Prague - Part 3

After rushing to Gatwick Airport after work on Friday, I pushed my way through the long-weekend crowd to check in just as my flight was being called. Raced through security, and then found out that my flight was delayed. And delayed. And delayed. And then I had to line up for half an hour to get Maccas for dinner. On the upside though, I got to do some duty free shopping and ended up with some new makeup and a new pair of shoes :)

It was a sweltering weekend in Prague, with temperatures reportedly as high as 38 degrees(C)! Saturday and Sunday were hot and sunny, but in the space of about half an hour on Monday afternoon, it turned into hail and torrential rain! After the rain, we just about had to wade through ankle-deep water to get across the main street on Wencelas Square, which was still covered in hailstones that looked more like snow.

Since it was my second visit to Prague, Shane and I had the luxury of sleeping in and having a lazy breakfast before wandering out to town to meet the others for lunch each day. This time we were lucky enough to have our own personal tour guides Gabriel and Katarina. They showed us around some of the less-touristy areas of Prague, where we indulged in dirt cheap beer and meals, and found ourselves at a really cool beer garden in the middle of a park just outside of the city. It's always good to see a city from a local's point of view, and we think Gabriel should write a guidebook!

Once again a wonderful weekend was had, and I can't wait to visit again.

Prague - Part 2

On the spur of the moment I decided to go to Prague and spend the weekend with Shane! We were going to meet up in a random European city, but in the end we decided that it would be best to explore Shane's new home away from home first. And I'm glad we did.

Armed with a map and phrasebook, we explored the old and new town squares. Prague really does live up to its reputation for being a beautiful city. Despite being warned off the touristy areas by several locals, we decided that the buildings must be seen and photographed. The old town square was absolutely packed, as it turned out that the Prague marathon was on this weekend. Towering over the old town square is a church that kinda looks like the Disneyland castle. At night it is absolutely stunning when flooded with lights.



We crossed the river and walked towards the Prague Castle. Having done almost zero reading up on Prague, we didn't realise just how far the castle was, and after walking uphill for what seemed like ages in 30 degree heat, we later found out that there's a tram that takes you up the hill and behind the castle!! The castle is a huge complex of buildings, with a grand cathedral that rises above the rest of the buildings. From the inside of the cathedral you can see some of the most amazing stained glass windows.

Over the weekend we ate ourselves silly, sampling some traditional czech dishes and beers. Beef goulash seems to be one of the more popular dishes, and you can see why once you've tried it! Goulash is usually served with "dumplings", which are like slices of steamed bread. Speaking of bread, people in Prague seem to eat loads and loads of bread. We were at a supermarket and noticed that everyone was walking around with dozens of bread rolls. Shane was sure that everyone was looking at him with puzzled looks because he had only picked up a single bread roll, whilst everyone else was carrying at least 10 rolls!

Prague - Part 1

Well its happened and I have taken up locale temporarily in Prague. Therefore there is likely to be quite a series of posts about Prague, as Tammie will more than likely take a few trips here. I am here until the end of Sept (or sometime around there - could be shorter).

I am my own place close to the centre of the city. Great location really.

What can I say about Prague - absolutely lovely city (and I have only seen from the airport to the office at this point).

Stay Tuned

Iceland

A land of sweeping contrasts, mountains and plains, lakes and (presumably) forests, fire and ice etc. In most aspects its like the New Zealand of the north where as luck would have it they also speak english about as well!

After picking up our car and sitting there for a bit just making sure that we had the whole drive on the right, sit on the left, change gears with your right hand procedure down we set off. Immediate confusion ensued, as we thought we had landed in Reykjavik when in fact the international airport is in Keflavik some 45km south of Reykjavik. Once we had our bearings we started the drive to Fluðir. It becomes apparent that on the beaten track Iceland doesn't have that much to see, endless views of grass-like covered lava fields giving way to impressive mountains in the distance. Small settlements dot the highway off to the left and right, but it is largely uninspiring. We arrived in Fluðir late in the afternoon at around 5pm and it may as well have been midday. The sun was still beating down (well shining - it was a balmy 3 degrees) and continued to do so until around midnight.

Fluðir itself is a nice little town which many people use as a base to set off and explore the "Golden Circle" - large sections of free roaming canned fruit. After the 5 mins scouting around the town yeilded little, we resigned ourselves that we would see little until tomorrow.

As I mentioned, when on the beaten track there is not a lot to see, but once you get off the road a little and follow the little tourist attraction signs Iceland has a lot of spectacular beauty to admire. Having a car was the ultimate in freedom and we could do what we pleased.



We visited most of the popular sites - Geysir, Gullfoss and other various landmarks and all were definitely worth the time. But driving around we managed to see other less well known attractions (that means they weren't mentioned in the Lonely Planet) also.



The highlight would have to be the visit to the Blue Lagoon. If we had realised just what this place had to offer we probably would have come there earlier and lounged around in the geothermal spas for longer. Oh well there is always next time.