A four hour train journey from Berlin to Prague in standard class was "1st class royal deluxe" compared to our trusty iron steed in Burma....but that journey is a forgotten memory...Yeah Right!
We were fortunate to be able to stay with Michelle and her partner Ondra on the outskirts of Prague. Michelle managed our hostel for six months back in 2012. We could easily catch the subway into town from her place and made good use of a 3 day pass, hunting out the sights. The buildings and architecture in the city are amazing. It seems that anytime something is/was built, the builder had to include a few domes or lionheads or features just for decoration. They also have interesting squares in the middle of the towns which make ideal meeting places for locals and perfect places for travellers to do people watching. Buskers doing a number of skilful antics are also present for entertainment, along with those who sit with their hand out and a sad look on their face.
The town has buildings over 500 years old and we took a short walking tour through the town to try and get a better understanding of the history of the place. The tour didn't seem to help much though...maybe we didn't hear enough or maybe the guide didn't explain everything very well......the latter I think!
We have had beautiful weather the entire time in Czech Republic. Every day the temperature has been over 30 degrees. This has required regular cooling of our radiators. Fortunately beer is cheaper than water at a number of restaurants......for real.....cheaper! and the beer is very nice, very smooth, especially Kozel.
After three days in Prague Michelle guided us to Cesky Krumlov 4 hours south toward Austria. What a gem of a town! It is little wonder that UNESCO have included it on their list of World Heritage cities. In every direction that we can look we see a biscuit tin lid or a jigsaw puzzle view. Narrow cobbled streets and little town squares make for an intriguing discovery around every corner. We will visit the town castle, a brewery and climb the hill behind the town. Hopefully pick up a geocache and work off enough calories to not feel guilty when ordering a 500ml glass of beer (with a goat on it). The beer is very tasty......and cheap.......did I already say that? Pilsen is a small town in western CZ and that is the home of Pilsener beer. Tastes great on a hot day.
It has been interesting travelling by bus and train through Czech Republic. Some of the views out the window are similar to a drive from Wanganui to Palmerston North. Rolling pasture with the odd forest. What we don't see though is any animals. There are numerous paddocks with big round bales, but no cows.....and no fences. We have discovered that the animals, mostly cows or pigs, are kept enclosed in shelters year round and the crops are harvested by machines and taken to the animals. Seemed a big waste of energy to us. This whole concept is something of a left over from the communist regime where several farmers owned the cows and they all worked in the fields to bring the harvest to the animals. Now one farmer owns both the paddocks and the animals.
Right now we are heading to Graz, in Austria, where we have two nights before catching up with a young lady that stayed in our hostel in 1995. She met a boy while in the hostel and they married and have two daughters now.
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