Prague (Czech Republic) & Vienna (Austria) - 11th to 14th September 2005

11th September 2005 - We explored Prague during the day. Photos of Charles Bridge. Its construction was commissioned by Czech king and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV and began in 1357.

It's also where INXS filmed the video to Never Tear Us Apart. Check it out on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZZGwENyUNs










In the evening Richard really wanted to see the torture museum we had previously seen advertised. When we got there, I found out there were two exhibitions the other being a live spider and scorpion display.

Richard was extremely disappointed with the torture museum. He tells me there were only four torture instruments and a lot of pictures.

The spider exhibition was excellent. It is the largest in Europe. Every type of bird eating spider you can imagine. These things are big and hairy. They get fed mice once a week and crickets as snacks for the rest of the week. They have 4 fungs which are constantly moving even when they are docile. That's the bit that creeped me out a little.



If anyone is interested this is the address where the Spider exhibition can be found

Mostecka 21
Mala Strana
Prague 1
Czech Republic

And a website refering to it is:

http://www.allpraha.com/?page=resourcedetail&category=100113&resource=21446&resourcename=Spider%20Exhibition

12th September - Caught midday train back to Vienna.

13th September - Explore more of Vienna. I was well and truely over paying for the use of a toliet. Need I say more?










VIEW FROM HOTEL ROOM IN VIENNA


14th September - It's a sad day. We had breakfast at the Hotel and caught a train to the airport. We didn't have the right ticket! This was the first time in Europe we came across ticket inspectors. Unlike the inspectors in Melbourne, they let you buy a ticket from them. This is the end of our trip and the end of my blog.

Salzburg (Austria) & Prague (Czech Republic) - 9th - 10th September 2005

9TH SEPTEMBER 2005 - SALZBURG




In 1965 Sound of Music was filmed in Salzburg starring Julie Andrews as Maria Von Trapp. The film is based on the Broadway musical The Sound of Music. Everyone knows the words to "My Favorite Things" and "Do-Re-Mi"!!!




Locals were really friendly and helpful. Posed for photos in the Gnome garden. I THINK THESE TWO WERE SEPERATED AT BIRTH??

We walked through all the manicured gardens made famous by the Sound of Music, the street and of course the churches and grave yard. Climbed Fortress only to find admission costs too expensive.







Salzburg is well set up for tourists. It was like a festival was going on, big groups of people singing, big tents full of food stalls. We also spotted a couple of Aussie blokes walking around with beer in their hands. They stick out like sore thumbs in foreign countries.

10TH SEPTEMBER 2005 - PRAGUE



Prague but not without missing the train. This is apparently my fault because I woke up complaining that I was tired. This left Rich disorientated and we ended up at the wrong train station. Then he wouldn't talk to me. So there we were sitting on the lawn outside the Belvedere Palace. Some old fella come out shaking his hand at us after over half an hour of sitting there. I assumed he was asking us to move.

The train trip was beautiful, although I have to admit I slept a fair part of the way. At the train station in Prague we haggled for accommodation. Well Richard did. I just stood there, overwhelmed. What's happening? Suddenly we were surrounded by people trying to sell us their accommodation. Here we met Hana who took us to her apartment that she rents out. She was very helpful, telling us about communism and the fact the travel for the residents of the Czech Republic was out of the question until 16 years ago when communism ended. She also advised to only use banks to obtain the Czech currency. The apartment was a couple of kilometres out of Prague. However it was close to a shopping centre which we had to walk through to get to the train station attached.

Pictures of our apartment and surrounding area can be found at:
http://www.praguecheapflats.com/html05/ing/07_jicinska2.htm

During the evening we went into Prague and explored.