Prague

So, a couple of days in Prague (Praha), home of Franz Kafka, sounded like a good idea at the time…except that it’s mid-October and it was damn cold!!! Still, it’s an amazing town and I would most definitely go back. Four and a bit hours by train from Vienna.

Given how crowded it was at this time of year, I can’t imagine the sheer lunacy of coming in summer. Cheek to cheek now (crowd picture at the top) on the Charles Bridge (Staré Město) which was completed in 1442. What would August be like?

The old squares are incredible, as are all the Medieval, Baroque and Art Deco touches you find everywhere.

Lots and lots of outdoor cafes, the ubiquitous tacky tourist shops - fake Russian Army fur hats, nesting wooden dolls (Harry Potter, Elvis, George Bush anyone?) and lots of crystal glass.

The tower in the picture is the “Powder Tower” (Don’t ask me why. I’m not the one who left the guide book in the hotel…) and was half a block from our hotel.

Oh, I finally bought a wallet to replace the one that was "liberated" by some miscreant in Vienna. It was time to move past using a paper clip as a substitute. Still, it as a REALLY NICE paper clip....