Travel is about adventure...or so we reminded ourselves at 6pm yesterday when we boarded the sleeper in Amsterdam to see that the cabin we would be sleeping in was smaller than my wardrobe. Oh well, we were not concerned as we had decided to head for the dining car to romantically wine and dine our way through the next few hours, with a plan to come back to our little cell in the wee hours to sleep until we arrive in Prague the next morning. Good Plan.
After much searching up and down the train we were advised that there was no dining car on this train. Absolute silence follwed by loud screams of "Noooo..." echoed through the corridors of the train as we realised that for the next 16 hours not only would we be in Cell Block H, but we would also be on 'air only' diet. With our shoulders and chins dragging on the ground we made the lonely journey back to our cell, miserable. About 1 hour later our prayers were answered with the advice that the Cabin Purser could sell us some light snacks and alcohol. Brilliant! Cell doors flung open throughout the train as our fellow inmates ran and crammed in front of the Pursers pantry room for provisions. (Phew, we weren't the only ones not to get the memo!) I sent Rossco to the scrum to see what he could muster. We sat in our cell 10 minutes later with our train sandwiches and warm beers, thankful to the train snack gods. We enjoyed the scenery as we passed through Düsseldorf and Cologne and once fed and watered we decided the best thing to do was to get an early night and as much sleep as possible before arriving in Prague.
To our surprise we both slept really well. The bunks were comfy and the rocking of the carriages is actually conducive to sleeping. We awoke in Berlin, where our carriages were being changed to another train. The morning was spent with our eyes glued to the windows of the train as we passed through picturesque towns in Germany and Czech Republic, before arriving at our destination at around 10am.
From the moment we laid our eyes on Prague we were both in love! Prague is beautiful, its streets and buildings are stunning. Around every corner is something unexpected that takes your breath away. The best way that I can describe the streetscape is that time had been put on hold here. There are no skyscrapers in the old city and very few modern buildings. Every building has a unique charm that separates it from others. A photographers dream.
We hopped onto a river Cruise of the shimmering Vltava river. From this vantage we could see some of the most beautiful aspects of the city on both sides of the river; Prague Castle, Charles Bridge, spires of St Nicholas Church, the Gothic spires of St. Vitus Cathedral, the Gothic Powder Tower, and the Petrin Lookout Tower.
After the cruise we snaked our way back to our hotel through the old town via Josefov (the Jewish Quarter) where we saw Vysoká synagoga which dates back to the 16th century. Market stalls lined the small cobblestone streets in the area. We headed to Staroměstské náměstí (the Old Town Square) a historic square in the Old Town quarter of Prague. In this one square we saw various architectural styles including the gothic Týn Church and baroque St. Nicholas Church amongst wall to wall buildings from various different periods. At the centre is a statue of religious reformer Jan Hus, who for his beliefs was burned at the stake in Constance. The square is also home to a memorial to martyrs with 27 crosses imbedded in the pavement to represent those Bohemian Protestant Nobles who were beheaded in the square, branded heretics, in 1620 on the Day of Blood. On the way back to our hotel we got a close look at the Gothic Powder Tower in Old Town which is spectacular.
Our Hotel is the Imperial Art Deco Hotel, which as the name suggests is full of Art Deco styling - we feel like we're on the set of the Great Gatsby (the Robert Redford and Mia Farrow 1974 version). We were offered a room upgrade to a suite which is huge, it even has two toilets! We dined at the Hotel's Original Art Deco dining room which has walls and ceilings covered in Mosaic tile designs dating back to the 1920s. We retired to our room to rest up for our further exploration of this great city tomorrow.