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We reluctantly left the beautiful mountain town of Fussen in the snowy weather and headed by train to Prague. The journey took 8 hours of travelling, and we nearly sat in the wrong end of the train that ended in Germany rather than the Czech Republic. The Czech train weren't really up to our previous European standards, without any free WiFi or power plug-ins. But we did get a small six seater cabin to ourselves with a huge window to watch the tree covered hills and huge industrial factories whizz by.
We arrived to a modern station, that we would later find out is rare in the Czech Republic. We quickly jumped on the tube to head to our apartment. It was a cute flat, but after heading out to get ingredients for dinner we realised the boiler had stopped working and we were without hot water or heating. Of course this was just as our second special guest, Nicole's Dad Andy, was arriving by taxi. But don't worry they gave us a bigger appartment with heating straight away.
Andy has actually written his version of events for his arrival and the first of our two days exploring Prague.
" My meeting with Nicole and Matt in Prague seemed to whizz past and before I knew it I was being herded onto the plane from Gatwick with all the other Easy Jet customers. A Short flight and a knowledgeable cabby delivered me to the Old Carolina Apartments. It's at all continental sounding but it was certainly authentic in its large courtyard architecture. Accessed through a stone archway the apartments went up 8 floors with a small bar and restaurant on the ground floor.
Seeing Matt waving from the first floor apartment I hurried up to greet them both. Only to discover that we were moving to another apartment but this time with hot water! The new two bedroom accommodation was amply proportioned and obviously more in keeping with my high non-traveller standards. It was so nice to meet our adventurers after such a long while and I couldn't wait until the stories of their trip started to flow. Matthew had prepared a meal of pasta and beer which was most welcome after my own travel.
We were situated in the old part of town with easy access to all the sights. After our breakfast of eggs and more eggs, we set out to explore this beautiful city. Through the ancient cobbled streets we headed to the famous Charles Bridge. The oldest bridge in Prague dating back to the 14th century. Although the bridge itself wasn't too flamboyant in design, it was decorated with dark stone statues and a cobbled pathway and was still impressive to view. It looked over the river (no name) onto the palace and cathedral. The fantastic views made this area popular with visitors who were photographing from ever conceivable angle! A few musical entertainers performed on the bridge which added to the touristic atmosphere.
We crossed the river to visit the other side of the city. The modern feeling Palace was put to shame by the Medieval cathedral in its courtyard. The painted church glass windows depicted biblical scenes that lit up the building in different magical colours. To think they built all of this without machinery and computers was incredible and it helped us understand the level of skill and bravery these people must of had.
Soup and coffee for lunch in a small local cafe, and off to the other side of the bridge to visit the Astronomical Clock. The clock was a spectacle in itself, as it strikes the hour 12 apostle statues pop their head out of two windows. This easily pleased the tourist and many many selfies followed, where they all end up we will never know... Maybe a virtual cloud base? The obsession of using selfie sticks in nearly all situations is a strange thing to witness. With the ritual of huddling around the stick leader every 10 minutes or so rather than enjoying the beautiful view of this old church and the magnificent square it stands in.
The evening was spent trying but failing in our attempt of making a homemade pizza. We then ventured out to the pubs of Prague for a couple of local beers and some applewood cider for Nicole."
The city itself was stunning with a mixture of the Georgian buildings we had seen in Vienna to the Medieval stone brick work of churches and cathedrals like Munich. It was similar to Rome in the sense that every road we walked down was coated in cobbles and ornate colourful buildings,we had something beautiful to admire around every corner in the freezing cold weather.
The second day we challenged ourselves to a steep climb up the top of the Petrin Hill Park. This happened to be the day that Nicole had decided to put extra layers on, due to being so cold the previous day. Which she regretted and the layers started to slowly be peeled off and deposited with Matthew with each step. Once at the top of the park we continued on with our next climb up the miniature Eiffel Tower building. Although it is barely as tall as the real thing the structure still had beautiful views on the city and a load of steps to climb! Andy's legs actually got a bit wobbly as he remembered his fear of heights half way up!
After all this exercise we rewarded ourselves with a hot chocolate and slab of cake! Apparently the hot chocolate is meant to be divine in Prague, and it didn't disappoint with lots of flavours to choose from and a seriously thick consistency it was like drinking melted chocolate! Although Matt may disagree as his seriously thick and sweet hot chocolate was a bit too much for him. We ended up heading back for a rest and popped out later to browse the shops and try a local sweet treat Trdelnik Rings of pastry cooked with sugar and walnuts. We ended our night in a lovely vaulted ceiling restaurant, for a decent slap up meal to celebrate our time in the city.
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