Welcome to my travel blog! Over the next 10 weeks I will be travelling throughout Europe and will share my adventure here. The name of this blog is a Latin phrase which translates roughly to mean 'to gain, understand, perceive'. It explains perfectly what I hope to experience in this trip; a sense of understanding and appreciation for life all around the world.



Monday, December 13, 2010

Off to Prague

Made it to Prague today without too much hassle. It took about 5 hours tops to get to the main station from Berlin. I arrived at 3.30pm and it was already getting dark so I had to try and find my hostel quickly before I lost all the light!

The map I have is quite misleading because it makes Prague look much larger than it actually is - it's actually tiny!! I kept walking too far becuase I was expecting the streets to be much longer. No matter - although the streets are short and the town is small - it's hilly so you can imagine walking with heavy bags up and down the streets made me nice and warm. I was also expecting it to be colder in Prague - everyone has told me that it is the coldest place but again I didn't find it all bad.

I have to say I am stoaked with my choice of hostel - I remember I booked a single room becuase I thought I would appreciate some privacy after 2 weeks of hostels. And I chose well! My room is massive and has a double bed just for me! It's much more like a hotel than a hostel which is very nice!


There is even a kettle and tea in the room! Yes! Blessed, blessed tea :) 

I went out for dinner this evening - the streets really are amazing, so narrow and winding and completely living up to my romanctic notions of what a European city is like. There are many warnings around the place about pick-pockets so I'll need to be extra vigilant about my belongings - apparently it's not uncommon for people to cut open your bags when someone is distracting you.

Dinner wasn't great by any means but dessert was yum! Apple strudel - one of my favourites. Though I must say (perhaps with the exception of the Berlin kebab, but only because she doesn't make them) none of the food I've come accross so far compares with my mum's cooking. Her food is the bomb!

For some reason, it reminds me of Princess Leia from Star Wars.

I didn't stay out after dinner even though a lot of the shops were still open - my cold got worse today so I was feeling a little worse for wear. I sat in my spacious bed in my room instead and watched Blackadder on youtube :)

One thing I have to say is how glad I feel that English is my native language. One could argue it makes us lazy being brought up on it but it is such a handy language to have when travelling. For instance, the guys at the restaurant tonight had to know Czech, English, German, Italian, Russian and French! Astounding.

Another humbling moment happened today at the train station. I had my big backpack on my back and my little one on my front so I could have my hands free - anyway, I dropped my mobile on the ground and as I was bending over to pick it up, the weight on my back tipped me over so I was on my back like a cockroach, stomach to the roof! So embarrassing. I just have to be thankful that I will most likely never see any one of those people again. I must admit that travelling really is not glamorous - at least I certainly don't feel at all like I can do it in style! Occasionally I see the really flashy hotels and the people getting out of their taxis looking far more composed as they have their luggage taken in by the porter - one day when I have my millions!!!

3 comments:

  1. Thank you my love for the compliment. Your room looks heavenly after the hostel experience, and now you can control that wretched heater. Your photos have been amazing. The Assyrian stuff from Berlin is incredible. As always I am green when I read your posts but delighted you are having the Grand Tour. As for glamour travelling pfft. We all have our cockroach moments. It could be worse...PJ O'Rourke said there are two kinds of travel: First class and travelling with children. (Of course, my children were always excellently behaved....) Big XXXXX

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  2. Make the most of that great room - get some good sleep! I hope they're a bit more sensible about heating down in the warmer countries.

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  3. But I have no children!! What does that say about my style of travelling?!

    I had the heater off last night and got some good sleep but I STILL woke up with a damn throbbing head this morning. It's rapidly zapping the fun out of every morning :(

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