We crossed the border

This morning we all said our farewells to the city of Prague and the good times from the Czech Republic. Leaving at 8am, we made our way in the direction of the German border with our sights set on the township of Dresden.

In Dresden itself, our tour leader took us on a guided walk of some of the important main city buildings. Many of the buildings were severely bombed during WWII, which meant that their facades were a mixture of original and replacement sandstone blocks. The colour difference made it easy to pick the sheer devastation that Dresden endured.

This was also an opportunity to try some more German food for lunch. We both had the Bratwurst and sauerkraut special. This was quite nice. They really love their sausages over here. Not a typical staple meal of ours, but we have enjoyed their cuisine.

Next stop, Berlin!!!! Woot! Instead of taking us straight to the hotel, we were taken around on a driving tour of the city. We pulled up in the bus and got out at Treptower Park - a Russian war memorial, dedicated to the 50,000 Russian soldiers lost in the Battle of Berlin during WWII. This monument consisted of the red marble taken directly from Hitler's office after his demise and had a very powerful vibe.

Once back on the bus, it was a drive pass some important landmarks to orient us for our upcoming free time. Stopping at the East-Side Gallery section of the Berlin Wall, where we got out again, was definitely a highlight. After that, we cruised passed Alexanderplatz, the East German telecommunications tower known as the toothpick, Checkpoint Charlie, then on to the Topograph of Terror monument - former home to both the Gustapo and the SS.

Potsdamerplatz was within the controversial 'dead zone' in former East Berlin and was also interesting to see. Finally we saw the stirring Jewish Holocaust memorial, whilst on the bus, before continuing pass the Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag government building and the Victory monument.

Tonight's dinner was at the Berlin Hofbraühaüs. Only one stein each, as the combination of the beer and the three course meal was mega filling. We started with a tasty broth and moved onto the most unbelievable pork knuckle with crackling, sauerkraut and a potato dumpling! Winner! It was so good, our mouths are actually watering writing this blog. Nom, nom, nom!

We finished with one drink down at the bar at our hotel with some of the group, then people were keen to finish up...as were we. From what we've seen so far of Berlin, we are really looking forward to our exploration of this history-rich city tomorrow!

Czeching royalty

This morning we just made it up before breakfast finished, which we could have just missed. Mini hotdogs, weird coloured cheese, salads and cold meat isn't an overly enticing breakfast.

Anyway, we got out of there and onto the metro about 11:30 and headed for town. Now that we are back on a Top Deck tour, they always seem to stay a bit further out of town. This isn't too bad though, as the hotels are close to the metro and Top Deck provide tickets.

We'd had a good couple of days exploring the beautiful city of Prague, so we felt we had seen a great deal. It was obvious that we needed to cross the river and visit the castle. The stair climb to the top was pretty hard after having done very limited exercise during the trip. We enjoyed the many different buskers along the way, especially the trio playing classical in their old style outfits.

We decided to take on the bell tower's spiral staircase at Prague Castle. This was hard work, but certainly worth the effort and the stunning views we encountered at the end of the big climb. As a separate ticket, we bought the short trip castle ticket, which allowed us to enter four of the eight castle buildings. We didn't really want to be there all day, so the short trip was about right.

After going inside one of the main churches, we were surprised with the changing of the guard ceremony. The police bike part was a little like synchronised swimming and good to watch. Got that on film. Woot! It was a good atmosphere around the place, with the band pumping it out during the entire ceremony.

The final section of the four part ticket was called the Golden Lane. This was basically an area in the backstreets where shops were set up behind glass, showing equipment and costumes of the day when people lived there. It also housed medieval styled amour and an actual interactive crossbow section.

Rich: I had a go, but the first shot totally missed the target. Second shot, a slight improvement - it hit the outer ring for 40 points, but the final shot totally missed again. I'm the world's worst crossbow man. No one likes a smart arse...next guy, straight in and bang bullseye! Move on buddy!

It was around 3pm by this stage, so it was definitely time to head towards the Old Town area for a nice long lunch. We sat at a fabulous restaurant called Hotel U Prince which had a massive outdoor eating area and was very close to the Astronomical Clock. This was a very good place for people watching and kicking back.

We originally wanted to hang in town and stay in the square for the Germany Italy UEFA Cup semi final, but we were pretty tired. We opted to go back to our hotel for a rest for a couple of hours and forged a plan to meet with others later on. We sat down at the outdoor restaurant at the hotel and had a few drinks. We once again met some nice guys from Germany and the Czech Republic, who we all chatted to for quite a while.

Unfortunately the bar closed at 10pm, so we had to leave and go to another place nearby which was actually easy to find. We wanted to see the rest of the match and couldn't believe that they finished up so early. Soccer is big here and is shown in so many places, but not at the 'fun police' hotel!

The Germans were the tournament favourites, but were defeated in a commanding performance by the Italians. The final is in a couple of nights when we get into Amsterdam, so we are definitely going for the Italians over the Spaniards.

Czech Mate!

Apparently Czech archaeologists found convincing evidence that during the transition period between paganism and Christianity, the belief in vampires was widespread throughout Czech territory....luckily we are still walking freely during the day, but take refuge at night in our hotel. We think that the local pub crawl is a ruse to capture their prey!

Anyway, this morning we headed out late and checked out at the same time, so that we could do our planned river cruise with lunch on Vltava River. There were only seven passengers on board, which enhanced or opportunities for great photos. The weather for this cruise was really quite perfect - around about 24 degrees. The three tour groups spoke three different languages, which was easily accommodated for by our multi-linguistic tour guide. This guy said that he could speak eleven languages as he was a journalist for many years. His fluency seemed unbelievable to us and we were highly impressed.

The cruise itself took us on a lovely scenic tour of the city. We viewed many historic sights including Charles Bridge, the Pilsner Brewery, National Theatre, parliament buildings, a very modern Frank Gehry building called Fred and Ginger and several other interesting sights along the way. We were held up a could of times awaiting the lock to fill and empty respectively, so that we could move into different parts of the river, but other than that it was lovely.

We disembarked just before 2pm and headed for a walked in the direction of Charles Bridge again. The tourists packed the entire bridge along with some musicians and a range of market stalls. Next was a walk around some nice gardens in an area called Kampa Island. Further along we stopped at Strelecky Island where we purchased some pricey Coke (Coca-cola) at a whopping 30 Czech crowns each. This was expensive for the Czech Republic, but not at home, considering their beers were less than this. $1.43 each...sorry no tip for you! We've given heaps of tips, but not when we know we've been ripped! Hahahaha!

It was back to the hotel to collect our stuff and head out to the Top Deck hotel meeting point. We joined onto an 18 day tour and straight away went out for the first complimentary dinner and walking tour with the crew. On the way around town, we were chatting with the others and sharing travel stories.

Quite a few of the others and us went out after dinner to the first place called Propaganda - apparently an ex communist bar. We stayed on until the end of the very close Portugal v Spain UEFA semi finals match.

Tan: I was going for Christiano Rinaldo, but his team lost in the penalty shoot out. Damn!

Just before the second stop, we ended up losing a few from the group and went to a cool little bar called Double Trouble. The Czech Republic seems to be the home of Absinthe and of course we didn't say no to the local variety. When in Prague, do as the Pragians do! This trip was becoming more and more like Eurotrip. One absinthe down and good-bye tiredness. The music was pretty much top 40s dance, so the general vibe was about right for our crew.

We're really glad we ended up going out, as it was a quick way to bond with our new travelling companions. Last time we took a couple of days to warm up, so given that this one is only 6 nights, it helped to get straight amongst it! Good times!

We walked on to the final destination - Prague's infamous 5 story nightclub. The group settled on the music being played at level three and we a danced up a storm. The male members of the group seem to be obsessed with removing their shirts....bizarre!

Leaving with two others from the club, we ended up sharing the fastest taxi ride of our lives - 150 through the city! Not happy Jan. We would rather not be put into that situation again. Alive....just and we live to tell another day!

Prague - by day

The train times we have booked have worked out brilliantly - never too early that we're killing ourselves to wake up, but never too late that we miss day time in the next place. We were also loving the fact that our hotel was literally around the corner, so it was a cruisey morning.

Note to selves: don't get on the wrong train. We did, but luckily the conductor saw us and checked our ticket before the train actually departed! Idiots!!!! Once on the right one, we were on our way to Nuremberg. This was only a couple of hours, which flew by and gave a chance to catch up on some blogging.

In Nuremberg we changed to an express bus to Prague. This bus ride started off as an ordinary one and we were both engrossed in the Criminal Minds show on our iPad. About halfway through the journey, a Czech / German woman came to the back of the bus where we were sitting and we could both smell the booze on her as she walked passed. We think she may have been drinking or trying to get some sleep, but she reeked of alcohol!

After a short while, she ended up talking on the phone to someone and was basically yelling at the top of her lungs at them. We suspect she was trying to work out where she was as she asked us on numerous occasions as to where the bus was and where it was going. So after our interesting bus ride, we arrived at the main train station in Prague and decided we needed Czech Koruny for lunch, but mainly so we could buy metro tickets to get to our hotel.

Once again we walked passed our hotel and had to walk back to it. Checking in and dropping off our bags, we headed out for a wander around the town. We headed straight to see Saint Wenceslas statue and had a brief look
at the main street and the shops there. Just near the statue we stopped for a cheeky local beer at a pub called Tlustá Koala. Why not? Two Aussies and a koala - works well! Apparently the translation is fat koala. Hey, don't dis our mates!

Once again we were pumped about the location of our hotel, just on the edge of Old Town. Just near Old Town Square, we spied a horse and carriage ride area. Yes please! We loved it when we almost ran over some idiot kids not paying attention! Fools, move the hell over....or die! Possibly a bit harsh. Can anyone work out who is writing at the moment??? Hahahaha!

Just before 7pm, we pulled up around the Astronomic Clock to see the hourly glockenspiel show. Pretty lame really, but worth a look. The freaky animals dancing around are always a bit of a laugh. It was good though that there was an actual trumpeter belting out a tune simultaneously as the clock struck and entertained the crowd.

Right in the heart of the square they also had an area set up for the UEFA matches. It seemed like a Federation Square type gathering place and party area. There aren't any games now till tomorrow night, which is one of the semi finals between Spain and Portugal. We suspect there will still be great atmosphere, even though the Czechs have been knocked out.

After a huge day travelling from Munich, we decided to have an early night. We had dinner at a local Prague restaurant, so that we could try their traditional cuisine. The roasted duck with plum sauce and gnocchi was outstanding, as was the more German style roast pork and sauerkraut. We love this beautiful and amazingly CHEAP city. Our dollar goes very far here, like in Bratislava in the movie Eurotrip...well not quite that good.