The story of Praha

And so we ended up in Prague on Sunday afternoon. After checking in we met up with Maarten en went for a beer in a pub nearby with a very weird waiter. After a few beers Kees Jan had arrived as well and we all headed to a pub near metro Andel (Angel) where the food was good, but the ambiance full of smoke so thick you almost had to fight your way through it. Maarten knew a pub where there were gypsies playing music, so we went over and checked it out. We didn't leave too late, which was nice since I wasn't feeling too well. The next morning all 6 of us headed towards Prague Castle where we checked out the Cathedral , the Old Royal Palace and Golden Lane. The Cathedral is very impressive, the Palace is a disappointment and Golden Lane is cute but not really worth a seperate ticket (we bought an all in one ticket for 2 days). In one of the little houses of Golden Lane they had an exhibition with loads of old armours which was good. Since it was very cold in Prague (minus 5 till minus 10) we needed a hot drink and afterwards were ready to have a quick glance in the old centre of Prague. Ofcourse we walked along the Charles Bridge with all its statues which also gives you lovely views: isn't it romantic? We walked along Staromestske namesti (a square full of Christmas stalls, along the famous clock) and through our big shoppingmall Palladium back towards our apartment. After a bit of chilling out and warming up we were ready to eat at a very nice pub close to the Zizkov (tv) Tower where the food was nice and the music mainly rock/eighties. My kind of pub :) so we stayed there all evening. Monique, Kees Jan and I headed back towards the apartment after that, whereas Maarten, Francisco and Ronald had a few drinks somewhere else in town. Tuesdaymorning Ronald and I left early to visit Maarten and go for some more exploring of town. After a nice breakfast in the mall near Maarten's house we headed towards Vysehrad. Unfortanetly the cathedral just closed between 12 and 13 hours, so we visited the cemetery and then headed back towards Prague Castle to visit the last feature we wanted to see: the basilica st Jiri. We walked back through the Josefov, the old Jewish Quarter, with lots of history and beautiful buildings. Time to catch up with the others and heading towards the Dali Exhibition at Staromestske Namesti. Lots of sketches and not a lot of his more famous work, but still definately worth the effort. Ofcourse we headed out for dinner at a very expensive place in the centre of Prague and a much needed excursion to a 'Waterworld' kindof pub. Unfortunately none of us had a camera, so no pictures there (maybe Maarten can give me the name of the pub and I'll google it).
The last day of the year Maarten, Ronald, Francisco and I decided to go to Terezin, about 60 km north of Prague. There is a direct bus, which makes life easy. It was a very impressive experience, which makes you very very quiet and wonder how people can be so cruel to eachother. A few pictures to give you an impression: This was a small 'room' were at the end of the war they would stack hundreds of people. Unbelievable. We headed back for Prague, to get ourselves ready for something completely different: New Years Eve! We backed Dutch Oliebollen (I couldn't find an English translation, you just have to come over to the Netherlands and try them :)
We had a few drinks before heading into town, towards the museum square (Wenceslas Square) where the party started, see pictures. (Maarten, Francisco, Kees Jan, Ronald) (Monique and moi). Loads of fireworks, Abba and 80's music! Ronald and I headed home early (one-ish) and so I felt absolutely fine the next day, which not all of us could say unfortunately. Kees Jan left for the Netherlands on the first of Januari. The rest of us had a long long sleep after which Francisco, Maarten and I headed towards Mala Strana, and took the Funicular Railway up the mountain (Petrin). It was a bit hazy that day, but still lovely views and ofcourse the fake 'Eiffeltower', Rozhledna. We walked along the hill towards the old stadium where they used to have all sorts of Communist parades. We had a drink in town and headed back towards the apartment to relax. In the evening we had dinner near the museum square and since most of us were still a bit tired we decided to head home early. Maarten had to work on Friday, so the four of us went to Karlstejn where the original plan was to visit the Castle. This turned out to be closed between 12 and 13 hours and was very expensive, so we decided to take a look around town, have something to eat and head back towards Prague. In the evening we met up with Maarten and his collegues in a bar and had a few drinks. Most of the collegues are from The Netherlands and Belgium, so we could speak Dutch, although the Flemish expressions confused us Dutchies a little bit sometimes. Very funny though and nice collegues, Maarten has found himself a nice place to live and work. After some pizza's/lasagne we said goodbye to Maarten and headed back towards the apartment for a good nights rest and left Saturday morning towards the Netherlands. We all arrived save and sound and I'm preparing myself mentally for work tomorrow.