Funiculi, Funicular

The weather had returned to normal, and we headed off before breakfast to revisit many of the sights we were taken to yesterday, before the crushes arrived later in the morning.

Into the Old Town Square, through the lanes, and across the Charles Bridge where we could actually pause to take in the statues and the views this time. Through the Little Quarter and the huge park below the Castle, walking along next to the wall of the US Embassy. Counted 20 surveillance cameras, and that was only the ones pointed at us in the park from behind the 20’ barbed wire wall. Hate to see what Trump tweeted when he got the daily security report to find two Aussie tourists were laughing. I’m sure that some sort of sanctions are being considered.

Wound our way up the steep hill to the telecommunications tower modelled on the Eiffel Tower in a bid to lure tourists. Half shut for landscaping so the tourists couldn’t buy tickets to go up it, but instead wandered around the park to the funicular and caught the next train down the hill. Reached our target of 10,000 steps before 9am! Ended up doing almost 24,000 for the day, and that’s about average this week.

Lounged about the apartment for a bit, then after lunch we headed back into the melee and visited the Apple Museum – the largest display of Apple merch in the world. Irony of the day – the Apple Museum couldn’t get their online payment system working to process our credit card.

Prague. Hmm, well it’s an interesting city. Not quite what we expected. It’s nice, and some buildings and scenery are lovely. But it’s not as ‘cultural’ and ‘boulevardy’ as we expected. Far more narrow and hotch-potch than we expected. And the crowds… Crowds beget crowds I guess, but from mid morning till after sunset its just a swarming mass of people trying to find things to look at. Never seen so many guides and groups. Guide’s flags are being held up everywhere you look.

The city is a preferred destination for bucks parties and hens groups. Progressive beer parties are the rage, and the square is awash with beer party touts. Where else would you have a mobile karaoke bus cruising the streets with a hens group blasting out ‘Build Me Up Buttercup’? There are numerous adult entertainment venues advertised, and they must be profitable – there is a complimentary pick up stretch limo.

The Big Mac index is AU$7.20, which is cheaper than home, but not as cheap as Poland. I guess Prague has the name as the place everybody feels the need to visit. While it’s nice, and we’ve enjoyed it, Prague is not on my ‘have to come back here’ list.