Poland - 22nd to 25th of May 2009

Gotto love May in the UK - two bank holiday Mondays! So after the first long weekend in Prague, we spent the second in Poland. We flew into Krakow on Friday night, but arrived late, so only got into our sightseeing on Saturday morning. We got straight on a bus west for about an hour and a half to Ośweicęm, better known by what the Germans called it, Auschwitz. Auschwitz I, previously deserted pre-war barracks, and the purpose built Auschwitz II - Birkenau, 3 kms away, are incredibly moving and depressing places. Its something everyone should see, and we are glad we did it, but its not somewhere we ever want to go again. It didn't really feel right taking photos, but I took a couple:

After getting the bus back into Krakow about 3ish, we wandered the streets of the old town through to the main market square, reputedly the largest medieval town square in all of Europe.

We walked along the river and out to the Jewish quarter, where we had an early dinner - dumplings of course.

Back into the main square for a few drinks, although neither of us were up for a big night given the morning we had had.

Sunday we again jumped on a bus, this time 40 minutes southeast to the salt mines at Wieliczka, which have been in operation for 700 years. A guide takes a group of you through about 2 km of the mines that are open to the public, down to about 135 metres underground.

Sunday afternoon we had another walk through Krakow old town and through the grounds of the Wawel Castle.

We even had time to watch about half of the F1 from Monaco at a sports bar, before our 5pm train to Warsaw. 3 hours later we checked into our hostel in Warsaw and walked into the "old" town for dinner. I say "old" because basically all (i.e. 85%) of Warsaw was ruined in September 1939 when Germany invaded. The rebuilt old town was based on old photos and drawings, so it looks old, even though it is just over 50 years old. The Palace of Culture and Science:
The Royal Castle at night:Monday morning we went up to the 30th floor of the Palace of Culture and Science for a view over the city, before walking out to Lazienki Park. Warsaw is surprisingly green, and Lazienki Park is a very pretty park just on the edge of the city centre.

Monday afternoon we had another walk through the old town, and then a quick walk through the Royal Castle, another building that looks old, although it was only rebuilt in the '70s.

We had a 9pm flight so we were always going to be home late, but due to bad weather in London the plane stayed on the ground in Warsaw for an extra hour and a half. So we didn't get back to Putney until 2.30am.

Prague - 1st to 4th of May 2009

Another long weekend and another cancelled flight. But at least this time we were notified, so we had to take the Friday afternoon off and get the earlier flight to Prague. The good thing about this of course was that we got time in Prague on Friday night for a bit of a walk around and a nice dinner.

Nicola arrived late friday night, so Saturday morning we were up early for a great cheap breakfast and a walk over Charles Bridge, the historical bridge over the Vltava River, that was built in the 14th century. Unfortunately not early enough to beat the crowds.

Across the river and through St Nicholas' Church on the way up to the Prague Castle, the city's number one tourist attraction, and it seemed as though every tourist in Europe was there. Managed to catch some of the changing of the guards at midday (well we tried to, through the thousands of tourists), before walking through the complex. By now we were getting thirsty so we walked around the hill to the Letna beer garden overlooking Prague from across the river. Great spot to hang out in the sun for a few hours and drink some very cheap beer!
We had planned to get up early Sunday morning and make our way to a little town called Cesky Krumlov, but on Saturday evening after walking around to the bus station and the train station, we realised this just wasnt going to work. So we tried to make up for it by having a late one on Saturday night experiencing some of the Prague nightlife.

Sunday we let ourselves have a bit of a sleep in before walking through a different part of town and then out on the Metro to Vysehrad, a fortress built on the side of the river, dating back to the 10th century. After a bit of a walk around we sat in the sun for the afternoon and read our books and had a bit of a snooze. After such a tough day we decided to head back to the beer garden for another one or two beers, and watched the lights come on over Prague over a few hands of cards.

Monday we got up early to find the awesome weather we had enjoyed on Saturday and Sunday was over. We got out to a castle about 40 minutes away by train in a small town of Karlstejn, but only really for a quick walk around as the rain was pretty persistant.

Back into Prague to give our umbrellas more of a workout. Time for a walk around, lunch, a trip up the clock tower for Warren, and one last cheap beer before the flight back to London.