently 30% true! Her side kick also jumped out on us at various street corners and wearing an array of costumes and masks, ending with a skeleton costume. I would say the ghost tour is probably worth doing if you've got an hour spare and are not expecting too much from it. It leaves daily at 8.30pm to the left of the Astronomical Clock at Old Town Sqaure. There are a few different companies which run it and we went with the Yellow Umbrella company called Prauger.com Incidently if you book the 4 hour walking tour with Prague Experience you get free tickets for the ghost tour!

After that we went back to our favourite restaurant in Prague so far, the in Celentina. I got Bruchetta and then Quatro Framaggi - highly recommended! For desert they also do these lovely pots of melted chocolate (white, milk or dark chocolate) and then strawberries to dip in - Yummy!

The house red wine is nice too and we indulged in a litre of it :-)

After the meal we called into the Jazz bar where we went the other night for a drink and listen to the band. This place is called Metropol Music Cafe and they do food and have live music every night. They also had a jazz singer on this perticular night and after a few more drinks we bought the CD. We've decided that we must stop getting drunk and buying tourist Cds and DVDs.

Monday 12th May 2008

I went window shopping and had a wander around Old Town Square and the side streets in that area. It's full of lovely little shops round there selling Czech glass and crystal. Some of it is plain old tourist tat, but some of the shops had some gorgeous things in, although very expensive. We have discovered that Prague is not cheap like it used to be for shopping, eating or drinking.

We have spoken to some people who live here and they have said the prices have gone up loads in the last 5 years but their average earnings have not so it's difficult for locals to live in Prague centre now and expensive for them to live in Prague in general.

On the night we went to the Image Theatre which is just off Old Town Square, to see a play called Studio Clip.

I thought it was excellent, and nothing like I'd ever seen before. Basically a play with no speaking as such, about a director trying to write and direct a horror movie, and in between were shows based on different costumes and lights creating amazing imagery.

It was on for about 1 hour 20 minutes and ant nationality would be able to watch it and enjoy it because of the lack of speaking.

The Image Theatre does not have any booked seating so get there early for a good seat.

There are other theatres in Prague, but I would recommend this one as the Theatre company and plays are so different. 

Afterwards we went to a restaurant called which I would not recommend. Compared to the pasta we had a few nights ago it really wasnt very good and was overloaded with garlic. It was called Restaurace U Supa on Celetna 22, Prague 1. (one to avoid in my opinion!).

Sunday 11th May 2008

This could probably be described as the most exhausting day of the trip! We booked a 4 hour walking tour around Prague but it basically lasted for over 5 hours and then we had the long walk home! This tour was really good and definitely recommended. Our tour guide Martin, was brilliant and very knowledgeable. He was actually the same guide we had for the pub tour the night before, but was in more of a historic mode than drinking mode as he had been when we last saw him! The tour covers Prague Old Town, the Jewish Quarter and the Castle and Cathedral.

This time we did go into the Cathedral and it's an amazing building. We spent quite a lot of time in there as the various historic pictures, monuments, doors and so on were explained to us.

When we got back to our hotel we realised we only had about half an hour before we were due to be picked up for the Czech Folk Night we had booked (don't ask?!). So it was a quick shower and change then we were on our way.

We were a bit suspicious on the coach that we seemed to be the only people under the age of 50 and we we got there we realised that it's probably a night more suited to older people. But saying that we didn't stop laughing all night because the whole thing was so hilarious, and we even bought the DVD, probably to convince ourselves afterwards that the night had really happened! We were seated with a group of people from Austria, Norway and Thailand, and they didn't seem to speak much English.

The food was really disgusting and a good piece of advice is to say you are vegetarian as at least you get some mushroom soup and a cheese omlet. The standard meal was a plate of mushy looking potato with bits of ham in it to start and then a "selection of meats" with some potato dumplings and vegetables. Supposed to be Slovakian apparently.

Then the entertainment started up which was a band playing instruments dressed in traditional folk costumes, and there was also some singing and dancing by people in costume including someone dressed as a horse. But the most unusual part of the night was the way the wine was poured. Basically a man came round with red and white wine attached to him in containers and squirted it into our glasses from what looked like it was out of his fingers but was our of some special wine shooting machine. We had to admit he had a good aim as was filling glasses from across the table.

The Czech Folk night cost us 2700 CZK (about £90 for 2 people). To be honest I wouldn't say it was worth this much money but it was certainly a laugh.

Saturday 10th May 2008

On the night we had booked a pub walking tour, which we imagined would be some sort of pub crawl around the best pubs in Prague. Not quite. There were only about 8 of us and it was 3 pubs in 3 hours. The first 2 pubs were a bit strange but by the last pub everyone had had a few beers or wines and relaxed into it. It actually turned out to be a really good night. We left the group at about quarter to 10 as we had a resrevation in a restaurant at 10.00pm although if we hadn't made the booking we would have been happy to stay for a few more beers.

We hadnt realised the pub tour included food so we just had another drink while the others were eating. So after the pub crawl (if you could call it that!) we went to my favourite restaurant in Prague which has the best location I think, overlooking Charles Bridge. It's called Hergetova Cihelna and the prices are very resaonable considering it's location. The restaurant is part of the Kampa Park group which has a few different restaurants around Prague and attacts celebraties.

Other restaurants they have in Prague include Kampa Park serving world class Haute Cuisine, next to Hergetova Cihelna, Cowboys (a steakhouse and cocktails bar) and Square which does contemporary Spanish and Italian food including great tapas. This restaurant is based in the Mala Strana area and also serves breakfast everyday.

Friday 9th May 2008

On Friday morning we got picked up from our hotel at 9.30 am by coach as we had booked a tour of Prague. This tour wasn't as good as we expected mainly because of the guide we had. He mumbled and was difficult to hear and understand. We had booked the tour through Prague Experience and were a bit worried as all of the other tours we had booked were with the same company, and we thought maybe the same guide, but that was not the case! Other than the guide, the tour was useful and gave a decent insight into Prague centre, mainly the Old Town.

Part of the tour was at Prague Castle but we couldn't go into the Cathedral part that day as there was a service on. My favourite part of this particular tour of Prague was the boat trip. You get some good views of Charles Bride and Prague Castle and the Petrin Tower up on the hills.

The tour finished at about 2.00pm and ended in the Old Town somewhere. It was when we had left the guide we reaslised we were completely lost and had no map and no details of our hotel other than the name of it. That's what happens when you arrive at your hotel in darkness and then get picked up by coach early next morning. No chance to find out where you are based. A few stops at tourist centres later, and a copy of a decent map, we made it back to the Bila Labut.

On Friday night we had nothing planned so we wandered back towards the Old Town Square and found a lovely restaurant called Ambiente in a street called Celetina which lead from the Power Tower to Old Town Square. The food was lovely, we both had different types of Pasta, which was made freshly at the restaurant. It was really popular and we didn't have a reservation so we had to wait about half an hour. This was no problem though as there is a nice bar upstairs serving the best Strawberry Dakaris.

The restuarant itslf is in the cellar and has a nice romantic atmospere. We got a litre of the house red wine with our meal which was also good. The weird but good thing about Czech red wine is that it gets you drunk but doesnt give you a hangover - in moderation I guess!

Thursday 8th May 2008

Our flight finally took off and we arrived at our hotel, the Best Western Bila Labut hotel in the Old part of Prague. We got to the hotel at about half past 2 in the morning so it was a quick unpack of the essentials and straight to bed to catch up on some sleep ready for our Prague adventures.

Thursday 8th May 2008

The day has finally arrived! I'm all shopped out and packed and ready to go. Only our flight has been delayed by 6 hours! I'm actually in Newcastle airport now at 6.20pm, we were meant to be flying around an hour ago, and now we won't be leaving until 9.30pm tonight. We were told this grim news by Easyjet when we got here 3 hours ago, and were given a voucher for refreshments to the value of £3.00 WOW! I'm sure that will keep us going for 6 hours in the airport at airport prices :-)

But moaning aside the time is actually going quite fast and I have my trusty laptop to keep me entertained together with a trashy romantic novel I have just bought.

So we'll be arriving in Prague at about midnight tonight. I should mention that "we" includes my travel companion, and long suffering fiance Tom. I have gone a bit mad booking tours and various things to do in Prague so it looks like we're in for an action packed week! This all starts with a 4 hour tour of Prague in the morning. We're getting picked up from our hotel at 9.30am and then have a Prague tour partly by coach, partly on foot and the rest by boat. Should be fun, and a good way to get our bearings on our first day we thought.

Other things I have booked for us during the week include a pub walking tour, Prague dinner cruise, Czech folk night (bit worried about this one!) and a castle tour. Oh and a night at the Theatre too. Not sure yet if the play is in English so could be in for an interesting evening.

That's all for now, I'll update once I am in finally in Prague.  I'm really looking forward to getting there and checking out our hotel :-)

Saturday 2nd May 2008

5 days before departure...

Well it's Saturday morning and I'm getting very excited about my week in Prague leaving this Thursday.  I thought I would take the opportunity today to do some shopping for my trip and get some last minute items like clothes and comfortable walking shoes for site seeing.  I can't see me getting that far in my high heels :-). 

But hmm, what sort of clothes will I need? And will I need sun tan lotion for Prague in May?  I have absolutely no idea! I'm going to have to look into what the weather is like in Prague in May.  I suppose it would usually be mild but judging by the UK weather this year I'm not taking any chances. 

Also need some batteries for my camera for sight seeing shots and maybe a guide book.  I have been before but it's been a while and I'm hoping to explore areas of Prague I haven't seen before as well as the usual tourist hot spots like Charles Bridge and Old Town Square. 

Also really looking forward to checking out the nightlife as I somehow didn't seem to induldge in this on my previous visits.