We spent nearly all of yesterday on a train from Budapest to Prague (about 7 hours by train), and we got in at 8pm, just in time for a yummy dinner at the hotel.
We slept well and awoke quite refreshed this morning, all ready to take on Prague.
After a late breakfast we embarked on our quest to get our Prague Card and Prague Passport. A good 30 minute walk and we finally found the little currency exchange booth inside a travel agent where we could get our Prague Card.
We then found a little cafe nearby where we could find out what we could do with the passport. It's actually pretty damn complex to understand, with different information presented on each of the different booklets, and some of the numbers don't match up on the map. Furthermore, many of the best attractions aren't even in Prague. There are a couple of 24 hour public transport tickets though, and the tram system in Prague is pretty extensive.
We picked the mirror maze as our first destination for the day and jumped on a tram to get us there. There is a funicular railway to the top of the hill, which is covered by the public transport voucher. Unfortunately it appeared as though every school in Prague had chosen today to also go up the funicular railway, and we had to withstand hundreds of noisy school children.
Anyway, we finally made it to the top, and waited to see where the school children went, and avoided that direction.
It's very pretty at the top of the hill and we took quite a few photo's as we wondered around.
At the top of the hill - sans school children
Jason relieved to have escaped...
Jodie thinks she's spotted an escaped child!
People in Prague are always saying how they are just like Paris (or Vienna). They've even got an Eiffel Tower look alike (which Jason later climbed).
We found this cute little building up the top of the hill
And this one as well.
Here we are, lost in the mirror maze. This is no-where near as impressive as the mirror maze in Lucerne, but fun nonetheless.
Here's a painting inside the mirror maze of a battle in Prague. The floor is covered in coins. What is it about wells, grates and small areas that compel people to throw money?! I'm seriously going to put a wishing well in my front yard and invite American Tourists...
Here's Jason pretending to be an Oompa Loompa!
We think all the walking and stairs is starting to have an effect on our waistlines...
Here's Jason being silly in front of more mirrors.
After we escaped the mirror maze (glad we didn't pay full price for it), we took a lovely walk down the hill, in search of the art gallery we had seen signs for. We got some wonderful views of the city.
Here's a photo of the Funicular Railway, as we walked across a bridge.
Jason enjoying the walk
Jodie enjoying the shade on this warm, sunny day.
And yay... - no schoolies....
We finally found the Magic Cave Gallery. It was the highlight of our trip up the hill. It's amazing inside, spreads over 3 levels and is a good place to have a drink and a relax on one of the old tatty couches. Jodes got some ideas for the design of her studio...
Jason really liked this picture.
After looking through the Magic Cave, we got back on to the middle stop of the Funicular and went back up to the top where Jason braved the mini Eiffel Tower (and all those steps). The view from the top is amazing (if you can see out from between all the tourists, and don't mind the swaying of the tower).
Needless to say... Jodie wasn't interested in this view.
We finally made our way back down the mountain and found a little antique bookshop where Jodie bought a few really old art books on Durer, Rembrandt and Degas! We were originally going to track down the astronomical clock, but we were pretty tired by now, and caught the tram back to the hotel room.
Unfortunately the map doesn't show elevation, and the stop we picked out required a walk up nearly 200 steps to get back to our hotel room. We were certainly tired after that. We learnt a valuable lesson from that - get off at another stop at the top of the hill.
Tomorrow is a rest day, when we'll post some stuff back home and wash our clothes at a nearby laundromat.
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