On The Road Again - Pt 3 - Prague

Prague is a city I’ve always wanted to go too though I’m not entirely sure which movie it was that stirred this desire. I’ve never done any research; don’t remember any photos or movies based here (for some reason I had a Bond scene in my head, but now I’m not so sure it was filmed in Prague!) so I really was walking into a city that I knew nothing about.

Upon arrival we found out that Czech Republic still use their own currency so we changed our €125 into Kc 2,675 and suddenly we were rich! We got in around 8pm, caught a taxi that we prepaid for and then later saw on the meter that we’d paid four times the price, arrived at the hotel and after a whole day travelling quickly fell asleep.

After breakfast the next morning we watched a travel video on YouTube, did a quick study of a tour map and set off to explore Prague.

We started in the old town square, as that was where the bus dropped us. It’s a beautiful square, bustling with tourists and little shops selling food, souvenirs and puppets.



The main attraction in the square ‘The Astronomical Clock’ I found to be quite humorous. It is a stunning clock that was designed to show the movement of the time, date, sun, moon, stars and planets and every hour on the hour perform a little display. So hundreds of tourists stand in the square watching and waiting excitedly and then the clock strikes the hour and does its thing for around half a minute and when it finishes everyone cheers but a feeling of ‘is that all?’ lingers in the back of your mind as everyone disperses to get on with the day. And this happens hour after hour, day after day. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful clock, but I wouldn’t have blinded the designer over it – which apparently upon completion the people of Prague did so he couldn’t recreate this technical marvel anywhere else!





So we walked around checking out the sights; the Powder Tower, Opera house with various street art and then over to Charles Bridge. Around this time we started noticing something very interesting about Prague. Prague is full of ‘the best’. We were up to the third potential tower to climb and sitting out the front of the entrance is a sign that says ‘the best view of Prague’. The only thing is that that same description had been given at the clock tower and again at the Powder Tower. So we started looking out for ‘the best’ and found it everywhere! ‘The best ice cream in Prague’, ‘the best selection of Classic’ music, ‘the best museum in Prague’, ‘the best view of Prague’, ‘Prague’s best museum shop’. We found it so funny and it made for a great treasure hunt as we were exploring!











But according to the YouTube clip we’d watched the best view in Prague is in Petrin Park at the top of the mini-Eiffel Tower that they’ve built there. After a lot of drama, (we couldn’t find the entrance to the park as there was no sign, once we did enter we couldn’t find the tram that takes you up the steep hill to the tower, once we caught the tram we didn’t realise there were two stops so got off early and then had to wait for the next tram…) we finally got to the tower and did enjoy the best view from the top.



This is me going ‘seriously… COME ON’ while waiting at the middle tram stop!



There was also a small mirror maze nearby that we went to on a whim – it was okay – if it wasn’t for this photo I wouldn’t be commenting on it.



For dinner we found ourselves at a Cuban restaurant that boasted many famous guests, including Ed Norton. We were ushered to a table downstairs where a band started playing South American music, people were dancing all around and the food and Mojito’s were absolutely delicious! Andrew fulfilled a dream and ordered Absinth but found that they serve it straight and not with the spoon, sugar and water as he’d thought. They also had a cigar store upstairs so Andrew went up to get one and came back grinning with a story for me.

So he’d gone upstairs and asked to buy a small cigar. The lady at the store led him to the special storage area and made a recommendation. Upon acceptance he said he’d like to smoke it now so she cut the end for him and then lit a stick of wood and held it out for him. Andrew went to light the cigar as he normally would to which she, in horror, snatched it off him and proceeded to bathe the cigar in the flame, then tenderly light it and gently blew on it to make sure the embers were lighting correctly. Once she was satisfied with her work she handed it to Andrew with a ‘and that’s how it’s done’ look on her face. He said it was the best cigar he’s ever had! So we had a brilliant night, felt super rich blowing Kc1,500 on a meal, and went home in high spirits.

Day two and we had some chores to complete. Firstly we headed to the Australian Embassy to vote! Unfortunately, due to us sleeping in, we missed the voting window by 2.5hrs! Oops!

Secondly we had to go to the main train station to book our train tickets to Poland. So we caught our bus to the closest stop, got off and started walking in the direction that the trains were heading. We got to a point where we could see the station and started walking up a road that looked like it headed toward it when we realised we were actually walking up onto the freeway. So we turned around went down another road that circled around near the station but didn’t actually go to it. There was not one sign telling us where to go! Eventually I asked someone who looked local for help and he pointed toward a small gate and said ‘it’s not quite legal but I go that way every day, just walk through the gate and straight on.’ So through we walked and we found ourselves entering Prague train station from the tracks!



Once our chores were finished we headed over to Prague Castle where we spent the rest of the day. We stopped in the vineyard and enjoyed wine & cheese with the ‘best view of Prague’. We checked out the chapel and the cathedral, took a photo with the guard, saw the royal birds of prey and chilled out in the gardens. It was gorgeous and was especially great to take the afternoon slowly.





















Late in the day we realised that we were coming to the end of the first act in our journey. So we went back to the old town square, found our way to a bar we’d seen on one of the rooftops and enjoyed a final cocktail laughing as the crowd below cheered the Astronomical Clock celebrating a new hour.





Over the last four weeks we’ve visited London & Paris, driven to Rome and checked out Venice, Austria and Prague. We’ve spoken French, Italian, German and Czech, used three currencies, seen beautiful scenery both in the cities and in the countryside and started to forget what day it is. What an awesome journey we’ve experienced so far!

And now we travel to Poland to hang out with Andrew’s family for two weeks. It will be nice to have a change of pace, familiar faces and personal tour guides to take us around.


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On the Road Again - Pt 2 - Austria

After our driving trip and finding that the small out of the way places were some of the best we came across, Andrew & I decided to avoid the big cities in Austria and find something seriously small. The Alps drew our attention as we both love mountains so with a quick search we found a small town called Achenkirch that sat on a lake surrounded by mountains.

Two trains and two buses later we arrived. The two bus drivers we ran into were incredibly helpful. The first told us where we had to get off to make the transfer and the second took us straight to the front of the hotel. Lifesavers – both of them!

Achenkirch is a tiny little town. It sits at the far end of the Achensee lake and then spreads out into the valley. The mountains tower above, the ski slopes are clearly seen, though at the moment they are the greenest of green, and the clouds hover around the peaks. We sat in our room for ages looking out the huge window at the stunning view. Then dinner and off to bed.



Our first day we went out walking and found that it was fair day for the town! It was awesome! Festival atmosphere, dance om-pa music playing through the PA, steins of beer and people everywhere – loved it! We spent hours walking around, eating Bratwurst, watching the jumping castle, volleyball, boats on the lake and the major spectacle, the boat jousting competition! We went on the paddling boats, cruised around the lake and came back to a brass band playing Austrian Polka! We laughed to see that at the base of each music stand was a stein or two.











For the rest of the day we explored the town, found some cows being herded along the main road with bells around their necks and generally chilled out. It’s so relaxing to be out of the big cities.







The following day and Andrew convinced me to climb a mountain with him. So we stocked up on water, powerade & chocolate for energy and headed off. We followed a map to a waterfall then found a track that lead up. It was agonising but gorgeous. The trees, the view, the grass and flowers, the little waterfalls – everything was so beautiful and so green. We ended high above the town with stunning views over the valley below. That was until the clouds came rolling in.











From start to finish we walked for 6hrs, climbed over 600m vertically, got totally saturated in the rain, ran into more cows with their bells and one farmer with a mangy dog, and saw the most amazing views. Hiking in the Alps – absolutely beautiful! The hot shower at the end – priceless!





We finished the day with a massive Wiener Schnitzel and a beer. I have to make a point that the food was the best we’ve had this entire trip and the Austrians definitely know how to make seriously comfortable beds.



So now we’re on the train to Prague, Czech Republic. The mountains are gone behind us and the land is flat again. Auf Wiedersein Austria!

On The Road Again - Pt 1 - Venice

So we got on the train and headed up to Venice. The train ride was nice, first class all the way, and we watched Tuscany fly by out the window. We had gone online and pre-booked our accommodation, it was nice to not have that ‘where are we going to stay tonight’ feeling. We had been advised by many not to stay in Venice itself so we picked Mestre as it was the closest, just across the bridge in fact.



After non-stop travelling for nearly 3 weeks we decided to take a day off and chill out. So we stayed in our hotel room, watched some of the Arrested Development series I got for my birthday and Italian dubbed ‘Murder she Wrote’ on TV. We got refreshed and you all got a Rome blog out of it!





So we had one day in Venice and we walked out the door to find the weather had changed considerably. It was still warm but very cloudy, quite ominously. We caught the bus across to Venice and started walking through the warren of alleyways when the rain hit.

As the first drops started to fall a street vendor came out to sell umbrellas – perfect timing! The rain quickly got worse. We ended up sitting under a pergola, with a bunch of other frozen tourists, as the rain turned to a storm with thunder & lightning. But it past, leaving lots of puddles and we ventured out again.

We followed our noses, which lead us through many twists & turns, some dead ends but generally a good view of Venice. It really is a beautiful city, nice to not have any cars around. We found Ponte di Rialto, the main bridge across the Grand Canal. It’s a nice bridge, though covered with stores selling masks, t-shirts and all the normal tourist garb.





We walked to St Marks Square, which honestly, I wasn’t too impressed with. I think it didn’t help that there was a lot of restoration going on so half the basilica was covered in scaffolding and there was fencing all the way around the tower. Also the weather didn’t add to any wow factor either. But it meant that the line to the tower was short so we went up the top and got a good view of the city.











We stopped for lunch in a gorgeous restaurant where the huge Italian chef was flipping out the pizza's like a pro. I had to take a few spy photo's!





After lunch, with the clouds starting to clear, we went in search for a gondola. Andrew & I got lost in Venice looking for a gondola! We crossed the Grand Canal again at some point and kept walking, many times in circles, eventually finding a large looking body of water which we followed and after a great deal of time and the killing of my newly rested feet we found ourselves at the end of the point, on the wrong side of the canal! So we had to follow the canal back to the place where we had crossed over a couple of hours earlier where finally there was a gondola!











The first gondola we found and we took it, regardless of the fact that he was charging €20 more than everywhere else – desperate times, desperate measures! So we went along some of the Grand Canal and for a loop through a few canals, it wasn’t as grand as I’d expected but it was nice. The best bit was when a gondola with an accordion player and singer floated past – loved that, but was glad he wasn’t in our boat!







By then it was getting late so we walked back to the bus station to go home, following the signs closely this time. On the way we past by a violinist sitting on the steps of a cathedral playing a beautiful song. A little boy, enjoying the music, danced along. It was beautiful to watch, a nice end to a day full of adventure.





So now we sit on a train to Austria, looking out at the mountains and towns, about to say goodbye to Italy. It’s been a good week.