Showing posts with label Prague. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prague. Show all posts

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Peraking in Prague act III

The third and final day of our budget-breakaway, the weather looks not so promising. It's snowing heavily and this time, no rain to melt the ice. Hurm.. but since we are forced to check-out, we have no choice but to redah the cold flowing snow and proceed with our next itinerary; The Dancing House.

On and off some trams, but yet not getting any near to our main objective, susah jugak naik tram ni.. coz we are a bit confused with the direction from point a to b or vice versa, then tambah plak dengan angin sepoi-sepoi icy.. memang tak larat la nak keep on trying hoping on and off from one tram to another, lastly we decided to use the metro, which is far more easier to understand- straight to the point. So sampaila kami ke Dancing House akhirnye...
Dancing House is actually an office building, so not really open for public access. But if you still interested to go in, try the top floor restaurant, ade gak la alasan nak masuk the 'drunk building'. As you can see, the builing is quite interesting, as if it's dancing drunkfully..dengan tingkap-tingkap senget siap..

After only few snap of the building, we head toward Wenceslas Square, which actually the first place we went to when we first arrive Prague in hope to find 'Hallal Fast Food restaurant' yang die gembar-gemburkan. But pusing punye pusing, tak jumpe jugak.. From the direction that I got from the internet, it says turn left, but according to Dr K, turn right, and he himself said Czech people usually gave the wrong direction between right & left, which they often easily get confused.. hehe klaka gak fact ni, but anyway, memang takde rezeki nak try that halal restaurant.. blasah makan ape yang ade jela..


After lunch, the snow stops, so we thought we'd go to the Old Town Square again for day-lite picture, coz on day 1 pegi time malam, gelap.. When we reached there, the weather was like teasing us, kejap snow kejap tak.. tapi terpakse la redah je with our numbed feet. Snapped few photos and then tot of releasing the lil princess since she had been behaving quite well.
Lepas je budak tu.. tau jela.. berlari la die dari utare ke selatan, timur ke barat.. kejar burung.. tegur strangers (like always). But interestingly enough, for the past 3 days we've been there, people weren't quite as friendly.. nobody even bother to smile at Myra.. poor thing.... until that day.. jumpe segerombolan italian girls (i think). They were so happy to play with Myra.. she's been the center of attraction mengalahkan the Astronomical clock...heh. Even an unknown chinese guy with his camera sebok ambek gamba Myra bermesre alam.

So, that's that.. our journey was over, we said goodbye to Prague..and head off home to London with yet another bag of sweet memories.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Peraking in Prague act II

The picturesque Mala Strana in a cloudy sky

Day 2, I kept wishing that the weather forecast is wrong, that it won’t snow… but when I lift up the curtain…. the previous greyish-green garden have already turned to white; overnight! And there is still more snow flowing down, quite heavily lak tu. Tsk tsk.. takkan nak spend our day in the hotel room je kot?! Huwaaa..

But after breakfast, the sky starts to clear out.. no more snow, just some dripping rain which has taken away most of the white scenery. Alhamdulillah.. so we then proceed with our second day itinerary, to go to Prague Castle area, and walking down to Mala Strana or Lesser Town.

Today is a bit struggling, we had been on and off from one tram to another, but couldn’t get to number 22 nor 23 (which is the most popular tram number that’ll take you to most of the must-see tourist spot. But.. it’s ok.. no biggy.. an extra walk would just be another mini-exercise to release all the tense in our body. ;)

When we finally reached the Prague Castle area, tengah sedap snap snap photo came an unfamiliar voice from behind us, in Malay! Gosh.. ade jugak orang melayu kat sini.. hehehe.. He turns out to be a medic student there for the past 3 years, and was out and about with his girlfriend (also a medic student there, and apparently best student in their Uni, salute salute!) and his girlfriend’s parents who came for their 3rd annual visit to Prague. They were very friendly, and mostly enjoy the company of lil Myra.. Myra lagiiila suke kalau ade orang layan.

Nak dipendekkan cerite, this kind Dr (who by the way speaks Czech AND German), invited us to join them for the tour, so he can help to show us around! We were really moved by his kind gesture, so decided to follow. As we walk down the hill side towards Mala Strana, the Dr girlfriend’s mother then scream ‘Apple Strudels!!! Let’s eat!’. So that’s how we ended up joining them for a nice hot creamy chocolada drink with freshly baked Apple Strudels –said to be a must try in Czech and some other surrounding Europe country as their specialties.. which is not even close to the so-called apple studels kat KL Central (as she put it). I’m not that into food-critics sort-of-thing, so blasah je.. sedap tak sedap blakang crite. After 2 hours of chit chatting and makan-makaning, the Uncle offer to pay. Siap nak blanjer tuu.. dah la baru je kenal, siap ajak jalan skali.. hmmm.. segannye! You see, good kind-hearted people does exist, and we are among those who are lucky enough to have meet not one, but four of them- all warm and kind and some more down-to-earth. An experience, that we will live to tell.

Some shots that I took while jay-walking on Charles Bridge
Coming out of the restaurant, the girlfriend and his parents need to part ways, they are heading to their hotel to get ready for their dinner. But dengan baik hatinye the Dr still insist of showing us around. So, jalan la kiteorang crossing Charles Bridges, where we could find lots of stalls selling arts, performer and the mesmerizing view of the Vltava river. Sampai letih dah nak ambek gambar.. memang cantekla Prague ni.. Sirius!
On our way to Dancing House, tibe-tibe hujan batu turun then tukar jadi hujan lebat... so, sebab kesian dah kat Dr tu.. yang tak pasal-pasal lak kene basah lencun, I said we think this is enough for the day, we’ll catch Dancing house tomorrow.. hoping for a better weather.
So.. that’s some of the highlights of Day 2, meeting a new friend out of the blue while enjoying the spectacular view (minus the rain of coz)..

To be continue…

Peraking in Prague act I

Model posing @ Wenceslas Square

Prague (IPA: /ˈprɑːg/, Czech: Praha (IPA: [ˈpraɦa])), is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Its official name is Hlavní město Praha, meaning Prague, the Capital City.
It was a last minute plan, we’ve been contemplating between several destination, but we are dead broke.. and yet is desperately in need of a break. After few considerations of places to go to,.. Prague comes as the cheapest one.. (amazing huh?)

We flew first class.. (wait.. that’s not right..), we flew with easyjet, a low cost airline just like airasia.. The journey was amazingly smooth, with an experience captain that kept entertaining us with his ‘magical endeavour’. So, kalau2 sape2 yang teringin to explore Europe, on a cheaper budget like us, try easyjet.. it is in deed easy, cheap but remarkably convenient and clean (note: avoid ryanair! hehe)

Arriving in Prague to a sunny bright city, we had a smile, bigger than the plane, even for Myra (no kidding). Since we are under a really really tight budget, we’ve decided to use the public transport to the hotel, which surprisingly easy, despite all label and announcement made in Czech. For the whole trip, we took 3 days pass that cost us 330 Kc= 11pound, lebih kurang laa.. And the best part is, you validate the pass once when you board your bus from the airport, then just walk like donno throughout your journey with tram/metro or bus all over the city for the whole 3 days. Mmg best.. dieorg percaye je kat rakyat jelate.. takde nak bubuh gate2 like in tube, or lrt.. so men boarding je la.. ikut naseb, kalau kene tahan, takde tiket kne la bayar saman.. And another great thing that I like about their transportation is, it is so spacious, and very stroller-friendly. Bleh taruk 10 prams.. and you won’t have a problem.. unlike here :(

From the cheap cost of our hotel, I thought it’s gonna be horror-like room in some unknown neighbourhood where gangsta are running around with guns. But I was wrong yet again. The hotel apartment is clean, big and tidy. We were given 1 small apartment, complete with a separate living room, double bed and separate shower and private loo, and the surrounding was not too bad at all.. easily accessible by the tram system. Not bad for a 15pound a nite stay.. Fyuohh..lege

So, day 1 was not so hard after all, Prague had exceeded my expectation from many angle; from its public transportation to the accommodation, and to its beautiful magnifico buildings and scenery all across town. I’m in love…
Up: Charles Bridge at nite
Left: Prague Castle, Right: Some interesting statue
Later that night, we brave ourselves to go to Karlův most or Charles Bridge area where people been suggesting to go to, to capture some amazing shots of the bridge at nite. From the bridge foot area it is just 5 minutes walk to Staroměstské náměstí or the Old Town Square, where more beautiful well-plan buildings are standing next to each other, including the most talk-about Prague Orloj or Astronomical clock tower.
As we walk along, there are series of restaurant to choose from followed by many souvenirs shops. Mmg tourist area laa. Tapi ape yang membanggekan kami, sepanjang berade di Prague dengan hanye berbekalkan 100pound cash for transportation + meal, we manage to have a nice Indian-Restaurant lunch, 1 dinner in a proper Czech restaurant and a meal or two in our own hotel. Gile save budget, tapi bleh jugak.. yakin boleh rakan mude.. hehehe

To be continue..