Christmas in Prague - Part 1

Fans,

Saturday

After several very busy and stressful weeks, Christmas was finally upon us and we set off early on Saturday morning for London Gatwick airport...via three different underground lines and the Gatwick Express, which was significantly less than express. However, our time at Gatwick itself was fairly easy going, other than Megan having a blowout on her boot zip following the compulsory shoe x-ray at Security. With a brand new pair of shiny boots in tow, we boarded our plane and two hours later we were in a very chilly Prague.

The ground and all of the trees around the airport were blanketed in snow, and we thought we were bound for a white Christmas! However, once our taxi made it in to the city itself, we were a little disappointed to discover that there was no snow at all, yet it was still about -5 degrees. Ripped off.

After checking in to our very flash apartment in the centre of Prague, we set off to explore the city. Before long, we managed to get side-tracked by some fine Christmas market stalls down the end of our street. As it was getting dark, and was by this time about -7 degrees, we were easily sucked in to buying some mulled wine, some roasted hot nuts (ridiculously tasty) and a hot dog. There is nothing finer than a hot dog in -7 degrees.

Prague is such a beautiful city, but the magnificent big Christmas trees and Christmas lights everywhere made it even more so. Once again we found ourselves snapping photos left, right and centre like Japanese tourists! Perhaps it was the excitement of the Christmas lights, or maybe the mulled wine had gone to her head, but as we were crossing the street we looked up and saw a tram coming towards us and Megan panicked and, instead of realising that we were already 80% of the way across the street and that it made sense to keep going, Megan stopped, turned around and ran in front of the on-coming tram, back to the footpath we had just come from...almost getting run over in the process...

After exploring the first set of Christmas markets, we made our way down to the Old Town Square, where there were more Christmas markets...and about 5,000 more people! It was so cold by this point that Tim's head was starting to hurt...probably not a good sign. So Tim stopped in to a little shop just off the square and invested in a stunning hat with side flaps for his ears...the finest 450 Czech crowns he has ever spent...see spectacular pictures below.

With flaps sorted, we strolled around the Old Town Square some more and then found ourselves a restaurant, which was just as well, as we were starting to seize up in the cold. We found a great place with a very Czech sort of menu. Tim ordered a 1/2 duck with bread and potato dumplings (a Czech specialty) and Megan had the roast pork. Tim decided to go for the large beer and was presented with a 1 litre stein of the Czech's finest ale, again see picture below. Nice.

Dinner was made more entertaining thanks to the couple next to us. The guy, we think he was German, was clearly upset that their meals had not arrived in the 50 minutes since they placed their order, but even when the chef came out and apologised and said that their meals would be on the house, the guy threw his toys and said he didn't want his dinner any more and that he would go somewhere else. His wife / partner was, we think, Czech, and was clearly embarrassed by his outburst, apologised to the chef and insisted that they would stay. Anyway, an argument ensued and she refused to eat any of her dinner, and when the waiter returned to ask how their meals were, the guy said they were terrible and that he (the waiter) had ruined his night because now his partner would not speak to him...we had to chuckle.

Sunday

Sunday was by far the coldest day we spent in Prague. It must have been around -8. It was so bad that we could not stay outdoors for longer than a couple of hours at a time, despite wearing about five layers of clothing, including thermals and woollen coats...

In the morning we grabbed some supplies from the supermarket (it's always humorous to visit a supermarket in a foreign country) before heading back to the Old Town Square. We had to laugh as we passed a man selling carp out of a big barrel of water on the side of the street (carp is a Christmas favourite in the Czech Republic). Anyway, a customer was buying his Christmas carp and this feisty one managed to jump out of the seller's net and on to the pavement, where it wriggled and flapped around for a good few seconds before the seller could scoop it up and put it into a plastic bag (still live and flapping around) for the customer to carry away!

Given that it was now daylight, and there were fewer people around, we could actually see a lot more of the Christmas markets in the Old Town Square. We also got a close-up of the Astronomical Clock, a beautiful big clock that not only chimes on the hour, but has a procession of the 12 Apostles marching past above the clock face and a little bell, which is rung once the chiming has finished. Needless to say, this is quite the tourist attraction and at around five minutes to the hour a massive huddle forms around the clock, dispersing the moment the chiming has finished.

Next stop was Wenceslas Square, a huge wide road lined with shops, much like the Champs-Elysees in Paris, and famous in Prague as the venue of many political demonstrations, particularly during the Velvet Revolution in 1989, when peaceful protests led to the end of Soviet occupation. There were also more Christmas markets in Wesceslas Square, and we just had to try the crazy round doughnut type things that seemed to be all the rage. They were pretty good. After a couple of those, some mulled wine and a stroll up and down the street, we made our way to the Museum of Communism. Apart from being a very interesting place to visit, it was somewhere to hang out for an hour or so that was 22 degrees rather than -8 degrees.

Next up was lunch and, after the first place we tried refused to serve us a side of french fries with the soup that we wanted, we found a more reasonable place down the road that actually let you order whatever you wanted off the menu (how novel) and it was very nice.

Before we arrived in Prague, Tim had investigated the possibility of going to a live ice hockey match. Ice hockey is the national sport in the Czech Republic, and the Czechs are amongst the best in world at it. As it turned out, Sparta Prague had a home game against Vitkovice on Sunday. It proved impossible to get tickets online, so we decided to try our luck by rocking up to the T-Mobile Arena and looking for a ticket at the gate. We were very confused when we arrived at the gate and were ushered inside despite not having a ticket. We were almost an hour early for the 5pm start. However, we soon discovered that the game was in fact half way through (possibly why we got in free) so it was lucky that we didn't arrive at 5pm. The game was great, so fast! It's amazing how quickly the players cover the ground, even while controlling the puck and/or crashing into an opposition player. And Sparta Prague won 2-1 in extra time. However, we were concerned for the poor cheerleaders who were skating around in next to nothing in freezing temperatures...

After the hockey and finding our way back into the centre of Prague despite jumping on the wrong tram, we had an amazing dinner at an Argentine steak house. The steak was absolutely perfect, although Megan was more impressed by the live iguana in a little display case in the middle of the restaurant!






Tim in his
stunning new hat










Megan...
still not too
cold for a beer












After a kilo
of duck, a litre of
beer seemed only fair














Old Town Square















Christmas markets
in Old Town Square












One of the
Christmas stalls












Cold times in
Old Town
Square














Astronomical Clock
in Old Town Square















Fast food in
Wenceslas Square











Wenceslas
Square











Ice hockey -
Sparta Praha v
Vitkovice











Cold
cheer-
leaders

Our hood

Hello fans,

Very short blog this week, mainly to show you a few photos from around our new hood.

On Friday night we wandered along Upper Street and tried out a few bars and a Thai restaurant, which were all very nice. On Saturday we did some more shopping - the hunt for a wardrobe is proving harder than we expected, but we believe we may have one by this Friday! And Sunday was "Grand Slam Sunday", with the top four premiership teams facing off against each other. So it was a rather lazy day in front of the TV watching Manchester United beat Liverpool 1-0 and then Arsenal beat Chelsea by the same score. Huge result for the Gunners.

We are very excited about leaving for Prague on Saturday. It has been a very busy few weeks and we are looking forward to a break from work. We will have loads of photos and, no doubt, interesting tales to share over the next 2 weeks.

Our apartment
building

Our street











View of the
Emirates from
outside our flat











Our train
station...
nice








Gateway to the
Emirates...

















Megan in the A
















Holloway Road












Tim's new favourite
place...
Dixy Chicken.
Juliette will
find it funny

High Tea at the Ritz

Fans,

It was another busy weekend in London town. We were out early on Saturday morning - in the wet, miserable London weather - in search of another wardrobe and some shelves for the flat. After much frustration we managed to get some shelves but no wardrobe...small steps. We particularly enjoyed Homebase - where a trolley to carry your prospective purchases around the shop costs £1 and Argos which promises to deliver within 35 days but not on a weekend.

Tim also squeezed in a trip to Oxford Circus, which is ridiculous at the best of times, but two weeks out from Christmas, on a Saturday afternoon, in the rain (enter 10 billion umbrellas), it was a nightmare. But Tim managed to survive and emerged from the bottom of the largest ruck in the world with a DVD, two work shirts and a tie. Nice.

On Saturday night we tried out a Chinese restaurant near our new flat...and while it was ridculously cheap, it was a little lacking. A case of getting what you pay for. Megan then set off for an engagement party, while Tim actually managed to get some sleep...a real novelty these days.

On Sunday, Tim was up early and in to work for a couple of hours, then it was time for some lunch and off to the pub to watch Arsenal. Sadly Arsenal put in a poor display and lost for the first time in the premiership this season. But the Gunners maintain their spot on top of the table!!!

Then we got changed into our Sunday best and met Simon and Anthea for afternoon tea at the Ritz. We had booked in for this around 5 months ago, and we had nearly forgotten about it! However, it was well worth the wait. The Ritz is outstanding - very swanky. They even had a guy playing the harp in the corner!

The afternoon tea was "all you can eat" - as Simon pointed out, it was just like all you can eat Pizza Hut back in New Zealand! We had all sorts of sandwiches - cucumber, smoked salmon, egg, ham and cheese, and more that I can't remember. Then they brought out some scones with jam and cream - Tim ate 6, not very proper of him - and some exquisite little cakes. We enjoyed the fanciful Christmas decorations and silver service, but unfortuantely were not surrounded by the host of celebrities we had hoped for...indeed, seemed to be all overawed tourists!

Lobby of our
apartment building

Our building























The Ritz

Megan at
the Ritz





















Rather large
Christmas tree
Ritz lobby

Very nice...





















Megan and Tim
(Tim full of scones)


















Anthea and
Simon with some
pretty flowers (nice tie!)

Moving flats

Fans,

Firstly, apologies for the poor display of form on the blog over the last month or two. We have the excuses of being flogged at work (including many late nights and weekends), the change of seasons, meaning we are now limited in our weekend activities and moving flats recently. But we assure you that things will improve from here on in.

As of Saturday we no longer reside in Westminster. We are now residents of the vibrant borough of Islington. In fact, we live a stone's throw from the Emirates Stadium...we are officially true Gooners now. Our new place is great. It is in a new complex that has literally just been finished, so everything is brand new. Other than a few minor teething problems, we couldn't be happier. The complex also has a gym, so now we have no excuses about it being too cold/dark/wet etc etc outside to go to the gym.

We have taken a few snaps of the new place, see below. Exciting events coming up: we are having "High Tea" at the Ritz Hotel this Sunday with Simon and Anthea, which should be quality. Bravo old chaps.

It is also just 2 and a half weeks until we leave for Christmas in Prague, followed by a trip around Switzerland. We are both looking forward to out first winter Christmas and we are told it will indeed be a white Christmas! On the travel front, we have also just booked in for a trip to Croatia in June next year (Croatia is high on Tim's list of countries to visit - everyone who has been there has raved about it!). But the really exciting part is that on the way to Croatia we are stopping in Zurich for a night to see France play Italy live in the Euro 2008 championships. It doesn't get any bigger than that - these two sides were the World Cup finalists in 2006. Very exciting.

Keep an eye on the blog, it's alive once more.

Bonnie Scotland

Fans

Last weekend Anna and I hopped aboard the Highland Chieftain for a trip up to the land of Braveheart, haggis and (as I was later to discover) a dessert which is best described as cold porridge. Our destination was Auchterarder, a village near Gleneagles which is home to Renee and Bob - Renee is our grandfather's cousin - who have been surrogate grandparents to Anna while she's been so far from home. Just when they thought that was over, I arrived!

We had a lovely time seeing the family and pouring over family trees and the countless old photographs, including ones of Anna and I growing up that somehow have found their way to Scotland over the years. We were lucky that by chance, Renee and Bob's daughter and son-in-law, Julie and Victor, were visiting from Hong Kong so we got to catch up with them as well. We went out for a great meal in Auchterarder's "high street" which was very impressive, small town NZ could never match that standard!

Scotland blessed us with some very Scot-like weather and brilliant autumn colours (see below). For the wildlife fans, I did try to get a picture of the robins in R&B's backyard but they and the rabbit at the station proved too elusive, as did the moles which left trails of mole hills everywhere. In fact, all I ended up getting was a sheep. Disappointing.

Our time in the north was very relaxing and over all too soon. It was very kind of Renee and Bob to put us up and I hope we keep in contact and see them again...perhaps in summer!

Anna, Renee and

Bob at the bustling

Gleneagles station.

Beside an eathquake

fault line which

resulted in a wee

cliff that amatuer

rock climbers now

practice their moves on.

The high road.

Or the low road.

Difficult to tell.

Everyone.

"Richmond Park"

On Friday night, we met at St James's Park tube station after work and headed over to The Old Star for a few drinks and some dinner. Nice pub, good atmosphere, but the food was a little lacking.

Saturday was a stunning day; beautiful blue sky and sunshine, although still a little nippy in the shade. We were off to Emirates Stadium to see our 5th game there this season. Megan was extra excited, as she had just bought her very own Arsenal shirt that morning!!! Megan also bought a very cute hat and some mittens (see hat below). We got out there early and had a couple of drinks at a pub just down the road from the stadium, which was packed full of Gooners (for those not in the know, a Gooner is an Arsenal fan). We had enough time to stop in to the massive stadium store, The Armoury, to pick ourselves up some Arsenal mugs. No surprises which one Megan chose...Fabregas. Tim got an Arsenal retro mug (see below).

Emirates Stadium was looking picture perfect, and Arsenal didn't disappoint, beating Bolton 2-0, and maintaining Megan and Tim's 100% record at the stadium: 5 games, 5 wins. Arsenal has now won 11 games in a row and sit proudly at the top of the Premier League table, as the 60,000 fans made very clear throughout the match.

After a little post-match entertainment, we grabbed some kebabs for dinner and made our way to Simon's new place in Kilburn to watch the Rugby World Cup final. Simon and his mate, Pete, have just bought this flat and it was our first visit there. It's a really cool place, very spacious! Thankfully South Africa won what was one of the most boring games we have ever sat through, so we don't have to listen to quite as much jibber jabber at work on Monday morning.

Sunday was another stunning day. After a much needed sleep in, we set off for Richmond Park. We had hoped to see some of the deer that allegedly roam there. As it turned out we got a little lost and ended up walking around the outside of the park, along the banks of the Thames. So we didn't quite make it in to the main part of Richmond Park, and we certainly didn't see any deer. However, we had a very nice walk (for well over an hour) and we had fun playing in the autumn leaves. We also enjoyed our ice cream from a "Lorenzo" truck...just doesn't have the same ring to it as Mr Whippy...

Very exciting dinner on Sunday: roast chicken!!!

Proud as

Punch in her

new Arsenal

shirt

The new hat

Retro mug

and Fabregas

mug

Perfect

Church near

Kew Gardens

Banks of the

Thames

Megs playing

with leaves...

In Richmond
Park...sort of

Jack the Ripper Walk

Greetings fans

On Friday night we did the Jack the Ripper walk through the dark back streets and narrow cobbled alleys of east London. Alright, so it wasn't scary, but it was very interesting and very gruesome.

There are dozens of organisations that run Jack the Ripper walks around London, taking hundreds of people around every night, such is the fascination people have with Jack the Ripper. We didn't know a great deal about Jack the Ripper before the tour, but we are now qualified experts.

Interesting facts: While often credited with dozens of murders, it is likely that only five murders were committed by Jack the Ripper. The five murders all took place between 31 August and 9 November, 1888. All of the victims were prostitutes. The scenes of the murders were all within a very compact area in central/east London. After five gruesome murders in 71 days, they just stopped! Perhaps Jack died, or was imprisoned for something else? Strangely the police closed the case in 1892 without giving a reason and it remains unsolved.

The tour was very good. We visited the sites of most of the murders and followed the path that Jack apparently took when he fled the scene of his fourth murder. The tour guide had several black and white photographs of what the streets and buildings looked like in 1888 and of some of the victims and crime scenes (very disturbing).

The little courtyard/square where the fourth murder took place looks almost exactly the same as it did in 1888 and the little alleyway leading off the side of the square is the same one that Jack fled down. We walked down that alley and east a few blocks (following the path that Jack took, dripping blood as he ran) to the doorway of the building where the blood-soaked apron that had belonged to the victim was found. It is thought that Jack had used the apron to wrap up and carry the kidney that was missing from the mutilated body of the victim. God knows what he did with the kidney after he ditched the apron...it was never found.

The photograph of the fifth victim (Jack's most gruesome murder) was sickening. This murder was different from the other four, in that it took place inside the woman's flat, rather than in the streets and alleys, so Jack had more time to mutilate the body. While all of the murders followed the same pattern, this was by far the most revolting. The woman's body was barely recognisable in the picture. Her internal organs had been scattered about the room and her heart was missing. Not particularly nice.

Despite many theories, even today no-one really has any idea as to the identity of Jack the Ripper. However, our guide, a self-confessed "Ripperologist", is adamant that he lived close to the area of the murders in east London and not in the upper-class West End as many theories suggest. Some theorists believe that Jack was a doctor or lawyer from the West End, or even linked to the Royal family, but our tour guide thinks Jack must have been able to roam the poor, rough streets of east London unnoticed. He thinks he was probably a labourer, but may have been a soldier or sailor!

After the tour, we set off for nearby Brick Lane for a curry! Very nice.

On Saturday, after Megan met Anna for a spot of shopping, we wandered through St James' Park and fed the squirrels. The park is beautiful this time of year, with the autumn colours and the leaves falling from the trees and the squirrels are really fat and playful. They seem to hate pigeons as much as we do. We then did a mini-pub crawl, stopping in at the Sherlock Holmes pub, the Silver Cross and The Feathers, which offers around 20 differnt types of sausage...

Sunday was a beautiful day. We headed off for our second visit to the Natural History Museum, this time we left the majority of the screaming children behind and explored the volcanic section and the "Earth's Treasury" area. The precious stones part was the best with famous stones like the Hope Diamond on display - some were so big they looked completely false!

The rest of Sunday involved shopping and getting ready for another week at work - a pretty reaxed weekend in London in all. One of our last for a while as we've got some flat hunting ahead of us - turns out our current flat is so good our landlord wants to live in it herself, so watch this space for more details...

The exact spot
of the 4th
murder

The pink door:
the building where
the bloodied apron
was found














Graffiti Jack


















Scary
alley...














Tim at
Natural
History
Museum









Entering the
Earth's core

Megs and
the jewels