Sunday, February 07, 2016

Eastern Europe 2015 Day 8 Prague [[Prague Castle + Petrin Hill]]

Tonight we will be heading to Budapest but first, off to Prague castle! Since we purchased the prague card, we were entitled free admission to a few of the attractions around Prague castle.

Top up is available for a more comprehensive tour around Prague castle and we decided to get the tickets for castle tour A for an additional fee of 100kc. Don't forget to flash your Prague card!

Tickets can be purchased at the counter within an office building, situated near the entrance. There will be a long queue so look out for the queue!

Random fruit crepe we had for breakfast near the tram stop heading to Prague castle. Surprisingly good and cheap! :)

It is difficult to miss the right tram up to Prague castle since a zillion other tourists are heading the same way! So just follow the crowd and you won't go wrong!
The tram stops a distance away from the castle. Hence don't expect to see the castle immediately. Well, just go with the flowing human traffic and you will arrive at the castle safe and sound! Haha...
Fortunately we arrived just in time to see the guard changing ceremony. Unfortunately, we were not able to enter the castle grounds during the ceremony and had to be forced standing under the hot sun for like some 10 minutes?!  Hot-die-us!

Finally!!! We step foot into the grounds of Prague castle! Prague castle's grounds were pretty uneven, making walking about difficult. The heat wave didn't help made the touring any better since most attractions have no air-condition facilities.

Still we managed to conqure 6 of the 8 attractions we set out to visit. The attractions were not much to our interest hence we didn't complete the circuit as we were losing much of the battle with the weather.
































We tramed down and headed to Petrin Hill. We were heading to Petrin Hill with the intention to climb the Petrin Observation Tower which was built to resemble Paris Eiffel Tower and to give tourists a bird-eye-view of Prague.


To our dismay, the tower was open air and the only way up is climbing the 300 steps spiral stairs!!! 
We decided to give the climb a miss and instead, sat on the hill under the shades to cool and rest while soaking in the scenic nature a little before heading off to the shopping mall for some air conditioning.
Had a simple dinner at the foodcourt before heading back to our bnb to collect our luggage and off to the train station to use the shower facility. The facility costs 50kc per person. Do head over early if you are there at night as only two shower rooms are opened. You will be surprised by the number of people queuing up for it!
By the time we are done, the train station was getting really crowded. At 11.50pm, our train to Budapest arrived on time. Summer holiday saw us in 2nd class seats as the rest were fully booked. Not quite recommended if there were better choices. 2nd class seats landed us in a compact 6 seater cabin. It was pretty uncomfortable for an 8 hours overnight ride.

Of course, if you are not fussy, 2nd class seats will save you a little as it only cost a mere 640kc per pax (S$37).

So off we ride to Budapest. We were glad we survived the 8 hours train ride but the train station that awaits us was totally not what we were expecting to see... Budapest train station is officially the most unlikable train station we ever seen thus far through our 8 years of traveling together!!!

Will talk more about this in my next post! Till then, Happy Lunar New Year to all! :)


Eastern Europe 2015 Day 1: Berlin [[ Sony Center + Toppertory of Terror + Charlie Checkpoint + East Side Gallery + Museum Island + Berlin Dome + Curry wrust + Vapiano ]
Eastern Europe 2015: Day 2 Berlin [[ Reichstag + Brandenburg Gate + Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe + Unter den Linden + Gendarmen Market]]
Eastern Europe 2015 Day 3 Krakow [[ Main Square + Cloth Hall + St. Mary Church + KoKo + Galeria Mall]]
Eastern Europe 2015: Day 4 Krakow [[ Wawel Castle +  Kazimierz, Jewish District + Galica Museum + Hero Square + Oskar Schindler's Factory]]
Eastern Europe 2015: Day 5 Krakow [[ Auschwit Concentration Camp ]]
Eastern Europe 2015 Day 6 Prague [[ Leo Express + Bredovsky Dvur + Main Square + Old Town + Charles Bridge]]
Eastern Europe 2015 Day 7 Prague [[Astronomical Clock Show + Old Town Hall Tower + Jewish District + Powder Tower + Manufaktura + Lokal + Kredenc]]
Eastern Europe 2015 Day 9 Budapest [[Market Square + Chain Bridge]]
Eastern Europe 2015 Day 10 Budapest [[Parliament House + Memorial of the Russian Army + St Stephan Basalica + Hero Square + Szechenyi Thermal Bath]]
Eastern Europe 2015 Day 11 Budapest [[Castle Hill]]
Eastern Europe 2015 Day 12 Berlin

1 comment:

ICS Cyber Security said...

The perfect balance of scenery and cities, this trip promises some of the the best architecture, museums, nature, and beaches in the country.

romantic trip to spain