Prague

The train ride from Berlin went very smoothly. The Hauptbahnhof station in Berlin is absolutely huge and it took us a while to find out where we had to be. The trip took in some magnificent scenery as we headed through south Germany to the Czech Republic. We also arrived bang on time.

A man was waiting for us on the platform to take us to the apartment and we had also arranged for Mum and Barry to be picked up at the airport too. God knows if it was a rip-off or not, but it was nice to not have to worry about finding the apartment and reading Czech.

The apartment was wonderful, huge amount of space and spotless so we were very happy. The kitchen was well equipped with a washing machine - thank god, even a dishwasher. There we two massive bedrooms and two bathrooms including a spa bath.

The first night we tried to orientate ourselves with the area which was very convenient being next to a shopping centre with a supermarket and a metro station. The wander around the supermarket was quite amusing and we spent ages choosing wine that turned out to be terrible, but the beer was nice and cheap.

The next day we ventured into the Old Town and decided to do a 2 hour walking tour to get a bit of history of the city and to understand what we were looking at. It was a good tour and the guide really did know her stuff so we were well informed afterwards. Prague really is a beautiful city, all the buildings are amazing and every corner looks like a postcard. The picture below is of the Astronomical Clock , part of the Old Town Hall.

The next day was a miserable day, pouring with rain and hard to know what to do to keep dry when all of the activities involve walking around. We hid in Marks and Spencer for a while and had a great cuppa to pass the time. Fortunately the rain passed and we were able to walk to Prague Castle across the Charles Bridge. The Castle cathedral and grounds are truely amazing and it's strange to think everything is so old!

Right now we are killing time in a cyber cafe in the local shopping centre while we wait for our transport to take us to the airport. We have all had a great time here in Prague, but walking around the Jewish Quarter yesterday we all were struck by how expensive things are and how every tourist attraction is never free. This is in complete contrast from Berlin where most things are free to visitors. I had heard that Prague was a great place to go and is a cheap destination, but no longer it seems. Most things here including clothes, groceries and transport seem to be on par with Australia.

More updates soon when we reach the UK, our fourth country out of five. The trip is going too quickly!!