Prague city break...

Last year was mine + hubbys 40th, so I bought him a little trip to Prague, as he'd never done a city trip before!

Wow what a stunning place, amazing architecture literally around every corner!

After a quick + easy flight (so much easier with no baggage + checking in online!) we ventured straight on to public transport, rather than a pricey taxi! A bus took us straight to the nearest metro station,where there were simple ticket options, dependent on length of travel. We chose the 3 day ticket. The speedy train got us there in moments, + after walking a couple of blocks we found our hotel. But there was an issue! They had had a big flood which had left them with major maintenance to complete. But they had made all the necessary alternatives, with another hotel booked + a taxi to take us there. On arrival it was a case of dump the bags + get straight out to see the sights!
There was quite a lot of snow when we arrived, but wasn't anywhere near as cold as we expected, and the UK could really learn a lesson, as all main roads and paths were cleared, after a couple of days there were hardly signs left...

We found Wenceslas Square, and wandered the local shops, including the large Palladium shopping centre.

We grabbed an Indian meal, as the tiredness caught up with us!
Day 2:-

It was on the trams to get across the river and up to the Mala Strana area, as we wanted to visit the Castle and Cathedral today.

We strolled around the castle (Prazsky hrad). The temperature had dropped and it felt bitterly cold. We saw the changing of the guard, and wandered around the surrounding buildings, St George's Basilica and the Old Royal Palace.

We stopped off for lunch to warm up before venturing to St Vitus's Catahedral.
It was an amazing Gothic sight.

We went inside to see the vast interior.

And the large amount of stained glass windows were stunning too...

We had to stop for some Hot chocolate as it felt colder in the Cathedral than it was outside!!
Lastly we found the Golden Lane, which were the Alchemists cottages. It was such a cute lane with sweet colourful little houses with quirky chimneys. You could go into the cottages, where some of them housed historical pieces including a vast corridor of armour, whilst others were craft stores.

After checking out the great views we made our way back down the steep hill. We strolled around the lanes of the Lesser town, and headed towards Charles Bridge.
By now it had got dark, so the vendours had packed up, but we had a stroll to see the surrounding town lit up. We decided we'd return the following day.
For dinner we wanted to try the traditional meal of Goulash (all Czch dishes are very meat orientated, so only this one appealed to me). We decided to try a place mentioned in our guide book, so we went away from the main town, but once we located it, it wasn't exactly the cheap meal we had in mind! But there was a lovely pub a couple of doors down that was just what we were looking for. Although we are 'wine drinkers' we had to partake in the local beer to go with it!
The Goulash and dumplings were gorgeous, the meat was tender and the gravy rich and tasty, the dumplings were a great accompaniment and the beer was perfect to wash it down!

Day 3:-
We started the day locally by going up the Powder Towder, so we could see the great views across the whole of the town!

We made it up the spiral staircase, thankfully there was a breather room halfway up with some pretty stained glass windows. It was well worth the climb though, as we had a fantastic 360 degree view.

The plan for the day was to see the Astrological clock, the Bridge and the Jewish area.
Staromestske namesti, the Old Town square, was so amazing that we spent most of our day there. The architecture was amazing on most of the buildings, with a mix of Baroque, Rococo and Gothic styles.

The Astronomical clock was stunning, and we waited on the hour to see the little characters come out of the two doors and hear the chimes.

We stopped to try a couple of tasty treats. A skewer of fried potatoes, and a lovely freshly made pastry.

We had to drag ourselves away from the area as we did really want to get to the bridge in daylight.
There were vendours all along, mainly artists, and historical sculpted saints along the whole length.

we had a lovely Italian meal to finish off our fantastic day.

Day 4:-
For our last day we didnt have any specific plans, but tried to wander the areas that we hadn't covered before.
We started by going alongside the river.

We did a bit of shopping and a last look at the stunning buildings.

Movies

The Fighter

Drama about boxer "Irish" Micky Ward's unlikely road to the world light welterweight title. His Rocky-like rise was shepherded by half-brother Dicky, a boxer-turned-trainer who rebounded in life after nearly being KO'd by drugs and crime.

***1/2
Tower Heist

Brett Ratner directs this New York City-set crime caper starring Ben Stiller, Casey Affleck, Matthew Broderick and Eddie Murphy. The staff at a luxury Central Park apartment complex discover that Wall Street billionaire Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda), who lives in the building's penthouse apartment, has embezzled their hard-earned retirement money after being entrusted to oversee their pension scheme. Determined to get their money back, they decide to dispense with the law and take matters into their own hands. Armed with their precise knowledge of the building, they plan a heist to steal back the funds they believe to be hidden in Shaw's super-swanky residence.

****a modern day Robin Hood tale