Flew out to Prague on 19th December. Dropped the car off at the airport,
caught the shuttle across to the terminal, checked our bags in, then
settled down for a four hour wait before our flight left. After watching
the horror stories you here about budget airlines (in this case
Easyjet) we weren't sure what to expect. Cancelled flight? Overbooked?
Lost bags? But all went well. Even the pickup driver was where he said
he would be. Met up with Emily and Sam at the arrivals gate (no passport
control here so no new stamp in our passports). Finally made into the
apartment at about 11pm, been along day.

Prague is exactly like we remembered from last year. Picture perfect, straight out
of the Middle Ages. Lots of restaurants, and cafes, and bakeries.
Interesting monuments are scattered throughout the city. And amazing
xmas markets. We're looking forward to spending the next week or so
here.

Jake flew in on the 21st and met us at the apartment. After 30hpurs traveling, he didn't last too long before he crashed for the rest of the day.

Spent the next day doing some aimless sightseeing around the streets. You don't have to
spend time going to museums here, the whole city is one huge
museum/gallery.

We decided to book ourselves an evening dinner river cruise, just to do something touristy. Big mistake. The food was ****. The entertainment was amateurish (a couple of guys
on accordion and guitar - they even did a version of John Paul Young's Love is in the Air). The drinks were expensive. Overall, not a pleasant experience. Although it was a pleasant trip up the river. Wouldn't recommend it as a must do when in Prague.

Spent today doing a bit of shopping for Xmas day. The Czechs do Xmas on the 24th,
so everything is closed Xmas eve. I think we'll do Xmas on the traditional day, the 25th.

24/12/2012 - Well, it's almost Xmas. As I've said previously, the Czechs do Xmas eve
as their celebration of the season. But being sticklers for tradition, we're doing our thing on the 25th. Today we headed out for a lunch to celebrate Sam's birthday. And a slap up affair it was too. Not as slap up as the one we did in Paris a couple of years ago, but pretty good all
the same.

Went walking after lunch. Seems like half of Prague is on the streets. Maybe it's because today was the first fine day in a while. Or maybe this is what they do at Xmas time.

Julie and Emily spotted a "Fine Belgian Chocolate" shop and headed straight
for it. Sam & I declined and waited outside. After about 5 minutes
the girls came hurrying back over the street with huge grins on their
faces. "Oh oh", I thought, "What have they bought this time?" Nothing it
turns out. One of the guys working in the shop tried to "hit on" Emily.
He even followed them across the street. He turned out to be quite
chatty. He looked positively crestfallen when he learned Sam wasn't
Emilys brother, but her boyfriend instead. Anyway we got to talking a
bit. He was telling us how lucky we were to be living in Australia,
where we could easily save enough money for overseas traveling.
Apparently it would take him up to 10 years to save enough top travel.
We tried to explain to him how lucky he was to live in such a beautiful
city. But all he said was "That is because you are tourist. If you live
here one month you will see not so good". Once again we were reminded
that everything we see and experience is from a position of privilege,
which can be far different from the reality of being a local.

25/12/2012 - Merry Xmas to all. Hope you all had a great day with family and loved
ones. Had a pretty casual sort of a day. Cooked up a storm in the
kitchen for lunch. Throw in a couple of bottles of wine, a scotch or
two, and pretty soon we were getting into the spirit of the day.

Lots of people out and about during the evening. The Xmas markets were in
full swing. Restaurants and bars were full. Quite a festive feel to the
city. Sam & Emily partook of a romantic horse and buggy ride around
the streets, then it was off to find a suitable place for dinner and
drinks. No shortage of choices either. Every few steps there was another
menu to read to help us make a choice. A very pleasant way to finish
off for the day.

Once again, Merry Xmas to all.

26/12/2012 - Today is our last day in Prague before we fly out to Lyon, then on to
Chamonix. The weather looks like it will be fine so we decided to do a
tour of the Prague Castle, on of the major tourist attractions of the Czech Republic.

Prague tram system was a bit difficult to unravel, so we opted for a taxi up
to the castle. Julie thinks we got done over by the taxi driver - he
charged us about $20 bucks for a 10 minute ride. Probably cheap by
Australian standards, but by Czech standards, we think we got taken.

The Castle isn't so much a castle, but a complex made up of a Palace,
Cathedral, Basilica, Dungeon, and various municipal buildings. The first
thing you notice is that although the buildings were quite grandiose on
the outside, inside they appeared quite cold and spartan. Utilitarian
is the word that springs to mind. The Vitus Cathedral though is something else. Its grandness is such that it rivals some of the great cathedrals in the rest of Europe.

After we finished at the castle (about 3 hours) we decided to forgo the
donation to the Taxi Drivers Benevolent Fund and walk back into the city
area for a spot of lunch (it was much closer than we thought).

This evening we did one last stroll through the streets and markets, grabbed
a bit of street food for supper, then headed back to start packing for
the next stage of our trip - Swiss Alps and Mont Blanc.