The metro stop that the bus had dumped us at was conveniently on the right line for our hostel and 20 minutes later we were out side Florenc station studying our instructions on how to find the new hostel we had booked somewhat apprehensively as the reviews were pretty damning, in the end though the price and location had swayed us, we were planning two day trips to other towns so being right next door to Florenc coach station was ideal. Finding this hostel however turned out to be nothing like the drama that was finding the first hostel we had booked in Prague and within 15 minutes we were checking in with a slightly strange host. In the end though the ice broke nicely as he advised he was annoyed with his colleagues who had worked the morning shift as there were 20 people who were meant to check in and none had turned up so far which meant he had a very busy evening ahead of him, how this was his colleagues fault I'm not sure.
We had ideally wanted to get a private room for this second visit of Prague as we knew prices in Germany and Holland were going to be much more expensive and that we would definitely have to do dorms there, unfortunately though the hostel had booked out all their privates so we opted for a 3 person dorm instead which was a good 3 or 4 euros cheaper per person per night. As it turned out for the four nights we stayed there we did not get a third room mate so in effect we did have a private room for a fraction of the cost, highly recommend booking small dorms if you travel as a couple on a budget quite often you'll find you have the whole dorm to yourself.
The day we arrived at the hostel Nina was still feeling a bit under the weather due to the bite on her chin and the pain it was causing so we opted to stay close to the hostel and after continuing with the Back Gammon in a nearby bar which closed at 10pm! er went on the search for some food, it turned out that there really aren't that many restaurants near Florenc station so we ended up heading to McDonald's, it wasn't healthy but it certainly hit the spot, we then went back to the hostel for a relatively early night as we wanted to head to Kutna Hora the following day, the Lonely Planet guide advised coaches went every day of the week but were slightly reduced on the weekends, there for the next day being Saturday we figured we get up early and just wait until a coach was due to leave.
We woke at 8:30 and was at the coach station by 9:00, the board showed no signs of a coach to Kutna Hora so we asked at the information desk who promptly told us that there were no services to Kutna Hora at all at the weekends, it appears once again the Lonely Planet had let us down, therefore we shifted our plans and decided to spend the day exploring Prague castle and that side of the river. As we knew we were staying in Prague and as the weather had turned pretty chilly we decided we would pay the 80 crowns (2 pound) for a 24hr tram pass we fumbled around for coins to put in the machines but found that we had no where near enough money in change so we decided to purchase something from the nearby Relay store to break up a note, sadly the change we got was still no where near enough, so i then went in to another nearby Relay store and brought something else and asked for the change to be given in coins to which the girl serving me said no, and her colleague said "for the machines" i confirmed her assumptions and she then told me that they actually sold the tickets there. We learnt 2 valuable lessons that day if you need change ask for it rather than buy random stuff you don't want (including CocaCola Black which is there version of cold coffee, Yuk) and secondly Relay stores in the metro stations sell tram tickets, use them if you don't have change for the machines it saves time and you don't end up with pockets full of stuff you don't really want.
We headed first to the Jewish quarter which simply had stunning architecture all around right from the synagogues to the shops to the overflowing cemetery and we are pretty sure the interiors of the buildings would have been beautiful too but as we had cleverly ended up doing this on the Jewish Sabboth everything was closed (duh!), still we learnt about the the Gollum who protected the Jewish community back in the 1700's and the trouble he caused when he wasn't shut away one Friday night and we also found a really great Pizza place to grab lunch. After covering the Jewish sector we headed across the river towards the Metronome, something that isn't really recommended in any of the guides, after climbing hundreds of steps we soon found out why the graffiti covered still structure was not working and from the looks of things has not done for a long long time, still the walk from there to the Castle is amazing, the whole way there are amazing views over the river, all its bridges and the New Town and Old Town areas of Prague, we also came across a beautiful pond side monument which was so peaceful.
After finding our way to the castle we headed straight to St Vitus cathedral and managed to get in there for free, we were pretty sure we were suppose to pay but some how got surrounded by an Italian tour group and just went with the flow, after looking around for a bit we decided it was time to tackle the tower, I believe there were 299 step in total although I maybe mixing this up with another tower we have scales (we have done quite a few and both our calfs are steel like now). The steps our spiral all the way up and allow another space for one and half people which means each time you pass someone coming down you get quite close and personal, also half way up one of the bulbs had blown so not only were we competing with a spiral stare case and people coming down but also being totally blind as well, eventually we made it to the top and were really appreciative of the day light and fresh air at the top and eventually we could also appreciate the views over the castle and it's grounds, we weren't in a major hurry to go back down but eventually decided we should make a move, the journey down was just as perilous and was not helped by the Muppet's with huge back packs on their bags heading in the opposite direction.
When we had been at the top of the tower we had seen what looked like a wall of faces and decided this would be our next sight and started guesstimating our way there, eventually we found it in the grounds of Waldstein Palace (seat of the Czech senate), and upon closure inspection discovered that in fact it was just a fake cave/wall with the occasional animal face carved into it, there was a board explaining the concept behind it but we didn't really get it, we were more entertained by the pictures of the grounds when they were flooded a few years back and also the peacocks and peahens that strolled around the grounds and popped up from various bushes, by this time we were starting to get a bit nippy so we decided we were try and find somewhere warm to hang out and you guessed it play Back gammon.
The following day we headed back to the coach station this time to have an attempt at getting to Plsen (Pilsen) this time we were a bit more successful and after grabbing some breakfast were on our way to the town, on route we drove through a snow storm and a hail storm which woke us from our doze, made me appreciate my recently purchase coat and Nina rue the fact that she had not yet seen one which she liked, we also knew from that point our shorts will be left firmly at the bottom of our back packs. The journey to Pilsen took about 2 and a half hours which meant we arrive there at about 1:40pm, the main reason we had headed there was to hit the brewery so we asked in the coach station for directions but sadly absolutely no one spoke any English, we even tried saying Beer and Pilsner in different languages but even this was received with blank looks, this did have us wondering what else tourists could be looking for in Plsen. In the end we decided to go it a lone and headed towards what we guessed was the town centre, luckily we were right and we soon located the tourist information place.
After telling them we were looking for the Pilsner Brewery they were really helpful and gave us a map and told us that there were tours at 12:30 and 2pm in English, the time was now 1:57. Resigned to the fact that we would never make the 1km walk in 3 minutes we checked to see if there were bits and pieces you could see without a tour guide and the tourist info guys hesitantly said yes so off we set. We ended up getting to the Brewery at 2:10 and decided to see if there was still a chance of catching the tour, luckily they had just sat through a 10 minute introductory film so we were able to join with no problems at all. It turned out to be a really good tour, it was amazing to see the production line in fall flow, apparently 60,000 bottles were filled and sealed every hour. Along side the packaging plant we also got to see the actual Brewing centre and also the old cave system where everything used to be done, the price of the tour also included a free unfiltered beer which despite its yeasty taste was really nice and made the cost of the tour well worth it.
It turned out that other than the Brewery and a few beer related museums there isn't much else to do in Plsen (apparently though there is a Zoo) so once again we ended up in a pub drinking the local delicacy and playing more of our new favourite pass time still to the wrong rules with me still whooping Nina big time. we then took a slow walk back to the bus station and had a look at the old town hall and the massive church that is in the centre of the square, when we got to the station we still had an hour to kill eventually though the bud came and after a doze we woke to find ourselves back at Florenc station, by this time it was about 9pm so we decided to call it a day and did a bit of work on the Internet before hitting the sack, Nina was feeling much better and her bites luckily had cleared up quite nicely.
The following day we finally got to Kutna Hora, it is only an hour and a half away from Prague and since my first visit to Prague a few years back and after watching "The Long Way Round" I had always wanted to go there and was glad we had finally made it after the disappointment of a few days previous. The main draw of the Kutna Hora and my reason for wanting to go there is the bone church (Sedlec Ossuary), located about 2 km from the city centre this church is basically an open grave of around 40,000 people, the bones of which have been used to make chandeliers, pyramids candle holders and even a coat of arms and the sight is simply awesome. Despite being a relative small church we spent a good 45 minutes in there, you have to pay an additional fee to take photos but I was more than happy to do this, the only thing that had come close to being a similar experience was a visit to the catacombs in Paris I did a few years back but even that was dull compared to this.
Unlike Plsen though Kutna Hora has plenty to see including a cathedral that holds it own up against the magnificence of St Vitus cathedral in Prague although currently it is about half way through an 8 year renovation and restoration project. The cathedral is dedicated to miners (Kutna Hora developed as a major city due to its near by Silver mines) and this theme runs through out the interior. After visiting this we had to head back to the bus station as the last bus for Prague left at around 5pm and we simply did not have a clue how to get back if we missed this. We got back to Prague for about 7pm and headed into the city for a bite to eat and a last gland of the square at night time as the following day we were heading to Berlin.
The following day we slope right up until our check out time before hastily packing our stuff and leaving our back packs at reception before heading to Wencelas square to kill some time before our 3pm coach to Berlin. After taking a few pictures of the statue of St Wenceslas and the nearby commemorative plaque to the victims of communism including Jan Pallach we decided to head into the museum which is house by the magnificent building at the top of the square. Sadly though the interior was no where as impressive as the exterior, the main highlight being a huge taxidermy collection, however if you like rocks you could spend several days in there as they had hundreds and hundreds of different samples, the slightly boring subject matter was not helped by the fact that all the info was only in Czech. Still it kept us out of the cold and we did manage to kill a good few hours, at least one of these was spent trying to find our way out of the rock collection.
It seemed strange to be moving country again having spent so long in the Czech Republic but at the same time we felt it was time for a change so were pleased to bored our coach and start our journey to our penultimate country and third from last destination, it really had sunk it that our trip was very very close to its end...sniff sniff
TTFN
Daz
The plan ... well really there is no plan, but there is a good reason ...
Watch out Europe here we come. After working in travel it's time to put in action what I've learnt!
I can't take you all with me but here's the next best thing - share our travel highlights and fun experiences as we check out as much of Europe as possible over the next 10 weeks.
