Praha, Czech Republic
So much for not travelling since May but this was an opportunity not to be missed. As one of Craig's permanent colleague's wife was expecting and couldn't do the job himself, Craig was sent in September to Prague to implement a server for one of the supplying companies providing services for the bank. So of course, Craig needed to implement the server and be on call for the weekend in case anything went wrong. Not one to miss out, I threw caution to the wind and bought a ticket to meet Craig on Friday night. Ahh, Czech Airlines - it feels like luxury compared to the usual diet of Ryan Air or Easyjet.
We were staying at the Hotel Intercontinental - only because all of the usual hotels were full and the bank insists on a 5 star standard. Who are we to argue with luxury robes, swimming pools and a karaoke bar. It was like 'Lost In Translation'. We were right by the river, with the boat version of boy racers going up and down it during the night. You could hear the thump thump thump of the on board parties.
On the saturday morning, we grabbed ourselves a full American breakfast (yes they sure know how to do it), had a quick wander round the main square, and then caught the train out to Kutná Hora. There we walked to the Sedlec Ossuary , where a family who bought the monastery in 1870 allowed a woodcarver to get creative with the bones of around 40,000 people that had been brought there after they died. Most of the people had died of the plague.
That afternoon, determined to start not trying to do EVERYTHING when we go to a place, we went back to the hotel for a swim and a lie down. Craig had found a lovely traditional Czech place for dinner round the corner of the hotel (and at around 1/4 of the price of the hotel food) which is where I had beer goulash and Craig had schnitzel (schnitzel being a cut of meat strangely absent in British butcheries). After which, we went for a stroll on the famous Charles Bridge, built in 1357 which joins the old town with Malá Strana (Little Quarter). Of course it was teaming with tourists - and it is obviously one of the hot spots on the American tourist circuit.
As an aside, it is interesting to note, it is a bit of an all or nothing with the US tourists - they will all be in places like North Tuscany, Prague, Paris and then not in other places. Strange.
We had decided that Sundays should be the busy day, as you have officially checked out of the hotel and can't use the facilities then. So we decided to climb up to the Prague Castle (above). This is the biggest castle complex of the world (Guiness Book of Records). It is more like a small town, and it is dominated by the French Gothic 'St Vitus Cathedral'.
This cathedral also contains the tomb of St Wenceslas (as in the Good King). What I didn't know was that he enthusiastically spread the word of Christianity. His submission to the German King Henry I led to his brother, stabbing him to death whilst he was clinging to the lion's-head handle which is now on the chapel's door. This church also contains the Bohemian crown jewels, but the public is not allowed to see them.
We also did the obligatory climb to the highest spot of any city to get a good view of Prague. I think this is also where I think it was the protestants throwing the catholics out the window in some revolution or another.
We then made our way back into the city for a bite to eat and to try and get into the Municipal Hall for a look at the architecture. Unfortunately, it was by tours only, and we had missed the last one.
So we caught a free concert in one of the squares. Prague seems quite a cultural city in this respect. Craig has decided that it also has the best music of all the European places we have heard music in. (Admittedly, I think his experience is limited to hearing Austrain oompah music at the ski resort.)
So after an ice-cream at the hotel (you can see from the kind of day it was ice-cream weather), we caught a Mercedes to the airport. This topped with the mercedes to pick us up at the other end, was the end to a perfect, and might I say unusually relaxed, weekend. Quite civilised really.
We were staying at the Hotel Intercontinental - only because all of the usual hotels were full and the bank insists on a 5 star standard. Who are we to argue with luxury robes, swimming pools and a karaoke bar. It was like 'Lost In Translation'. We were right by the river, with the boat version of boy racers going up and down it during the night. You could hear the thump thump thump of the on board parties.
On the saturday morning, we grabbed ourselves a full American breakfast (yes they sure know how to do it), had a quick wander round the main square, and then caught the train out to Kutná Hora. There we walked to the Sedlec Ossuary , where a family who bought the monastery in 1870 allowed a woodcarver to get creative with the bones of around 40,000 people that had been brought there after they died. Most of the people had died of the plague.
That afternoon, determined to start not trying to do EVERYTHING when we go to a place, we went back to the hotel for a swim and a lie down. Craig had found a lovely traditional Czech place for dinner round the corner of the hotel (and at around 1/4 of the price of the hotel food) which is where I had beer goulash and Craig had schnitzel (schnitzel being a cut of meat strangely absent in British butcheries). After which, we went for a stroll on the famous Charles Bridge, built in 1357 which joins the old town with Malá Strana (Little Quarter). Of course it was teaming with tourists - and it is obviously one of the hot spots on the American tourist circuit.
As an aside, it is interesting to note, it is a bit of an all or nothing with the US tourists - they will all be in places like North Tuscany, Prague, Paris and then not in other places. Strange.
We had decided that Sundays should be the busy day, as you have officially checked out of the hotel and can't use the facilities then. So we decided to climb up to the Prague Castle (above). This is the biggest castle complex of the world (Guiness Book of Records). It is more like a small town, and it is dominated by the French Gothic 'St Vitus Cathedral'.
This cathedral also contains the tomb of St Wenceslas (as in the Good King). What I didn't know was that he enthusiastically spread the word of Christianity. His submission to the German King Henry I led to his brother, stabbing him to death whilst he was clinging to the lion's-head handle which is now on the chapel's door. This church also contains the Bohemian crown jewels, but the public is not allowed to see them.
We also did the obligatory climb to the highest spot of any city to get a good view of Prague. I think this is also where I think it was the protestants throwing the catholics out the window in some revolution or another.
We then made our way back into the city for a bite to eat and to try and get into the Municipal Hall for a look at the architecture. Unfortunately, it was by tours only, and we had missed the last one.
So we caught a free concert in one of the squares. Prague seems quite a cultural city in this respect. Craig has decided that it also has the best music of all the European places we have heard music in. (Admittedly, I think his experience is limited to hearing Austrain oompah music at the ski resort.)
So after an ice-cream at the hotel (you can see from the kind of day it was ice-cream weather), we caught a Mercedes to the airport. This topped with the mercedes to pick us up at the other end, was the end to a perfect, and might I say unusually relaxed, weekend. Quite civilised really.
posted by CarenT at
7:11 pm
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