Prague

Well, Prague is certainly exactly as it is portrayed. You almost feel as if you have stepped onto a holiwood movie set as you stroll around the cobblestone streets, admiring a multitude of medieval buildings that have been perfectly maintained.

We had a slight hiccup getting there though - without our knowledge, the night before our train to Prague, the timetable for every train from now until this time next year was changed. So, we got to the station, looked for our train, only to discover that we were late by 1 hour - that is, our train had been moved 1 hour ahead of when we had been told. So, we hung around for an hour and half, mum coughing and sneezing because of her newly developed cold, waiting for the next train to Prague, which was luckily only 1 hour after our original train.
The uneventful 6 hour trip was thankfully uneventful. Though when we finally arrived in Prague we were stooged by a shifty taxi driver - however, lets not talk about that.

The city itself is beautiful, architectual wonders abound. Whether you like Baroque, Italian Renaissance, Gothic, Rococco, or just plain old, Prague is for you. We only had to walk down the street in order to admire the National Theatre, the Powder Tower, and Charle's Bridge, along with the unique Astronomical Clock.

The next day we began with a sightseeing tour by bus. We drove around Prague whilst our multilingual guide gave us an insight into the history of the multitude of prestigious buildings that comprised the city of Prague. We drove up to Prague Castle, the President's "home", where our guide led us on a walking tour of the palace grounds and courtyards, all of which were quite impressive. After a quick break during which we enjoyed a hot glass of mulled wine, or just some good ol' hot chocolate, we were once again on the bus, before stopping at the Old Town Square, where our guide led us on another walking tour, showing us all the sights we had seen the night before, though things definitely looked quite different in the day.

That evening, we saw an Opera - Mozart's "Don Giovanni"...the marionette version =P it was fun, definitely traditional Czech, though despite all the drama, the most memorable moment for us will almost certainly be the crazy cat =)

Yet the marionette show was only the beginning - after a relatively quick dinner at the National Theatre, we headed up the nearby stairs in order to satisfy Dad's first for classical music - simply put, we went to see a performance of Vivaldi's and Mozart's music.

Afterwards, we all headed back to our relatively uh, 'carefree' hotel, quite tired, heading to bed, preparing for another 6 hour train trip tomorrow, for Munich.