Karissa's European Adventure: Prague

Hey everyone,

After a huge night in Barcelona on the VIP pub crawl we woke up to go to the airport after only having around 4 hours sleep. We had packed up our bags the night before and only had to add our PJ's and showering things and we were good to go. Paige hailed down a taxi and we were off to Barcelona airport feeling pretty seedy. We went to the wrong terminal which wasn't the best start and soon after entering this terminal I had to make a quick dash to the bathroom after lifting up the 'wet floor' tape which was blocking the entry before vomiting up the watermelon I had eaten for breakfast (the old vomitron strikes again). We got a free shuttle to the right terminal and then lined up for around 20 minutes in the wrong check in counter as our ticket information was wrong. We finally got through the right check in counter and passed through customs with no worries before getting something to eat and boarding our plane for our 3 hour flight to Prague.

Prague:

Praha as the Czech people say is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. It is the fourteenth-largest city in the European Union and is also the historical capital of Bohemia. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its larger urban zone is estimated to have a population of nearly 2 million.

Prague is home to a number of famous cultural attractions, many of which survived the violence and destruction of twentieth century Europe. Main attractions include the Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, Old Town Square, the Jewish Quarter, the Lennon Wall, and Petřín hill.

Paige and I aren't big on working out the cheapest ways to get to the hostels we stay in so we always catch taxis to the hostels we are staying in. It saves us so much time and by the time we split the bill it is usually not much more expensive then the metro or other forms of transport. We were really happy with our hostel in Prague called the Czech Inn as it was very modern, had a cafe-bar, free wifi in the rooms, washing facilities, friendly and informative staff, an amazing all you can eat breakfast for 5 euro and clean rooms with comfy doonas and pillows. We stayed in Prague for five nights and in the time we were there shared our four bedroom room with two Australian boys from the Sunshine Coast and two Canadian brothers from Winnipeg. We had lots of fun and laughs with both sets of boys who were really respectful about sharing a room and hostel etiquette which was a nice change.

We had a relaxing time in Prague as well as doing lots of the touristy things which was a good balance for us. We ate lots of yummy traditional food as we always do in new countries and the Czech people specialise in potato pancakes, pork, beef goulash and duck. The Czech Republic has the reputation of having the best beer in Europe and the big beer drinkers we are didn't try any lol We struggled big time with the language as Czech is the hardest European language to learn and understand, but we had fun trying. The money was a little hard to work out at times too but all in all we found Prague to be very cheap. The people in Prague seemed very relaxed and chilled out and we found the Czech people to be quietly spoken. The streets signs were unusual and where red and white in colour which matched the many trams that zoomed around in Prague. There were cobbled stone streets everywhere which made the taxi and bus rides pretty bumpy. The buildings in Prague are unlike any I have seen my whole time in Europe and at times it felt like we were in a fantasy land as the architecture was so unique and amazing.

There were lots of bars and restaurants in Prague and we were told to look out for cheap specials on the blackboards outside of the pubs. We had some yummy food at a quaint little cafe down the road from our hostel one day and got the waiter to try and help us practise our Czech which was kind of funny. We had participated in many free walking tours previously on our travels and decided to try something new after picking up a brochure at the hostel. We paid around 50 Australian dollars to go on an all inclusive tour of Prague which was awesome. On the tour we got to see 36 of the cities main sites, were picked up and dropped off at our hostel, ate traditional Czech meals at a medieval restaurant and went on a boat cruise along the Vlatz river. Some of the sites I enjoyed the most were the Prague Castle, the astronomical clock, old town square and the old Jewish cemetery. I always enjoy walking tours as it usually allows you see the best the city has to offer and also allows you to get your bearings on where you are and how to get around the city without getting lost.

Paige and I also went up to the 'Letna' beers gardens which are situated within Letna park and are one of the most popular beer gardens in Prague due to their amazing views over the city. We then walked down through the park and along the river to Charles Bridge which is a famous historic bridge that crosses the Vltava river in Prague. The Old Town bridge tower is often considered to be one of the most astonishing civil Gothic-style buildings in the world.

St Charles Bridge

Heading over onto St Charles Bridge

We also went along through the lesser town and saw the Lennon Wall. The Lennon Wall or John Lennon Wall was once a normal wall but since the 1980s it has been filled with John Lennon-inspired graffiti and pieces of lyrics from Beatles songs which was pretty cool.

John Lennon Memorial wall

Me and the John Lennon Memorial wall

Besides all of the sight seeing we did have a pretty big night out after deciding to choose a couple of clubs and do our own style of pub crawl. We love vodka and decided that a bar called 'Vodka Bar Propaganda' seemed like the perfect place for us to begin the night. We got a taxi into the centre of Prague and had some really delicious skittle vodka drinks whilst sitting around and enjoying being able to smoke in the club without going outside, yes that's right you can still smoke in clubs and pubs in Prague! Then we made our way across town whilst admiring the beautiful city at night and into an ice bar in the 5 story club called Karlovy Lazne. We payed around 5 Euro to get into the ice bar which was so much cheaper than ice bars in Australia and suited up in our huge silver snow jackets. Once inside is was a chilling -6,6 degrees and we ordered our free cocktails which came in ice cups. We took lots of photos and enjoyed feeling like an Eskimo for around a total of 30 minutes, this 30 minutes was way too long for Paige who hates being cold!lol

It was then onto Karlovy Lazne,the biggest music club in central Europe. It has five levels with music which range from main-stream, dance, hip-hop, R&B, oldies and chill out. We loved every level and to our surprise enjoyed and danced a fair bit on the disco level as well as of course the R&B level. We stayed out until around 3.30am until we decided to run across the road and grab burgers and fries before getting splashed by a cab driving through rain water, sex and the city style, and heading home for the night. This club is definitely one worth checking out as Paige and I had an awesome night here and with so many levels you could never get bored.

All in all we had fun in Prague, it is a fantastic city with amazing architecture and a very different and quirky feel compared to most European cities. I would love to explore more of the Czech Republic during my next overseas travels.

Love the Backpacker
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