Prague

Prague (Carly): Sat 05/08/2006 1:51 PM

Hi Mum, Dad and Scott,

Thanks for the email! Your meeting sounds very funny, though it must have been awful for you - lol cant believe Malcolm thought he's a comedian! 6.30 is still no good and I cant believe they are letting it out at 7am, think you should go for the air rifle approach, the council could take too long! sleep deprivation is a form of torture! We have seen wooden crossbows in Prague which actually work, want us to send you one?!!!!

We are in Prague now, got the train yesterday, it only took 5 hours, so not an all nighter! It was pretty uneventful except a girl on the train had left her passport in Berlin and had to get off at Dresden it was the first stop - 2hrs from Berlin.

There were also some very annoying American girls and an Australian bloke, who did not even pause for breath during the whole journey. Adam got more annoyed about it than me but he could only hear the Aussie laugh over his Ipod!

Adam left his coat on the train but ;luckily remembered it just in time, then he got on the first metro without me! He had to wait at the first stop for me, pretty funny especially as I had his ticket! Yesterday afternoon we had a long walk around Prague - saw most of the sites including one of the churches I sang in on the choir tour! Train tickets and drinks are pretty cheap here which is good!

Today we went for our first run, got up at 7, I was pretty awful as I'm sure you can imagine but Adam says it will get easier! Then we went shopping, I managed to get a nice rucksack and an umbrella, unfortunately pretty necessary here as august is the month when Prague gets the most rain! Also managed to get Adam another book (in English) as he has nearly finished his second one! Still not managed to get a travel plug though!

Oh mum if you are in Tesco could you please pick me up another mosaic colouring book, its really brilliant has kept me occupied for hours and means I don't have to read all the time - think I'll need another for the next stage of the trip!

Lots of love to all!

Carly and Adam xxx

Prague (Adam): Sat 05/08/2006 2:20 PM

Hey Mum and Dad and Scott,

Everything is goin pretty well, don't wanna overlap Carly's emails too much so I will keep it brief - plus Carly always takes up most of the time and so that is why u have only received a few lines from me so far!

Berlin is an awesome place, have to go back sometime in the future coz so much of it is still being built. It must be a relief for the people to finally get over decades of oppression and poverty.

Prague is wet. I have never heard of a country where it rains in August, except maybe in the rainforests of south America.

Besides that it is a very beautiful place. We went for a long walk yesterday taking in most of the city centre and today we went for a run. Carly was not as bad as she said so I think by the time this trip is over she should emigrate to Kenya where the people run through the mountains all day long.

The breakfast here is very nice altho the Czechs seem to eat their yoghurts without spoons which is bizarre. A lot of them speak English and we have got on ok so far except in the toilets. There is a strange custom here of tipping before pissing which I cannot fathom. How do u know if the dirty old toilet cleaning woman has done a good enough job to merit a tip? The toilets in M&S were in fact free - firm testament to the fact that M&S is from a civilised country where one does not have to calculate how much toilet roll one will use before taking a dump. What do they do if they don't quite get enough? walk out of the cubicle with their trousers round their ankles to get more??

Besides this everything is going very well indeed and I think once Carly has been for a few more runs she might make it onto the tube.

Speak to u soon

Love Adam x

Prague 2 (Adam): Sat 05/08/2006 2:20 PM

Hey everyone, I am now in Prague enjoying the rain. Yes it rains here throughout the whole of August. Aside from that everything is going well.

Berlin was fascinating, so much history left over from the war and communism and the city is still recovering. Went to the Berlin film museum where we learned about the German film stars banished from Germany or forced to make incredibly obvious and cheesy propaganda movies by the Nazis - very sad. I enjoyed the visits to all the museums about the war, the Gestapo and all the ancient Greek and Egyptian artefacts which the German government attained through "special relationships" with those countries. Carly enjoyed the royal palace where we learned what colour wallpaper Friedrich the great and his family preferred.

Here in Prague there is a strange custom of tipping the toilet cleaners before u r allowed to go. I am still wondering whether I can get my tip back if I am unsatisfied. Also u have to get toilet paper outside the toilet - for which a bigger tip is expected - before u can go, again very strange. Aside from this beer is about 80p a pint (for those of u who drink) and a tube ride is only 50p.

We r staying in student accommodation so for those of u who think ur halls look shabby please do come here! Although I have to say everything works and we get free breakfast!

On that note, hope all is well, and sunnier, back in England or wherever u may be.

Adam

Prague (Carly): Mon 07/08/2006 4:18 PM

Hi guys

We're in Prague now and though its rained tons we're still having a very good time!

Seem to have done lots of shopping, I bought an umbrella (possibly the best buy of the trip!) a rucksack to replace my McDs one which finally gave out after years of hard use and couldn't resist a wooden parrot, you pull a rope and his wings flap.... very cute!

On Saturday we went for our first run, yes that wasn't a typo Adam has got me running, it was pretty awful (or do I mean I was) but i'm determined to persevere!

Have seen most of the sights, the old town is even more beautiful than I remembered! Seen the first church we sang in on the choir tour, brought back lots of happy memories! Yesterday we spent the day going up to Prague castle admiring the Charles Bridge on the way! Inside the best bit was probably in a little armour museum where Adam shot a real crossbow and I documented the event on video (very professionally if I do say so myself!)!!! He got a bullseye so it should be no problem getting rid of the cockerel when we get home! We tried to get the tram back to the hostel but as we couldn't work out where we were on the tram map (so didn't know what side of the road we needed to be on) and didn't have the correct changes, we ended up plodding down the very steep hill!

Last night it was pretty cold and we sat by the door in the cocktail restaurant we went to, so I decided to try some traditional goulash soup, it was quite nice and did the trick warming me up, but unfortunately the effect was completely taken away by the ice drink I had after!

Today we went to the national museum, and though we saw some pretty huge stuffed animals we didn't enjoy it half as much as the Greek and Egyptian museums in Berlin!

Guess that's it for now!

Love to all Carly xxx