Prague, Czech Republic

Having always wanted to visit Prague, there was much excitement surrounding the weekend to the capital of the Czech Republic even though we have been doing so much travel lately.



It all started with an early finish from work on the Friday for the flight out of Gatwick airport. This is the first time we have flown from Gatwick and impressions were good. It's a much smaller airport and now with the restricted amount of liquids allowed it was on board luggage only which assisted in the quickest ever check in.



Rob had been hoping that the temperatures would drop (dramatically) and that it would snow but to no avail; it was cloudy skys and not too bloody freezing temperatures for the whole weekend.


Our jaunts over the weekend included Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge (very, very old), the Lady of Loreta church (bells, bells, bells), St Nicholas Church (wow), and the old town square with the astronomical clock. There were the customary spiral stairs and boat ride up the Vltava River. We were fortunate to stay in one of the best *** star hotels we have been in which was very close to Wenceslas Square. There was also plenty of drinking with us trying all of the beers the Czech's are famous for (plus a few more and of course yummy, really cheap cocktails).



Beautiful city, awesome weekend. Prague - highly recommended! Highlight of the trip - crossbow shooting!

A la Paris

We have both travelled to Paris previously and Lou thought that the world's most romantic city (think candles, chocolate, champagne and roses) would be a beautiful destination for us to travel to together. Rob's idea of romance - Le Musée des Égouts de Paris (aka Paris Sewer Museum)...

Day 1

We caught the Eurostar very early Saturday morning which deposited us at Gare du Nord in central Paris. Wasting no time we headed straight for Notre Dame and Saint Chappelle which contains some of the most intricate and encompassing stained glass windows in the world. More importantly though, Rob was introduced to the Nutella Crepe - yummy! - which became his only dietry requirement over the two days.



Knowing that drinking and boats go together like peas and carrots we made our way down to the Seine and invested in a beer and river cruise. Amazingly the Seine has some 34 bridges that cross it and looking up or down the river you can usually see no less then 4 bridges in either direction. We were fortunate to make the end of Fall and the river, the buildings and the changing colours of the trees were beautiful.



The rest of the day was spent walking. We headed for the Louvre and explored the grounds around it which were amazing. It is a staggeringly big building, which is hard to appreciate until you actually walk around outside - it just keeps on going. From there it was down past the Obelisk, Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower.

Having worn out our shoes and with the bottomless pit that is Rob's tummy grumbling, we headed to our hotel to check in before grabbing dinner and a show. Embracing the French enthusiasm for good food we signed up for a big plate of snails. Because let's face it, there's nothing tastier then a good ol' snail. Seriously though, despite being quite difficult to remove from their shell, the snails were quite tasty, cooked in melted butter and garlic.




The last stop on the itinery for the day was the Moulin Rouge. We were only able to get tickets to the 11pm show, which didn't start until almost midnight and despite the disorganization, the show was incredible, and the complimentary bottle of champagne wasn't too shabby either. Lots of boobies!

Day 2

Breakfast was croissants and hot chocolate at the foot of the Basilica of Sacre Coeur. We had a look around inside and climbed to the top of the dome for spectacular panoramas of the city.

After that our minds were in the gutter... literally, at the Paris sewer museum. Little did we realise that the entire museum would be based inside a real working sewer. It managed to be both frightening and interesting at the same time though we didn't linger too long. Actually, by the time we left we both felt (and smelled) like we needed to shower - oh well.

From there we headed downtown to the financial district, La Defense, to checkout the La Grande Arche; the modern day version of the Arc de Triomphe. Then back to the original Arc where we climbed to the top to check out the entertaining antics of the drivers on the giant roundabout below. Another quick walk back to the Eiffel tower where Lou forced Rob under duress to climb the bloody stairs as it was €0.7 cheaper then the lift. (ED - the line was a lot shorter and I thought it would be more of an enlightening experience for us both; besides after about 10 nutella crepes Rob needed to do some walking). We made it up there in time for a spectacular red sunset and then wandered (a nice way of saying we walked) to Les Invalides before heading home 1st class on the Eurostar.



C'est bon!

Cambridge

With Jo Mac in town the gang took to Cambridge to check out the city made famous for its universities.







Punts and pints were enjoyed by all!

I wanna be a Wallaby!

Date: Saturday 4th November 2006
Means of transport: Mega Bus (once again)
Location: Cardiff, Wales
Occassion: Wales vs Australia (Rugby)
Venue: Millennium Stadium
Result: 29 - 29
Notes: Welsh people are so friendly; game and atmosphere was sensational; and LATHAM is a LEGEND!