Prague 11-12-08 --13-13-08

Prague was truely wonderful even it drain me of all energy and of some of my money! I went to Prague two years ago and then it was this beautiful city without too many influences by the tourist trade. Two years later , there is no street without a generic souvenir shop selling the exact same unique crystal scultptures and Absynith. However, it still is a stunning city!



Thursday:
So We decided to get a night train to Prague, I mean 14 hours on a train in reclining chairs is a walk in the park! So we set out and got on the wrong train to Hamburg. I pulled Jude off once I read the sign. A late train can really mix you up! Then our Prague train arrived! This train goes from Freiburg all the way to Moscow. You have no idea how tempting it was to stay on the train and go all the way to Moscow then but after 14 hours on the train all we wanted to do was get off the train! We had a little cabin to ourselves with curtains and a sliding door! We decided to sleep...well, tried to. We sprawled across the three seats as we had bought reclining chairs and our chairs were stuck to the floor and were deteremined on not reclining. The ticket conductor came 6 times during out 14 hour journey so we were woken up (if we slept) every two hours. Finally, I fell asleep to wake up with a Czech man above me. He then proceeds to try and sit on Jude's legs..seemingly, our cabin was for sharing with the rest of the Czech Republic. So Jude and I sat up very sleepy and very hurt and glared at the man until we reached Prague two hours later.

Friday:
We decided that saving money would be the best thing to do as students so we decided walking to our Botel from the other train station (not the main one) was the best idea possible. It was snowing and raining and I stood in every puddle and ditch that the good Czech Republic provided. After half and hour of walking I realised that we were going the wrong way...of course. We did a complete turn about and went the other way! I asked a woman if she spoke English, German, Spanish or French to see if we were going the right way but she just hacked up some phlegm from her throat and looked at me in a not-so-friendly-way so I thought it for the best that I backed away before I encounter a Llama like situation. Finally we got to the river, we walked along it completely drenched and found out Botel.

The Botel:
It was everything a Botel could be! It was called Florentina. We had two very cozy beds, friendly (english-speaking) staff and it was dry. Our cabin was small but perfect. There was a percariously placed TV that was hung over Jude's head. After I said she'd be decapitated by a Grundig she decided to move her pillow. The bathroom was fitted with shelves that have borders so in rough weather all your things would stay on the shelf. When you flushed the toilet it tried sucking you out too much like airplane toilets. It was wonderful. After drying off, putting on new socks and puttin them into my wet shoes...(sigh) we headed off into town!

We headed into the Altstadt to the Christmas market where we had Trdlo which is impossible to say but is entirely delicious! The Christmas market was full of beautiful table clothes, pastries, cakes, crystal and glass sculptures. The smell of roasting chestnuts added the Christmas feel as did the ENORMOUS angel Christmas lights! We headed to Wenclelas square where there was a smaller market before we headed to Charles Bridge which is currently under reconstruction so a lot of it is in scaffolding. We met a sailor on our way who tried selling us tickets for a boat cruise. He said his name was Elvis, "Elvis left the building, went to Africa and got a tan", the entire crew of the ship were black and all had different names and stories. There was Elvis, Lassie, and Lenin. Once we got away from the bargain cruise deals we got onto the bridge. The snow falling down slowly on the bridge made it that little bit more magical. We rubbed the dog (for luck/good fortune) and the woman (that supposedly indues fertility and pregnancy) so we wished that our good fortune with the rubbing of the dog would reverse us rubbing the woman. (What an odd sentence).

Friday Evening:
We went to our Botel and had a nap, got ready and went out to see a Caberet show which turned out to be a strip club. The man lied. We went of waffles covered with melted chocolate from the "Number one Chocolate shop in Prague! Then we decided maybe we didn't really want to see the show so we headed to a cocktail bar where I ordered something grotesque and Jude ordered something that tasted like happy. So I was not pleased with my choice. Jude found a shot of rum which was 80%. After a whole lot of persuasion, we got it. I had never felt so much pain and fire in my throat before! And I don't ever plan feeling that pain again! By 11, our 14 train journey and lack of sleep had caught up on us so we headed back to our Botel.

Saturday Morning:
We got up at 9 and went for our breakfast. It turns out we were the only guests and that they had been waiting for us since 8.a.m to serve us breakfast. Breakfast was something peculiar. She said we were having "Eggs and Ham" (Sam I am) and then she produced a plate of watery scrambled eggs with burnt red onion that tasted like ham but no ham was to be seen! Ah, Eau de Jambon! I finally figured out that in the scrambled eggs there was chunks of smoked ham fat. We ate all the bread instead. While we ate there was a radio station playing which played 80s classics that had been translated into Czech, "Downtown", "Take on me" and "Total Eclipse of the Heart" (Turn around, Bright eyes = Tur Arni, Barna). We went up to the castle today and stalked the guards. Jude wanted a photo of the guards marching out of a gate so we followed a group of twenty armed guards and waited for the to come out. One of the guards was playing peek-a-boo with me as there was a tiny window in the door he was hiding behind. It was hilarious to see a 6ft man wearing a fur hat the size of a fat cat and holding a bayonet pop up and down at a window. Finally, the soldiers came out, some giggling, other with smirks and others laughing out loud. We came across a little church that played "Hey Jude" so I sang to Jude which she didn't exactly enjoy but I'm sure deep down inside she loved it. Then we found the Loretta whihc was closed off to the public so we took like 50 photos of ourselves doing differnt poses on everystep outside the Loretta there are 22 steps. We then went looking for a maze that is just below the eiffel tower viewing point. We got lost. Very lost. Paths just seemed to end. So we claimed we were in the maze which made us feel a little better about ourselves. Along the way I made many different snow statues and art works so it passed the time...for me anyway!

Saturday Evening:
We had a lovely Czech meal of some sort of meat in sauce under the umbrella term of Goulash. I don't think I'll ever know what I ate but it was nice...whatever it was! Then we went to our trusty chocolate shop and had another waffle! We met a nice Australian who travels around the world teaching people how to make hard-boiled candy. I tried my best to try get a free lollipop by fluttering my eyelashes, flicking my hair and being charming. I thought I was doing well until Jude unsubtley said in the lull of noise in the shop "I don't think he's falling for you just ask him for a lollipop" That sorta ruined my work so no free lollipops came out of that. Next time we're going to learn subtlety. Then around 7 we headed to the train stattion. The Bartender of the botel, stood outside the boat and waved us good bye (nawh). We arrived to the train station to find out it was the wrong one but it didn't matter in the end after we both had heart attacks! The station we were in is in the rough end of town and there was a man that kept flicking open his pen knife while staring at us. I was ready to pepper spray! But the police came and marched him out of the building! (The police are called Policie, I think it sounds adorable but these men have VERY large guns)

Finally the train came and it was packed, there were people in our seats, people along the corridor so you couldn't move but we got it sorted out and made friends with an American girl called Amanda who is awesome and did not steal out wallets while we slept. She was getting off the train at Fulda at 4.a.m and I woke up at 4.3o and she was still sound asleep in our cabin so I woke her up and there was a lot scrambling as she got off just as the train was pulling out! No one came in our cabin so we slept til 9 when I woke up and realised we had 10 minutes to gather our things before we arrived in Freiburg if I hadn't we would have woken up in Switzerland!

It was a brilliant weekend! Jude and I want to become the next Thelma and Louise (yes, we know the consequneces!) but I want to Thelma and so does she so we're going to be Thelma and Thelma!

Good night!