This morning it was packs on again and back on the train, this time for a 5hr trip to Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic lying on the Vltara river.
The hostel we'd booked was only 15min walk from the main train station which is great as it allowed us to quickly transition from travelling to sightseeing. The "Blinds Eye" hostel is a great little place with which has only been open since January. The owner used to run a well known pub in Prague also called the Blinds Eye but decided it was time to "be responsible for giving them a safe place to sleep after their big nights out". He loves nothing more than chatting with his guests in the reception/lounge area, filling them with information on what Prague has to offer. As a bonus his dog lives in the reception/lounge and is there for a cuddle 24hrs a day.
After getting settled we spoke with another staff member at reception who also extremely helpful, no fancy talk, just good honest advice delivered in such a casual way that it was like chatting with a mate. He marked up our map with places to see and the best ways to get about, suggesting that we should just walk everywhere. We decided we'd knock off the main sites tonight so that tomorrow could be a day of leisurely taking them in at whatever pace we felt like.
The walk into Old Town Square only took about 20mins and took us under the arches of the Municipal house and the Tyn Church until we hit the throng of tourists in front of the Astronomical Clock in the heart of the Town Square. The clock is set only about 4-5 meters off the ground which means you need to battle a bit to get a clear photo, it is always crowded with people.
From here we continued on towards the famous Charles Bridge. Charles bridge's construction started in 1357 and finished in the early 1400's and was originally called Stone bridge. Back then it was the only means of crossing the Vltara river, this was until 1841. It is 516 meters long, almost 10 meters wide and today is the home of buskers, artists and tourists all seeming to give the bridge a heartbeat of it's own. Religious statues run the length of the bridge, some of which have plaques that have been buffed into a shine as people touch or rub them as part of their faith. Strangely there is a plaque of a dog and his master, the dog now shining brighter than almost any other symbol on the bridge.
From the end of Charles Bridge the Prague Castle stands above you and so we headed up the steep street in that direction. From outside the castle walls you get a great view over the city, which we were seeing as the sun was close to setting. Walking past the guards we found ourselves in the courtyard of the Castle, the biggest ancient castle in the world, it is 570 meters long and 130 meters wide. It also houses the Czech crown jewels.

With the sun now gone we were ready to find some dinner so we started to make our way back to Žižkov, the area of Prague that we were staying in. In our chats with the hostel staff we discovered that food and drink was about 3 times more expensive in the tourist traps of Old Town, some of that extra coming from the invented surcharges places tend to add to your bill. After getting back to the hostel we were advised that the pub on the corner was "awesome" and that they "ate there regularly"; when we entered the owner of the hostel was in there eating with a mate so the advice was right.

You'd walk past this pub if you didn't know it was there, in fact you may walk past it even if you did. Windows all covered and a big imposing door, the kind of place that appears completely uninviting from the outside. Inside was nothing fancy; tables around the edges, a bar against one wall, carpet on the walls and a single waitress serving food and drinks in the dark, smoke filled bar. On the advice of hostel staff we had the weekly specials; one serve of lamb shoulder and one serve of baby pork ribs. These meals were incredible, on both dishes the meat was falling off the bone, a pint of local beer a mere 30czk ($1.50) and the atmosphere extremely cosy. We felt so comfortable in here, a good honest local pub that we wished we had near us back at home. It wasn't trying to be anything other than a place you could have a good meal, a good drink and good conversation.....perfection.....