Using the trains again, I managed to catch a direct train from Krakow to Prague. The gruelling 6 hour train journey passes through some amazing countryside and quite a few post-Soviet towns. I was joined on the first part by two Danish people who oddly enough spent most of the time talking in English. They met in English class and have continued speaking English to each other ever since! The second half was spent writing a blog and attempting to catch-up with how far I am behind! For example I am writing this blog in Blonay, Switzerland!
I was staying in Sir Toby’s hostel just beyond the edge of the main city across the river. It is a non-commercial hostel with the décor based on an old English stately home. These are the best hostels to meet people and are usually run by people who like to travel. I met a large group of Australians and British inter-railing through Europe. There was a party atmosphere in this hostel, but luckily the bar was in the basement!
The first day I did a walking tour and the first thing you notice about Prague is the architecture. It is varying and beautiful. You will also notice the number of churches of almost every denomination! During the tour I discovered the Czech way of starting a war is by throwing people out of windows and where the term to defenestration came from. The most famous of which is the Thirty years’ war and yet another battle between Catholics and Protestants. Oddly enough 80% of Czechs consider themselves atheist.
The science bit
After the tour and a quick spot of lunch I head over to the Klementinum and get a tour of the Baroque library and Astronomical tower. The Klementinum was founded by the Jesuits and they started by the education of children (mainly teenagers) and developed into a university. The tower was also responsible for many of the observations used by Kepler, in his discovery that the planets move in an elliptical motion around the sun. This lead to his development of the laws of planetary motion.
The second day (after I extended my stay) I headed up to the Castle and cathedral on the opposite hill overlooking Prague. I unfortunately chose not to go in but I am sure it is worth a visit inside.
Many of us were leaving the next day so we all decided to head up to the beer garden in the park overlooking the city. Warning if you are going, it is cash only! It is not necessarily the best place to see the sunset but you do get to see the city rendered orange by the glow of the sunset, an amazing view. It was a nice way to spend my last night in Prague, chatting with friends, sharing tips and discovering we might end up bumping into each other again.
The next day was easier to leave than I expected; I usually get a sense of foreboding and that I will miss people. But this time not. Maybe I am starting to get use to this constant meeting and leaving people to cycle alone. My journey is only 4 days to Nürnberg and this time limited to only 80km per day.