It's Prague time!

So after another early morning wake-up we got on the train to spend 6 hours travelling to Prague. We've invariably heard that it's the most beautiful city in Europe but have also recently heard that we need to be very careful with our stuff as gypsies there will take everything that's not nailed down. And if it is nailed down, apparently they'll steal the nails as well. One group had been sleeping in tents while gypsies had been coming in the night, climbing over the sleeping occupants and rifling through their gear as well as even taking valuables that were under their pillows. One hostel apparently even had the door to a room kicked in so that they could take the belongings from inside.

Nothing like that was set to befall us though, as we got to our hostel and found that the place as absolutely fantastic. It had massive rooms (of which Sarah and I were the only people in our one) and giant, super-clean showers. Definitely one of the better hostels we'd been in!

Before even making it that far though, we had an interesting time in the train station. Se, the Czech Republic still operates on its own currency. The problem here is therefore getting off the train and trying to guess how much money you'll need to take out in order to not have a massive fistful of change at the end of the stay. We did a guess and chose 2000 of the local currency from the ATM. Which then proceeded to give us a 2000 note. Which no shop would accept because it was so huge. One quick trip to Burger King later though, and we were in business.

We knew where we wanted to go, but had no idea how the local train ticket system worked. Luckily there was a bum who had cornered this market. He stood by the machines helping people figure out how to work them and which ticket to buy. When you'd gotten your ticket he promptly asked for any change you'd received. A nice little boutique business if you ask me. It was shortly after this that we stopped paying for public transport entirely in Prague though. I mean, if they ask for a ticket I'm just going to shrug and possibly yell at them in a poor American accent.

Once we'd booked into the hostel we went for a walk to the castle. In the center of the castle is a church which is so strong with gothic architecture that it slaps you in the face and demands you either believe in God or start crying. Seriously, I'm a little surprised Batman didn't come swinging down from this thing and kick my ass. There are gargoyles everywhere, curves and twists… It was the most daunting building I've ever seen.

Out the front of the castle we'd noticed guards at the entrance, one on each side, much like you'd expect at Buckingham palace. And just like Buckingham palace there were tourists acting like complete douchebags getting their photos taken next to the poor guys just trying to do their jobs. I mean, these guys are highly trained experts doing their jobs. They're not street performers. How many tourists take photos of them trying to make the guy at the kebab shop laugh and mess up his job? None, that's how many. But for some reason there's some glib satisfaction in doing it to these guys. My favourite part actually came when we were lucky enough to just randomly be there for the changing of the guard. Here's something I was not aware of; when the new guards come in, they get about 30 seconds to quickly rearrange their hair, cap, clothes, junk, have a scratch, basically to get comfy for their shift.

After all this there was a stroll to the museum of torture implements. There's not really a lot to say about it, but I will say this. It really cements my hatred for the church in some ways. Which part of "though shalt not kill" didn't they understand?

Finally we finished it off with a meal at a typical Prague inn. Where I had my suspicions confirmed; everywhere you eat in Europe must have access to a "Best of the 80's" CD because that's all they play.

Anyways, I'm actually typing this in bed so I'll cut it short here and get ready for the rest of Prague tomorrow!

Fun Fact: There are actually people who live in idyllic little houses in the middle of nowhere. I have no idea what they do, but I've seen so many of them that I now know they definitely exist. Unfortunately, no matter how quaint they look, there's only so many hours you can take of looking at them through a train window before you become incredibly bored.