Yesterday we woke up pretty early, had some quick breakfast, and then took the coach into Prague. I had been looking forward to this stop ever since my cousin Irina visited and showed me her pictures. The wait was well worth it!
We were dropped off on the castle side of the river and crossed into central Prague. From there, we walked along the river to the remarkable Charles Bridge. This is a very ornate stone bridge with beautiful, detailed statues on both sides running up and down the bridge. Turning from the bridge we headed into the heart of Old Town and to the famed Astronomical Clock.
At this point Erika and I joined Rich and Anna-Michelle, two of our fellow campers, for a free walking tour with Tijo, our guide with New Europe. I can't recommend this tour highly enough! We went all around the Old Town, walked into the New Town, saw the Jewish District, and then finished at the Charles Bridge. After the 3 hour walking tour, we climbed up to the Prague Castle on the other side of the river.
On the way up we ran into a bunch of other Contiki folks and we all huffed and puffed our way up the mountain together. At the top we got some great views of Prague and also saw Europe's largest castle.
Afterwards, we went back down to ground level and people-watched at a park before going back to the river and jumping on a paddle boat with Rich and Anna-Michelle. It's one of those things that looks really fun but 5 minutes in you're exhausted and wondering what compelled you to rent it for an hour! Still, we had a great time and also physically ran into Anthony and Tania's boat (two other great fellow campers) on the river.
After the paddling Erika and I had a quick dinner at a local cafe and then headed back to the coach to change for the Prague Pub Crawl. We hit 4 different bars and then ended up at Central Europe's largest nightclub... but by the last stop our numbers were dwindling and our energy was in even lower supply. We took a taxi back at the end of the night and quickly fell asleep in our tents.
We woke this morning far too early (subjective) to pack up our belongings and tents and then eat breakfast. We then took down the rest of our campsite and the cook tent, loaded our supplies into the coach (much easier typed than done) and then made our way to Berlin, via a stop in Dresden for lunch.
My grandmother told me that Dresden was her favorite city in Europe and I can see why. Thought it was nearly completely destroyed by firebombing in World War II (why was it bombed so late in the war?!) the city has recovered remarkably and is a very interesting blend of new and old architecture. We only had a few hours in Dresden but the sights were excellent and our meal was also delicious!
At about 2:30 we got back on the coach and drove up to Berlin, getting in late in the afternoon. We headed right to East Side Wall gallery - a section of the Berlin Wall which was been given over to public artists. We walked up and down the wall section and then finally got back in the bus to head to our hostel. We'll definitely miss our tents... and the hostel is very hot... and it has very limited laundry facilities... and I am completely out of clothing. (Seriously, half of our group members were wearing the free shirts that we got at the pub crawl last night!) Maybe I miss the tent?
Tomorrow we have a full day in Berlin and then Sunday we're off to Amsterdam, our last spot.
Unfortunately the wifi is too spotty for photos but we'll certainly be putting them up on Facebook when we get a chance.
Cheers!
-Simon & Erika
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