DIARY OF AN ADVENTURER: CZECH ME OUT

I had very high expectations arriving into Prague, as it is the 5th most visited European city and everyone I had talked to only had good things to say about it. Surprisingly Prague was a bit of a disappointment. For me it lacked the sparkle that so many other places have had. I do however appreciate that it is a beautiful old city with a lot of interesting history, and the food is pretty amazing too!

The first obstacle to overcome for Ellie and I was the unusual currency. It was the first of three that we had to try and comprehend, a bit hard when it costs 25czk for a half litre of beer (about $1.50!). Everything was ridiculously cheap, as I had been told, which proved to be the only thing that really greatly impressed me about Prague.

On our first night, Ellie and I found a small local pub not too far down the road from our youth hostel. It had traditional Czech dishes like dumplings, roast pork and beef goulash, as well as other not so traditional dishes, like Cabonara, which became Ellies go to dish. As it was reasonably cheap and tasted really good, we ended up back there for the other nights dinner as well!

We began our adventure in Prague with a free walking tour, which took us from the Old Town Square, through the Jewish Quarter and along the Vltava River to the Castle. Ellie and I were very confused and had a lot of trouble orientating ourselves, even by the third day. We spent all afternoon walking round in circles to find the John Lennon wall, but were surprised when we got there to see how small it was. I suppose seeing the Berlin East Side Gallery the day before hadn't helped!

We wandered back into the Old Town over the Charles Bridge where there were a lot of artists selling their paintings and buskers creating a cool atmosphere. WE managed to find out way back to the Town Centre where we saw the famous Astronomical Clock chime. It was installed in 1410 and is the oldest Astronomical Clock still working today.

The next day we went on a tour of the Castle. The Prague Castle is more of a small village on top of a hill. There are numerous churches, halls, gardens and palaces making up the whole castle complex. It is still used today as the official residence of the President of the Czech Republic. The Bohemian Crown Jewels are kept within a hidden room inside it. There was some great views of the Old Town across the river from the hilltop.

That evening we did a beer tasting tour - now that I like beer! After the tour we ended up on a pub crawl around the streets of Prague with some Dutch, German and American people who had been a part of the tour.

On our final day I climbed a hill in Letná Park to the red metronome which gave me pretty awesome panoramic views of the city. The metronome was erected in 1991, on the base left vacant by the destruction of an enormous monument to former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in 1962. Afterwards Ellie and I brought a loaf of bread, some cheese and ham and went and sat beside the river to eat. We watched all the boat tours going past us, and even saw a wedding party board a boat next to us.

We didn't have to catch our train to Poland until late at night so we went into a park with views of the castle across the river. The national folk dancing championships happened to be taking place so we sat and drunk some local beer and watched some traditional dancing. It was a nice change from all the walking and exploring we had been doing the previous days.

"When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money." - Susan Heller

I hope this has inspired you.

LARISSAJODEE x

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