Leaving on a jet plane

A change from our normal routine meant getting up early and finding our way to the Prague airport for our short flight to Copenhagen. It wasn't at all difficult, just the metro to the end of the line and then a short bus ride. We got there too early for check in, so we sat and waited, finally checking in, waiting some more, taking off, and landing just before noon at Kastrup Lufthavn.

Our hostel was within walking distance of the airport, convenient for dropping off bags but far from the city proper. We checked in and set down our stuff, then setting out in search of a bus that would take us to central Copenhagen. We got off on the far end and headed first to the one sight I remembered being interested in, the Tycho Brahe planetarium. The admission was a little out of our price range (everything in Denmark is...) but we looked in the little shop and the information centre and whatnot, so I was mostly satisfied. We headed from there out in a line of sights, walking by an amusement park (we didn't know that's what it was at first; on the map it just looked like a park), seeing many old buildings and fancy streets.

We ended up sitting for a little while in the King's Gardens, before walking to the Citadel. This was a military fortress built into an impressive trench, complete with barracks and high walls. We wandered around there for some time, admiring the scenery and climbing the hills. After this we wanted to find the Little Mermaid monument, so we tried going straight there... Only to find a sort of moat in our way! We had to walk the long way around but eventually found it. This is based on Hans Christian Andersen's original fairy tale, he being a Danish fairytale writer there were many monuments to him around the city. It was by far the most crowded area we'd been to in Copenhagen, perhaps it's top tourist attraction?

After walking back through the streets and absorbing a little more Danish culture, we got on a bus back for the hostel. We realized after it was too late that the bus we had gotten on didn't go as far as the stop we needed, so we ended up having a long walk back... It's okay, though, I know I needed the exercise!

After spending the night we're heading to the airport train station, and making our way to our next stop: Hamburg!

Moving on and on...

I was able to buy a new battery for my camera in Vienna and a new charger (complete with car adapter!)in Prague so suddenly I feel a lot better. I missed out on a lot of pictures that I otherwise would have loved but at least I can keep going now.

Our train from Vienna to Prague was to leave just before one, so we spent the morning looking for some of the sights we hadn't caught the night before. Stevie was hoping to make it to the zoo, her being a big animal lover and Vienna's zoo being the oldest in the world. We got to the zoological gardens and looked around for a while, but the entry for the zoo itself was a little out of our price range so we settled for staring at the Japanese garden just outside and relaxing for a while. A few more shopping streets and another park later we were off for Prague.

It was about a four and a half hour ride, so I napped most of the way. We got in at 5:30 and headed for the underground and then a tram for our hostel. It's a nice little place, well kept and not in the centre of town but still easy access to everything. We explored a little bit after dropping off our bags, first popping into an electronics store to look for a charger; they didn't have the right kind, but the way the guy was poking around and testing different cords kind of reminded me of someone... We walked toward Namesti Miru, a beautiful church near our hostel, on toward the museum street, and eventually found a Chinese restaurant where we had a real dinner for the first time in what felt like ages - buying food at markets is nice on the wallet but occasionally the stomach just cries out for more.

We slept in a bit in the morning before heading out for the day. We had a small tourist map of the centre of Prague, and we were determined to hit everything on it. We started out walking down the main road from the museum, which at the end was home to yet another Easter market - that time of year, I guess. Prague is full of medieval churches, plenty of photogenic buildings, castles, monuments... Suffice it to say without my camera I probably would have died a little inside. We walked up and around both sides of the river, sitting for a while near the senate building, seeing palaces, monuments... You get the idea. After a while it's hard to remember and describe everything because we're seeing so much! But I suppose that's what pictures are for.

One thing I did remember my grandma mentioning from when she'd been to Prague is the Infant Jesus of Prague, a memorial statue in one of the churches, a very religious monument. Today being Holy Thursday and all, I knelt down in front of it and prayed for a little while, hoping everything goes better for me and everyone I know. The whole world, even.