Two Days In Prague..

We got to Prague around 4pm on the 3rd of January and although we struggled with the language (not many people speak English here), found it really easy to get from the airport to our accommodation. We had booked a place to stay before our trip for NZ$60 a night and were happy to find a modern apartment when we arrived. We decided to check out the city the next day then go on a day trip somewhere if we had time the following day.

The underground tube system here is very good (and cheap) so we made good use when we went to look around the city on our first day. We started at the Old Town Square then headed over the river where we got a good view of Charles Bridge before catching the funicular up the Mala Strana. We got an even better view of the city when we climbed the Petrin tower (an old communist radio tower) at the top of Mala Strana - well worth the climb! By now it was a nice sunny day and the view down to the castle and across the river was stunning. Prague is a nice looking city with all the terracotta roofed old style buildings, the blue tops of the many synagogues, the river going through the middle and Charles Bridge make it look even better!

Stunning city of Prague

It was a good walk from here through the monastary to the castle grounds where we headed next. The castle was also well worth a look, is quite a large grounds surrounded by a stone wall with old buildings in the middle (including the impressive cathedral). The guards here seem so serious about their jobs, walking around with bayonets and looking like angry men. The walk down from the castle is awesome, a long narrow stone staircase going between tall buildings either side. Down the bottom we grabbed some lunch then went to the John Lennon Wall, where people have used graffiti to remember John Lennon and speak out against communism (they tried to cover it up but didn’t work!). We managed to see the famous copper pissing statues before crossing the Charles Bridge back to the Old Town Square.

John Lennon Wall - Prague

One day was definitely enough to check out the city of Prague, and although it sounds like we went to a lot of different places - everything is so close together making it easy to get more done. After a big day we headed back to our apartment then went to a local bar/restaurant to get dinner. This ended up being a very cheap meal, paying around NZ$7 for a good sized main and around NZ$2 for a 500ml stein of beer. I tried the traditional dish of beef goulash which was very filling and washed it down with a couple of Pilsners - good end to a good day!

Haylee had the idea of heading to see a bone cathedral (which she had read about) in a town about an hour out of Prague. We didn’t have a plan at all and headed to the train station which was a bit challenging as no one understood English. We managed to get a return trip to Hutna Kora for around NZ$8 each. Once we arrived at the station it was a 10 minute walk to one of the weirdest places I have ever been to, a Cathedral with stacks of human bones inside. Apparently the area was a very popular place to be buried back in the day, due to there being soil from Jerusalem on the site. When the plague hit and over 40,000 people needed to be buried, there was not enough room. So some crazy monks decided it would be a good idea to stack the bones up in neat piles and make things out of them (like a chandelier and family crest). This place is so unusual and definitely worth a visit if you go to Prague.

We walked down to the town after to have a look around and get some lunch, but found not much going on. We didn’t see one local at all and when we finally managed to find a pizza place that was open (to get some lunch), we were told that everyone was on holiday. Thats about all we found out.Was a bit weird - especially how there was a church with 40,000 skulls in it just down the road!

After catching the 3pm train back to Prague, we decided to walk around the Christmas markets and use up our spare Krona before we headed home in the morning. We spent a bit of time here drinking honey mead and mulled wine, and buying a couple of souvenirs. On the way home we got a 1 litre of Pilsner from the supermarket for NZ$2 to enjoy back at the apartment - ready for our flight home in the morning.

Christmas & Sightseeing in London

Haylee and I headed down to London on 23 December for a couple of weeks away from rugby & Inverurie. We got our first taste of the famous London Underground tube on the 24th as we had to get to West Brompton before Christmas day (as all tubes were closed this day). I remember it was all a bit overwhelming at first, with so many different tube lines and so many people at the tube stations. We managed to find our way in the end and were quite amazed by the whole experience.

We caught up with Brendan and Scotty Wils for Christmas, along with a bunch of other kiwis (15 in total). It was quite a coincidence how I knew them both from different rugby teams, and they had since met while in London - shows how it is such a small world. It was my first Christmas away from the family, but had a good time in London with a good crowd. We had a proper kiwi meal with 3 chickens, 2 legs of NZ lamb and a 10kg ham, and pavlova for dessert. After the secret santa it ended up being a big night drinking, and got to know the group pretty well by the end of the night. We spent boxing day chilling out at Scotty Wils’s place and helped him clean up a solid mess from the night before.

Christmas in West Brompton

We started to properly check out London on the 27th, firstly picking up our London Passes (giving us 3 days of access to all of the sights for £66 each) then visiting the Buckingham Palace, Winter Wonderland & the Tate Modern Museum (which are all free to visit). After this we caught up for dinner with Gareth (Fonterra workmate) and his wife for dinner at the West End before heading to see the Wicked show at a theatre. This was something Haylee really wanted to do so I tagged along and ended up being better than I thought it would be.

Our first day using the London pass started on the 28th. We had quite a big day and were able to; see Big Ben, go into the Westminster Abbey, go on a Thames river cruise, visit the Tower of London, go up the Tower Bridge and see the Design Museum. I have always wanted to see Big Ben and it did not disappoint. The Thames River Cruise (with good commentary on the way) and views from the Tower Bridge were other highlights of the day.

Big Ross, Little Ben

We headed to Wimbledon the next day where we went on a guided tour around the Tennis Grounds, before catching up with another mate Joe for a beer at Shoreditch.

The final day using the London Pass saw us head to the Lords Cricket Ground for a guided tour around the Museum (with ’The Ashes’) and grounds which I really enjoyed. The guide was right into his cricket and took us through the pavilion, changing rooms and media centre - telling us stories throughout. I also picked up a pair of cricket pants from the Lords shop which I can proudly wear for Wellsford when we get home.

On New Years eve we spent the morning in busy town of Camden, checking out the markets and having some of the famous street food. We were back later that night to celebrate New Years at Koko with a few of Haylees friends, where a band and DJ’s welcomed in the new year.

Although we didn’t get up to much on New Years day, we were able to visit a few of places we hadn’t seen on the 2nd. We started off at St Pauls Cathedral, which was much bigger than I expected but just another cathedral really from the outside. From here we headed to Covent Garden, an area with lots of street performers and markets. We visited a pub once run by Haylee’s Uncle & Aunty (the Marquess of Anglesey) for a beer, before getting lunch in Trafalgar Square. After lunch we went to see Harrod’s (the famous luxury shopping centre) where there were things like signed Mohummad Ali boxing gloves on sale for £90,000

Although it was well worth a visit, I don’t think I could ever live in London as it is far too busy. By the end of our time here I was starting to get sick of the crowded underground tubes and engineering works which made our trips take quite a bit longer than planned.