New Zealand

I was soon over my jet lag.  After a lazy Saturday afternoon relaxing with Sharon and Aaron and giving Tabby cat lots of attention (she recognised me and gave me lots of hugs which was quite impressive as last time Harry was the only candidate for her affections).  We went for a little wander and had a late lunch and then Sharon and Aaron dropped me off at my hotel.  It was a good idea to stay one night in a hotel - I went to bed as soon as they left at 6.30 and woke up again for good at 9.15 the next morning.  Fairly refreshed but not totally.  I would have been lousy company for any of my friends or family if I had stayed with them.  In the morning I ate a leisurely breakfast and had a long chat to a waiter from Russia.  I think he was pleased when he knew I understood about the difficulties of living overseas, when some times are good and other times are just not so good, how it is a bit harder making friends when you don't sound like the locals and when there is a pull towards home even when you are having a great time.  Sharon and Aaron came and picked me up right on the dot of 11.00 - a number of alarms had been set so that the two party goers woke up in time.  We went for a nice walk around Oriental Bay and then had another late brunch. We then went home and I had my first go at playing wii games - a bit of tennis and some bowling - I can see how you can get quite fit - once you get the hang of it and don't swing your remote too near the television. Then I caught up with Jill and Graham and Rachel, Clare, Gareth and Mya for the evening.  Which was great fun - friends that you can not see for ages and then when you do it feels like only yesterday are so special.  I had such a treat when I learnt that Jill had taken the next day off and so we had a leisurely breakfast and then got dropped into town to get my drivers licence.  This is a long story about red tape ... to keep it short... when we applied for our English licence the authorities insisted on taking our New Zealand one and destroying it.  No reason - but we couldn't have the English one unless we gave it up and if we didn't give it up we couldn't drive.  When doing some research to see if I could drive in NZ I found I had to have a current NZ one, do have but no proof of that in my little hot hand.  So, Harry and I duly filled out lots of pieces of paper and sent the papers and cheque over, but not in time to get our new licences.  So, I had to go and get a temporary one from AA and thankfully there were no problems otherwise Mum and I would be walking to Eketehuna.  Incidentally Harry's licence has not yet turned up. Jill and I caught the cable car and then walked back up to Karori with my new temporary licence in my bag and stopped for a coffee and cheese scone (not common in the UK).  The morning went by far too fast and in no time it was out to pick up Mum.  It was lovely driving along familiar roads - not particularly busy.  I drove past crumpled hills rather than the rolling English ones and they appeared so much smaller than I remember - probably because we always tell the English they don't have hills only little bumps in the landscape.  Down through Pukerua Bay I drove and along the coast road which is one of my favourite places - not the road really but the cliffs falling into the sea below and waves crashing over the rocks and sometimes the road.  Another revelation - I always thought our roads were quite narrow but actually most of them aren't much narrower than the English ones - just a whole less busy.  Autumn is coming, just a few golden leaves falling and the weather is surprisingly warm for this time of year.  Cheryl had borrowed a horse float for me to sleep in and so that was my bed for the next couple of nights - no horses thankfully.  I am sleeping in the caravan area wedged between the cab area and the horse sleeping area - a bit like a static caravan really but with an engine.  Lucky me - it was fun.  The first night I slept up top but the skill it takes to climb up and down during the night with arthritic knees made me rethink and the second night was down below in a bed Marty kindly made through taking the table out and extending the seats and legs.  Harry will be really surprised but I was up before everyone else (except Marty and his dogs who went off to work) and so I went for a walk along the road and got some lovely photos of cows, sheep, dogs and the valley waking up on an autumn morning.

Once everyone else rose we went for a drive to Woodville and Pahiatua.  The Lavender farm was closed for day and so was Fantasy Land (a place that the Tourist Information person told us was absolutely worth going to) but we managed to go to a little doll and bear museum and then onto the cheese cake shop. We needed that cheese cake and coffee after wandering about the museum.  I took photos of Mum and Cheryl sitting with an 85 year old bear and 45 year old cat.  We had a long chat with the lady who's hobby had become what looked like a full time job and she told us how she had bought the old house and organised it be moved to their farm before telling her husband - her message was 'tell secrets quickly and get it over with' because she kept putting off the 'telling' almost until the house arrived.  Just imagine the story in the pub - and I came home and there was a house sitting in my backyard!! We also had a wander through an art gallery which had some fabulous paintings (on canvas and car bonnets) and photos (a bigger bag and I would have come back with a book of black and white photos!!).  I am rather annoyed with myself cos I have lost the name of the gallery, and there is a neat story about how the photographer and painter met on the beach at Kapiti.

Cheryl has an interest in history and we enjoyed learning in the evenings a little about some famous New Zealanders that I hadn't heard of before.  We did a bit of geneaology looking as well - as many of our family originates from England (not surprising) and she has managed to dig up some interesting things about our Maori family as well. Monday night was stormy - windy and wet.  The horse float rocked and swayed in the night and I was reminded of our camping expedition in Wales.  The next day we visited Mount Bruce with Jodie and I enjoyed watching the feeding of a young tuatara.  At first, I thought he was plastic, but plastic tuataras don't blink and certainly don't eat  vitamin coated grasshoppers and slaters.  I think we were surprised at how fast this little creature could move when food was on the horizon - fairly natural when you think about it. The rest of the week was spent with Jim and Margot catching up with them in the evenings (and a bit of glow worm spotting in the dark) and lots of other friends during the day. Weather still great and between coffees, nibbles and chats I enjoyed the sun at the harbour, visiting the art gallery, wandering up and down Wadestown Hill and the rose gardens, revisiting Katherine Mansfield's house, and wondering how many Weightwatcher muffin bars, Marmite, choccy biscuits and Watties Indian Spiced Tomatoes I could fit in my little bag - not enough was the conclusion.  Then it was off to Sydney to see Mike and Becks and that is the topic of another blog.  Getting back from Sydney was long...10 hours in fact...and I managed to let Jan know I couldn't meet her but thought I had enough time to still meet Heather for dinner.  Well, we were on the plane and that very very long flight path and an aborted landing meant I was very late for our dinner date but we still caught up over food in Petone and I had a great time chatting and eating ... then it was off to pick up Sharon and Aaron from the airport.  It was about this time that I began to think about starting a diary 'The Adventures of a Stranded Passenger' as the flights to and from Europe were stopped due to the Iceland volcano have a temper tantrum.  After a day of thinking about this we all came up with plans on what I could do (like go and stay with Jan in Napier, have more cups of coffees, dinners and walks with friends, perhaps buy a house) and besides missing Harry I thought I could cope quite well with being stranded (when I arrived back at to work - my work mates were quite sympathetic about me not being delayed!!).  And all too quick the time had gone - and I was saying goodbye to Mum (after spending the night with her, having a nice dinner in Raumati with her and Sharon) and then waving goodbye to Sharon and Aaron at the airport.  It was very hard saying goodbye and I shed a few tears in the plane loo - before drying my eyes and hatching my next plan to return back to this little island in the big ocean.  My only regret is that I didn't take enough photos of my friends and family ... not sure why ... but I think it was simply because it was too good talking and we had so much to catch up on.  I did take some photos for Harry though and the game is 'Where was I standing when I took the photos?'.  He did quite well at this quiz.

24 Hours of Trivia

On Thursday 8th April I said goodbye to Harry and I was on my way to New Zealand.  We both felt sad that he wasn't coming but I was comforted by the fact that I would spend 48 hours in the air and he would be busy in the weekends doing lots of interesting stuff.  To pass the time and to help him realise he wasn't missing too much I decided to record details about my flight to Wellington via Hong Kong and Auckland.  It is pretty boring stuff and the only time I will ever do this so worth recording for posterity.

13.42 pm - Said goodbye to Harry at the bus station.  Felt quite sad at saying goodbye rather than being able to say hello to all our friends together.

13.46 pm - I double checked with the officials that the bus did actually go to Terminal One at Heathrow because the board mentioned all terminals bar One.

13.48 pm - We were told that the bus would be a tad late (5 or 10 minutes) as there was a traffic hold up and the bus was coming from Swansea.  I had never thought of catching a bus when on work down there but might consider it some time.

13.50 pm - I decided that it is going to be a long 5 or 10 minutes and sit down with lots of others with various sized bags.

14.11 pm - The official says the bus will be a bit later - the M32 is closed and traffic is being diverted around Bristol as someone is trying to jump off the M32 bridge.  I was reminded of the programme 'On the Buses' as the man with grey hair and wearing a yellow security jacket paces up and down explaining with his hands the reason for the delay. 

14.14 pm - This is when I am reminded that we are all quite selfish - little thought was given to that distraught creature planning to end their life - some were concerned about missing their plane, others wondered why he couldn't just jump and then the traffic could just run over the body.  After giving a thought to the person responsible for this I decided I was glad we had booked an early bus for me - I had 7 or so hours to wait around.

14.20 pm - I text Harry just to let him know I hadn't yet left.

14.49 pm - The bus arrived and everyone piled on.  I passed my bag to the driver said 'thanks' etc and he said with a smile 'My bus is full of foreigners today' to which I replied 'Aren't you lucky' but wished I could think of something smarter to say.

14.51 pm - We are on our way, but not before some safety and toilet instructions.

15.12 pm - We head along the M32 with some delay from crawling along the Bristol streets missing the diversion (Harry told me later that the police managed to talk the man down from the bridge which I was good news). 

15.13 pm - I wonder if the bus drivers hours will be up before we arrive at Heathrow.

Are you bored yet?  Well I was so I made up a game.

15.37 pm - I watched a few truck drivers (being in a bus gives a much better view than in a car).  One was eating a burger, another on his cell phone, another leaning on the wheel as though he was about to fall asleep.  But my game to prevent boredom was "Could I determine if the driver had a tattoo on his right arm by the shape and colour of the vehicle?".  The answer was not easily - my success rate was low, but when I decided most of the tee shirt covered drivers did have tattoos regardless of what vehicle they drove my success rate shot up.

15.53 pm - I started to get real bored and fidgety (Harry knows all about that) and took a panadol because my neck started to hurt.  I was still looking at tattoos, muscley arms and truck shapes though.

16.27 pm - We arrived in Reading at the shopping mall outside a telephone box with broken glass and where I read that if I didn't have the money I could type in the word 'reverse' on my cell phone and this would be a collect call for the lucky person at the other end.

16.46 pm - Caught in traffic on M4.  But nothing too serious.

17.00 pm - Arrived at airport.  Easy peasy to check in as no queues and well signposted to the Air New Zealand stand.

17.48 pm - Wandered through customs after having my jars of cream etc tested once again (what is it about my little plastic bag of goodies that says 'test me test me' all the time?) and looked for a bookshop to find a book and a paper and then to a coffee shop where I was taken to the back of the cafe to a row of tables specially designed for the single traveller. 

18.00 pm - Happily sitting reading paper and listening to the guy at the next table sporadically talking in English and German and eating a very unappetising ploughmans lunch (I almost ordered it but glad I didnt).


18.10 pm - Enjoyed my cup of tea more than the burger.


18.51 pm - Asked for the bill and wandered over to the departures board.  No gate number yet so sat somewhere strategic so I didn't have to get up and down to look at the board all the time. Where is Harry I thought - telling me what Gate I would probably be at, what type of plane I would be on, whether I would be sitting in the middle row of seats or not.  At least I thought some surprises in store for me.

19.25 pm - Told to go to Gate 40. And after a 20 minute walk arrived there.  Talked to some people flying to Seoul for holiday.


19.53 pm - Doing a Harry working out if it would be a full flight or not - but not having much luck cos I didn't know how many were travelling on the new Asiana airline leaving from the next gate and how many my plane would take.  It was getting dark outside and I hoped for some stretching space on the plane.


20.30 pm - Boarded the plane - rather tardy in joining the queue as I would after all be about 24 hours on aeroplanes.

21.05 - Kiwi captain - how I recognise that accent now I live somewhere else amongst lots of other accents.  He said we were leaving on time - there were some empty spaces up front but they were cold as the heating had broken down - we could move there after we had taken off.  I presumed we had to sit in our allocated seats for take off and landing just in case there was an accident and it would be easier to name bodies strapped into their allocated seats. 


21.15 - Settled down to watch Crazy Heart - but it didn't grab me as a film - the 'excellent country music' was the attraction but the story line a typical 'down and outer' meets success story.  I never got past the first seedy motel.


21.45 - I moved to my 'bed' for the night.  Was given 4 extra blankets to help keep out the cold but didn't need them.  But being a 777 the arm rests don't go all the way up.  What's more mine fell down so while lolling around watching movies and trying to sleep I kept pushing them back up to be more comfortable.


22.00 pm - Dinner was served and I watched 'Have you heard about the Morgans' movie which was passable but I was pleased that I hadn't paid for the privilege of watching it.  Highlight during dinner was dropping my glasses so I had to move the tray over to my other 'chair' to pick them up. 


23.00 pm - Finished watching Morgans and went to bed on my 3 seater couch.  Much more comfortable with the feet up.  You can imagine there will be a few 'loo' stops during this trip but I have decided not to mention how many times I have to go in 24 hours. 


23.30 pm - Well I must have dozed a bit but really am awake now and so settled down to watch another movie.  Then got up after a few minutes and tried those travel sickness pills the phamacist recommended to help me go to sleep.  They just might work - but somehow I doubt it because by ...


03.27 am - I had finished watching 'Young Victoria' which was quite a good movie.  Got up and looked in the mirror 'Mirror, mirror on the wall who is the woman looking so haggard?'  When I arrived in Hong Kong I sent Harry a text to say all I needed was a broom stick and pointed hat - reminiscence  of this moment infront of the mirror.  He tactfully asked me how the trip went.


1.50 am - Next movie was Lovely Bones - but must be tired cos even a film purported to be great didn't hold me.  The doziness from the pills had worn off  a bit.  Boredom settled in (no Harry to annoy which made it worse).


3.00 am - I went to sleep and woke up 2 hours 20 minutes later - that is very impressive for me on any flight - maybe the pills work after all.


6.15 am - Breakfast time - probably would have tasted good in another environment with some sleep and I set about watching 'Devil wears Prada' which was a good movie and saw me all the way to ...


2.55 pm (Hong Kong time) and we started our descent and I moved back to my allocated seat.


3.05 pm - Saw a bit of the view by leaning over the person near the window but not a lot to see except some high rises peaking out from the smog.  We arrived one hour ahead of schedule.  So, one more hour to wander around the transit lounge in Hong Kong.


4.20 pm - We were off the plane and back through security where my plastic bag of goodies escaped further inspection for once.  I talked to an English couple who looked just as tired as I felt - they are volunteers in an organisation that goes and looks after children in orphanages in Romania.  However, this flight they were going to Auckland unfortunately to her mothers funeral but then were having a holiday with family.


4.40 pm - I worked out I had $23 in Hong Kong money and offered to buy the couple a cup of tea - only to find that a cup of tea was $25 so I paid for it on my card.  I managed to knock over one of the cups which seemed to go for a long way across the linoleum and the man bought himself another one probably wondering what on earth he had found here!!  


5.35 pm - Standing in the queue again with my boarding pass and transit card.


5.55 pm - Back on the plane - same seat and no hope of a bed further up the cabin.  The English couple are behind me all the way and I take note not to spill any more drinks.  I took the grapes and chocolates out of my bag for munching on during the movies.


6.20 pm - We are all on the plane ready to go except we aren't going anywhere.  I sneezed and bit my tongue which is incidentally very sore because I have been doing that trick all week.


6.25 pm - Started to watch Rock and Roll Pirate but that didn't grab me either but just as the song 'Judy in the Skies' came on the plane began to taxi (no joke). Oops it is actually 'Judy in Disguise with Glasses' - must have been tireder than I thought.


7.00 pm - I filled out the arrival card for New Zealand and had trouble remembering what countries I had been in during the last month, after careful consideration I wrote Wales, England, Czech Republic.


7.10 pm - Attendant bought around water and I mused on the fact that Air New Zealand is now employing a number of middle aged men to do the 'hostess' bit. By now Harry would have kindly suggested I should readjust my watch.


7.20 pm - The dinner menu was announced - I could have chicken or pork and I wished I had organised vegetarian as they always get their meals first.


8.00 pm - Got up for a drink and talked to 2 English woman who are travelling to Nelson and Wanaka.  I made some suggestions about what they could do on their one day in Auckland (they were helpful suggestions!!).  They talked about the hospitality of New Zealanders - a common theme that seems to come up where ever we go.  I looked out the window once they had gone back to their seat and saw lots of little lights glittering below so figured we were somewhere above Australia or perhaps there was a party of boats somewhere.  Went back to seat.


9.50 pm - I woke up.


12.30 pm - I watched the film Hachikito which was one of the better ones on offer.  Incidentally the 777 has touch screen controls so I didn't have to use the remote.  Drank 2 cups of water and went for another wander.


1.50 pm - Woke up again and went for another walk and had another discussion with the English woman visiting Auckland, Nelson and Wanaka.


2.15 pm - Started watching A Single Man - which I did finish watching but can't remember much about.  


6.50 am (NZ time) - Breakfast was announced - I could have omelette or noodles and the choice of a fine selection of NZ wines.


8.35 am - we began our descent into Auckland and we were told that Air New Zealand has been voted airline of the year (not sure by whom but they were proud of it and so they should be). 10 minutes later I went onto the tv to see what the programme on Wellington was like - all about shopping and restaurants.


9.05 am - landed in sunny Auckland. The captain came out to say goodbye.  Customs officers were polite and said hello with a smile.  You can electronically get checked through customs if you have a chip in your passport which I don't.  Walked a long way to the exit where volunteers at Auckland were helping lots of tired tourists go to the right places and directed me to the right place to drop my bag.  


10.10 am - Walked along the blue line to the domestic terminal.  It was sunny and I enjoyed it.


10.20 am - Bought a coffee and sat with a number of people travelling to Wellington that were on the plane from Hong Kong.


10.30 am - I text Haz to say I had arrived and Shaz to say 'see you soon'.


11.10 am - I am aboard another plane this time bound for Wellington. Saw the 'body paint' security announcements and tried to answer the quiz questions on the screen - but not up to date with Shortland Street so didn't know some of the answers.  Great view over the South Island.


12.10 pm - Arrived at airport and met Sharon at the luggage carousel - I have travelled a long way for that hug...


If you have got this far you have done well. I hate to say it but I suspect Harry wouldn't have got bored doing what I have just done and has probably enjoyed reading this account as it reminds him of how much he enjoys flying.


24 hours of flying and as you can see not a lot happened - the planes were on time and I managed to get some sleep.  For most of my travels that has always been the case.  However, I did have a few other adventures during my flying time around the globe eg it took me 10 hours to fly from Sydney to Wellington (airconditioning problems, long flight plan up to Brisbane and across to Norfolk, aborted landing in Wellington).  Then the possibility of a longer time in NZ due to the volcano with the unpronouncable name (I wouldn't have minded having a few extra weeks over here and in fact began to look forward to it).  In Auckland when returning we spent more than 90 minutes sitting on the tarmac as the crew attempted to sort out a passenger issue finally asking about 12 wait listed passengers to disembark (felt very sorry for them as they were probably some of those who missed their flights due to the volcano).  I arrived back safely in England after a great holiday but wishing I could have stayed longer (forever perhaps?).

Prague

There is something nice about walking out of an airport in a new country and seeing someone holding a board with your name on it. Sometimes when we arrive late in a non English speaking country we have given ourselves a treat and organised transfers. It means we have a much more relaxed trip into the city, rather than trying to negotiate a rental car around in the dark or watching to see when we need to get off the bus. It also means that we can soak up the city's atmosphere from the taxi and enjoy the beginning of our next adventure. We arrived at our hotel with a positive impression of Prague - particularly as the taxi driver seemed to have the interests of his passengers (that's us) at heart (he slowed down when talking on his cell phone). We lugged our bags and tired bodies into the hotel and registered (from the discussions in Czech we suspect they had forgotten we were coming and our suspicions were confirmed when we found we weren't on the third floor as our booking had said). After saying a goodbye to the receptionist we tripped down a couple of small steps to the lift which we caught up to the 5th floor - uh oh - our room was on the 7th. Thank goodness we travel light. Up a couple of spiral stair cases and along a passage we found Room Number 71 (we rehearsed the trip later on when we found that there were smoke alarms but no sprinklers in the room and our room was situated right above a smoking room). We were pleased with our room with a view - if it wasn't for that little brick wall we would have seen nothing but blue sky and some clouds or stars depending on the time of day. But the view was even better when the next day Harry discovered by standing on the bed and twisting round he could see the spire on the top of the museum opposite - we even have a photo to prove it!! Onto unpacking and getting ready for bed. "Ouch" I said as I hit my head on the sloping roof - we were after all in the loft. "Ouch" (or another word meaning the same thing) said Harry as he hit his head on the sloping roof. As we both nursed our bumps we pulled the bed out into the middle of the room so that we could at least sleep in little fear of hitting our head in the middle of the night. But just to be on the safe side we left a light on cos there were two beams placed in strategic positions around the bed - just right for walking into.

Our hotel was only a stones throw away from Wencelas Square - not a square at all but a long stretch that covers a few blocks - some would call it an avenue and others a street or perhaps a boulevard. It is hard to believe that 20 or so years ago this was the place where uprisings occurred and where communism was overthrown. It has seen a lot this little stretch of land with beautiful buildings on each side. In 1938 there were demonstrations against Nazism, and 7 years later the Liberation celebrations. In 1968 there was the rioting against the Soviet tanks and in 1969 Jan Palach set fire to himself as a protest against the communist regime. Twenty years later this was the venue of the liberation of the country and the beginnings of the velvet revolution as communism collapsed. We learnt quite a bit about communism in the museum (that's the one which we could see the top of from our hotel skylight and which overlooks the square). I had never quite remembered all that my teachers told me about how communism was introduced - but began to realise with the devaluing of savings everyone became equal quite quickly. This oppression and poverty led people to focus in on their homes and families and not to venture out much. Unlike other Eastern European cities the locals seem quite open about their dislike for Communism - 'Czech people don't really like politics', 'that hotel was built in the communist area - most people think it is ugly', 'the tv tower is a monstrosity that was built with the locals being unable to comment on where, when and what it looked like' (incidentially the tower provided tourists with a lovely view of the city, but we tended to agree with the locals about its situation and look).

It is easy to see the tourist side of Prague as everything is within walking distance, lots of shows on offer (we went to an orchestra one night, music by Andrew Lloyd Webber another and saw Don Giovanni by puppets another), restaurants and lovely architecture to admire. We spent many hours wandering the streets looking at art nouveau architecture, secession housing and some cubism (the only place in the world where you can find this type of architecture - though we have seen other buildings looking a bit like it elsewhere). It all looked great from the outside but pretty sure inside it would be reasonably dark in the apartments. We also wandered through the railway station which was one of the few unkempt buildings with pealing paint on the ceilings and walls and we also wandered up the road by the river to see the dancing house which was built in 1996 by Canadian and Czech architects. There is something quite unique about this house which was named after Fred and Ginger as the house is meant to resemble a pair of dancers. Others have nicknamed it the "Drunk House" and I can see their point.

All that is very interesting, but what captures my interest more is how the locals live. We didn't see alot of local life because we only travelled by tram on one trip and never needed to catch the underground. But we did venture to a park once dedicated to Lenin (his statue was taken down and replaced by a metronome just after the fall of communism). We sat for a while watching lots of teenagers skate board and discussed how there weren't many ramps like young people have in the UK and NZ. When we walked along we realised that the ramps they did have were steps taken from other places. 

So, we got very worn out by walking the streets (so much so we went back to the hotel and had an afternoon nap one day). We tried a walking tour and enjoyed seeing the city through the eyes of a local tour guide. The tour ended up at the palace sitting high above Prague. The palace is like a little village where kings, emperors and presidents have all lived and worked over time. According to the Guinness Book of Records the palace is one of the largest ancient castles in the world. There was a magnificent church which we wandered through, and some cute little merchant houses now boutique craft shops.

It was Easter and it seems that the Czechs have their own way of celebrating this Christian festival. Although there were a number of churches - some we visited (like the Church of Our Lady of the Snows - huge building and extravagant decor and statues which was commissioned by Charles IV in the mid 1300's for his coronation and the Church of St Nicholas where we listened to a concert but were more in awe of the Baroque architecture) there didn't seem to be a lot of the Christian messages on the streets (not surprising since this country has been under communism influence for so long). Instead there were brightly decorated trees in orange, red and yellow streamers, lots of floral decorations with lots of mimosa (I think) and painted eggs galore for sale. I did hear someone say that these festivals were only for the tourists at Easter time, and given the number of foreign languages and phrase books there were a lot of tourists. Prague is also a centre for the Jewish community. There is a heap of history here and we spent a day looking through the Jewish synagogues and buildings and where for the first time we saw Harry's surname on one of the walls - these were the names of all the lost Jewish people during the second world war. A sad way to see his family name but it it made it very personal. We spent some time in the Old-New Synagogue which is one of the oldest places for the Jews to worship in Europe. It was dark and quite unsettling even when crowded with too many tourists following guides with umbrellas and tall sticks. There is the story of Golem who was created by Rabbi Loew. Golem lived in the attic of the Old-New Synagogue. He was an 'animated anthropomorphic being created entirely from inanimate matter' another way of saying I think he was formed from clay and then became a living creature. Golem was created in the late 16th century as a protector of the Jewish community. But unfortunately as Golem grew he became violent particularly towards gentiles and people began to fear him. Some say, he became this way when he was rejected in love but who really knows. The Emperor begged Rabbi Loew to destroy Golem, promising to stop the persecution of the Jews. Rabbi Loew killed his creature and his body is in the attic which is not open to the public (there is a story that says he could come alive once again in the future if something happens). We also spent some time in the Old Jewish Cemetery. Here there are tombstones galore, many not standing straight because of age and cluttered together because here people were buried 12 deep as it was the only Jewish burial ground for miles. There is a solomnity here that you don't find in other cemeteries as it is impossible not to remember the lives of those buried here.

One of the squares (and it was actually fairly close to a square shape) which had lots of decorations also had the Astronomical Clock. So, one day we viewed the clock chiming and dancing and the next day we climbed the tower to view the crowds as they watched the clock and the trumpeter.

And then there is the river, which seems to be the place where tourists are encouraged to go for the night trip up the river with dinner, or the day trip to see the buildings from another perspective. It really doesn't offer much for sight seeing and we hear the dinners aren't worth going on. We did however decide to have a dinner with some local music just outside of the city. Harry and I committed the name of the little village to our memories but I am writing the blog so long after our trip that it has fallen out of our memories sometime during that time (I think it was something like Stredoklinky but don't hold me to that). We had a great night, entertained with traditional music and dancing including solos with the dulcimer which we first heard in Budapest. The owner of the restaurant showed us photos of when he first bought the property and how he had renovated it - I was so intrigued that we took some photos - and the owner was pleased. And that was our first visit to Prague.