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Prague, Czech Republic (9 - 12 December 2006)

I've said this before but one of the best things about living in the United Kingdom is having the whole of Europe right on your doorstep. The other good thing is the strength of the pound makes many European countries dirt-cheap to travel in. A case in point is the Czech Republic (formally part of Czechoslovakia before it split at the start of 1993 into the Czech Republic and Slovakia). If you venture slightly away from the main streets, dinner for two including drinks at a restaurant will only set you back the equivalent of a mere £10! And speaking of drinks, you shouldn't expect to pay much more than £0.50 for a pint of beer in any of the pubs - freakin' sweet! Booking flights far enough in advance means they're dirt-cheap too, so a couple months ago Mo and I organised to take a Monday and Tuesday off work and spend a four-day long weekend in Prague, the Czech Republic's capital city.

Prague is similar in size to Edinburgh with a population around two and a half times greater (a bit over a million). The average daily maximum temperature in December is a penis-shrivelling 2 degrees (with lows averaging -3), so we planned on needing a few beers to keep us warm hehe. The official language is Czech (obviously), but for various reasons Mo and I never got around to memorising even the basics of it before we left, but fortunately (like most big cities in Europe), English is pretty well understood.

Ooooo 1000 Czech Koruna! Actually this is only the equivalent of about £20 hehe, but I don't think I've ever seen a 1000 note before.		The cheapest return airfares were flying from Newcastle in north England (about two hours from Edinburgh by train). For once the UK had a really sunny day when we departed, but this was the view when we landed in Prague after the jets blew water on the runway all over my window - it was pissing down! Thankfully it wasn't to last though.
We arrived early evening, sorted out the hotel, and went wandering! Like Edinburgh, the city centre is divided into Old Town and New Town. We spent the bulk of our time in Old Town as most of the tourist attractions are here. The shot on the left is looking down the main avenue of Old Town. The shot on the right is looking back up it again towards the museum (below).
The National Museum. Pretty impressive looking, but we didn't bother paying it a visit.		Apparently you can just park your Humvee up on the footpath or wherever you feel like hehe.
They appear to be big on their glass and crystal here too, as there were several of these shops throughout the city. Pretty nice huh!

Up the other end of the main street is one of several impressively-lit and very busy Christmas Markets. The whole Christmas thing really seems to put a smile on your face doesn't it; Mo's smiling, the chick on the wall behind her is smiling, ahhh :)				Another short walk away is Old Town Square, and in it more jam-packed and brightly-lit Christmas markets, except these had a concert of some sort going on. In the background looking very impressive is Tyn Church. After wandering around here for a while we went for a £10 meal, and washed it all down good and proper with £0.50 pints in various pubs around town hehe - good stuff!

The following day (Sunday) we planned on just wandering around the city. Thankfully the rain had stopped but damn it was cold! These shots are looking down the main drag again.
The Markets were still packed. There was some pretty cool stuff on sale, but what got my attention most was the food!

Anyone for wurst?		Maybe some pork off the spit?!		This was my brunch - a big doughy thing covered in cheese and ketchup. Mmmmm, good ;)

Just round the corner we found more markets that were closed the night before. Again, more cool stuff, and some pretty weird stuff too. .		Boomerangs for example, in the Czech Republic, hehe.		I contemplated buying a local hat made of real rabbit fur.

From one market to the next, we wandered back to Old Town Square.

In Old Town Square is an astronomical clock - a pretty impressive looking piece of machinery that makes absolutely no sense to me. It was completed in 1410, and displays astronomical information such as the relative positions of the sun, moon, zodiacal constellations, and planets. The 'highlight' is an hourly display in which statues of the Apostles appear in the doorways above the clock, with Death (represented by the skeleton) striking the time. Like a lot of things the dirty ol' Nazis nearly destroyed this during World War II - bastards.

The whole display barely lasts a minute or two, but sure manages to pull the crowds hehe. After all that excitement, I needed something else to eat; a waffle covered with whipped cream and chocolate sauce went down a treat!
If delicious doughy things and waffles etc. don't appeal to you and you're more of a Maccas person, you'll be right at home in Prague - they're bloody everywhere!

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