Gday loyal readers Cathy here to update you our adventures.

On Tues 14th after our flight from Florence via Zurich we arrived in the quirky wonderland that is Prague. The hotel was right on Kinsky Gardens so is only a 10 or 15 min walk into the old town. Upon being shown to our room at the hotel we came crashing down to earth. The room they had put us in smelt like a nightclub the morning after - that nice smoky smell. I'm convinced we could have cut the carpet and curtains up and cornered the nicotine patch market in Prague. So using our best Czech we rang the desk and asked if they spoke english. Not understanding their reply we spoke in English anyway and negotiated a move. Like platform 10 and three quarters in Harry Potter a mysterious non smoking floor appeared between reception and level 2. The room was bigger, smelt better and had at least been renovated in the post communist periiod. Prague was looking up!

Our next request was for an ATM to grab some Krowns as we were now out of Euroland. After asking at least 3 people who all informed us the Unicredit bank was 440m away now matter who, where and when we asked. So that afternoon we walked from the hotel over the river, saw charles bridge, wandered the old town and eventually found a Citibank atm 5km from the hotel!! Walking back to the hotel we eventually saw 27 atms so we are not sure if the city engineers had just put them in in the time it took us to walk into town or if we were just in awe of the Czech architecture and had just missed them all.

The first night after a recommendation by the guy at the hotel wa had the best dinner down by Kampa park near the river. Safran in ricni street - castle side of the river 1 bridge down from Charles bridge. Fabulous meal and service. I had safron risotto with prawns and baby octopus. Krista has been banned from shellfish meals since our little adventure in Portovenere. Krista had a Tuna steak and agreed with me it was a fabulous meal. So we had to have dessert - the guy burned the creme brulee in front of me and it was marvelous. We liked Prague.

On the wed after a great breakfast at the hotel we made a list of the things we wanted to see and started walking out and ticking boxes. Thankfully somewhere else in the world offered a fenicular so we knew what our first priority was. Prague has the quirkiest art work - in the park on the way to the finicular was a memorial to the fallen from the Communist era. Really moving piece. As feniculars go the one up Petrin hill was pretty good - it gave a view of the river, the town and the castle. As it was raining we toured the rose gardens and saw the eiffel tower look alike on the top of the hill. Beautiful gardens. There is also the hunger wall which was a work for food scheme about 700 years ago.

The czech artist David Cerny has quirky sculptures all around town - the pi$$ing sculpture outside the Franz Kafka museum. It is 2 robotic figures standing in a pool the shape of czech and they are pi$$ing out water and writing famous quotes from czech literature. you can even sms the statues and they write what you put in your text. Unreallllll Cerny also has the upside down horse in an art nouveau shopping mall off wenceslas square. The mall was under renovation but we saw the horse. Another quirky piece.

So we walked Charles Bridge in the rain, saw the astronomical clock in the old town square, saw the powder gate, ticked off the municipal house and an opera house or so. Wenceslas square is off course rectangular but interesting. Many different plaques for sacrifices make during communism. Then we took our weary legs home via the tram. Our lun ch and dinner choices were not great and we ate none of the food recommended by Trish.

On thursday we caught the fenicular up to Petrin Hill and then walked to the Strahov monastery and then down to the castle - great views. We could have spent a full day in the castle but only spent 4 or so hours. Saw the noon changing of the guards and walked thought the various galleries and exhibitions. We walked back down to town and went into the jewish quarter and saw the synagogues and cemetaries but decided not to go in. In the old town square we went to a Salvador Dali exhibition and a art nouveau artist Mucha exhibition. Ron would have been very jealous and so would Deb. Dinner that night was in a restaurant called Olympia and we had true Prague fare - Krista had a huge tray of dead animals of various descriptions and declared them delicious. I cant remember the name of my dinner - it was a hot pot of pork and vegetables and potato pancakes- it was great. A very busy restaurant that was in the Michelin book apparantly. We walked the long way home to work that one off. Prague feels like a safe city - as long as you are away from the british bucks party weekends. Prague is a big destination for UK weekenders who like the cheap and plentiful prague beer.

On the friday we booked out of the hotel as we were being picked up at 2pm for our flight to Dubai. We hot footed it to the Wallenstein gardens where I met my first white peacock. Fabulous gardens. We then headed over to Cafe Savoy for our last lunch in Europe. Like all the architecture in Prague the cafe was fabulous with great ceilings and the food was top class. Prague was a joy and we should ahve stayed longer - next time!!!

Hello, Kristansky here ... the internet connection in Prague has been frustratingly slow and mostly ineffective - hence the late blog. Having root canal work would have been less painful. Still, here are my musings - well preserved and piquant, like a pickled boar's ear....

As you have probably guessed by now, one of my goals on the 'Bobbsey Twins European Tour' has been to indulge in the culinary delights of each of the countries that we visit. Let it be known that by the time we got to the Czech Republic, I was hankering for a kransky and cabbage meal in a way that made me want to wear a men's flannelette shirt and sing mountain songs (but not that 'My Favourite Things' one from the Sound of Music).

Of course I certainly had reservations about the quality of my Czech language skills, which were on par with my Northern American inuit. Cath wasn't much help either as her Czech only improves proportionally to the number of rum and cokes she has. Written Czech is like some Slavic-hieroglyphics so you can imagine my unease with the thought of unwittingly selecting bull's testicles for breakfast. Luckily I remembered that these are, in fact, a delicacy of Italy, not the Czech Republic (Remember those breakfast 'rissoles' I suggested you try in Rome Cath?). Ah, we can laugh about that one later.

I was finally satiated by a traditional Prague meal on our last night which included the aforementioned kransky (hot and spicy - I could add something here but children may be reading this blog), three types of cabbage (boiled, par-boiled, and over-boiled), half a roasted duck, a Moravian sparrow (which I am really hoping is not on the European Endangered Animals Listing), and a chunk of pork that would have rendered the contributing porcine quite stationary. Did I mention the three types of dumpling that came with it? I had to down a few litres of Budvar pivo (beer), the dark one, to help boost my iron levels for the digestion event that was to come. While I did my best, by the end of the evening, I felt I had morphed into Henry the VIII, but in a way that was strangely appealing.

I would like to take this opportunity to confirm an urban myth ...yes, you really can have a 'protein sweat' after a big, meaty meal. Of course, of more concern was the thought that the bevy of bovines in my belly may seek their own revenge ... in time. Cathy was increasingly nervous around me as the evening wore on and simply refused to play my favourite post-kranksy game, 'Pull My Finger'.

Strangely enough, by the next morning I was left totally unaffected to which I credit my mother's strong Slavic genetics - I know she would be proud. As we leave Prague, I'd like to salute the humble kransky, that unofficial icon of the Czech Republic, as another Wonder of Krista's culinary World.

In case you're wondering, in between the food stops, Cath and I also indulged in the local cultural scene and went to see the 'Beatles Exhibition' at the Museum ... 'Love, Love Me Do-sky' and other exhibits, castles, clocks, town squares, and bridges. It was terrific. Other things l loved about Prague were the life-sized dolls house' buildings, the creative artistic works as Cath has mentioned, the fabulous tea houses with their Renaissance ceilings and chandeliers, Tram 22, the stenciled graffiti art on the walls, and of course, you just can't go past a good funicular. There were also the gelati at Cathy's favourite gelateria, 'Cream and Dream' (which I thought was a bit of an unfortunate name for a food outlet).

Farewell lovely Prague. We have left our hearts, minds and most of our digestive tract here. Thanks also to the kindly Valeria from the Kinsky Gardens Hotel Reception, Vlad the Smiling Porter from Stalag 13, the ATMs who eventually gave us some 'schlotskies', and Schmirnoff the chef at the Kransky Bar. God Bless you all.