Prague

This weird T.V. tower polemically stood right in the middle of this quiet residential district, due to some artistic endeavor it had sculptures of babies crawling up it, it was quite sinister.

A definite redeeming feature was the food, cheap and amazing.

When I read in a travel guide that Krakow hadn't 'done a Prague' I didn't get it. After visiting Prague, the 'heart of Europe' I understand what it means. I think Prague's heart stopped beating some time ago. The only thing that ticks is the astronomical clock which was pretty cool, but really I was more interested in looking at the crowds swarming to see it's hourly chime. The center of the city is beautiful, the ornate gate to the old town is impressive in all its Gothic grandeur. Sadly the city now seems to thrive off it's former status and decadence. The crowds are nauseating and souvenir shops have pushed away retailers that have any real use for the locals, leaving Prague feeling quite synthetic. This seems to be how many European cities could go, all their life scoured out by the tourist trade.

It all sounds very damning, but we did have a good time. It was probably one of the best backpacking hostels we stayed in. It had a thriving bar with good music constantly blaring and we met some great guys from America that we went out with. Unfortunately I can't recall much/any of the notorious five storey club but the photos show that we had a great night.