PRAGUE

The Golden City as it is also known, capital of the Czech Republic and sits either side of the River Vlatva. We took the 1 hr 45 min flight over after work on Friday for two busy days of sightseeing. Surprisingly Heathrow was more efficient than we had expected, however our plane was late, so in hindsight we didn't have to leave work early. We took a punt with accommodation and chose 'the secret hotel' off the lastminute.com website. It worked out well for us as the 4* hotel was 2min from the metro, for about half of the normal discounted price. Bargain.

On Saturday we headed to Hradcany to see the Castle which is far more then just a Castle. It is also the location of a Cathedral, Basilica, and the Royal Palace, as well as other associated buildings. Unfortunately the Palace was closed for the weekend but it is still a full days worth of sightseeing. The Castle was completed in many stages and the style of building reflects that from gothic to renaissance influences often next to each other.

The many different aspects of the Castle.

St Vitus Cathedral was built over 500 years and contains 21 very ornate chapels. The Wenceslas Chapel would be the stand out with the ceilings and walls covered in frescoes. As usual we took on the challenge of climbing to the top of the Cathedral, with the South Tower providing the 300 steps to the viewing platform. Quite a tricky process as there is only a single narrow spiral staircase.

South Tower of cathedral
Wenceslas Chapel

The trusty Insight Guide Book came out on Sunday as we walked all over the Old Town and checked out the rest of Prague. We stumbled across a display from the local military. What started off as a performance from the marching band turned into a display of gun handling, complete with firing off a few rounds. Not sure that all of the tourists (or pigeons) were quite ready for it either.

Again we did really well with the weather during our trip. Albeit a little cold (3-10 degrees) it was fine and provided a good opportunity for some night photos on Saturday night.

Apart from the annoying balloon on the right this would have been a really good photo

Charles Bridge

London - Richmond Park


We've had a lovely Autumn's weekend in London this weekend. A nice walk around Greenwich Park on Saturday, with the only disappointment being that there is a couple of fences keeping the Deer inside their enclosure (making photography a little difficult). So, we decided to head out to Richmond Park where the Deer have the whole park to roam around. It is currently mating season, so it wasn't wise to get to close to the Stag's. However, Steve flirted with danger, and the resulting photos turned out OK.

Objects may appear closer then they really are!

London - Hampton Court Palace

Last weekend we decided to combine sightseeing with doing another good deed. We took up the challenge of the Tesco 10km run for cancer research. The bonus with this race was the location - a palace. This was where Henry VIII lived and had also been the home of King William III and Queen Mary II.

Steve & Claire, in the race uniform, Tesco t-shirts

The race itself wound its way round the gardens of the palace (whilst dodging the resident 200 Deer) as well as the palace golf course and a short stint along the River Thames as well. No hills in sight which was a welcome difference from our last race at Greenwich! Considering the lack of training beforehand we were both very happy with our performances.

The palace

After the race we took the opportunity to have a look through the palace, and a walk through the ornate gardens.

Gardens

The gardeners are kept very busy, pruning the trees into mushroom shapes

Again, the palace had a maze, thus we had to have a race to the centre. On the back of the last maze challenge at Leeds Castle, Claire decided to let me have 10 seconds head start. Claire again claimed victory, although a 3rd umpire may have decided otherwise. Note: For the record, Steve was 1st past the post, but lost on adjusted time.

Claire claiming victory