Prague to Cesky Krumlov

We arrived in Prague about 8pm at night, caught the bus to the train station, then walked through the city to our hostel.  On the way we passed the Museum all lit up.  Stopped to take a photo the best we could without a tripod.  It looked gorgeous at night, but we passed it again the next day and it was black with grime!

We had planned to take the 3 hour walking tour of Prague first thing in the morning, but unfortunately we got to the wrong place at the right time so missed it.  So instead we did our own walking tour of the things we wanted to see.  First we crossed the Charles Bridge which started construction in 1357 and was finished at the beginning of the 15th century.

 Over the bridge we walked along the main street and upwards towards the castle...

 At the top - views over Prague.  You can see the day wasn't our usual blue skies that we have been getting!!

 But the colour of Autumn was beautiful...

Prague Castle at the top of the hill where the Kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman Emperors, Presidents of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic have had their offices.  It's the biggest castle in the world.  It's history goes back to the 9th century (870)

 Just as we arrived, the Changing of the Guard happened so we stood and watched for a while...

Behind the castle St Vitus Cathedral - a gothic style Church and a very large one.  It contains the tombs of many Bohemian Kings.  It is the biggest and most important church in the country and founded in 1344.

 I liked the little stalls selling hot wine...

Because my foot was so sore, Anne worked out the subway for me...  Here is a really really long escalator - I was so impressed I took a photo...

 Thought the subway was pretty impressive too...

Old Town Square, which they say is usually bursting at the seams in summer from the tourist.  I would had to think what that is like as we were there in Autumn and was pretty crowded in places making it hard to phtoograph....

The Astronomical Clock - The clock was first installed in 1410, making it the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the only one still working.

My foot was getting pretty sore again by this time, so we decided to head back to the hostel to pick up our luggage and pick up the rental car to drive to our next stop.  Cesky Krumlov.  We arrived just before it got dark, dropped our luggage in our tower, then headed out for a meal.  We found a beautiful town...

The castle tower...

And the main square...

Anne ordered Roast Pork with Sauerkraut and dumplings, and I had a Beef in cream sauce with dumplings with a glass of very yummy red wine. Another fascinating day in Europe!

Amsterdam - Walking Tour

I managed to pull myself out of bed at a reasonable time this morning, get dressed, and headed out the door to do the three hour walking tour.  I mismanaged my timing a bit, as I had to be there by 11.15am.  I didn't reach the tour until 11.30am, but fortunately they were still at the square so I was able to tag on.  It started at the Dam Square.  This building was the dutch palace, however the royal family no longer live there, but it's still used for functions and overseas dignitaries....

Down a narrow street an we came to the red light district.  Very nice looking ladies dressed in next to nothing stood in the windows and beckoned to the men.  For obvious reasons, we couldn't take photos.  I believe the starting price is 50 euros for about 10 minutes, and that won't get you very far, so if you intend to travel to Amsterdam for the ladies, make sure you pack your wallets up very thickly with euros!

We were allowed to take a photo of this sculpture, which apparently just appeared one night from nowhere.  No one knows who the artist is, and it sums up the red light district well, with the lady who is anonymous, the male who is anonymous, and the artist also anonymous - the way they like the district to be.

Canal houses...

Bikes - lots of them.  I was told that there are three layers in the canals.  The first layer is the mud/silt.  The top layer is the water, and the middle layer is bikes.  At least 10,000 bikes are dredged out of the canals a year.  If you don't lock your bike to something, someone who has had a bit too much beer looking for fun, will just toss it into the canal!!!

The Amsterdam Waag is a remnant of the former city walls in Amsterdam. Constructed in 1488, it was originally one of the city gates, the Sint Anthoniespoort. When the city wall disappeared, the Nieuwmarkt (new market) was created around it and the weighing scales for the market were placed in the former gate. Today the building houses the Waag Society, an ICT research foundation working in the social and cultural domain, and there is a café/restaurant on the ground floor.

The building carries the oldest plaque in Amsterdam, which reads On 28 April 1488 the first stone of this gate was laid....

Just down from the Waag was the Jewish quarter...  Before the war, the Jewish population was about 10% of the whole of Amsterdam.  After the war it only amounted to 0.1%.  The Dutch were one of the few countries that protested about what was happening to their Jewish friends, they held demonstrations and strikes, unfortunately to no avail.  This area of Amsterdam lay empty for many years, but in the 1960's was rebuilt (and painted bright yellow)...

A measure of how wealthy one was, was how wide your house was.  This house is one of the widest in Amsterdam from a family that made their money making and selling arms to both sides of the war.

This is now the university, but prior to that it housed the Dutch East India Trading Company.

Outside the Amsterdam Museum...

Our guide then took us through a gate or door.  One minute we were on the street which looked like any other with residential housing, yet through this door was an amazing park and really lovely residential area, right in the heart of the city.  It also had a small chapel.  These are called begijnenhofjes and were used only by Catholic women, who were supporting themselves.

We also got taken down an art district....

 The sun even came out at the end....

 And the smallest house in Amsterdam... These people must have been very poor!!!

I also learnt that it was okay for houses to lean forwards, that the houses were designed especially for that.  But it's not okay for them to lean sideways.  Leaning sideways usually means that the houses were structurally damaged, probably had sunk a bit into swamp!!!   The house on the end of the following image definitely has a sideways lean...

And so ended my three hour walking tour of Amsterdam.  I then caught the tram back to Anne's place where she met me, and we proceeded to head to the Airport to get our flight to Prague and the next bit of travel!

Amsterdam - Cold and Wet

I got up late today - I am so tired.  My foot is really sore.  I was booked into the Anne Frank House and to be honest, I didn't want to move!!!  The weather wasn't helping - gray, wet, overcast and cold.

I forced myself up and managed to work out the tram without a problem, getting off at the correct stop.  I then proceeded to walk in the wrong direction.  Then I found I had left the map at home.  Fortunately two guys on the corner were pouring over their map and when I asked for the directions, they gave one of their maps, and pointed me in the correct direction to Anne Frank house.

Anne Frank house is a must do in Amsterdam.  I've read the book several times, but visiting the house really put things in perspective for me.  I came out of there feeling very morose and sad.  I remember reading a quote somewhere along the lines that Anne Franks story is just one of six million, however, if we had to read all six million stories, then the grief would be too much for us to bear.  I felt this was so true.

By the time I had finished in the museum, the rain had really set in.  I was meant to do the 3 hour free walking tour of Amsterdam this afternoon, but decided to flag it.  Instead I walked up to the Dam Square, then wandered in and out of all the shops.  Every second shop was a shoe shop, and I would have tried on 127 pair of boots at least.  I'm definitely going to buy a pair before I come home!

I stopped twice for a hot chocolate to warm up, before getting the tram to the flower market.  I wandered around there admiring all the tulip bulbs, bought myself a little piece of art, then headed to Anne's Australian Pub where she works where I was meeting her at 5.30pm .

The staff there treated me well with hot chocolates laced with kahlua to warm me up until Anne Arrived.  A few mojitos, then more kahlua, and a pub quiz of which we came last!!  Back home at midnight.

I didn't even get my camera out today the weather was that terrible - except for one photo I took at Coco's, the pub...

.But I really enjoyed wandering today with no set timetable and at my own pace.  I can't wait to do it again on  Tuesday, the day before I fly home, but this time with Anne (shopping - she's not flying home with me!!!)

Amsterdam - Exploring Arnhem

Anne had to work today, and she starts early, so I got up with her and caught the same train.  Instead of getting off, I went on to Arnhem where I had arranged to meet Arthur, another SWC member I've known for many many years.  Unfortunately, when I got off the train, I went in the opposite direction, and of course Arthur was no where to be seen.  After shivering in the cold for 20 minutes, it occured to me to look at the information map outside the station, and it was then I realised that there was 'another way out', so doubled back and finally found Arthur.  He said I was easy to spot because of the confused look on my face!!!

We proceeded to Burgers Zoo in Arnhem.  The drive there was really pretty - lots of forest and trees - it was really stunning with the autumn colours too!

Arnhem zoo had a few animals that we don't get in Auckland zoo.  Unfortunately my foot was incredibly sore that day so I was struggling a bit, but I did get some photos...  The penguins...

A totally mad deranged bear that kept attacking this fire hose, then biting himself.  Probably a sign of boredom...

 The Sumatran Tiger...

 Vultures - which I had never seen before...

 They had an underwater world as well which was really interesting and very well done...

 And hte penguin again - they were the first (and last) exhibit at the entry/exit!!!

 We then went to the Open air Museum which was right next door and I got to see... Windmills!!

 I also found out that in the old houses, bedroooms were in a cupboard (built in)!!!

 An old dutch village...

Arthur then drove me back to Anne's work in  Ultrecht.  As I had no cellphone, Anne thought I may have been lost in Holland somewhere not knowing if Arthur was going to be there or not.  We didn't set Anne's mind at rest until 3pm!!!  We arranged to get online with Arthur later to plan our next few days and said bye, then Anne took me around her work showing me where she worked in the lab.  It was great to meet the people she worked with and to be able to visualise where she is.

Afterwards she took me to this great place by the canal in Utrecht, that does the proper dutch pancakes!  They were delicious!  I had ham cheese and pineapple, and on the other half a fruit one - but can't remember what I had now.  I know I had a white beer which was divine.  Perhaps that is why I can't remember!!!

We wandered around Utrecht, then caught the metro to the main station.  Anne then showed me the tram system so I would know how to get back to where I needed to go tomorrow.