We’ve embarked on the mystery and adventure part of our tour. No ‘family stays’ until the end of the trip, road signs we can’t read and some unfamiliar languages. On Friday we headed to Prague and border crossings from Zittau, Germany to Poland and then the Czech Republic. The most common question after checking the registration of our leased Renault was – Why do Australians want to come to Europe in this cold/bad/scheiss weather??? One police guy just wanted to talk about his trip to Cairns/Mt Isa/Uluru last year and we thought some border people had just seen their first Australian passport. When Poland joins the EU on 21st Dec, they will be have other jobs to do.
The opportunity to buy duty-free in Poland was too great so we now have a big bottle of Johnny Walker which will provide us with pre-dinner drinks for a while, and had a great Russian red which went down well with the spaghetti bolognaise we cooked on our first night here. We both have not cooked for a long time (if you don’t count the help to Martin in cutting the juniper in Norway) so this self-catering apartment in Prague is great.
Now on to Prague. Thank you, Lauren for insisting that Prague was not to be missed. It certainly deserves its reputation as the fastest growing tourist destination in Europe. We were concerned about not speaking Czech, but here either English or German is a second language. Tourists are everywhere but we have not heard a lot of Aussie accents (we were sure with all the tourists we would have to run into somebody we new!)
Highlights???? Where to start. Every building is a photographers delight. We have done a river cruise, town tour by bus, visited the Prague castle, walked lots and enjoyed a concert in the Rudolphinum (between that and the opera in Copenhagen, Ross is now suffering from cultural overload). We have felt very safe, the car is parked in a station and only the weather has let us down. It was beautiful when we arrived on Friday and we were hopeful of more sun…. but has been so cold and this morning there were more snow flurries. Tonight, for whatever reason, there are fireworks outside... or as Ross has suggested, another revolution.
Nevertheless, there is more to be added to ‘The best of Europe’ collection. Tomorrow we head south to Cesky Krumlov, also Lauren’s suggestion. Ross loves Prague.
Am finally catching up with your doings. What a fantastic trip you are having and so great to see so much of your family's past. Enjoy the rest of your trip. We are looking forward to seeing you soon. Love Ann