Doug & Jodie

We took Friday off in the hope of enjoying Prague before the weekend (and hopefully the tourists). This was not to be. The Czech capital is an absolutely lovely place to visit, but this may have been better 20 years ago. The number of tour groups and general tourists was staggering. Jodie has wanted to go to Prague for ages, we’ve been talking about going since we got here, so the expectation for Prague to deliver was high.

We spent Friday walking around the main part of town, visiting the churches, cathedrals and clock towers. We took a stroll over Charles bridge, before heading up the hill to Prague Castle. We took a brief tour of the castle and headed toward the gardens. Jodie spotted some birds of prey, so we walked over to see what it was all about. It was basically a falconry display. We took some photos and heard about each of the birds. That night we went to Kolkovna, a restaurant chain owned and supplied by Pilsner Urquell. The meal was really hearty, served in a big flat bowl. It made me feel like I was in a 14th century inn, I was just missing some bears skins and a broadsword.

We spent Saturday in Karlsteijn, which is about an hour outside of Prague, by train. The main attraction was Karlsteijn Castle. The town seems to flow down from the castle like a river. The town is quite cute but I’m sure it would have been a lot cuter before tourism hit it. We went for a short tour through the castle, which is quite limiting as the proper tour needs to be pre-booked, to see the replica crown jewels and the top tower of the castle.

It was nice to get out of town… we’ve decided to do more of that in future travels. Sometimes the big cities and tourist areas are just too crowded and over done!

We tried to head into town for a local meal, but the small restaurant we wanted to eat in was full. We walked around, trying to find somewhere to eat, that wasn’t too crowded, or filled with tourists. We passed a pizza place, not too far from the main square. This was probably the worst pizza place in… umm… the world ? The music was playing a radio station, which played nothing but gangster rap. They failed to bring us drinks, and the bottle of wine we ordered took forever to come out. I had almost finished eating before it eventually came. Euro 2008 has been on for the last 2 weeks and Hyundai was sponsoring a big screen and some other promotions in the main square. We spent the rest of the evening watching the game, sampling some of the beer and eating ice cream.

We left on Sunday and headed home for London. I really enjoyed Prague, but that was probably due to being on a holiday with my wife. I’m sure it would have been a better place to visit some time ago. Unfortunately, like all European cities that offer so much history and charm, they are a draw to all tourists. We’ve slowly come to the conclusion that the smaller places, far from the crowds are where we are happiest when travelling.

Last weekend Doug and I set off with Gareth and Kris to Belgium. We met after work at the new Eurostar station at St. Pancreas and enjoyed a relaxed, airport-free, no waiting in transit for hours journey by train, to Brussels. On the train Kris and I drank a bottle of champagne and played Uno (as you do) while Doug and Gareth checked out the bar carriage… In Brussels we transferred to a local train and arrived in the beautiful Bruges at midnight. Our hotel was situated right in the centre of town; out of our sloped/attic room window you could see all 3 of the cathedrals – one right next door. These cathedrals kept us entertained with their constant bell ringing – the Carillion actually played Frank Sinatra’s ‘I did it my way’ on bells.
The next day we ventured through Bruges, this city is so small and easy to get around. We found hidden alleyways and gorgeous bridges over the canals, amazing wrought iron crosses in the church yards… We eventually found the two main squares, Markt and Brugs Squares. The Town Hall is in Brugs square and there were queues of cars with gorgeous Belgian brides waiting to be married – everywhere there were brides and photographers – the Flemish have great style. Finally we found somewhere off the Markt Square for a croissant and coffee. After breakfast I did some shopping, they have stunning jewellery in Belgium. Then we took a canal ride throughout the village, sitting in the sunshine – it was lovely. Afterwards we stumbled across a great chocolate shop – in a side street which was much cheaper than the major ones. We grabbed a few truffles then headed to the Half Moon Brewery for lunch in the beer garden – stews and Flemish cheeses plus of course, beer. After, Kris and I left Doug and Gareth to do the brewery tour and we walked through town, did a spot more shopping and then headed home for naps. A few hours later the boys arrived back feeling jolly. We headed for ‘t Brugs Beertje, Bruges’ most famous pub, tucked away down an alley and with over 250 beers on offer. Here I managed to spill a half glass of Strawberry Beer down my whole front – white top and all! Kris and I headed back to the hotel for me to change and returned for an Apple Beer instead. Then we walked to the North side of town and truly away from the tourists to Tom’s Diner, recommended by the trusty Lonely Planet as a local favourite. We had to come back in an hour, so enjoyed a local band playing in a pub nearby and drank Geneva shots. Tom’s Diner had the most amazing food and the desserts were heaven!!! Such a great place, the ceiling was miles high and the walls and stairs were a rustic timber; it had a huge fireplace and a great atmosphere – highly recommended.
The next day we found a cafe for waffles then climbed the Belfry Tower of the cathedral in Markt square (366 steps and not much room to move) at the top were more than 25 huge bells and a stunning view of Bruges. Then we went back to our chocolate shop and stocked up, headed to the train and left Gareth and Kris in Brussels for the afternoon (they couldn’t get an earlier train) and we took a lovely, relaxed journey back to London. Bruges is definitely one of my favourite places in Europe now – simple, sweet and fun (beer, chocolate, shopping, frittes and aioli!! You can’t go wrong!).