Stayed in a great hotel in Prague called "Little Town Budget Hotel." It had hostel prices with hotel luxury! Two of my roomates, Lily from Singapore and Niki from London, were great fun. They met while in India traveling and were meeting up for the first time since then. They were a wealth of information about India and Nepal, as both had been several times. Lily even gave me two handwritten pages of notes that contained contacts, treks, cities, sites, timetables, and tons of other insider information. Wow!

Took a free walking tour that covered Old Town Square, House of the Black Madonna, Church of Our Lady before Tyn, Czech Philharmonic, Old New Synagogue, Spanish Synagogue, St. Nicolas' Church, Old Jewish Quarter, Kinsky Palace, Wenceslas Square, and Powder Tower. Another great free tour! Two places I couldn't seem to stay away from were Charles Bridge that spans the Vltava River (built in 1357, it has over 30 Baroque statues that are so beautiful) and the Medieval Astronomical Clock in the wall of Old Town City Hall. Every hour a crowd gathers below it to see 12 apostles pass by the windows above the clock face. It ends with a golden cockerel crowing. Another thing I couldn't stay away from in Prague was the Halusky! Potato dumplings with ham and sheep's cheese...all mixed together! Pure heaven! I met up with Dutch again at a hostel across town. It was a cute and cozy place but the rooms were tiny. We were in a 12-bed mixed dorm (ugh!) It was raining buckets and I walked into a tiny, sweaty, steamy, dark, not so fresh smelling dorm room with 10 guys and one girl all in their bunks looking bored. Well, all except Dutch, who was happily napping in his bunk! Awwwwww!

Next day we checked out Prague Castle high up on a hill with amazing views of the "City of A Thousand Spires." It's the world's largest medieval castle and the place is sprawling. It dominates Prague's skyline like no other building in the city can. So glad we made the trip up to see it. From there we met two of Dutch's friends from his recent African safari aventure for dinner. Peter and Magdalena live in Prague and are the nicest couple! They took us to a really cute, cozy, and authentic Czech restaurant where of course I ordered more Halusky, Knedliky (dumplings), roast pork, and sauerkraut. Oh and beer, lots of wonderful Czech beer! Peter and Magdalena were wonderful company and so much fun! They walked us to our departing bus, staying until we boarded, and then waved goodbye! Hope we meet again some day!

Lessons Learned

Never ask directions from a group of loud, happy guys. They're almost certainly drunk and will give you well intentioned but wrong information. We all ended up on the wrong train.

Dumb Things I've Done Lately

Took my laundry to the laundromat in St. Ives, England as no recent hostels had provided laundry services. I decided it was about time to wash my synthetic sleep sack (it was Lizzy's but she gladly gave it to me when she left for home) as it hadn't been washed that I knew of. Set the dryer on high heat as I was trying to save money by getting it dried fast. Halfway through I happened to look in the dryer and saw what looked like a snow storm inside. The sleep sack had completely melted all over my whole load and the inside of the dryer! Salvaged (by picking off hundreds of tiny plastic particles) all but one pair of undies, my nylon laundry bag, my only decent dress blouse (my favorite Calvin button down), and the sleep sack itself which had turned into a white ball of dried plastic. I hurried out of there as fast as I could because the dryer was coated with the stuff. It reminded me of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry and Kramer poured the sack of cement in the washer (but this was an accident!) I hoped the owner wouldn't be able to track me down using his video camera as I had been talking to a sweet old woman and had mentioned where I was staying. I heard the woman say as I was leaving "well, this one will be out of service tomorrow!" Two days later as I hurried by the laundromat with my hood over my head, a man standing outside that I was sure was the owner, rushed inside as I approached. I was sure he was going inside for a look at his videotape or the large picture of me blown up to poster size and plastered on the laundromat wall. I walked faster.

Almost got pickpocketed again! Was in a crowded marketplace in Cork, Ireland. Had my daypack all the way on my back but when I stopped to buy something and took it off, the outer pocket was completely unzipped. Again I escaped theft, but just barely. Luckily my camera had been zipped in my jacket pocket and my phone was buried under a jacket in the inside compartment to keep it dry as it was raining. If they had been in their usual spots they would now be long gone. Lesson really learned this time...going to put locks on my daypack when I'm out!

Stuff I Know About Backpacks

The wider the shoulder straps, the better. Narrow shoulder straps aren't nearly as comfortable as wide ones and they tend to dig into your shoulders causing pain and bad posture.

Outside pockets are much more useful than inside ones. Inside pockets are tough to get your hands into, take up valuabe inside space, and tend to pull your rings and bracelets off while digging through and extracting your hands from them.

Wider packs are better than tall, narrow ones. I think it's easier to walk with wider packs. Tall ones that tower over your head make you feel like pitching forward.

Darker colors hide dirt.

Vertical packing squares are easier to get at than horizontal ones and seem to take up less room.

Tie shoes/boots to an outside strap as they take up too much valuable room inside your pack and they're dirty and stinky as well!

50 liters max for girls...I've seen so many girls struggling with super-heavy packs (including myself when I first started) and looking miserable.