Exploring Prague

Known as the ‘city of golden spires’ and the ‘mother of cities’, Prague draws you in with her meandering, magical, medieval streets and passageways. Best explored on foot, the city radiates a gothic charm infused with colourful grand buildings that would not be out of place on the splendid Parisian boulevards.

Prague is best known for the Charles Bridge, Astronomical Clock and the castle that dominates the northwestern ridge of the city. But the city is so much more. It is the winding streets of Malá Strana, the cluttered and chaotic Jewish Cemetery and the unknown lurking around every corner that really gives this city a beautiful soul.

The Charles Bridge is the lynchpin of any tourist experience. The now pedestrian only bridge was built by Charles IV and features numerous religious statues and beautiful lanterns. Protected by towers on either end, the bridge had a military role to play in past centuries but it is now the domain of tourists and small artisans selling their crafts.

The Charles Bridge is best explored at a slow walk, observing the statues, people and most importantly the views of the Vltava River, Prague Castle and numerous spires. This bridge has as many emotions as there are types of Czech weather and can be haunting in mist, romantic in snow and downright unpleasant in the howling rain.

Stretching away from the eastern side of the bridge is the ‘Old Town’. All streets will eventually take you to Staromêstské námêstí, the main square with the fabulous Astronomical Clock. This dual faced clock is not located atop the clock tower, but rather around the side of the tower and features an astronomical dial, hourly ‘walk of the apostles’ and a calendar dial.

Every hour a massive crowd forms below the clock to watch the new hour chime in. When the clock strikes the hour a skeletal figure representing Death begins ringing a bell suggesting that it is time go – in the eternal sense of the word. The other figures next to the clock shake their heads in disagreement while the 12 Apostles parade in front of two open windows above the clock.

After watching the clock’s show it is well worth the 100CZK (about £4) to ascend the tower itself. After taking the lift shaped like an old glass internal mail tube or climbing the sloped ramps and tight metal spiralled staircase you will be greeted with phenomenal views in all directions over the red terracotta rooftops. Although constantly bumped in the tight tower walkway, seeing this magical city from above is not to be missed, nor rushed. Anyone who happens to be atop the tower at the strike of an hour will have the pleasure of seeing the trumpeter play and wave to those massed below.

Wandering out of the Old Town Square it is easy to make your way to Vaclavske námêstí (Wenceslas Square). Although lined with souvenry shops and casinos the square is truly awe-inspiring. Stretching uphill nearly half a mile to the grandiose neoclassical Czech National Museum, this sprawling expanse of space leaves you unsettled following the cramped streets of the older areas of the city. A former horse market, the square dates back to the 14^th century and is the traditional gathering place for large scale demonstrations and celebrations.

Beyond this square to the south lies the 10^th century fortress of Vyšehrad and the more modern sections of the city. Ubiquitous amongst these areas are the concrete tower blocks of any major western city. Yet, unlike many ‘capitalist’ cities, many suggest that these tower estates have traditionally engendered a strong community setting and the residents take great pride in their buildings, encouraging those of all economic statuses to remain within these blocks.

Heading out of the Old Town Square in the opposite direction from Wenceslas Square you encounter the old Jewish Ghetto of Josefov. The centrepiece of this small sub-neighbourhood of Old Town is the old Jewish Cemetery. The burial ground dates from the 15^th century and entombs as many as 100,000 people in 12 layers deep with perhaps 12,000 visible tombstones. Some stand proud and vertical, others jumble together like people huddling under an umbrella. The first feeling you get is of chaotic neglect, yet after delving deeper into the labyrinth you come to see a beauty in the haphazard nature of this sacred ground.

Surrounding the cemetery are several synagogues including the majestic Spanish Synagogue covered floor to ceiling in ornate paintings. Josefov is also home to the Old-New Synagogue, the oldest synagogue still being used in Europe today. Within this area you often come across three short stairs across the street at intersections which demarcate the old city walls.

Nestled between the river and the Castle is Malá Strana (Lesser Town). It is a lovely place to stay as the area is quieter and slightly less touristy than the other side of the river. There are numerous little streets and squares that beckon to be explored and post-dinner strolls are particularly worthwhile.

Leading up from Malá Strana are the Old and New Castle Steps. Whichever set of steps you choose to climb, amazing panoramic views of the city stretch out below the Castle walls. The Prazskí hrad (Castle) isn’t a castle with turrets and ramparts as you may expect, but rather a series of palaces, walls and gardens atop the hill. The centrepiece of the castle area is St Vitus Cathedral which towers above the surrounding buildings and is visible from almost anywhere in the central areas of Prague.

From the castle it is a lovely walk through yet more narrow, cobblestoned streets to the Stanhov Monastery, home to a magnificent library and locally brewed beers. The monastery borders Petrín Hill, a large wooded park that is perfect for walking amongst fallen autumnal leaves and sitting on benches enjoying the sun-speckled city below.

These are just some of the many wonderful experiences, places and vistas to be enjoyed in this magical city. Whatever you have time to explore, be sure to stop on the Charles Bridge and rub the statue of St John of Nepomuk which legend says will bring you back to Prague someday…

Farewell Dear Blacksmiths

As many of you know, we are being unceremoniously chucked out of our house. Our landlords decided to sell, couldn't find a buyer, decided to rent it again, but didn't specify how long for. Basically after a lot of uncertainty, we could wait no longer and found another dog-friendly cottage in St Albans (more on that next time).

Even though the last few weeks have not been overly joyous with estate agents breathing down our necks and the landlords flip-flopping, we have genuinely loved this little cottage. It has been our home for more than 3.5 years and during that time we have grown to love the area and found some really fantastic friends. We aren't moving far and will still be able to walk in the park and see everyone here often, but the proximity to the open fields and the feeling of relaxation that we felt walking down Fishpool Street every evening will no longer be a part of our lives.

We are quite used to moving, as everyone knows, but this is the first time we are moving because of someone else's decision. It is a different mentality to have - more denial, less excitement. It is alright though, we have spent the day packing - not a terribly relaxing day off work - and the excitement is beginning to build.

Guinness has been feeling quite worried over the whole mess of boxes and wrapping and suitcases. He spent the day either exploring what we were doing, sitting outside pouting or trying to get some shut eye in the most inconvenient places he could find.

We have our doubts about the next place, but who knows, we might be pleasantly surprised. Regardless, we will make it our home and hope that the next time we move, it will be once again of our choosing.

A Soggy Camping Trip

You will undoubtedly have noticed a general dearth of entries over the previous months. Reasons for this are two-pronged. One is we have been nose to the grindstone at work and generally in life and have therefore not been out and about with our usual verve and purpose. The second is actually for the same reason as above, only in the sense that even when we have gotten out and about we haven’t had the chance to edit photos/write up the blog entry. However, we have reached Bank Holiday weekend and finally found some time... so here is the first of a few posts about our summer adventures.

Having had very little holiday this year and with finally being able to hire a car, we decided on a long weekend of camping in the Lake District. This is an area of the UK we had not been to before and well, we still haven’t. The weather through June and July was pretty much perfect – sunny, dry and warm. That all changed the week leading up to our planned weekend at the end of July. The forecast for the Lake District was torrential rain all weekend, so we cast about for other options, settling on Snowdonia in Northern Wales.

We set out in partially cloudy conditions and as we moved ever closer to the Welsh border the clouds darkened, and then opened. First a mere drizzle, turning progressively harder as we wound through the green country roads of Snowdonia National Park. It was gorgeous scenery, though we couldn’t see too much of it through the sheets of rain.

We arrived at our campsite, Hafod Y Llan, at the base of Snowdon and ostensibly next to a ‘babbling’ brook. Yeah, not so much babbling as cacophonous, but it was surrounded by a lush, green moss covering every rock and tree trunk.

The campsite was nice, even if the rain required a bit of improvisation on our tent. Deciding that cooking on a propane stove in the pouring rain wasn’t going to work and desperately needing to be in out of the rain we went to a nearby pub and went from being soaked to slightly damp in the course of our meal.

The rain had stopped by the time we were done and back to the campsite, but that just encouraged the midges to come out in force, so we retreated to our tent for an early night and the hope of better conditions come morning. The next morning however we woke up to more rain. It broke long enough to let us cook our breakfast but we ended up eating in the tent as the clouds opened once more.

Sick of sitting in the rain and being in no mood to further exhaust ourselves hiking up a wet and muddy mountain, we voted two to one to get back in the car and drive further south in the hopes of some better weather and a change of scenery. I say two to one because Guinness was not real keen on the car. He used to love our old Jetta in Chicago and would cram his substantial frame into the back window sill and very comfortably spend many hours sleeping up there on our myriad trips. This car did not have a similar window sill for him and so he spent all weekend standing and panting in semi-agitation whenever in the car. Not great for all involved.

We wandered over to the coast and had a nice picnic on a rocky beach, with Guinness swimming in the waves for the first time since North Carolina all those years back. Suffice to say, he enjoyed himself!

We wound up in a delightful little campsite just outside Brecon Beacons National Park in South Wales and had a nice meal and then got a roaring campfire going – before the rains returned. Unwilling to turn away from our campfire early, we huddled under the umbrella for thirty minutes for the rain to stop, before finally turning in.

The morning greeted us with more rain – I am convinced by the way that it never rained in the Lake District but rather moved south with us all weekend – and we once more got wet taking the campsite apart. More driving greeted us, some of it along rather tiny farm tracks up the moorland of Brecon Beacons.

We did get out and hike to the top of a hill just because it was there – even stayed dry on that excursion.

Further driving, complete with panting dog in the back seat, brought us through the Forest of Dean and to the edge of the Cotswolds. We thought we would have a poke around Bourton-on-the-Wold, but apparently half of England had a similar idea – circus only begins to describe the scene – so instead we just cracked on home.

The peaceful, relaxing weekend we had envisaged it was not. Too mobile, as we always seem to be, and too wet. That being said, it was great to have the freedom of a car and we really enjoyed seeing some scenery of the UK that we had not been able to enjoy yet. Our second night with the campfire was great as well and at the end of the day, we hadn’t been to work on Friday, which was always going to be a plus!

To sum up: camping in Britain requires a heck of a lot of good waterproof kit, a car with a back window sill and more than three days. Lessons learned for next time, which there will definitely be.

Water Babies

Spring is in the air, finally!

Over the last month or so, we've had the joy of seeing lots of new families make their home in the park near our house where we walk with Guinness daily.

The park is home to a number of bird species including ducks, geese, coots, swans, magpies, pigeons, seagulls, herons, ruddy ducks and moorhens as well as a number of other funny looking birds which we can't always identify.

It's so much fun watching each family appear and then grow until you can no longer differentiate them from the adults. We're also busy counting the babies to make sure one hasn't gone missing (in a heron's meal) but that can sometimes be a challenge. This year, one pair of geese have 22 goslings!

We'll make a few more attempts soon to get the other families, the geese were out in force this time...

Le Marathon de Paris

After months of preparation and well over 400 miles of training runs, we set off for Paris on Thursday night after work. We were on schedule and making our way through Eurostar when we had a ‘petit probleme’. As I got out the passports, I had one red one (British) for Cora, one blue one (American) for me… except, the blue one was actually Cora’s as well!

So after a moment or two of panic and much swearing from me, I made a quick dash back home – well, quick if you consider a 20 minute train ride, return cab trip and then another 20 minute train ride back fast. I finally got back through security 20 minutes before the last train left – which Cora was able to get us re-booked onto whilst I was dashing home. Not a brilliant start to the weekend to say the least!

From there things went smoothly and our good friends Amelie and PH were excellent and very hospitable hosts for the weekend making us feel right at home. I got my number and timing chip on Friday at the Marathon Expo and then we joined Adeline and Diane, Venla and Julien, and Amelie and PH for a nice quiet dinner after they finished work.

Saturday we spent a lot of time outside relaxing and consuming a lot of pasta. That night we also celebrated Adeline’s birthday, which was on the Sunday, with a chocolate cake and a few never-ending candles magic candles which really dumbfounded little two year old Diane.

Sunday dawned bright and cool, but blissfully free of the winds they were forecasting. I had a quiet breakfast and finished some last preparations and was out the door by 715. We met up with Oliver and Kathy, the other two runners from Cora’s company, and then walked the two minutes up to the Arc d’Triomphe where the marathon started.

It was a truly amazing experience to be in a crowd of 30,000 runners all heading off down the Champs Elysees at once and the first few kilometers flew by.

The elites

I passed our cheering section twice in the first half of the race and definitely felt great at those points.

First sighting of CW

Third sighting of Oliver - 300 metres from the finish

The grand finale

After it all...

Oliver and CW at the end of the marathon

After the marathon we spent the rest of the day drinking and eating and hanging out with good friends, with Oliver and I gradually hobbling around after people. All in all it was a really great weekend and although the last hour and a half of running were not great on my part, the marathon itself was still amazing. That being said, I am taking a well deserved break off from running this week!

Congratulations to all three marathon runners - CW, Oliver and Kathy for a great marathon!!

CW Official Race Results and Photos - Video

Oliver Official Race Results and Photos

Kathy Official Race Results and Photos

Easter Bells

Just wanted to share a touch of Easter in England with this little excerpt of our beautiful local church bells.

The sound and quality aren't the best since I did it with my phone, but hopefully you can still hear something of how lovely the sound of our weekly bells are...

Thinking of you all... Happy Easter!

Snow Days

There’s nothing like waking up in the morning to a fresh canvas of newly fallen snow. It is even better when the snow is continuing to fall.

A quick check of trains and the weather forecast meant a commute into London was just not on the cards and so we decided to work from home.

With Amy and Elliott at home as well, we met up for a lunchtime walk in the snow covered park, with two very excited dogs! The requisite snowball fight broke out, as well as some snow angels and general frivolity as the snow continued to come down.

After getting thoroughly snow covered and chilled, we retired to the Six Bells for a cheeky pint and nice hot sandwich before getting back to work.

All in all we wound up with between 5 and 6 inches of snow and temperatures as cold as -10C (which is approximately 14F). Not as cold as some of you have experienced lately, but far colder than anything we have had in six winters in this country. The effects of this coldsnap were felt quite comprehensively on the transport system the next day.

We woke up to no fresh snow and internet reports of some minor delays on the trains, so we headed out for the station. Got to the station with only a bit of slipping and sliding and then stood around for close to 30 minutes waiting for the non-existent trains to come. We eventually found out the next train wasn’t coming for another 45 minutes and they couldn’t guarantee how many carriages it would be. Fearing being stranded in London, even if we could get on to the same train that every other commuter was intending to get on, we turned around and returned from whence we came.

Guinness was somewhat confused to see us back a mere hour after we left home, especially since we woke him from what must have been a happy nap filled with snowy dreams! Another day of working from home, and a repeat of our lunchtime frivolity in the park beckoned.

We did make it into work on the third day, though trains continue to be a bit of a nightmare. This weekend has been beautiful with all the snow on the ground – everyone is enjoying it in their own way! More snow is forecast, so who knows, there might yet be another snow day on the cards!