This was the last bit of my European trip/10-year reunion tour, and I was meeting up with Mindy in an impetuous and exciting end to the holiday.
I had to be up at 5am (yuck!) to get my train, but it was easy to get to the station thank to Berlin's U-Bahn being up and running at that time. Got myself a cheeky wee picnic for the train, and a breakfast of rice pudding and jam which was surprisingly tasty.
The train was one with the little compartments, and I was sharing mine with a lovely German lady who knitted a pair of slippers the whole way, and a young and enthusiastic Chinese student who was up and snapping photos at every town we went to. It was actually pretty endearing, he was so stoked about everything! The scenery was pretty damn stunning, I don't blame him one bit.
We had a bit of a delay at Dresden as they needed a whole new loco, which explained why it was moving very, very slowly through the countryside. Things speeded up considerably, though we were still about an hour late getting into Prague.
I got a slightly alarming taxi to the North of the city where the hostel is and where Mindy was waiting. We were staying at Sir Toby's, recommended to me by both Katherine's, and it was absolutely fantastic. Clean, well-priced and with a lovely bar in the basement. I was so impressed.
We headed (on the wrong tram, initially) into town, to have a snook round and find ourselves a lunch. It was another lovely day, so strolling through the Old Town was an absolute pleasure.
Lunch was pasta with inexplicable pickles for me, I can't remember what Mindy had. We both hoped that the bill wasn't an omen for the weekend...
There was more strolling, sunshine and long-overdue catching up. We managed to find a door that was perfectly Mindy-sized too!
After the walk, we felt we deserved a couple of beers and a good dinner. The hostel is in a residential area, so there's a lot of more local places to go. Granted, we still went for Italian, but I had a big bowl of gnocchi and Mindy had a pizza. And we both had a couple of beers. And then went back to the hostel for more beers. We did the usual trick of meeting other hostel denizens, and chatted until about 1.30am before it was time to call it a night!
After our beer consumption the night before, we had a lovely slow start to the day and picked up some pastries and coffee to enjoy in the sunshine on the Charles Bridge while we did some people watching.
We headed up to the Castle, and had a look round St. Vitus' Cathedral. It was really stunning, but very, very busy. I suppose I was used to having places to myself, but it was a Saturday after all. It was still a fantastic place.
We headed to the Loreta church, which houses a lot of very old, very sparkly altar pieces. There's one which contains over six thousand diamonds, and is housed in a room that doubles as an enormous vault. It felt a bit like the room with the Honours of Scotland at Edinburgh Castle.
After that, we headed to Wenceslas' Square to see the Museum and take in the sights. There was a group of folk waving flags and singing in Czech, so we watched for a while. Until they started handing out bibles, then we ran away.
We had dinner near the Square at a place called Noodles. Not surprisingly, it serves any and all kinds of noodles, from spaghetti to udon. It was pretty damn awesome. And then it was time to hit the hay after our late night the evening before.
We went to the Jewish Quarter the next morning, round the beautiful, if crowded graveyard, and the Franz Kafka statues. This holiday was an education in the persecution of a people, it's so hard to wrap your head round an inexplicable hatred that's been in existence for centuries, if not millennia.
Mindy was due to catch her flight that evening, so we caught a late lunch by the hostel, and had a relaxed afternoon (and beers) until it was time for her to get a taxi. It seemed like the weekend had gone by in a flash, but it was such a fantastic chance to see her. I'm so pleased she came out!
I will admit to drowning my sorrows a little after she left. I ended up playing drinking games with the Canadians resident in the hostel before tottering a little unsteadily to bed at 2am. This is why hostels are the best.
I had a last full day to myself, at large in Prague. Yes, I did more strolling, but it was strolling with an aim in mind. My guidebook had a whole series of walks, so I took in the historical sights.
There was a giant metronome above the river.
Local tradition seems to hold that shoes get chucked over the wire that powers it.
I took in the castle again, and enjoyed the cute little details I hadn't noticed before.
There were some ticked-off looking birds of prey, which were amenable to getting petted.
I went to Slav Island, in the middle of the river, which looks like it would be the most incredible place to be in summer. There's pedalos and river cruises, it's really gorgeous.
And then up to the dancing house, which was built like that to let the house behind it have a view and some daylight in the windows. It made my eyes go a wee bit funny, I'll admit.
I had my lunch at the Globe Cafe, which was a guidebook recommendation. If you, dear reader, should ever go, try the door before walking away. It's a dark bookshop with a lovely cafe in the back, and looks pretty closed from the front. Give the door a rattle, it's worth it.
I needed a walk back after a huge lunch of falafel, took a well-earned nap and then headed out for a VERY garlic-y pizza for my last dinner. And yes, I had more beer in the hostel. I had to, it was my last night!
Got the 11am flight back to Edinburgh, and was home by the early afternoon. Just in time to get my washing done, and get ready to start my new job at the Science Centre. Phew!
I'm itching to plan some more adventures. I'm still proud as all-get-out that I did all of that myself. I mean, I wasn't alone in the end, but that was because my friends are globe-trotting legends. I was originally expecting to be away on my tod, but it was neither as scary nor as difficult as I thought it was going to be. I'll be doing that again.
I had to be up at 5am (yuck!) to get my train, but it was easy to get to the station thank to Berlin's U-Bahn being up and running at that time. Got myself a cheeky wee picnic for the train, and a breakfast of rice pudding and jam which was surprisingly tasty.
The train was one with the little compartments, and I was sharing mine with a lovely German lady who knitted a pair of slippers the whole way, and a young and enthusiastic Chinese student who was up and snapping photos at every town we went to. It was actually pretty endearing, he was so stoked about everything! The scenery was pretty damn stunning, I don't blame him one bit.
We had a bit of a delay at Dresden as they needed a whole new loco, which explained why it was moving very, very slowly through the countryside. Things speeded up considerably, though we were still about an hour late getting into Prague.
I got a slightly alarming taxi to the North of the city where the hostel is and where Mindy was waiting. We were staying at Sir Toby's, recommended to me by both Katherine's, and it was absolutely fantastic. Clean, well-priced and with a lovely bar in the basement. I was so impressed.
We headed (on the wrong tram, initially) into town, to have a snook round and find ourselves a lunch. It was another lovely day, so strolling through the Old Town was an absolute pleasure.
Lunch was pasta with inexplicable pickles for me, I can't remember what Mindy had. We both hoped that the bill wasn't an omen for the weekend...
There was more strolling, sunshine and long-overdue catching up. We managed to find a door that was perfectly Mindy-sized too!
After the walk, we felt we deserved a couple of beers and a good dinner. The hostel is in a residential area, so there's a lot of more local places to go. Granted, we still went for Italian, but I had a big bowl of gnocchi and Mindy had a pizza. And we both had a couple of beers. And then went back to the hostel for more beers. We did the usual trick of meeting other hostel denizens, and chatted until about 1.30am before it was time to call it a night!
After our beer consumption the night before, we had a lovely slow start to the day and picked up some pastries and coffee to enjoy in the sunshine on the Charles Bridge while we did some people watching.
We headed up to the Castle, and had a look round St. Vitus' Cathedral. It was really stunning, but very, very busy. I suppose I was used to having places to myself, but it was a Saturday after all. It was still a fantastic place.
We headed to the Loreta church, which houses a lot of very old, very sparkly altar pieces. There's one which contains over six thousand diamonds, and is housed in a room that doubles as an enormous vault. It felt a bit like the room with the Honours of Scotland at Edinburgh Castle.
After that, we headed to Wenceslas' Square to see the Museum and take in the sights. There was a group of folk waving flags and singing in Czech, so we watched for a while. Until they started handing out bibles, then we ran away.
We had dinner near the Square at a place called Noodles. Not surprisingly, it serves any and all kinds of noodles, from spaghetti to udon. It was pretty damn awesome. And then it was time to hit the hay after our late night the evening before.
We went to the Jewish Quarter the next morning, round the beautiful, if crowded graveyard, and the Franz Kafka statues. This holiday was an education in the persecution of a people, it's so hard to wrap your head round an inexplicable hatred that's been in existence for centuries, if not millennia.
Mindy was due to catch her flight that evening, so we caught a late lunch by the hostel, and had a relaxed afternoon (and beers) until it was time for her to get a taxi. It seemed like the weekend had gone by in a flash, but it was such a fantastic chance to see her. I'm so pleased she came out!
I will admit to drowning my sorrows a little after she left. I ended up playing drinking games with the Canadians resident in the hostel before tottering a little unsteadily to bed at 2am. This is why hostels are the best.
I had a last full day to myself, at large in Prague. Yes, I did more strolling, but it was strolling with an aim in mind. My guidebook had a whole series of walks, so I took in the historical sights.
There was a giant metronome above the river.
Local tradition seems to hold that shoes get chucked over the wire that powers it.
I took in the castle again, and enjoyed the cute little details I hadn't noticed before.
There were some ticked-off looking birds of prey, which were amenable to getting petted.
I went to Slav Island, in the middle of the river, which looks like it would be the most incredible place to be in summer. There's pedalos and river cruises, it's really gorgeous.
And then up to the dancing house, which was built like that to let the house behind it have a view and some daylight in the windows. It made my eyes go a wee bit funny, I'll admit.
I had my lunch at the Globe Cafe, which was a guidebook recommendation. If you, dear reader, should ever go, try the door before walking away. It's a dark bookshop with a lovely cafe in the back, and looks pretty closed from the front. Give the door a rattle, it's worth it.
I needed a walk back after a huge lunch of falafel, took a well-earned nap and then headed out for a VERY garlic-y pizza for my last dinner. And yes, I had more beer in the hostel. I had to, it was my last night!
Got the 11am flight back to Edinburgh, and was home by the early afternoon. Just in time to get my washing done, and get ready to start my new job at the Science Centre. Phew!
I'm itching to plan some more adventures. I'm still proud as all-get-out that I did all of that myself. I mean, I wasn't alone in the end, but that was because my friends are globe-trotting legends. I was originally expecting to be away on my tod, but it was neither as scary nor as difficult as I thought it was going to be. I'll be doing that again.
No comments:
Post a Comment