Passed a border to get into the Czech Republic, from Germany. Stamped our passports. So this was the scene as we entered the country: older houses, same style as Germany but not that well kept, uncut grass along the road, small market stalls along the road, and some small little huts with a glass front. In these huts there were woman in underwear dancing. When we passed the first one it was like, was that really ? Yes, it was, keep driving. There were only these huts along the first road and town and from then onwards we didn't see anymore. Doesn't leave a great impression of a country in your mind.
Can tell this is a poored country. Neither of us could read the road signs, or understand the language.
Our first stop was at a highway rest stop for the night. Some Indian looking dude came up to our van asking for help because his car wouldn't work. Tried to sell a 'gold' ring to us, I shut the door on him. Elman watched the next day as a bunch of gypsies tried their luck on any foreign car at the rest stop. Politely told them no, and they left us alone.
Prague: had Aussies at our camping ground, first time we heard a familiar accent, was nice. The first day it was really warm, we caught a tram into the city. Only one mode of transport, only took 15 minutes, that's a good start. When we got to the centre it took us a while to figure out where we were, both of us were stubborn and reckoned it was this way or that way. How funny. Went for a walk through the centre of the city, heaps of cobbled roads and old buildings. Some really cute narrow streets. Crossed the bridge to the Prague Castle. Walked around the gardens and then up some steep stairs to the top. Wishing that we weren't wearing long pants cause it was so hot. (But after the Scandinavian weather we weren't going to complain) Great view over the whole city at the top, as well as the castle, a cathedral and a large courtyard. After exploring the top we headed back down, accross the bridge and into the town square where we enjoyed an icecream. Prague is a very picturesce city, with heaps of tourists. Back at our camping ground we did some washing and enjoyed the warm weather. Unfortunately I woke up to rain, and had to move our washing inside. The next day it was pissing down rain, and not exactly warm anymore. Packed up our stuff and roped up the back of our van so we could hang all our clothes up.
Ceske Budejovice: the home to Budvar (Budweiser) Beer. We drove here straight from Prague, unfortunately it was still drizzling outside. Most of our clothes were still wet so we had to hang it in the front of our van now. What a sight :-) Ceske had a nice town square and pretty old buildings, although we enjoyed walking around the shopping centre more because it was freezing outside. Shorts one day, thick jacket the next. We did a tour of a brewery here. I found it really interesting but Elman had already been to a brewery before. He did get to drink my portion of the beer tasting tough.
Czech Rep was the cheapest so far for grocery shopping and they had the best bread. As we had both never been there before, it was an interesting experience. Next stop Austia
