The Castle

Being Easter, there were various events on to celebrate spring. We had planned to go to the castle area anyway and discovered when we got there that there was a market, selling tastes of  Hungary, showing various crafts and with a programme of folk dancing. It was an excellent show with two groups taking turns to put on an extremely energetic display. They were then followed by a group of schoolchildren who were following the example of their elders. It all looked like good fun and the men in particular must have been very fit with a continuous show of jumping leg slapping and generally showing off to the beautifully dressed women. We were glad we hadn't bought tickets for the folk dance show that night as we had already seen such a great performance. The singing, often unaccompanied was also very good.

Rona and Keith had recommended visiting one of the thermal baths so we decided to go to the Gellert Baths, based in the Gellert Hotel. It is an Art Deco building with a great deal of stained glass, columns and decorative tiling. The main pool was not as warm as we had expected but the side pool was just lovely and we emerged some time later very much refreshed by the mineral waters and slept a great sleep that night.

Big Bus boat Trip

The day didn't start very auspiciously when Tom was too busy watching the lovely views along the Danube and fell in a hole in the pavement, staving his hand, resulting in swelling and bruising. Making use of a coffee stop, a tumbler of lemon tea came with a glass of ice and proved very useful in reducing the swelling. Every time we heard an ambulance after that we joked it was probably another tourist falling off the pavement.

Our bus ticket included a boat trip on the Danube, cruising up and down with a chance to see the splendid Parliament from the water. There was an opportunity to disembark at Margaret Island, a park area with walks, leisure areas, sports grounds and a swimming pool. We are impressed by the lack of litter in Prague and Budapest though graffiti is a big problem. Maybe it relates to the old days when it could be a used as a political statement. It was a lovely place to walk and watch those who were riding bikes, bikes for 2 or 4 folk and sedge ways.

The return walk took in close ups of the Parliament, making the acquaintance of  The statue of Ronald Regan and chancing upon a street event where there was what seemed to be an art installation of various old tools bolted together and a few banners. A newsreader (looking a bit like the girl from Borgen) was being interviewed for TV. We eventually asked a couple of policemen what it was about and they agreed it was a demonstration but they weren't sure what it was about. There were certainly a few interesting characters in the audience.

Our evening was quite entertaining as more by good luck than planning, we found the area behind the Synagogue where the "ruined pubs" are found. These were set up mostly in disused buildings or outside spaces, furnished with any old furniture acquired from home or a junk shop and set up as a pub. They evidently could change venues regularly but nowadays there are popular venues which were obviously very popular with young locals. In fact most of the folk we saw were about a third of our age or younger. By chance we found a whole street of interesting nightlife and pitied those who had to live in the area.

Big Bus Tours

A late breakfast was required today since we had to restock with groceries. Setting out we were bombarded with bus tours, red ones green ones and more red ones. After considerable analysis we decided on Big Bus Tours which offered a ticket to cover a tour in Vienna as well. It's a great way to see the sights of a city and decide where you want to go back to. We did get off a couple of times, enjoying views over the city at the Citadel and finishing at Heroes Square where there were huge monuments to admire. We took a peek inside one of the famous baths. As we walked along the corridor past the massage and treatment rooms there was an almighty scream, followed thankfully by laughter. Yes. Someone had just had their feet nibbled by fish, a fish pedicure.

Oh dear the last Big Bus had departed, us not having read the timetable properly. We could have taken a bus or tram but decided to walk back, having a good look at the splendid buildings as we went. Our ticket included an evening bus trip which travelled along both sides of the Danube. The buildings at night looked splendid, particularly the parliament building. A walk in the evening by ourselves is a must.

Travel to Budapest

There was plenty of time to get packed and set off for the train. The stationis very modern, more like an airport terminal so quite pleasant to spend time there. To our surprise the train was a corridor train, with 6 in a compartment. We had booked seats and settledin to watch the views, read, knit and start swatting up on Budapest. It was a long journey and the train arrived about half an hour late. Unfortunately we had not read our instructions properly and had the taxi drop us off at the office rather than the apartment. Luckily we were directed to the right place, a short walk, and made contact with the agent for the flat. It was a bit like our experience in Liverpool, an apartment right in the middle of a main shopping street, a large apartment, well back from the street. By the time we had found a cash machine, we decided to just eat out that night and found a lovely eatery just round the corner.

Musical Interlude

Our last day in Prague started with a visit to the Art Deco building where there are several concert halls and and restaurants. Having purchased tickets for a classical concert that night we explored the shopping centre which claimed to have 200 shops. Escaping unscathed, we tried out one of the local delicacies, a long twisting crisp on a stick. Norma also bought a whip, evidently used by the boys at Easter. To keep them under control the girls present the boys with eggs. The whips have ribbons on the end and look fairly harmless.

It was easy to fill the rest of the day, retracing our steps and taking many more pictures before heading for the classical concert, mainly "The Four Seasons" and some other familiar music. We really enjoyed both the concert and the setting and ended the evening with a pizza. We did look for the full moon hanging over Wenceslas Square as it had the previous evening when we had no camera but sadly the sky was overcast. C'est la vie!

Tom was still suffering from a cold and bad cough, particularly at night so an old remedy of the Bald's was employed, hot water in a bowl with a towel over the head. There was no Friar's Balsam available but the addition of a locket gave off the required fumes and he managed to sleep more comfortably though protesting loudly about medieval tortures.

Kutna Hora

There was an early start to Monday as we had booked a bus trip to Kutna Hora. On the way to our meeting place we managed to see the astronomical clock striking 9  o'clock though due to  summer time it only struck 8 . It was very interesting seeing the countryside which was mostly flat with large fields of oil seed rape or grain of some kind. There were also plenty of trees in full blossom, many of them fruit trees we gathered.

The first stop was the Bone Church Ossuary. Luckily we had read about it in advance or it might have been a shock. The crypt of the church had been filled with decorations made with human bones. As the guide book said it was like the Christmas decorations of the Adams Family with bones strung across the ceiling, a bone chandelier and even the family crest of the folk who commissioned it in the mid 1800's. It was very bizarre.

Kutna Hora was a very rich place in the Middle Ages due to the wealth of its silver mines. This also led to the development of a mint  so many people earned a good wage though possibly had a short life especially the miners who worked up to 500 metres underground. It was a charming town though we had to dodge the showers to take photos. Our guide told us all children learn English, many from nursery and then choose another language. She was from a younger generation than the last guide and had enjoyed complete freedom in her education. We had noticed how proficient all the young people were in cafés and shops.

We visited the Black Light Theatre at night, a combination of mime dance and puppets set against a lack background. We had chosen "Yellow Submarine", a show based loosely on Beatles music. It was one of several small theatres showing black light performances. The theatre needed a revamp and the show could have been a bit shorter but we did enjoy the music!

Jewish Quarter

Our day started with a return to the castle to visit the palace, an impressive building with many original features including a couple of huge tiled stoves, reminiscent of ones we had seen in Sweden. We returned over a bridge to the Jewish Quarter. Only a few of the buildings survive and the synagogues have been turned into museums of Jewish life, religious artefacts and in one case as a memorial to the many Jewish people of all ages who were transported to the camps at Terrizon beyond and never returned after the war. Particularly poignant were drawings by the children in  Terrizon who were encouraged by artists, poets and others in the camp to continue their education and express their feelings about being moved from their homes in Prague. Many of the children died in Auchwitz in 1944.

We explored more of the back streets then went out for a meal to a local restaurant. The artwork on the walls seemed familiar then it dawned on us that they had bought a job lot of Vetriannos. In keeping with the Scottish theme Emil Sande was playing on the radio. Tom tried one of the local specialities which included three types of meat and various dumplings though not as we know them. 

The Castle

We decided to take a short walking tour of Prague, starting at Wenceslas Square which is not a square at all but a long avenue. We remembered the name so well from our own memories of Dubcek and the Prague Spring. There were memorials to two students who died protesting about the Russian occupation in August 1968. Tom remembered meeting busloads of Czechs on campsites in Germany and Austria when he was travelling in early September. They had been taking advantage of the more liberal regime to travel abroad for the first time. When the Russians invaded they did not know whether to return home or try to stay in the west. Our guide was 11 when all this took place, and remembered feelings of oppression rather than fear. She had been unable to study her chosen subject and had become a Civil Engineer which she hated.

There are plenty of Easter Markets selling crafts and food. The sun kindly shone on our first day as we headed to Old Town Square, where we learned about the Astronomical Clock. Our tour finished with a boat trip on the river. From there we could see Prague Castle and the Charles Bridge. As we approached the place to disembark we could see a considerable police presence. Our guide had told us there was a local football derby on that afternoon and the fans started to March over the bridge accompanied by a heavy police presence. They seemed peaceful at first but then the firecrackers started and we assume that wasn't allowed as many fans were marched off, presumably missing the match. It was an opportunity to take some revealing photos of the Prague police in action!

We left the walking tour to climb to the castle ourselves, admiring the Charles Bridge and the views from the ramparts. Choosing the tickets to visit 4 areas of the castle, it was a pleasant surprise to get them for half price because we were pensioners. One of the highlights was seeing the window where two  politicians were thrown out of the window, leading to the Thirty Years War. I could remember "the defenestration of Prague" but didn't remember they survived the fall because they landed in the midden! How much more interesting this makes history. The churches were spectacular but the highlight was Golden Lane, a street of tiny houses built into the castle walls where various traders lived. I think J.K. Rowling must have visited as it looked like a model for Diagon Alley. As the tickets lasted for two days the Royal Palace was left till Sunday. We needed to put our feet up after all that walking.

Prague, Budapest and Vienna

We are off again, a bit closer to home but new territory for us. Our flight from Edinburgh to Prague was with Jet2, a cheap and cheerful service which left on time and arrived early. Some of our travelling companions were definitely off for a long weekend of all that Prague has to offer. One fellow even looked like a refugee from Nuns on the Run. We were met by taxi, collected the keys to our apartment and settled in, finding the nearest Tesco to stock up and enjoying some of the street art. Our apartment is in a quiet street near the centre, and has all mod cons.