20th-27th Oct 2007
Well it's my turn this time (Rob). I think that Bronwen promised I would write more about Prague and the Czech Republic (CZ). We entered from the North West shortly after Dresden close to Usti.
We had spent the night just before the border and it was quite a cold night. I wasn’t at all surprised to see the snow plastered signs at the boarder crossing. Well that started the kids off – “can we stop in the snow, can we stop in the snow, can we…..”. As we all know I had little choice so it was snow balls at ten paces soon after. For Breanna and Liam I think it was the first time they had seen the stuff so that was quite a treat (I think they might just be sick of the stuff by the time we leave).
This day was pretty much a travel day and the target for the day was Prague (or Praha) as they say here. While the first couple of towns we went though seemed a little drab, CZ in general provided a great mix of experiences for all.
We camped a little way out of Prague but right on a public transport line. Quite handy and we had the place to ourselves. Bronwen managed to turn the women’s toilets into a drying room a we had accumulated a bit of washing – six people do that…The old city of Prague is actually a reasonably big place and we decided to spend three days exploring. One of the first things we discovered were the bakeries – what great value – James still refers to them as gorging houses as that’s what we did every time we went near one.
Well it's my turn this time (Rob). I think that Bronwen promised I would write more about Prague and the Czech Republic (CZ). We entered from the North West shortly after Dresden close to Usti.
We had spent the night just before the border and it was quite a cold night. I wasn’t at all surprised to see the snow plastered signs at the boarder crossing. Well that started the kids off – “can we stop in the snow, can we stop in the snow, can we…..”. As we all know I had little choice so it was snow balls at ten paces soon after. For Breanna and Liam I think it was the first time they had seen the stuff so that was quite a treat (I think they might just be sick of the stuff by the time we leave).This day was pretty much a travel day and the target for the day was Prague (or Praha) as they say here. While the first couple of towns we went though seemed a little drab, CZ in general provided a great mix of experiences for all.
We camped a little way out of Prague but right on a public transport line. Quite handy and we had the place to ourselves. Bronwen managed to turn the women’s toilets into a drying room a we had accumulated a bit of washing – six people do that…The old city of Prague is actually a reasonably big place and we decided to spend three days exploring. One of the first things we discovered were the bakeries – what great value – James still refers to them as gorging houses as that’s what we did every time we went near one.
The first day we spent exploring the city on foot using one of our library of guide books. This took us from Wenceslas Squar
e through the old town square into the Jewish quart
er across Charles Bridge and over towards the Prague Castle, ending of course in a bakery…
The next day was spent in the Prague Castle……and looking for bakeries.
And the last day saw Breanna and I checking out the Jewish museum, while ‘nerds r us’ went looking for Internet Cafes (last entry).
Frome Prague to Plzen, that’s right the home Pilsner Urquell beer (and a few others). Quick tour of the brewery and a brewery museum (not to mention a couple of samples). The Czechs’ really are a very civilised culture, I saw my first ever beer
dispensing machine today, ah the wonders of modern technology. One swipes his or her passport as proof of age, throws in a paltry number of crowns (beer is really cheap), and the next thing you know you have a Pilsner in your hand.
Next major stop in CZ was a great little town called Cesky Krumlov. A small Prague really with its own castle and old town and a pretty river that circled the city. Probably the highlight of CZ now that I think about it.
The only other major stop was in Vyssi Brod on the way out of the country. A monastery this time instead of a castle (for a change) and a street market that the kids thought was great. It was like being in Bangkok or China with no marked prices and a lot of bargaining. The kids
were pleased that we got to stock up on fireworks before we left CZ, you may get to see some of the destruction on You Tube some time in the future – quite funny. Seemed to be the place to go from Austria for a bit of cheap shopping before heading back over the border. For me I enjoyed watching the guys fly fishing along the river – wishing it were me….
e through the old town square into the Jewish quart
er across Charles Bridge and over towards the Prague Castle, ending of course in a bakery…The next day was spent in the Prague Castle……and looking for bakeries.
And the last day saw Breanna and I checking out the Jewish museum, while ‘nerds r us’ went looking for Internet Cafes (last entry).
Frome Prague to Plzen, that’s right the home Pilsner Urquell beer (and a few others). Quick tour of the brewery and a brewery museum (not to mention a couple of samples). The Czechs’ really are a very civilised culture, I saw my first ever beer
dispensing machine today, ah the wonders of modern technology. One swipes his or her passport as proof of age, throws in a paltry number of crowns (beer is really cheap), and the next thing you know you have a Pilsner in your hand.
Next major stop in CZ was a great little town called Cesky Krumlov. A small Prague really with its own castle and old town and a pretty river that circled the city. Probably the highlight of CZ now that I think about it.
The only other major stop was in Vyssi Brod on the way out of the country. A monastery this time instead of a castle (for a change) and a street market that the kids thought was great. It was like being in Bangkok or China with no marked prices and a lot of bargaining. The kids
were pleased that we got to stock up on fireworks before we left CZ, you may get to see some of the destruction on You Tube some time in the future – quite funny. Seemed to be the place to go from Austria for a bit of cheap shopping before heading back over the border. For me I enjoyed watching the guys fly fishing along the river – wishing it were me….
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