Prague

So far my favourite city!

I went to Prague with 4 other girls, 2 of whom I didn't meet until I got to the hostel. One was a workmate of Dans (and a friend of one of the other girls I went with) and the other friend was a friend of hers from Australia. The other two girls are friends of mine from London (however one is a fellow Canuck!!)

Our flights were 125 pounds each and the hostel was only 40 pounds for three nights.

From the airport we got a transit pass for 20 Korunas which is the equivilent of 50p and this lasted for 75 minutes. So we got on the bus and then the Metro to Muzeum station. This takes you to the top of the major road leading to Welceslas Square and we were about two blocks down. The hostel was alright but tough to share one bathroom with 5 girls!

Once we got to the hostel, we dropped our bags off and decided that we would have a quiet night in with some food and drink as most of us were suffering from colds. So up to the grocery store we go. We got 4 bottles of red wine, lots of cheese and bread, chips, nuts, 2 large bottles of water, fruit, veg, yogurt and juice for about 10 pounds! Then on our way back to the hostel we got a take-away. A quiet night in was just the ticket. We had a great time and it was a good way for us to all get to know each other.

Unfortunately the hostel was stuffy which didn't do anything for our colds and after a night of drinking Sharan, who I was sharing a room with, proceeded to snore - ALL night! So the sleep wasn't the best but she told me in the morning that I was chatting away in my sleep - so I guess none of us were quiet.

The first morning we woke up and went for the most expensive coffee ever while in search for a breakfast spot. We promptly left that cafe in search of something more cheap and cheerful. We stumbled upon a gem! 5 pounds for breakfast which was an omlette, salad, bread/pastries, orange juice and coffee.

During the next two days, Kat and I found a new love for mulled wine, we went to see the castle, cathedrals, the Petrin tower (and all 299 steps to get up there), ate a lot of pastries and had spectacular thai massages!

Prague is the most gorgeous city and has some amazing architecture! It's definitely a city you could live in if you could manage to learn the language. Again, most everybody spoke English so we didn't have too many problems.

If you're a vegetarian it's a tough city and as most of our crew were either vegetarians or didn't eat red meat, we had a bit of a problem and didn't eat in any traditional Czech restaurants as they served lots of meat and boiled potatoes.

For our last meal we went to a Thai restaurant. I know, I know - very much NOT local fare but it was a great restaurant and we got a 10% discount after going for our thai massages. We ordered (between the 5 of us) 1 bottle of wine, 2 cocktails, 2 starters, 5 main courses, 5 dishes of rice and 2 desserts and it was only 10 pounds each! So needless to say the food is cheap there!

So on the Monday afternoon at 2 we headed back to the airport. After checking in and spending the remaining Czech Korunas on chocolate and peanuts for the flight we boarded the plane. Unfortunately with Easy Jet, if you want to board first you have to pay extra...we didn't even know about this and were put in boarding group D, the last group to board the plane.

There were 3 seats on each side of the plane and seeing as I was tired (and quite sick with a cold) I decided to sit on my own and hoped to sleep while the other 4 girls split into 2 groups of 2 and sat right beside each other, 2 to each side of the plane. Kat sat on the left side next to a guy sleeping on the window and Vicki sat beside her on the aisle. Dee sat on the aisle on the right side with Sharan beside her. I was right behind Kat.

About 10 minutes into the flight the guy beside Kat has some weird spasm and his eyes rolled and he sort of collapsed on her shoulder. She pushed him off, called the flight attendants as the guy was sweating and he ended up telling them he was alright. We soon found out that he was in a group of about 10 Aussies.

10 minutes later, the guy woke up, turned in Kat's direction and promptly threw up (projectile) all over Kat and Vicki and it even made it across the aisle to Dee and Sharan. As they were screaming and trying to get out, the guy throws up again and gets Kat again!! The guy then turns his head in my direction (behind him) and I hold up my magazine to shield myself incase he chucks again! Luckily he didn't and the guy beside me on the aisle got up so I could make a run for it.

The poor girls were devestated especially Kat as she got the worst of it. Her clothes were covered, her book was ruined and there was vomit all over her two carry-ons. What made it even worse was that none of the guys even acknowledged that this happened let alone apologized! At the end of the flight when everybody had gotten off the plane except the Aussies, Vicki went up and let them have it. Good job Vicki!!

At the time we were all flustered and freaked out. But we landed, got our bags and cleaned the girls up and went on our way. At least now we can all laugh about it!!

All in all it was a great trip, even with the Aussie chucker! If you ever have a chance to go to Prague - do it. There is so much to see and do, the food and shopping are super cheap and the people are super friendly (just try and skip the main coffee shops as they charge an arm and a leg) .

All good things must come to an end

After three years together Dan and I have decided to part ways.

We have moved out of our flat in Blackheath and I am in a flat share in Stoke Newington (north of the Thames) while Dan is crashing with friends until he can find something.

Copenhagen

Totally unplanned trip! My Dad was in London on business and my Mom flew out to meet him for a long weekend trip in Europe. Unfortunately Dad got called back to Vancouver on an urgent business matter so that left Mom in London with nothing to do and nobody to go away with. Sooo....being the good daughter that I am I decided that I would go away with my Mom.

While it was very last minute, we needed something cheap and cheeful so Copenhagen it was! We left on the Saturday morning at ridiculous o'clock and arrived in the gorgeous 4* Marriot by the water a couple of hours later.

As soon as we arrived, we discovered that everybody in Copenhagen rides a bike! We got the metro from the airport and when we arrived at our destination we were shocked by the hundreds and thousands of bikes. The great thing about Copenhagen is that there are bicycle lanes on almost all of the streets but most of the cyclists don't wear helmets!

We only had two days so had to make the most of it. We walked for about 8 hours each day, checking out the Hans Christian Anderson statue, museum, the longest pedestrian shopping street in Europe, the palaces and everything else Copenhagen had to offer. We went straight from the train station to the Tourist Information which, while badly marked, had tons to offer! We got a CPH card for 20 pounds each and it gave us access to most everything, the palaces, Tivoli gardens and discounts on others like the Ripley's Believe it or Not museum (my cheesy but entertaining choice).

It's a city that is so normal, you could see yourself living there. The people were friendly and everybody spoke Engligh which was great!

Unfortunately it's a very expensive city but at least it was only 200 pounds each for the flight and hotel. The restaurants were crazy pricey and we ended up eating italian twice because you really had to search to find other restaurants.

All in all a great place to go but you can pretty much see and do everything in 2 or 3 days.