I've spent the last few days in the Prague which is a vibrant and busy city, mainly because of the the endless stream of tourists. It's still a relatively cheap country and almost everyone speaks English here which means it's a top destination for travelers from all over the globe. The town square with the famous astronomical clock is constantly bustling with people on tours, each one with a unique flag or umbrella so that it's paying customers don't get lost in the crowd. I decided to do my own tour... starting with the town square where amongst hundreds of other people I watched a most disappointing chime on the hour. At the end everyone was asking "is that it?". It seems we expect more from our clocks these days. From there I walked across the coble stoned Charles Bridge found on almost every postcard (see the picture top right). Of course it would have looked far better without the swarm of tourists browsing the market stalls on either side. Fortunately it led me on a picturesque journey to Prazsky Hrad (the Prague castle), a renaissance citadel sitting proudly atop a hill overlooking the entire city. The views are magnificent, especially from the top of the highest of St. Vitus cathedral towers which can only be reached by climbing the 600 plus winding stairway. By the time I reached the top I was fearful I would never be able to turn left ever again, but it was definitely worth the effort. Last night I went to my first ever ice hockey game between Prague and The Czech Republic with a bunch of American guys I met at my hostel. Several of the players were international and most normally play the NHL (National Hockey League in the USA) but have been striking this year and playing throughout Europe. My nw Americans friends are loud and proud. I'm sure we took the record for being the most annoying, rowdy bunch of tourists ever to attend the stadium, but it was fun and the sport is so Americanised with cheerleaders and the like that our behaviour seemed fitting. The guys filled me in on some of the rules but I was just enjoying drinking my beer and jumping out of my seat every time either team came close to scoring. A goal, followed by horns, buzzers and pumping music required us to give each other high fives and yell something like "OH YEAH!!! AWESOME!!!" at the top of our lungs! Apart from being a little embarrassing at first, I did have a lot of fun. It kind of made me feel like I was in some American college movie. I think Prague ended up winning 4 to 2... OH YEAH BABY!!! To further celebrate this victory we all went out and got wasted on absinth and beer. Being the weekend Prague was in party mode and with no shortage of pubs and clubs open till dawn it was obligatory to return to my hostel as the sun rose each morning and being on holiday I refused to waste much time sleeping during the day. So, over the last three nights I think I've accumulated less than 9 hours sleep. Luckily, for my well being at least, this is my last day in Prague. In less than an hour I return to Berlin to meet Mick and Katy, where I'm hopeful to recover before seeing all that I missed on my previous stop over there. Zane