Europe 2011 - Day 8: Top 5 things to bring home from Prague

Date of travel: 14 April 2011

We dedicated a full day of some serious shopping in Prague. For some serious stuff, head to the suburbs where the locals go to. Our choice was Zilcin which has a huge shopping mall called Metropole, and another building housing Ikea.

Number 5: Bohemian Crystals

Bohemian Crystals are very well-known in Prague. It ranges from all kinds of drinking glasses to decorative pieces for your table or room. Shops selling them are all over the place, and you can even join a tour to see how they are made.

Photo courtesy of http://www.prague-stay.com

Number 4: Eggs from Blue Praha shop

This was something I look forward to visiting everyday. They look so pretty and dainty. I unfortunately had to give it a miss in bringing it home, as I didn't have a proper place to display this. One of the nicest things I've seen in Prague.

6cm Paperweight from 495 Kr. Photo credit to http://www.bluepraha.cz

Europe 2011 - Day 5 Royal Animals of Prague

Date: 11 April 2011

Note: 100 Czech Koruny (Kr) = RM17.00

Prague Castle, up close

Today's mission is to tackle Prague Castle! Found Tram 22, which is the only tram that takes you to the doorstep of the castle, stop Prazsky Hrad. The fee was 250Kr for full entrance and 150Kr for short visit. I love looking at castles from the outside, but inside is just as bad as museums .... *snore*. It's free if you just wander around the outside of the buildings. The best views of Prague are on the way down from the Castle. You get to see all the red roofs of Lesser Town against the backdrop of the river and Charles' bridge.

Huskies get to visit Castles too??

The Cathedral inside the castle

Europe 2011 Day 4 - Backbreaking Prague

Date: 10 April 2011

Our Prague Hotel on top of the dreaded hill

Note: 100 Czech Koruny (Kr) = RM17.00

Our first night in Prague involved some serious discussion. Reality hit us that Prague is not friendly to people with back problems such as slipped discs, i.e. US. Almost everywhere involved walking on cobbled stone paths, some small, some large. And it did not help that the hotel was a good 10-15 minute walk from public transportation, on top of a hill even. These were our choices:

• Change Hotel to prime location - Lose 4 nights hotel worth €220

• Hire A Car - Dunno the roads, can't read the foreign road signs, risky

• Hire A Bicycle - Riding bicycles on bumpy road = Earthquake Backside. Also dunno where to park it, though thanks to Karen who suggested riding it straight into my room

• Leave Prague to somewhere like Santorini - And waste even more money on plane tickets

• Take taxis

We settled on tackling the notorious Prague taxi drivers. Since any of the above would involve a lot of money anyway, let's bring on the taxi scams! Many have experienced scams to the extent of swapping notes you gave them with smaller denominations, and driving up to 4 times around the block.

Our first stop was to get some cash. Best rates in town are at the basement of a shopping mall called MY at Narodni Trida. Next up was the Lego Museum! It wasn't an official museum per se, but a single man's collection of Lego since 1984. 200Kr for entry plus 20Kr for photography. Going back to our childhood days, we had a challenge to see who can come up with a better dog. The judge was the shopkeeper and I won! We both received a Lego man as prizes. Yay!

At the Lego Museum

My creation of a dog, which won 1st prize!

HH's dog came 2nd, only because the shopkeeper thought it looked more like a lamb.