Prague

Prague 5th & 6th November

Conveniently the camping is close to a tram line going into the city centre in about 15 minutes. A single ticket valid for 30 minutes cost only 24Kc which we managed to buy from the helpful camp site office. We immediately spotted a Patisserie with a great selection of cakes and coffee. There was a constant stream of customers which was a good sign. We decided just to amble around the main shopping area and get a feel of the city. There were many cobbled streets and tall buildings almost all beautifully restored. We came across small street stalls selling local snack delicacies and colourful painted souvenirs.

Even though it's November there were many tourists, it must be really packed in the summer. It's now a very trendy city with the usual range of top international brands. Gill even ended up buying some nice clothes in Marks & Spencer which seemed to have a much more interesting range than at home. The highlight of the day was finding the rather misnamed Municipal House. This is an enormous Art Nouveau building containing many function rooms full of superbly restored furniture &decorations. We were taken on a one hour guided tour through a selection of rooms and ended up with a drink in the Amerikany Bar. Everything was tiled, marbled, plastered. and lit with crystal glass lamps Many of the rooms are used for concerts and hired out for functions.

The next day we got on the tourist trail firstly over the Charles Bridge admiring the dark statues and then up the hill to the enormous Prague Castle site. It was a clear day to start with but a bitterly cold wind kept us on the move. The Baroque St. Nicholas church was actually very nice, not as over the top as many other Baroque buildings can be.

The castle seemed too modern to us and we didn't fancy the tour which possibly may have been more interesting. Cities generally don't appeal to us, we would rather be out in the countryside and seeing a bit of Prague over a couple of days was enough for now.