8:00pm – Most people looked a little more awake today at breakfast and ready to take on the adventures of Prague. I have to admit the lack of sleep was beginning to have an effect on me and I was feeling quite tired. Still, having been to Prague before I knew what beautiful sights awaited me.
9:00am – our guide came to meet us at out hotel and led us to the bus stop beside the hotel. It seemed easier (and probably safer) to travel around Prague on the public transport. We took the train to the nearby metro station, where our guide told us to “keep our hands on our valuables”, which obviously resulted in a great deal of hilarity. I was more concerned about the life threatening escalators which were just too steep and too fast for my liking. I mean no one is supposed to get vertigo from an escalator! From the metro we took a tram up to Prague castle.
10:00am – Prague Castle was enormous. When we first arrived various pupils in the group had the picture taken with the guards who, like the guards in London, are unable to show any kind of reaction, or deviate from their job so some pupils took advantage by making silly poses etc. Although, Ms. Bovill was probably the most outrageous! The guide took us around the castle telling us the history of the various buildings and art work. Unfortunately, we were unable to go into the cathedral as there was a mass on, but we could see just how spectacular it was from the outside.
12:00pm – when we arrived at Golden Lane (a street of tiny houses, now shops, inside the castle walls that once housed alchemists) out guide gave us half an hour to ourselves to explore the little gift shops and galleries. Being an English teacher, I was quite keen to see the little house that had once been home to Franz Kafka. It is hard to imagine he lived there when the whole house is smaller than my classroom!
12:30pm – we met up with our guide again at the bottom of Golden Lane and from here he took us for a walk through the city pointing out various buildings and statues. We crossed Charles bridge into the more tourist driven part of the city. Here our guide left us and we left the pupils to go and have a bit of exploring and do some shopping. Prague is full of interesting shops and markets.
2:30pm – we found a shop that sold cows! There was a large ceramic cow, wearing a strange leather costume in the window. The random cow had made another appearance. No more cows!!
3:00pm – we met up with the pupils and walked back to metro station to go back to the hotel. Everyone seemed laden down with many interesting purchases, and I had certainly managed to spend lots!
4:00pm – back to the hotel where we had an hour or so to ourselves. I have to admit I used mine to grab a quick nap and phone home. It was so nice to just stop for an hour after our exhausting day’s walk.
5:00pm – we had dinner that night in the hotel. It was made very special as all the pupils had had a collection and presented us with some gifts. They are far too generous! I have to say that I did love my gifts and the bottle of vodka went to show that the pupils know both Ms. Bovill and me too well!
7:00pm – after dinner we had to make a bit of a mad dash back into the city centre to get to the Black theatre. We snake walked our way to the metro station and then took the flight of death down to catch the train. We were running quite late and therefore had to take a mad dash across central square to the theatre.
8:00pm – we arrived at the theatre a little late and inevitably disturbed the audience as we tried to sneak into seats at the back. The “image” theatre was very…different. It was a story of a policeman and two robbers who acted out their story in mime interrupted by very unusual dance scenes. The actors were dressed in costumes that reflected the lights and some of their movements were almost hypnotic. I have to admit to feeling slightly spaced out afterwards.
10:00pm – after the show I think everyone was feeling a little dazed. The theatre was excellent, but did mess with your head a little bit. We decided it was time to let our hair down a little so we took off and joined in the night life of Prague.
12:00am – after a couple of drinks in the cocktail bar we all gathered again at central square where we had booked taxis to come and take us back to the hotel.
12:30am – instead of heading to bed like normal people, most of our group sat up and had a chat in the hotel. Mr Brown befriended a small group of Germans who were in Prague with their football team and he was quite keen to show then his knowledge of German. I have to admit I was impressed!
3:00am – people began to get quite tired and headed off to bed. A few of the mad ones stayed up a bit later, but I was exhausted.
Prague is the most beutiful city I have ever seen. All historical places are so gorgeous. I found so many interesting places and knew a lot obout medieval history. Also Hotels in Prague are so nice.
Posted by: Prague Hotels | September 28, 2007 at 10:31 AM