Shopping in Prague

It was raining so we went to Palladium shopping centre in central Prague, which is diagonally opposite the Powder Tower (pictured above) the entrance to the old city. There is always something you need to buy whilst you are overseas.

Palladium shopping centre is a large multi storey shopping centre or mall that you may be familar with back home. There is a train station nearby or you can catch a tram. Trams are relatively inexpensive in Prague. You purchase a ticket from the yelow coloured vending machines or any tobacconist.

One thing I've noticed is that tourist numbers have increased dramatically since seven years ago when I last visited, which is great for the local economy.

There are a number of street markets that are well worth a look, particularly for fresh fruit and vegetables that are better than in the shops we have seen on this trip.

We have located some great coffee shops, like this 1950s one, called Kaaba, near our apartment with free WiFi. A lot of resaturants and cafes in Prague have WiFi.

Travel Tips: 

- visit the street markets to buy fresh fruit and vegetables

- Palladium shopping centre is diagonally opposite the Powder Tower.

Prague - Wencelas Square & the Lennon Wall

In November, 1989 300,000 people packed Wencelas Square above; it was the start of the 'Velvet Revolution', when the Czech people secured their freedom. It began as a gathering to celebrate the student protests in World War 2 against the Nazi's, but it developed into a revolution that caused the end of Communism in the country.

The statue of good King Wencelas stands proudly in the Square, where legend has it that in the Czech's darkest hour good King Wencelas will come riding out of the mountains with his knights to save the country. He is the patron saint of Bohemia the region where Prague is situated. 

Wencelas Square is the main shopping area where most of the fast food chains have a presence, and department stores like Marks and Spencer's. 

I continued on to the Old Town Square and walked over the Charles Bridge and turned left into what is is called the Little Quarter. The Lennon Wall has an interesting history. Every night people would graffiti the wall with slogans such as, "You have your Lenin, give us our Lennon", and every morning the police would paint over the wall. Then the next night the people would graffiti over the wall again as a sign of protest. The Communists thought that Rock and Roll was subversive. Perhaps, they were right.

The Prague citizens were inspired by John Lennon of the Beatles, hence the name. In 1968 the Prague Uprising took place, which was brutally crushed by Soviet forces. This act of rebellion in writing graffiti on the wall gave the people hope until they could secure their freedom. 

Just down from the wall is this fence with thousands of padlocks attached. It symbolises a partners commitment to a relationship and enduring love. 

The Little Quarter is surprisingly quiet compared to the hustle and bustle on the Charles Bridge, and it's well worth exploring. 

One of the places you might need is an Internet cafe for printing out tickets. Yes, we still live in a world that requires paper tickets. There is one on Malé Náměstí opposite the clock tower in the Old Town Square. 

We had dinner at a Czech pub in our neighbourhood. I had a pork steak with mushroom sauce. 

Travel Tips: 

Internet Cafe - on Malé Náměstí, opposite the clock tower in Old Town Square. 

Mobile communications: 

There are three main mobile phone operators using the GSM standard, their coverage is very good (except in some remote, mostly uninhabited areas). If you find using roaming with your own operator too expensive or you want to have a Czech phone number, you can buy an anonymous prepaid card from any of the three main operators. However, the pricing schemes are usually quite complicated and some investigation may be necessary to find the ideal solution (even with the prepaid cards, operators offer various schemes including various additional 'packages'). GPRS and EDGE is widely supported, 3G networks support is in its beginnings (O2, Vodafone and T-mobile, mostly in Prague). The fourth operator (U:fon) uses some custom standards and you have to buy special hardware from them.

Prague - a stroll across the Charles Bridge

These are the types of apartments in Prague 3 where we are staying. I went for a stroll towards the centre of Prague through this beautiful park, catching a glimpse of Prague Castle through the trees (pictured below). Each neighbourhood appears to have a park, so there are plenty of green spaces in the city.

I walked to the Old Town Square and then followed the signs and the crowds to the West to the famous Charles Bridge, which was the first bridge in Prague. It links the Old Town with the Prague Castle complex, situated on the hill guarding the town from approaches from the West. The river eventually meets up with the Elbe river. Dresden in the first major German city to the North on the Elbe. The Elbe was the demarcation zone between the Western forces and the Soviets in World War 2. It separated the old West Germany and East Germany. In medieval times the river would serve as the major highway of freight into Germany and out via the port of Hamburg. Remember it was difficult and expensive to move freight on unpaved roads and using animal transport.

The Charles Bridge is one of the most popular attractions in Prague, and the most crowded. There are many statues of religious figures on the bridge.

At the end of the bridge is another set of towers and the gate and the approaches to Prague Castle. In medieval times there would have been a chain across the river to stop boats, and so they could be taxed of course. If you were travelling South by boat you would meet up with the other major Czech cities. In other words Prague was an important strategic location, and commercial location. For the ruler of course it allowed for a steady income from taxing the river traffic.

In Europe remember to bring an umbrella, because although it was sunny in the morning, in the afternoon it rained. The weather is highly variable in Northern Europe.

We had lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant in Prague 2, which was quite good. There are plenty of different cuisines in the city. We shopped at a Greek deli and went to the Shopping mall.

The forecast is for more rain this week. On the 24th to the 26th we will be visiting Cesky Krumlov in the South West area of the Czech Republic. This was settled by German people, and until 1945 there were 3 million German people in the country.

Travel Tips: 

- the river runs South to North and if you head, and if you are in the East of the city eventually you will hit the river either North or South of Charles Bridge if you head West.

- Allow half a day to see Prague Castle and it's best to arrive at 9am before the crowds.

Prague - a stroll to the Old Town Square

me. 

 

Today was a test of my new technology, the IPAD Mini and the Smart Phone, and they passed with flying colours. I didn't get geographically embarrassed or lost in other words. From our apartment in Prague 3, all the suburbs appear to be numbered with Prague 1 being the centre of the city, we strolled to the historic Old Town Square. Like any old town the streets are not arranged in a straight line, so if you don't have the benefit of a GPS head towards the big tower (pictured below).  However, if you have an IPAD switch on Location Services, and use Google Maps, which worked really well for me. 

On the way we passed this Soviet looking building, which I found out later was the old Comunist Party building, quickly abandoned after the Czech Republic secured their independence from in 1989. 

At the centre of the Old Town Square is the statue of Jan Hus a very important person in Czech history, and European history. He was a learned man, a University Professor and Religious Reformer, a hundred years before Martin Luther, who tried to reform the Roman Catholic Church in Prague. The church invited Jan Hus to a synod, found him guility of heresy, and burnt him at the stake. The public outcry resulted in the 'Hussite Wars' where the 'Proto Protestant' Hussites, the followers of Hus, defeated five crusades against them. The Hussites used some innovative tactics at the time, the widespread use of firearms, and a fortified wagon circle, similar to what you see in the old Western films. Eventually, the Hussites were overwhelmed, and the Roman Catholic Church regained control of Czech lands, but at great human cost. Today, fewer than 10% of the people in the Czech Republic are Roman Catholics.

The Old Town Square is one of the highlights of Prague, and here you will find a great number of restaurants. Some with menus covered in plastic are perhaps avoided. We had lunch at Maitrea, a vegetarian restaurant, in one of the lanes off Old Town Square. It was very good and reasonably priced. I had the goats cheese salad. What you will find is that the Czechs eat a lot of pork, so it might pay to mix it up a little if you are here for a long time. The good news is that there restaurants from all over the world, so you have plenty of options.

As you can see it's beautiful weather in Prague at the moment. Follow the crowds or the brown signposts a few blocks West and you will arrive at the famous Charles Bridge.

In the distance you can see the great cathedral and Prague Castle, one of the largest castle complexes in Europe. It's best to spend atleast half a day visiting the castle, so we retraced our steps home.

I hope you enjoyed your first real taste of Prague. We will be spending the next few weeks in the Czech Republic. We have booked a two day trip to Cesky Krumlov, high up in Bohemian mountains near the Black Forest with Germany. It's highly rated and perhaps the second biggest attraction in the Czech Republic. It's about a four hour train trip from Prague, and costs about $12.

There is a cultural festival on in Cesky Krumlov when we ae visiting and we have secured tickets to the music events. I can't wait.

Travel Tips: 

- Ensure Location Services is switched on your IPAD, and use Google Maps to navigate.

- If you are in Prague try mixing it up a little with your restaurants, unless you really love pork.

- If you have the time venture out of Prague and into the Bohemian mountains to Cesky Krumlov. 

Dubai to Prague

In a few years Dubai will be busier than Heathrow, but you don't have the delays you have at Heathrow, and we breezed through the circus that is modern air travel. It's easier just to fly to Dubai and fly direct to the city you want to visit in Europe. If you need to go to London then I find it's more convenient to catch the high speed rail that brings you into the heart of London at Kings Cross, like we did on the last trip from Belgium.

The flight to Prague was about five or six hours; it was short by our standards. At the aiprort there is a Vodafone store in Terminal 2, and in the Czech Republic you can by a prepaid SIM card (with no identification) with 500 megabytes of data for about ten dollars, which will last a month.

The Prague Uprising in 1968 was put down with 200,000 Soviet troops and tanks. In 1989 the Czech people were not to be denied again and in the 'Velvet Revolution' the Communists lost power and the country transitioned to a liberal democracy. Shortly afterwards Slovakia, the mainly agricultural part in the East, split, and became a new country. Hence, there is no more Czechoslovakia. The Czech Republic are ethnically different from the mainly Slavic people of Slovakia.

Prague is also the cultural capital of Europe, and it's cheaper to see concerts here than anywhere else in the world. The average wage is about $1500 a month in the Czech Republic.

Prague is the transport hub for the country. Last time I was here we caught the overnight train from Venice, and it brings you straight into the middle of the city. Dresden to the North is only two hours away, and Berlin four and a half hours by train.

I actually prefer Prague over Paris, although everyone should visit Paris once in their life. Like Paris, Prague is a beautiful city, and relatively less expensive.

On the first day I arrive somewhere, I normally unpack, and then go to the supermarket.

We are staying in Prague 3, which is about a twenty minute walk to the Old Town and historic centre of Prague. Our two bedroom apartment with Wifi and Apple TV costs $90 a night. Again sourced through AirBnb like our last trip to Europe. That's much cheaper staying at a hotel, and much cheaper than even a motel that will cost you around $150 a night in Australia.

So, if you haven't been to Prague why are you waiting? Anyway, I look forward to showing you Prague and the Czech Republic over the next few weeks.

Travel Tips 

- Purchase a Prepaid SIM card for your mobile phone at the airport. It's much cheaper than Global Roaming. Note there is no 4G network. Internet speed is about 65 megabytes a second, and most restaurants and cafes have WiFi.

- Engage in the cultural activities in Prague, and enjoy concerts for about $40 that we pay $150 to see in Australia.

- The Czechs see their country as Central Europe, not Eastern Europe, so don't refer to the Czech Republic as Eastern Europe.

Sydney to Dubai

Today was an early 6am flight to Dubai. I can recommend staying at the new Rydges hotel at Sydney international airport. It's so easy, you just walk across the road and you are in departures, and that's one less thing that you have to worry about.

It's just on 14 hours to Dubai on the A380, which is my favourite aircraft for a long haul flight; the seats are just that extra bit wider, and the cabin noise is not as bad as a 747 in my opinion.

Dubai in a few years will be bigger than Heathrow airport. As I've said before it's a strategic hub now linking Asia with Europe and the Middle East. It sort of reminds me of Las Vegas without the entertainment and gambling. It's hot like Vegas; it was 42 degrees when we arrived in the afternoon, and it felt exactly like when you open an oven door. It is Ramadan at the moment, so it's the quiet time of the year. It also means you can't eat or drink in public during the day. If you do you can be hit with a fine or worse.

After dark we had a sumptious feast of Middle Eastern food. Sydney is a very multicultural city, and we are blessed with food from all over the world, and Middle Eastern food is very good.

We will have a chance to see more of the city on the return leg of the trip, but with a 9am flight the next morning for Prague we crashed out on the bed.

Packing for Europe: Why you need a checklist

When you travel it helps to have a checklist.

I was packing for our flight to Europe tomorow and I was going through the ehecklist I picked up that I forgot the UK power adaptor for Dubai. Generally, most countries with a British influence, use the UK power adaptor like Hong Kong, and Dubai. However, in Australia we have our own power adaptor to make it more complicated, and so does the United States. With all our electronic gadgets it also pays to have two power adaptors for each country that you are travelling through, so you can wake up and have everything charged for the day of sightseeing.

I put the most important things in my daypack to carry on the plane with a change of clothes in case, heaven forbid, the airline loses my luggage. That's always a good rule to live by, then your trip is not completely wrecked. That includes any medication you need.

As I've written about earlier my current favourite travel items are:

1. IPAD Mini tablet with keyboard cover (the 10 hour battery life and instant on feature and having all the media options - videos, games, Kindle, music etc). It weighs with the Keyboard only 500 grams, and fits into the cargo pockets of my shorts.

2. Bose noise cancellation earphones. As the name suggests this gets rid of all that cabin noise, and you arrive more refreshed in my opinion after a long flight. They come with an attachment to fit into the socket on the airplane's seats.

3. A Tracksuit

I'm wearing a tracksuit now on long haul flights (besides my jeans are too tight to sit 13 hours on one leg). It's becoming more popular now. It beats wearing pajamas! Plus, you have a good chanc of spilling something on your clothes with those precarious little airline tables, so you don't want to wear your best outfit.

4. Kindle travel guides and foreign language APPS 

I've bought some travel guides for the Kindle APP, and some language APPs for the IPAD. That way I can always have them on the IPAD and don't have to lug around travel books. There are some really good language APPs. For this trip I have Czech and German the two countries I'm definitely visiting, as for Polish and Hungarian I won't even try to learn. However, there are APPs for everything now, so you really need to get a tablet computer and leave the laptop behind.

Tomorrow, is an early flight from Sydney to Dubai, so we will be spending the night in an aiport hotel, so we just stroll over to the airport and check in the bags, and have breakfast in the Qantas club lounge.