Updating this blog from first class cabin of the train from Prague to Munich.
I have 6 hours to kill. A perfect opportunity to write about the last 5 days spent with great friends in their incredible home in the Golden City.
Our train to Prague from Vienna, arrived 15 minutes late at the Praha Hlavni Nadrazi station, where an old friend was waiting for us. It was so awesome to see her again and finally introduce her to Donna. A very organized Dags, had arranged subway tickets for us before hand so that we could quickly jump on the train and onto the tram and a short walk to our home for the next 5 days.
This was the start of an amazing time where Nic and Dags treated us like royalty and blessed us out our socks. They also fed me more beer than I can drink. Their apartment is situated in an old building, which has been refurbished on the inside. The lift goes up to the fifth floor and opens up directly into their apartment – just like in the movies.
Their home became our home. My fantastic wife did all our washing so that we could leave with bags full of fresh, clean clothes. We were treated to a braai on Saturday with more meat than we could eat, potato bake, garlic bread and baked beans. A real taste of South Africa.
The first night we met up with Clint Armour, who had arrived in Prague from Italy the day before. We all went to a steak/beer house to experience a bit of the night life and of course have our fair share of the Czech Republic’s finest produce.
Donna and I had a huge rack of ribs and many pints. Surprisingly, only spending R160. In Italy we would have spent at least triple on a feast like this. But as Dags had told us when we arrived, beer is cheaper than water. She wasn’t joking. A pint of excellent beer in a pub will cost around R14. In a large grocery store a pint of beer will cost about R4. The Czechs are known for making and consuming great beer. I was amazed at the prices and took full advantage of that. Marinated in beer and rib sauce, we made our way home and made sure that Clint got to his stop safely and agreed that we would meet him for breakfast the next morning before he made his way to the airport to head home.
After a beaut sleep in, we slowly woke up and ambled down the road to meet Clint at a coffee shop owned by a Saffa for a good old English breakfast of bacon, eggs, baked beans, mushrooms and strong coffee. Again, all for a very good price. A pity Nic and Dags couldn’t join us as they had to go to work. Prague surprised us with the low cost of items. In many cases they are cheaper than SA. A nice surprise for us being on a tight budget. But a huge thanks to Nic and Dags as they blessed us big time and made Prague the cheapest part of our trip – we are truly grateful for their generosity. We said cheers to Armour and headed back to the comfort of our new home.
Donna put in a load of washing, and we lay on the super comfortable couch and watched DVD’s. Well, we were in our element. It was cold and rainy outside and we were cuddled up, loving life and each other and finally being able to watch movies.
On Friday last week Dons and I took the afternoon to explore the city of Prague. There are some amazing sights, like the view from St Charles Bridge. Man!! I could have just stood on that bridge for hours. The buildings and the churches and the towering castle overlooking the city is just way too much to take in. We were quickly saturated with the essence of Prague and the melodies of bands adding their flavor to the atmosphere. But you don’t even have to hit the hotspots to enjoy Prague – just walking in the streets you can appreciate the architecture and original cobbled pavements.
Friday night drinks from Nick's favourite pub overlooking the city of Prague.
Tired and with sore feet, it was home time and we made our way to the nearest station.
Saturday we hung out with Nic and Dags and were stoked that they didn’t have to go to work. We had a very chilled day and at around 4pm some of their mates arrived for drinks. We watched the sun go down from their balcony and sipped on some ice cold brew. We watched SA beat England in a not so convincing game. Then sadly his friends had to leave but we continued to braai. What an amazing treat to be able to braai at this part of our trip. We were loving it! And of course the company was brilliant – we chatted about the good old days and what lay ahead for us now.
Sunday was as relaxed as can be. Apart from the run in the morning, we didn’t leave the house. We watched about 3 movies and a couple episodes of friends. Sprawled out on the couch with the Murray’s we lazed away…
Monday morning came and unfortunately we had to say goodbye as we were leaving to go to Munich.
A long 6.5 hour journey with a delayed train and a carriage that wouldn’t work. We were asked to move from first class to second class for the last hour. Eventually arriving at our awesome hotel in Pasing just outside the city centre of Munich.
We look forward to exploring the beer houses of this Bavarian capital.
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