Si's Year Out! (Plus Europe! Plus Morocco!): Czech Republic

So I arrived in Prague after six and a half hours on the train. It was kind of a funny trip actually. There was a guy called Paul from the US in the carriage with me who stayed the whole journey, but all the other seats were occupied with an assortment of interesting people for different parts of the trip. First we had a German girl who had been living in Texas for the last two years, then a German woman who fosters kids from all over the world, then a crazy Czech dude and finally a Czeck girl who spoke 7 languages and gave me lots of tips on what cuisine to try in Prague!!!

The first evening I met a guy called Tristen from Perth, Australia (although he lives in London) and we went in search of a real Czech bar/restaurant where my food recommendations came in useful. Czech food is great and, as we were out of the tourist area, it was cheap - especially the beer!

The next day I explored some of the "old town" with a Canadian girl called Jenna from the hostel. We walked over the Charles bridge, with thirty statues looking on all the way across, and saw "The Astronomical Clock" in the main square, a big clock with moving people on the front (including a skeleton that rings the bell!). It only lasted a couple of minutes and was pretty tame - I could feel the disappointment from the hundreds of tourists who had gathered expecting a spectacular show!! The square had some impressive old gothic buildings so we wandered around for a while and got some lunch. Next we went to the museum of torture! It contained about 60 of the most gruesome creations I've ever seen, with drawings of how they would be used!!! Very grizzly but good fun all the same. The weather wasn't that good and it starting lashing it down so we made the statue of Wenseclas our last stop before heading back to the hostel and eating some more amazing Czech food.

Today I went to Prague Castle! Situated on the top of a hill the castle area actually comprises a load of buildings and has great views out over the city. I went into the Basilica not expecting much after the amazing churches I'd seen in Italy but as I walked through the door I was taken aback by the beautifully detailed stained-glass windows in the otherwise plain church. Each window was spectacular and they seemed to get bigger and better as I walked around! The outside of the Basilica was also kinda cool, it is covered with weird looking gargoyles jutting out at every angle! I wandered around the gardens and down to the "little quarter" to see the church of St. Nicholas. The church had a nice painted ceiling and lots of golden artifacts but I am well and truly churched out now so I think that might be the last church I visit!

So... the original plan was to head to Berlin next but true to form I've changed my mind and decided to go to Poland instead!! Off to Krakow tomorrow on the night train (hope I get some sleep!) so I've got another day in Prague before heading East - should be fun!!

EDIT - Everyone says Prague is a great place to go out drinking so last night I went out with a group of Americans I met at the hostel and partied hard! The beer is really really good here and we ended up making it an all nighter so I havn't slept for about 36 hours! Great fun though and I've got the rest of the day to chill out while waiting for my night train. Poland tomorrow - wooo!