I spent the day in transit today so feel a little dishevelled now! The train this morning was late leaving Prague so I got to Vienna at about 4pm. I made it from the regional train station to the Metro station ok, but then the walk that was supposed to be "an easy 3-4 minute walk to the hostel!" it didn't quite work out that way. Unfortunately the directions given by the hostel were not very clear and the hostel is actually in rather an awkward postion. Anyway, I spent about 30 mins traipsing around trying to find what was only supposed to take 3-4 minutes! I eventually went into a hotel and asked for directions - turns out yes indeed the hostel is only 3-4 mins away - the directions just stink.

Anyway, I dumped everything in my room and was by this time quite hungry so went out again (by this time I knew the surrounding area pretty well!) and got a bite to eat.

I can finally say that I did actually get cold this afternoon - finally! There was a really cold wind that didn't make my fingers just feel cold - they hurt! I actually feel quite excited that it's finally cold.

Although, as I write this in my hostel room there are 2 Italian girls who have just turned up the heater full blast. Sigh - sickness again here we come.

Just quickly, I've checked to see if Vodafone operates in Austria and it doesn't appear so, so I may not have mobile access while I'm in Vienna. So if you want to contact me, the best way is either via email at ckennedy01@hotmail.com or through facebook (email is probably better though).

And that's until late 22 December. From then on I'm in Italy and it's fine there.

Photos Galore!

Ok I'm not sure what happened before but here are some photos of the past 2 days.

The outside of the main church at Strahov Monastery.

More outside the Monastery.

The cloisters at the Monastery - it wasn't open but through the glas to the left you could see the pond in the middle - it was frozen!

The Theological Hall at the moastery.

The Philosophical Hall (my favourite!)

The entrance to Prague Castle

One of the stained glass windows in St Vitus Cathedral. The photo doesn't do it justice.

Looking down to the main altar in the Cathedral of St Vitus

Outside looking at the Cathedral.

One of the many winding lanes around the palace.

A little nativity scene they had set up - I'm not sure it was snowing at the real thing though!

A monastery, a castle and many, many tissues

-- Just to let you know, I cna't get the photos up for this post but will keep trying, so stay tuned!--

Yesterday I had high hopes of springing out of bed and doing lots, however it didn't quite work out that way. I think my efforts the day before had tried me out because I was sick so yesterday I slept in. By the time I got out of the hostel it was midday. That's not really an issue in itself, it's just that by 3pm the best light is gone so I didn't have too many hours of daylight left! It was a snowy, windy day anyway so perhaps it was not the best idea going out at all.

However, I did have a fantastic few hours up on the mountain that overlooks the main part of Prague. There is a monastery there called Strahov Monastery that I really wanted to go to after doing my research before I left and finding that it is world famous for its library!

The monastery itself was founded in the 12^th century by St Norbert, who had a rather lightning bolt conversion akin to St Paul. It has a long and colourful history, as all the buildings in Prague seem to have, that includes war, destruction and continual re-building. Going to these places is always fascinating as there are so many layers of history to the buildings – there might be a fresco from the 12^th century here, a knave from the 15th century there, the paint job from the 17^th century.

Anyway, the view from the monastery is stunning and I imagine that in summer you would be able to see all the way to the other end of Prague. Unfortunately yesterday dut to the snow storm all you could see was 50 metres of snow capped roofs and then a sea of white. It was still quite beautiful though.

The relics of St Norbert are in the main Church of the Monastery but this was not open to the public. It is still functioning as an active monastery so there are certain parts that are not open to the public. The Library, however, was a real treat. I have loved books since I was a child find a real asthetic pleasure in old books. There are two halls in the Library – the Philosophical Library and the Theological Library. Together they house about 20,000 books.

There was also a large collection of scientific objects – stuffed animals and sea shells as well as archaeological artefacts. My family will understand me when I say it was like one giant Wunderkammer shop!! If I could have had another life, one of the things I would have liked to be was a scientist in the 19^th century – working in the laboratories, surrounded by plants and animals and various scientific instruments. What a fascinating time in history it would must have been – so much discovery happening.

The photos that I take could not do this place justice (plus they charge you a fee to take photos) so I bought the postcards of the rooms instead – they are much better shots! Though I never understand the people who walk in, take a few photos of everything and then walk out, not taking the time to look at what is around them with their own eyes.

Anyway, after a few hours being at the monastery I was feeling quite ill again so I called it a day and went back to the hostel. The walk back was much easier – the walk up to the monastery is quite steep and the snow on the ground makes it like you are walking on slippery sand. A hard feat at the best of times but it was not very nice to have to stop every few minutes and hack up your lungs. Yeah, not really very cultured at all unfortunately.

Today I slept in again. I feel terribly guilty about it. I am the worst person at being sick – I just cannot give myself a break. If I have to rest I feel guilty because I feel lazy – it's completely ridiculous of course because I need to rest but I feel strange sleeping-in in another country. It just doesn't feel right.

Anyhoo, today was my last day in Prague and I still hadn't seen its jewel – the Prague Castle. This place looks like all those castles you see in fairy-tales, and the hopeless romantic in me just loves the idea of being a princess in one of them (didn't every 6 year old girl?!)

Today, much to my surprise, the sky was blue! It's the first time I've seen blue sky since I got to Europe and it was very nice – reminded me of home! A few hours later it was snowy again but hey, it was nice while it lasted. I made the trek up the mountain again to where the castle is and bought my ticket which allowed me to see most things. One of the most magnificent parts of the castle (it really is an entire complex) is the St Vitus Cathedral – this is what really makes the castle grand. Going inside, I was immediately struck by the stained glass windows – I haven't seen any like them. They are like mosaics of glass, not just one pane for each colour or panel. IT had such a beautiful effect, but it was impossible to get a good photo as there was just too much detail for my little camera. In the end I gave up and bought a guide book to the castle at the book shop that had much better pictures. Plus I don't want to have my face behind the camera the entire time.

Once again this cathedral was a prime example of how layers have been added each century. Some of it was amazingly old – over 1000 years. It's amazing to think that during every last little thing that's happened in the past 1000 years, certain parts of the cathedral have been there. Mind-bending stuff.

The various parts of the palace surround the giant court-year where the cathedral is. Some of them are open to the public and many are not. A lot of archaeological work has needed to be done to restore it to be safe for the public to go in and I believe work still continues. Certainly today the tradies were busy just trying to clear all the snow away so people wouldn't slip.

There was a great exhibition that showed how people lived during the various ages from the 10^th century and through the middle ages – with clothes and items from the bedrooms and houses. I always wonder if people were much shorter back then – all the clothes certainly give that impression and the doorways are often much lower than we have today.

Of course, there was a lot in the palace that I'm sure wasn't there in the Middle-Ages. The many restaurants for starters and heaters in all the rooms. But they did have soldiers patrolling in their russian-style hats and fuzzy jackets and the ground is all cobble-stone, so the feel of the place is still quite regal and medieval.

While I was there, a new bride and her husband were having photos taken. Quite a backdrop for your wedding photos! And I had to laugh at one point when, in front of me a little brother and sister were squabbling (I'd seen them a few times during the day and they were always poking and teasing each other). Anyway, the exasperated parents separated them, at which they both, on ether side of their parents, made a snowball from the piles of snow on the ground. I walked passed them at this point and heard a thud as the snowballs obviously hit each other and the kids started squealing again. It's quite nice to know that wherever you go in the world, some things are always the same!

3 hours of exploring the castle and being outside in the wind was enough for me. It was an amazing place – I really wish I had someone I could have gone with as I am worried I will forget the many different things I saw. I wish I could take photos with my eyes!

I also needed to buy my train ticket for the trip to Vienna tomorrow so I made my way to the main train station (honestly we are getting totally screwed by the Victorian government when it comes to the train system in Melbourne when you compare it to cities in Europe) and bought my ticket.

On the way back the weather turned really nasty – there was no snow but the wind picked up and the temperature dropped significantly, so I sought refuge in a coffee shop where you can get a coffee and beautiful apple strudel for $6 AUS. Can't say no to a bargain! What I don't really get is most of the restaurants and cafes are empty, except for Starbucks and McDonalds. Thanks America. But why on earth would one go for those cultureless and far more expensive places when you can get proper food for so much cheaper? I really don't understand. And I finally had a good coffee at this place – yay!! About time!

Back again now in my lovely hostel room – I am not looking forward to leaving it and going back to the shared hostel room experience in Vienna. I love the company of people, but sometimes sharing a room with total strangers is a bit too close for comfort for me. What can I say? I love being around people, but I like my privacy.

Jokes aside, travelling alone has its advantages – you can go on your own timetable and see what you want to see - but it also has its disadvantages. One of the main ones is not being able to share what you see and experience with someone. Another is not being able to just laugh and joke around with someone. Talking to yourself can become lonely quite quickly! I made the mistake of thinking that because I feel totally comfortable spending time by myself in my own city (where I understand how things work and go home to people I love spending time with) I would be totally fine spending time alone in other cities. For the most part I am, but I would not be giving a totally honest picture if I said that travelling alone isn't lonely. And I want this blog to be about honest experiences. I found the first week particularly difficult but it has gotten better. Sometimes I wonder if I will lose my nerve though and jump on a plane back home. But you've got to learn to be on your own sometime, right? And I have never been one to back down from a challenge. It's completely in my character to do the dramatic thing and learn all this halfway across the world!

Lastly, I'll just say I have a number of friends who left their own country and made Australia a home for short and long periods of time. I can't express how much respect I have for them.

Unfortunately I've been sick for the past few days - I get sinusitis quite often (especially during winter) and the symptoms are the same, so I have been feeling quite a bit worse for wear!

Yesterday I didn't make it out of my hostel room until dinner time. I didn't want to spend my first day in Prague in bed but sometimes your body doesn't care about what you want to do and only wants to curl up under the covers. Such was yesterday. I basically slept most of the day away but I was also really hungry - the only food I had with me was the chocolate I had bought in Germany, so let's just say there's less chocolate now to give as gifts!

I had tickets to see Swan Lake the ballet but just going to dinner for an hour was enough to send me crawling back under the covers. I am bummed I missed out on it but hey, what can you do?

The place I had dinner last night was really funky though so I had to get a few shots.

Somethin I've found funny along the way is the music that the restaurants I've been to play - here in Prague they play lovey-dovey songs or Barry White, which can be quite distracting when you're trying to eat your dinner and the couple at the next table are getting frisky from the music. Reminds me of a scene from European Vacation...! In Berlin they loved Jamaican music - it was at the train station, shops, on the street - everywhere! I really wasn't expecting that.

Anyway, after getting about 24 hours sleep, I woke up today feeling a lot better - my face still feels like someone is repeatedly punching me in the cheekbones and I'm sniffling a lot, but it's an improvement. And the painkillers I have are quite strong so I was able to spend most of the day out.

I first went to St Nicholas Church, which is quite close to my hostel. This is what it looks like from outside.

The inside is magnificent - it's a Baroque church so it's full of ornamentation. I can never get any good photos as the light is so dim so I always buy the postcards they sell so to get good shots of the various Altars.

St Nicholas is also famous in Prague for its bell-tower. I paid extra and got to climb right to the top where the bells used to ring - many hundreds of steps up! The views from the top were breathtaking though - during Summer you would be able to see more but still it was incredible. A few shots of what I saw are below.

Prague is absolutely stunning - definitely the most beautiful European city I've seen. The streets have cobble-stone as the pavement and are so small and windy - it's amazing that people drive through them but they somehow manage to make it work!

I also learnt some fascinating history today too about St Nicholas Church - after the war when the Soviets took over the Czech Republic, one of the main places that members of the Secret Police worked was at the church, in surveillance operations. Becuase of the height of the Church, it has fantastic clear views of the Western democracies' embassies. So up in the bell towers there was a little museum showing the various shots that these secret police would take of the people entering and coming out of the embassies. I got a photo of a room that was left the way it would have been set up 50 years ago when the secret police would camp out and watch Americans for instance.

The window on the left gives a perfect view down to the French Embassy. It was really interesting to read about the effect of Communism on the city -  to be honest I was surprised that more churches and religious monuments were not desroyed.

That is one of the things that really struck me about Prague – the amount of churches around! I did not realise so many had survived Communism during the 20^th century. As you walk across Charles Bridge, one of the main bridges in Prague, it is amazing to see the amount of figures of the Saint and Christ at each of the posts. Great stuff.

After visiting St Nicholas I made a stop at another very important church. Prague is very special to Catholics for it houses the famous Infant Jesus. I could not come as a pilgrim to Europe and Prague without seeing it. This church had a far more solemn atmosphere than St Nicholas and on the right of the church is where the Infant Jesus is housed. It's so full of splendour it kinds of blinds you for a few seconds. However, I was glad that the atmosphere there was kept prayerful so it was possible to have some quiet moments in front of the statue. There was a museum at the back of the church where it showed the different vestments made along the centuries for the statue (they are stunning!) and there was a lovely video showing the Carmelite nuns (who have a particularly strong devotion to the Infant Jesus of Prague), changing its vestments to suit the colours of the liturgical year changes seasons. For instance, today it was in purple vestment as it is currently Advent.

I bought some little medals of the Infant Child for friends back at home and left the church feeling quite wonderful. It has always been a dream of mine to visit the Infant Child – I have always found that the novena to the Infant is particularly powerful.

This afternoon I mainly just followed along the winding streets to see where they would take me. I went through the artists' corner, where there was a lot of contemporary art on display and into the Old Town Square, where there is the old astronomical clock (I don't know how it works!)

There was a little Christmas market set up in the Old Town Square and a huge Christmas tree too. There was also a petting zoo! A friendly goat came up and had a chat to myself and another little boy - and then tried to eat his hand which was pretty funny.

I must say I am finding it soooo hard to restrain myself from buying everything – Prague has the most beautiful glass works and religious art work! I just want to buy everything! Plus every second shop is a jewellery store selling amber or garnets – apparently these stones are found in abundance in the Czech Republic. I have managed to resist the temptation so far – to be honest if I am going to buy any jewellery I think it will be in Turkey. Prague is really really cheap though – I don't understand it.

By 3pm the sun had set and we were rapidly losing light so I whiled away the latter hours of the afternoon at a coffee shop reading Middlemarch – I am making very good progress through it. I must say Dorothea Brooke really is a fool!

A few more pictures out and about in Prague - it really is breathtakingly beautiful!

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!!!

Last night there was only one other person in my room so when she was out, I sneakily turned off the heater. SUCH a better night sleep - no headache this morning! However, I have caught a cold so I was full of snuffling and sounding like a man today.

I had a lazy morning this morning - slept in and then had a long breakfast with some girls from Perth who are also doing their Europe trip. We chatted for a good couple of hours - all of us are travelling alone so it was nice to have people to chat to who understood the challenges.

The weather was pretty awful today. It rained all last night so all the beautiful white snow, which had been like icing sugar, has turned into brown slush. Not only does it make walking hard because it is so slippery, but it's hard to keep your feet dry! I discovered today my boots are not waterproof, so right now after a day of wet feet my toes are like little prunes.

Mmmmmm, a natural slushie!

I headed up to the Berlin Hauptbahnhof (main train station) and bought my train ticket to Prague for tomorrow morning. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there are no issues with travelling tomorrow - I've already had my fair share! The train trip is about 4 hours so I can get some reading in.

I then tried to navigate my way to the Pergamon Museum - Berlin's Museum of Antiquity.After boasting yesterday about my map skills getting better I must admit I didn't do so well today. To be fair, it was raining and hard to work out where I was due to having to make lots of detours because of the mountains of slush everywhere. Anyway, I finally made it to the museum and, aftering waiting in line for 30 mins outside, got in!The Pergamon has a world renowned section on the Ancient Near-East and houses the Ishtar Gate -the main city gate from the Babylonian empire. It was very impressive.

There were also lots of other artefacts from the Assyrian Empire and the towns of Ashur and Uruk. Such amazing stuff! And it's also really interesting to explore the history of how the museums got hold of their collections - there's a lot of politics involved!!
Below is a section of the Temple of Innana (or Ishtar as she is sometimes known) - she is a Sumerian goddess.

The gates of Miletus - an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia (now Turkey). This massive artefact was significantly damaged during WWII during the bombing raids on Berlin.

I bought a copy of the museum catalogue - I am going to be studying ancient Babylon in some depth next year so it will be a good purchase I'm sure!

I still had about an hour and a half to kill before a vigil mass at St Hedwig's Cathedral so I went looking for a cafe to sit down and read my new purchase. Unfortunately good cafes seem to be hard to find here - one of the only complaints I have to make about Berlin. There are quite a few Starbucks but they are a) really expensive and b) crap. Plus they are always packed so you can never get a seat! I ended up walking along one of the main streets and found myself in a store kind of like Borders book shop back home. I could easily have killed quite a lot of time there but it was packed full of Christmas shoppers.

I finally found a coffee shop where the coffee was much cheaper than Starbucks and better. The barista made me a little love heart in the milk, which was quite nice :) And before anyone makes a comment he was about 50!

Mass this evening started off a little awkward - I couldn't find the entrance to the Church (it's a dome shape) and accidentally went in the back where the sacristy is! The priest looked at me funny, so I apologised profusely and sat at the back, feeling quite embarrassed! I must say that is one of the things I find quite hard in being in another country - I seem to do the wrong thing a lot. After 2 weeks of stuffing things up and apologising I feel like this trip is going to make me perhaps a more humble person! Hopefully.

Mind you, nothing I've done compares to my friend who was trying to order a kebab from a street vendor who spoke no English and there was a choice between a round roll or the long roll with pita bread. Let's just say her hand actions to describe that she wanted the long roll had many a German standing around laughing their heads off - me too!

That's almost it for Berlin - I really liked it here. I didn't really have any plans set in stone for what I had wanted to do but this city is so interesting and I found so much to do and see. I'd love to come back here when it's warmer and see what it's like in full bloom. One day!

Just one last photo of a Berlin at night - this is a Christmas market, but I also love the great big building behind it. I have no idea what it is but there are so many like it in Berlin - just beautiful!