We didn't have much chance to be sad about the departure of Lois' family, as on early Wednesday morning we set off to Prague. Prague, for us in Bavaria, is actually closer than Berlin and after a 4 hour train journey we found ourselves in the capital of the Czech Republic.
I'm not going to beat about the bush. As we travelled through the Czech countryside, we weren't exactly filled with excitement. The Czech Republic is largely a pretty bleak looking place. We passed through many poor, run-down villages and it clearly showed signs of a country that had spent almost half the last century under communist rule. However the sight of a Tesco supermarket (That's right, Tesco!) was refreshing. It was the first Tesco we'd seen for over 2 months and despite its shabby appearance, there was something sentimental about seeing a British company, as we travelled even further from home.
We had obviously heard about all the 'negative' aspects that we would expect to experience on a visit to Prague. As we got off the train, we ensured bags were tightly closed and wallets were secure. It wasn't long before we were approached by two men offering to change our Euros into Czech Koruna, at a rate that was considerably better than the official currency exchanges. The man wasn't stupid and first of all tried to strike up a friendship by asking about London and saying how much he likes it there (I bet he's never even been!) He was pushy but not 'forceful' and we made it clear that we weren't going to be exchanging any money with him. We had done our research and found the best place to exchange money before we went, so we promptly found the shop and exchanged our Euros. Czech currency is very odd. Despite being in the EU, and being surrounded by countries that use the Euro, they've decided to keep a national currency just to be awkward (saying that, it's just occurred to me that the UK is exactly the same - I take it back) We both exchanged 100 Euros which gave us 2,750 Czech Koruna. 2,750! We both felt rich as we stuffed our two 1000 Koruna and several 100 Koruna notes into our wallets. We soon found out it's not as much as it sounds, when we visited Marks and Spencer (they like their British brands do the Czechs), which was a very surreal experience and found bread costing 37 Koruna (it works out about 1.50 Euros, so not as expensive as you first think) As you can see, the money took a bit of getting used to.
Our first impressions of Prague were not good. We felt uncomfortable at the sight of many of the dodgy looking characters hanging around the old square, there were lots of beggars, there wasn't much to see apart from the odd nice building and the shops were all tacky, souvenir shops. We checked into our apartment, which was just ok, but in a great location and went for a little wander. Our impression of Prague didn't change that much throughout the afternoon and we were left feeling a little disappointed that it hadn't quite lived up to expectations. As we were in an apartment, we decided to make the most of having cooking facilities and we cooked Spaghetti Bolognese for tea. We bought breakfast for the following, plus all the necessary ingredients for our evening meal and it cost the equivalent of 4 Euros - now that's cheap! Seeing as though it wasn't too late after tea, we decided to see what Prague was like in the evening - You may think we're either very brave or very stupid, but we were only going to be in Prague once! I'm really glad that we decided to do this, as it totally changed our opinion about Prague. We literally fell in love with the city after seeing it in the evening. The atmosphere was just so much more friendly and the way the buildings were lit up was spectacular. We went to the famous Charles Bridge and it was a hive of activity, but since many were also tourists, we felt safe. The city had totally changed and the small little back alleys were buzzing with people and people sat out enjoying drinks. A lot of the shops were still open and we discovered a different, nicer area of the city which we had missed before. It was cold so we didn't stay out long, but we returned with a new excitement and were looking forward to spending the next full day in this beautiful city.
Prague by night is beautiful
The next day started with a free walking tour of the city. We had discovered this online and it sounded great. We met at about 11 in the old town square and set off in a group on a 3 hour tour which took us around the whole city and showed us lots of points of interest. It was really interesting learning about the country of the Czech Republic, it's early history and how Prague became such an important city in Europe during this time. I found the more recent 20th Century history very interesting, especially the Nazi occupation, the resistance and the communist take over. We saw some wonderful buildings and monuments and it ended with a view of the castle (which is the biggest castle complex in the world, I'll have you know! - So big you can fit 87 White Houses within the castle complex! - See. I was listening) After a quick return to the apartment to warm up, we set off to visit the castle. This involved a walk and a tram journey as its right on the top of a hill, but once we got there we had a great view of the city. It really was a massive area and we didn't get chance to see a lot of it, but we had time to appreciate the amazing view of the city down below. It was early evening and the city was beginning to light up as the sun went down and it was just a perfect time to be there. We descended from the castle and on our way back to the apartment, we climbed the clock tower in the old town square. This again gave us a great view of the city, but from a much closer angle. It was scary looking down, but seeing any city from above at night time is pretty special. As it was our last evening in Prague, we decided to go out for our evening meal, so we found a lovely little Mexican restaurant (obviously!) and enjoyed some really tasty food washed down with a Czech beer. Perfect.
The view from the Castle
The famous Astronomical Clock. Installed in 1410 and it still tells the correct time!
This is also the clock tower we climbed to get a fantastic view of Prague at night
On Friday before it was time to leave, we were able to visit some of the market stalls in Wenceslas Square that had been recommended to us by our tour guide. We sampled some Medivina (honey wine) which was lovely and warming on what was such a cold day. We then grabbed a quick lunch at Bohemia Bagel, which consisted of delicious home made bagels and some soup - again very warming. You can tell it was cold! After this we got our train back to Regensburg and another place can be ticked off our list of places to visit.
Lois with MedivinaOn thing that must be said, is that because we don't understand the language, we both felt very rude when we spoke in English. I firmly believe that if you're in another country you should follow their customs and speak their language. This hasn't been an issue so far, since we can get by speaking German here, but in Prague, I did feel rude that I couldn't say anything in Czech. It wasn't an issue as most people can also speak English, but I wish I could have at least attempted to speak their language. It also made us appreciate just how cool it is to be able to speak another language. All in all, despite our initial doubts, we both came to love Prague by the end. It is a lovely city with some lovely sights and definitely worth a visit. We must also add, that contrary to it's reputation, we didn't come across any 'seediness'. I think it's one of those places that if you look, you can find whatever you want to find, but if not, then you wont come across it. It is very touristy and we heard lots of American accents. It's obviously a very popular destination for city breaks.
The weekend didn't really consist of much. We both have quite a bit to prepare for a busy first week back, so we helped each other with some lesson ideas. i.e. Lois helped me plan a lesson. We're both sad that half term is over already (it always goes so fast!) but we're already planning a few more trips away before the year is out. It is also now November and December is therefore only around the corner, which we're both super excited about. We're looking forward to experiencing some real German Christmas Markets but most of all, we cant wait to go home for Christmas.
Now it's back into German mode!
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