Prague - Wow!

Prague is the new Paris - at least in my opinion. It's beautiful, old, well maintained (the bits I've seen so far), has fantastic food, loads of culture (they're very big on the arts and there are sculptures everywhere), and there's a river that runs through it that has amazing bridges. 

Today we visited the Prague castle, the largest castle in Europe,and started in 870 AD. Apparently it has every style of building for the last millenium, and is dominated by a huge gothic church in the middle. The Basilica of St Vitus. 

I saw beautiful gardens, and exotic birds. There's towers, and museums, and it's all on a hill overlooking the city. We saw part of a toy museum, and shops that sell toys that are clever and made in Czech out of wood not plastic. That is one of the things I have noticed here - they have big photography shops, china shops selling fine china, fantastic shoe shops with high quality leather boots, hand blown and etched glass - not a $2 shop to be seen, and I haven't seen any shops selling plastic either. It's really really fabulous to see that they haven't succumbed (yet) to total globalisation. Yes there's maccas, but there's loads of cultural stuff, and obvious pride in local manufacturing. And antique shops to go crazy in... It's hard to imagine that this was once a communist country under Stalin - it would be interesting to talk to some of the older generation.

Lovely old buildings that you could never afford to build now - loads of detail, cornices, gargoyles, the lot.

Lunch was in the old town square. I said I wanted a hot dog - not like you'd imagine, but an extremely tasty bratwurst sausage served on delicious rye bread with lashings of mustard. And then we came across a stall selling those, but also hot roast ham.  Well, what can I say. There were these 2 huge hunks of pork roasting on a spit over flaming coals! So I ordered 1 sausage and 1 ham. The guy cut off this huge piece of ham and I thought 'ok, he'll divide it up and just give me a slice'. But no, he slapped it on a plate, weighed it, and charged me 638 Czech crowns! ($44 plus a couple of beers of course). Well, it was over 1/2 kg of hot tasty ham - OMG it was amazing! And there was enough for dinner as well lol. Yum, yum, yum.

And this is after we've attacked it.

I've already worked out that I'm not here long enough to eat everything I'd like to!

We went to see Frank Gehry's (famous architect) dancing house - they call it Ginger and Fred here.

And walked along the riverbank.

So much to see. And I still haven't mentioned where we're staying - I need to get some daytime photos on my iPad. Laters...

So long Dubrovnik & thanks for the memories. And hello Prague

Our last morning in Dubrovnik we got up early to walk to the port for a custard slice that Ros had seen - apparently looking delicious. A perfect day with the sun glistening on the water, and the orange roofs of the old town standing out proud against the blue sky. The port was full of little boats and huge super yachts, the custard slice was akin to orangey flavoured blancmange with old pastry, and the coffee was luckily superb. Across the road was a public gym park with very cool sturdy gym equipment - so I had to give it a go. Well the first one I couldn't get my legs to coordinate, and then was laughing so hard I couldn't get off! And the next one Ros was laughing so hard she chopped my head off in the photo. Len Brown we need some of these in Auckland.

Haha

Dubrovnik has a lovely little airport which makes a change from big noisy bustling ones. We were way early as usual, and spent our last few cents before heading off to another new currency. Croatia and the Czech Republic are both in th EU, but have kept their own currencies.

Czech airlines (Smart Wings) were clean, smooth, and efficient, although we missed all the free goodies that we'd grown used to on Aegean Airlines.

Flying over the countryside as we were coming in it looked green and well managed, with lots of ploughed pastures. This is after the scraggly tilled plots randomly dotted around Athens, and the dry arid ness of the Greek Islands and the coastline around Dubrovnik. And yes a very efficient bus whisked us to the metro which then deposited us in the centre of town a few doors from our accommodation - more on that later as it's amazing, and I need to take photos.

Needless to say our next stop needed to be a beer garden (de rigueur) in this part of the world.  And of course we were assailed with beautiful foodie smells so wanted to try some Czech specialities. It's much cooler here, and it looks to be an amazingly beautiful city - can't wait to explore further.

Cheers

Mini sausages with sauerkraut and mustard, and potato and cabbage cakes - beer snacks, and absolutely delicious!

Thurs 10th Sept

Had a lovely dinner in the old town last night. All the walls and streets were lit up, and there were a few people in period costume wandering about. The hardest thing is picking a restaurant, as there's so many. We either go by how many people there are, or what it looks like, location, gut instinct, or what delicious smells are wafting out. It's all pretty much luck of the draw though, but we did well on the smell criteria last night. Seafood stew, cold platter of smoked meats and cheeses (the ricotta is amazing), and tasty summer veg salad. 

It's interesting that the further north we go the more expensive it gets - lucky we're staying with friends in Switzerland!

Had a late start today but still managed to fit a lot in. We did the cable car in the morning for stunning views over the town and coast. It was overcast so we missed the full on sunshine experience, but still magnificent. 

We looked up the cruise ship we saw in the port yesterday - it hold 3500 passengers. Can you imagine them all descending on a small walled town all at once.

Back in town we venture up step steps to the high sea side, and then went out a tiny gate in the wall to a cool bar/cafe that cascades down the cliff face to the sea. Very peaceful sitting looking out at the nearby island, and watching the boats and kayakers gliding on by.

This is the view of the bar from the water.

Then a cruise out on the water for a different perspective. I think we've Done Dubrovnik from all angles.

A sunset beer up by the old fort, takeaway pizzas, and 152 steps up to our little apartment. Dinner on the terrace looking out over the town, and a cheery wave to the old Croatian lady who lives on the top floor. The buildings all seem to be stacked on top of each other - lots of angles and odd shaped gardens. Streets are stepped alleyways that wander higgledy piggledy up the hill. Am very glad I've come to see this place after always admiring the photos in magazines. And to think it's only been open to the world for the last 20 years - and now every man and his dog (yes many people seem to travel with their dogs) visits. The world is certainly a fascinating place.

Hello from Dubrovnik

Yesterday was another smooth transition from one place to another, but of course exhausting as well. We flew from Athens to Dubrovik in a twin propeller 30 seater plane - very smooth flight over Albania and Montenegro - my geographical knowledge of this area was abysmal.

Until I found a map.

We arrived in Dubrovnik and thought 'wow, how beautiful is this, and at a very manageable temperature of 27 degrees - such a relief after the scorching heat of Athens. Ah, but that was before we tried to find our accommodation! Go left the instructions said, so up the hill we went, and thought "this is not right, perhaps it's the other left". So we went up the hill the other way. And mean while Dubrovnik is teeming with tourists- Croatia had 3.4 million visitors just in July this year. It's a Mecca for cruise ships, and people driving from Europe. 

Anyway, we were still going the wrong way, and after a hot and sleepless night in Athens, and lots of walking up hill in the sun (27 degrees started to feel quite warm) I was near to tears. Back down the hill again, and another look at the instructions (I could have spent $20 and turned on my global roaming, but I was past rational thinking). So up a million steps we went, and found our lovely apartment with a fine view of the old town from the terrace.

After a wee nap we did a desultory wander through the 17th century walled town (and very impressive walls they are) before we tired of the throngs and had an early night.

Today we visited the War Photo gallery and saw haunting images of the war in this region that went from 1991 to 1995. It was the end of socialism in this part of the globe, and the beginning of independence for a whole host of small nations. But it was also a fraught period, and Dubrovnik was under siege, with no water or power for months, artillery fire and bombing, and people living in basements. It makes you realise how lucky we are in NZ, and how important it is to value what we have.

This is the thousands going up to walk the 2kms top of the walls - apparently a must do, however I think I shall give it a miss. And a steal at 100 kuna! (About NZ$25).

We didn't linger in the old town (which really reminds me of Sienna, but I think today we're a little old towned out). So we did an exploration of the area by public buses. We went along the coast and saw houses with jetties and boats right on the water - how lovely it would be to sail or motor slowly along this beautiful coastline. We took our togs, but the day turned overcast and cooler - we're gradually heading north as the summer wanes, and I'm already starting to miss singlet weather. And yes I know I was just complaining about the heat in Athens!

We shall venture back into the madness for dinner - I'm going to count the steps next time we go down and up again - the whole place is built on the side of a mountain!

And a photo of me after visiting the war photo place. There was a young woman visiting the gallery in tears - it must have been personal for her. I was upset just looking at the images.

Dinner with an old friend in Athens

Just a couple of photos from catching up with Laurence in Athens - I had face booked him to say have a great trip, then just happened to mention I was in Athens and he said he was flying in the next day.  We are great mates, but live in different countries, so it was especially cool to catch up for an evening on the other side of the world!

Athens in a day

We're staying in a little basement flat with it's own internal courtyard close to the Acropolis, and when you sit outside you can hear all the conversations, and bad music!

Athens is surprisingly green - at least In the inner city. Lots of trees have been planted on most streets, and in the morning you can see people out washing down their steps and the street outside. And yet it is very dirty - maybe just the result of a long hot summer, 4 million inhabitants, and 2 million visitors. And there's graffiti everywhere - perhaps because there is 25% unemployment, and most of it with the under 25s. There are people sleeping in the little park up the road, and many abandoned and run down buildings. But the rest of the place seems to be doing ok. 

We did the early morning thing and walked around the park underneath the Acropolis. So the Acropolis is the area on the hill, and the Parthenon is the famous building. When we were here last you could just walk up to it and we have photos is us on the steps. Now it is much more protected, which is a fantastic thing.

We were queued up for tickets before the opening time of 8am - I hadn't even had coffee! But it was amazing as we were up there before the crowds - a beautiful spot with stunning views.

We then spent a couple of hours touring the city on the hop on, hop off bus - we didn't do much hopping, but we did fry our brains upstairs on the open deck in 35degrees!

Cold beer time!

And tonight we're catching up with an old friend from Oz who flew in today - it's a small world.

Athens, first impressions

Another big travelling day where we left our accommodation at 9am, and got to our Athens place at 6pm. A long boat trip packed with holiday makers, followed by bus, and metro trips. Had a bit of trouble getting into our airbnb place as I'd forgotten to text when we were on the way, then the message about hidden keys and how to get in only partially down loaded via text. It's a bit of a problem when you rely so much on the internet these days, but only have access at your accommodation. And don't get me started on roaming fees - I'm being charged 33 cents for every text received, and I didn't think to remove myself from the overtime text system at work before I left - so bing, bing, bing for overtime, and there's another dollar gone - lol!

Various reports say it was anywhere between 39 and 41 degrees in Athens today, and we were fair melting by the time we arrived. In addition to water, sometimes there's nothing better than a cold coke. But we ventured out again and oh how exciting. We're just up/down the road from the Acropolis and about a million outdoor restaurants. It's Sunday night and every man and his dog seem to be out wandering the streets, eating, shopping, and generally enjoying the relative cool of the evening (it's now 31 degrees). There's stalls and musicians and most of the shops stay open late. We walked from where we're staying in Thissio (like Ponsonby in the old days), up through Monastiraki square (lwith the madness of Times Square), onto Syntagma Square, and the parliament building. This is where they've had all the demonstrations previously. Nothing like that tonight - people out enjoying the night and the coloured fountains, and the buskers. Heard a guy playing an amazing bouzouki (stringed instrument) and it just made you feel like dancing  - we did a bit of arm waving as we crossed the road!

We walked up the steps towards the parliament building to get a better view of the square, and we're just in time to see the changing of the guards. Buckingham Palace has nothing on these guys. They wear pom-poms on their shoes and do this slow motion high steeping manoeuvre that has to be seen to be believed.

We then wandered back through the crowds and found a busy outdoor restaurant for dinner. We have had some limited views of the Acropolis, but will try for better views tomorrow.