Des n Tam >>>> tHe BiG tRip >>>>>> hOmE: May 2006

After having so much fun catching up with friends and family, enjoying life in Hong Kong and Sydney, eating delicious and affordable food, and just not having to go to work, we understandably weren't looking forward to coming back to London. But, we'd already booked in some weekends away, so back we came. After a short week at work that started on Tuesday, we jetted off to beautiful Prague for the long weekend (bank holiday) and indulged in the cheap food and drink (compared to London, of course), and taking in the stunning buildings and architecture.

Prague Castle (Prazsky Hrad) from most Legii (bridge)

St Nicolas Church in Old Town Square (Staromestske nam.)

Having a trdelnik (Czech sweet pastry) at Old Town Square (Kinsky Palace on the left, and the gothic Church of Our Lady before Tyn on the right)

The mysterious Prague Astronomical Clock (Prazsky orloj)

A popular postcard scene

A fairytale photo in Prague

On our way up the hill to Prazsky Hrad

Prague rooftops

The main gate on Hradcanske namesti, where we in apparently good fortune and accidental timing made it to the Changing of the Guards (we later found it it happens on the hour, every hour between 5am and 11pm)

St Vitus Cathedral (Katedrala Sv Vita) - the largest cathedral in the Czech Republic

The amazing rose window

Impressive gothic structures and gargoyles

Wandering down Golden Lane (where they have all sorts of souvenir shops in little cottages)

The excellent Kavarna Velryba (Opatovicka, 24). A fantastic downstairs cafe/bar we found whilst walking up the street where our apartment was located in Nove Mesto (taking notes Tina?).

Further up the road we found the Dog's Bollock's. Which we patronised one night when all the other pubs nearby were closing. It's funny to see how bad spelling isn't just a British thing.

With drinks so cheap I couldn't help but join the Prague Drinking Team - A half-litre of quality Czech beer costs about 25-30 Czech crowns = 30p (normally costing at least 2 pounds in London) = AU$1.50

Tulips on Wenceslas Square (Vaclavske namesti) heading up to the National Museum (Narodni Muzeum)

The gorgeous Municipal House (Obecni Dum)

Prague have some weird fascination with marionettes, in particular, witches. See if you can spot The Boy Who Lived

The National Theatre (Narodni Divadlo). Check out the cool tram in motion. Our new digital camera in action!

Prague Castle by night - the biggest castle in the world (by the way)

Obviously, we had an absolute blast in Prague... even if it is brimming with tourists. Compared to London, it's tiny. And it is jam-packed with tourists catered to by the many souvenir shops. And it was so refreshing to see that not all of Europe is expensive. However, for a place with such cute and colourful buildings and a pleasant atmosphere, it's hard to see why the locals there are so uncheerful. Maybe they're just a bit sad that their town has been overrun by tourists or maybe they're all suffering from a perpetual hangover.

It's been a long time since we've updated this. To quickly summarise, we last visited Cardiff, Wales. Unfortunately, we didn't take many photos as our digital camera went bung after that party in Dublin. But then, Cardiff wasn't exactly that fascinating a place. We must have walked past Cardiff Castle ten times. Still, we had a good time.

The weekend after we took a long Easter holiday and spent a fantastic week in Hong Kong, and an equally brilliant week in Sydney. See photos below. Then came the 24 hour flight back to dreary London town. To be fair, Spring is springing here in London and the leaves are back on trees, colourful flowers are out and about (Holland Park is awesome, we saw the first few squirrels, a peacock and some black bunnies), and the weather is definitely warming up.

Happy Hour at Kuleto's!