Sep 2007

From Prague we caught the train to Dresden over the German border. We were not absolutely sure we would be allowed into Germany … it's a long story but the guards were very friendly, hardly looked at out passports and happily stamped them. Phew!

It was pouring rain in Dresden so we decided to just keep traveling and bought tickets to Berlin. Each trip was only just over 2 hours. – it is all very close here compared to Australia. Rob and Andrea met us at the station and it was great to see some familiar faces and have someone local to show us around. After some creative manipulating we all manages to fit into the car along with all the luggage.

It is still cold here but the sun comes out occasionally. We walked around central Berlin (the old East Berlin). Andrea grew up in East Berlin so she has first hand knowledge of what it was like before and after ‘The Wall’, and the views they held about the West – very interesting. We visited Berlin Dom Cathedral, State Opera House, other churches and concert houses. Yummy hot chocolates in a chocolate house with chocolate scultures in it, Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag … bratwurst lunch in the Tier Garden under the linden trees. We went to a dance hall to watch and do tango at night.

Max is happy – he has a piano to play and doesn’t have to tag along with us here. Arno is a few years older and at school during the day, but seems happy to keep Max company in the evenings, show him around or play soccer with friends.

Prague really promotes and lives it reputation of being a classical and artistic city – there are classical concerts every night in the main churches, opera, ballet, theatre and lots of classical music shops. Dvorak came from here and Mozart worked here a lot.

We went to the opera (The Kiss by Smetana - a local Czech). It was great - the best part being in the National Opera House. It was so beautiful with painted ceilings, huge chandeliers, galleries, live orchestra and red velvet everywhere. The tickets seemed very good value and the opera even had subtitles so we could understand.

Another night we sought out the local Jazz scene in the Bar Agharta – Rhythm Desperados were playing and they were very good, tight, entertaining and very well appreciated – more litres of beer … After that a late night walk along river to take in the night views of the castle and bridges and tram back to our apartment.

We had to decide between ballet, another opera and a guitar concert the next night. The guitar concert by a solo Czeck performer in one of the main churches won.

Eating out has also been one of our main occupations. There are hundreds, probably thousands of restaurants. The prices are very reasonable for all food and drink away from tourist areas. We usually look for a meal for about $A6-9 and beer is cheap. Fortunatley most places offer an English menu, because it is really hard to know between ‘s kfenem’, ‘se sunkou’ and ‘jablkovy zavim’ (one is horseradish, one is ham and one is apple strudel, I think). The language still hasn’t made much sense but it doesn’t sound like they are talking backwards anymore.

We have been in Prague for 3 days now and although it felt very foreign to start with it soon began to take on a feel of familiarity.

We landed in Prague from England to discover that Jeff’s guitar didn’t arrive … oh no! They assured him it would be traced and they would get it to us as soon as possible – 3 days, and numerous phone calls later, they have said it is Prague now and should have been delivered this morning – but it wasn't …

Prague is a beautiful old, ornate city that was saved from the bombings of WWII. It is like being in a fairy tale – castles, towers, wide staircases, fancy plaster decoration on everything, fine ironwork, detailed stained glass and cobble stones everywhere forming different patterns on each pavement. There are big central squares and boulevards, it feels very ‘European’. There are trams which are a bit of a novelty, plus lots of liquor shops (even selling absinthe), wine bars and pubs.

Our first hostel in the centre was in a good location but a bit on the edge … we moved to an apartment – even cheaper surprisingly – incase the hostel got noisy over the weekend. Our first meal was at a local Beer Hall. It was a sudden introduction to Czech traditions, food and drink. The place was like an old classroom complete with carved graffiti on the long tables and coat hooks on the walls, the food was hearty pork, with various sauces and potato, bread or bacon dumplings and the beer was in litre glasses followed by generous shot glasses of some potent herbal liquor. We are back in the lands where people smoke everywhere though and at precisely 11pm they closed up and asked us all to leave. For diner the next night we found a very cute restaurant with great food for very low prices and more litres of beer. Prague is famous for its beer – it is very nice and only about $1.50 / litre. Breakfast at the hostel consisted of the mysterious arrival of bread, jam and apples arriving in our common kitchen (which we had never seen anyone else use).

The Czech language is very strange though – it sounds like they are speaking backwards with odd groups of consonants like ‘vzechny’ ‘nski’ ‘tovna’ but there is usually someone who can help in English. In a book shop we visited they had done funny things to English words and names – Margaret Thatcherova and Jane Austinova to name a few. The sections in the shop were labeled Paperbacky, Thrillery and Detektivy!

The next day with marginally better weather so we went to explore the castle – it was very interesting with a high tower to the top of St Vitus Cathedral offering fantastic views over the city, big halls, lots of suits of amour (you could even buy one for only $360A), lessons in crossbow shooting, shields painted on the walls, an alleyway of tiny workmens’ cottages now selling souveniers blacksmith demonstrations and lots horrible implements of torture.

It was about at this moment that I somehow erased all my photos of the last 3 days … oh no.

There is an art to queueing and a lot of unwritten rules we found out when we went the Prom Concerts at Royal Albert Hall. The tickets to gain access to the standing areas are only 5 pound and because of that you need to get there early and wait … and wait … and wait. But it is not so bad – everyone comes prepared – there were a group of high school students playing cards, several couples and larger groups with wine and nibbles, people sleeping or listening to music and we found it a good opportunity to meet people and chat with music or Proms officionados. It was a very relaxed and friendly atmosphere with a lot of people being long term queueing buddies.
Depending on which queue, you can gain access to either the Gallery right up high with a perfect view but a long way back or to the Arena – right at the stage but with potentially tall people standing in front of you. Still everyone is very polite and respectful of the spot you claim for yourself.
The concert we saw was only 1 1/2 hours so not a long concert to stand for and it was very good to be so close – I felt like I was in the orchestra too.
We are trying another of these standing cheap tickets tonight for Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice at the Globe Theatre. People have said it is great to be a ‘groundling’ right at the feet of the actors and in the thick of it. (Mind you its is 3 hours standing this time!)
But it is certainly a good way to get to see some of London’s top quality performances for almost nothing and feel like we have done something that is very much part of the tradition and custom of the place.

London this time around has been much more successful. We have been staying in Parson’s Green, right beside the tube station. We are literally the closest house to the station but in the house it is surprisingly quiet. The general plan is do galleries, museums, markets or other free activities in the day and help out with Paul and Renee’s house and go to events, music, theatre etc at night.
We have seen a few museums and galleries and all the national ones are free to get in so are great for us. We visited Abbey Road made famous by the Beatles, Camden markets and a few other landmarks.
In the evening we went to Stomp, a West End production, and it was great. Tap, body percussion and rhythm. Very tight, well choreographed and entertaining. We saw some open-air dance and a production of Helen of Troy. We are going to the Proms at Albert Hall and The Merchant of Venice. We have to make the most of all the theatre and music there is around.
Max has had a friend visit from Norwich where we spent the last month. He and Helena did their own sightseeing including the giant ferris wheel called the London Eye with great views over London and the markets. It is more interesting to do things with people his own age apparently.
Paul and Renee had a big birthday/house warming party here, so there were lots and lots of Kiwis and Aussies. There are Australians everywhere in London but we hadn’t met many at all before this. It is funny, the English can’t tell the two accents apart but it only takes a few words to know. We could almost sit back and look at the party as outsiders, notice the different accents and cultural differences the Australians and New Zealanders have compared to the English, and appreciate the friendly, relaxed and easy-going nature. You can only see it when you have been away from it for a while.