Melnik Vinobrani

Around the September/October time of each year, the vineyards of the Czech Republic pull out their best and the country is filled to the brim with various wine festivals, or Vinobrani which celebrate the years wine harvest. Stalls line the streets, selling wine (of course) as well as grilled cheese, Prague Ham, Trdelnik and just about anything else considered Bohemian. Just about every town has its own Vinobrani and the Old Town square in Prague has had its going for about 4 solid weeks now! 




We had heard that a small town north of Prague, called Melnik, put on a fantastic Vinobrani each year and was well worth visiting. Melnik lies at the confluence of the rivers Vltava and the Labe and is known for its cultivation of grapevines and its annual celebratory grape harvest. The festival runs for one whole weekend in September, complete with carnival atmosphere, all the gingerbread you could possibly eat and the young Moravian wine, Burcak. Burcak tastes just like grape juice as it is only slightly fermented, fizzy and is sickly sweet. Don't be fooled though, it doesn't taste like an alcoholic beverage but it most certainly is, with its alcohol content being between 5-8%. There are apparent health benefits to this drink, but I really don't think people are too concerned with them. 
We arrived in Melnik around lunch time to find the festival still in the process of being set up. We decided to take a walk through the main town area and explore a little, which led us to a nice little cafe for a pot of tea. The festival covered the majority of the main town of Melnik with the 'side show alley' area taking up most of the space. We spent some time then walking through the festival, sampling some of the wine and some of the local food and enjoying the vibrant atmosphere. We had forgotten how much joy balloons and bumper cars can bring to people, even if I wasn't allowed to have either of them on the day. In half an hour we had seen everything in the festival and decided to head to the Melnik Church. When we thought to come back in a little later for another glass of Burcak, we were asked to pay 200Kc each ($11) for entry! Since we had already been in (for free) and seen everything we chose to go home. We like to look at the decision as being one of 'money conscious people' :)




Melnik has plenty more to offer than first meets the eye. It boasts one of the oldest Churches in Bohemia, the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, whose foundations date back to 1000! The Church, along with the Melnik Castle, overlook the confluence of the above mentioned rivers, with a spectacular view over the country side. 

A street in Melnik looking over to the Castle and the Church

Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul

Vltava and the Labe Rivers

Under the Church is the Melnik Charnel-house, containing the bones of between 10 000 and 15 000 people! These people were dug up from the Church graveyard to make more room during the plague of 1530-1531, while many others were added over the years. In the year 1787, all of the charnel-houses in Bohemia were ordered to be sealed for hygienic reasons. It was re-opened in the late 19th century and then again in the early 20th century for scientific reasons. The crypt is full to the brim with all kinds of human bones, arranged and ordered specifically. Jindrich Matiegka, an anthropologist and university professor began his study of bones and skulls in the Melnik charnel-house in the year 1913-14. With the help of two students, he studied and arranged the contents of the charnel-house. The charnel-house then became open to the public. While inside another group of people came in to have a look, only to finish up with one of them putting a bone in her mouth for a good 'ol facebook profile shot. We wanted to tell her how disrespectful she was, but we couldn't get past the fact that the person the bone belonged to probably died of the plague. We figured she would work it out for herself sooner or later.

Berlin

After 30 minutes of forethought we booked a quick 4 day trip to Berlin to visit some friends and to see a bit of the amazing city. 16 Euro got us return bus tickets from Prague to Berlin, complete with movie and free coffee! Who would have thought a bus company would be better than our JetStar flight from Perth to Singapore?


Berlin is a city where it seems 'survival of the most alternative' is their motto. Every bar, cafe, restaurant and boutique has something about it which is quirky and cool, weather it is a cleared out old Theatre turned bar/cafe or a Sushi train restaurant where the sushi is actually floating around the room on little boats on a stream! Most people who live in Berlin seem to have a lot of disposable income, something we don't see much of in Prague, so everyone is always out and about having coffee or a drink with friends. Bars are packed every night of the week and in the morning almost everywhere is deserted until at least 10:30 in the morning!

'Kjosk' Bar. A double decker bus turned kiosk selling snacks and drinks. Seating in the gardens under umbrellas. Amazing!

Berlin is a combination of buildings with varying degrees of history. Buildings that survived WWII are few and far between and any that did stand the War have since been repaired to their former glory. The difference in building design between East and West Berlin is very noticeable. East is full of concrete blocks functioning as apartments, hotels or business buildings. West is composed mainly of new looking buildings, with obvious western influence. Both sides of Berlin are beautiful in their own right, if anything, East is more exciting and alternative, full of interesting boutiques and bars.

An artist alley way, one of many. Leading to an art store, cinema and little bar

We visited the Reichstag, which in itself is an imposing structure, even without knowing its history. We managed to secure a place in a tour of the Cupola (glass dome on top of the Reichstag). If you ever find yourself in Berlin, make sure you secure a spot to go and visit the Reichstag. A few emails were required, but thanks to our friends, we were able to get our names on the 'list' to go and see inside. The views from the Cupola are amazing, and with a free audio-guide to help us along, we fast became experts on the buildings making up the Berlin skyline! This is one of the best things we did in Berlin and it was free!

The Reichstag - German house of Parliament

Inside the Reichstag Cupola. Mirrors reflect light down into the  Plenary Room  (under the mirrors, with the glass roof) to help reduce the need for unnatural lighting. 

The best way to see a city is to hire bikes for a day and just ride around - which is exactly what we did. Riding around a main city is unnerving, especially when you're not familiar with the road rules! Some roads have bike paths on them, but most didn't. You just have to brave riding on the side of the road, which is barely big enough for the car, let alone us as well. The experience was fantastic though and we were able to see so much of the city. From Alexanderplatz, past the Brandenburg Gate, down to the Victory monument, though the Tiergarten and around to the Reichstag! A big day full of interesting sights and ending with dinner at a Mexican place with 1 euro Tacos and Tequila. Amazing. 

Berliner Dom (Cathedral)

Brandenberg Gate

Berlin is a mecca for artists of all kinds, particularly East Berlin. Kunsthaus' (Art Houses) are ripe in Berlin, with a really popular one on Oranienburger Strauss called Kunsthaus Tacheles. The building itself was originally built as a Jewish department store in East Berlin. After serving as a Nazi prison for a while it was partially demolished. Once the Berlin wall was taken down the building was taken over by an artist collective who called it Tacheles (Yiddish for 'straight talking'). You can now find a building with huge colourful, graffiti-style murals painted on the exterior walls and a modern art Ghetto inside. The artists sells their works and are all squatting illegally. We all agreed that this is the weirdest place we have ever been to. The overwhelming smell of urine when you enter the building and make your way up the stairs to the artists area is really something else!


The East Side Gallery is well worth a visit too. The Berlin Wall East Side Gallery is a 1.3km-long section of the wall near the center of Berlin. Approximately 106 paintings by artists from all over the world cover this memorial for freedom and make it the largest open air gallery in the world. Being open air, the wall is therefore not protected. From its initiation in 1990, the wall is constantly being restored from graffiti, vandalism and erosion. The most recent project was in 2009, so most of the wall is still in great condition. 

One of the paintings on the East Side Gallery

Overall we had an excellent time in Berlin, it is well worth a visit for its crazy mix of alternative fashion/culture and its sobering history. Make sure you head out from the city centre though if you want to experience the 'new' Berlin!

Karlstejn and Vysehrad

About 45 minutes out of Prague lies Karlstejn ("Karl - stein"), a small town with a beautiful Castle. Karlstejn Castle was built by Czech King and Roman Emperor Charles IV as a place for safe keeping of the royal treasures, especially Holy relics and the coronation jewels of the Roman Empire. The first documented stay in this Castle by Charles was 1355, when he came to supervise the building works. The construction of the Castle was finished in 1365, when the Chapel of the Holy Cross, situated in the Great Tower (the most heavily fortified with walls 3-7 meters deep!) was consecrated.

Now it is a busy little tourist destination and holds one of the most unique positions among the Czech castles. The walk from the train station up to the Castle was interesting, with almost every house on the main street being converted to some tourist shop or restaurant. It seems everyone here makes their living off of the tourists! The 30 minutes climb is all uphill, but the Castle is situated on a hill, so what did we expect!
The Castle is fairy tale material and would not look out of place in Disneyland's main promenade! From the old stone rampart walls of the Castle you can see for miles out to the green rolling hills of the Czech Republic. A truly beautiful sight.
The interior of the Castle was amazing, however little of it was original. The interior was redecorated in the 19th century, new floors, new ceiling, new walls and new decorations. Apparently a lot of the original furniture and also the Czech coronation crown are now located in Austria.

We also made a trip to Vysehrad one afternoon, an area just south of the city, close to Prague 2. Legend has it that Vysehrad (High Castle) is the place where Prague was born. The area holds importance as King Charles IV decreed that the coronation of Bohemian Kings should begin with a procession from here. The area was almost ruined in the following centuries until the Czech National Revival generated new interest in Vysehrad as a symbol of Czech history. From 1866, Vysehrad graveyard became a national memorial, the fortifications were dismantled and various buildings were restored. Vysehrad today has peaceful green parks with great views across the River Vltava. We saw mothers with their children, old women with their dogs and people laying about enjoying the peaceful atmosphere.

Looking out over the southern areas of the city to Prague Castle in the background

St Martins Rotunda in Vysehrad

The Vltava River, looking over to Smichov and Petrin Hill. Prague Castle to the far right

The Church of St Peter and St Paul, in Vysehrad

Beer and Bramboraky

If there is one thing we have grown to love about Prague it would be the 'Beer Garden' culture here. Sunday afternoons spent at the Letensky Sady beer garden overlooking the beautiful city is fast becoming a favourite, when the weather is right. The garden is shaded by big beautiful chesnut trees and is situated right in front of a neo renaissance mansion which (I think) is a restaurant. The garden is full of all kinds of people, from families with children, people on rollerblades stopping for a beer on their way through the park, business people, couples, expats and of course lots and lots of dogs!! A pint of beer will cost you about 33Kc which is about $1.50 Aus. :) 

We also visited the Prague Beer Museum, which is not as big or as boring as it sounds! It is a little bar in Old Town with about 30 local Czech beers on tap. All of the beers are boutique and are very interesting...I had a blueberry beer (which was delicious) and Jon had a dark ale. There are all sorts of beers on tap, including cherry and carmel honey as well as high percentage stouts and dark ales (not for the faint hearted). This is a great place to go if you are getting just that little bit tired of the all to popular Pilsner Urquell or Gambrinus. 

While out with some friends, sampling another beer garden, this one in Reigrovy Sady (a large and shady park in Prague 3), we decided to try some of the local Czech food. A friendly bar tender told of us of a good place just around the corner where the meals cost an average of 150Kc, or $8.50. This is a pretty standard price for a good meal in a nice restaurant here. Czech food is meaty and starchy...and little else. I am not sure if there is any nutritional content to the food, but it tastes amazing! We shared a traditional starter platter which included pickled sausage, game pate', ham off the bone, fried camembert cheese and brawn. Everything expect the brawn (which was meaty chunks in a fatty jelly...kind of like cat food) was quite nice. I think Jon was more a fan of it than me! Dinner consisted of a plate sized pork schnitzel, goulash with bramboraky (a fried potato pancake), beef and cream and sauerkraut. We were incredibly full after dinner that we could only manage one more beer before we needed to lie down. It was a good night though :)

Eating and drinking in Prague is both enjoyable and affordable. It is a large part of the czech culture so it makes more sense to go along with it than fight against it...Beer anyone? :)

The Biggest Fattest Bumble-Bees Ever!

For a city that seems so big, you can easily tour the city by foot. We decided on a day of walking that began at our apartment and ended at our apartment, with a lot of Prague in between. We walked up to Letenske Sady, a park located between Prague 6 and Prague 7. With spectacular views of the city, the park is well worth a visit. It has beautiful shady trees and various monuments and statues. It was here that we came across some of the biggest bumble-bees we had ever seen! One of the more amazing views from the top and a bumble-bee;

We walked down from Letenske Sady and headed into Mala Strana, which is on the same side of the Vltava River as Prague Castle. We stopped for some lunch by the river and we shared the space with plenty of dogs and their owners. This seemed like a popular spot for people to come eat lunch and catch a good view of Charles Bridge. The photo below was taken from the banks of the Vltava River looking over to the Old Town side of Charles Bridge;

Mala Strana is a beautiful area of the city and the architecture reminded us of a fairy tale, with the spires, cobble stone streets and general Bohemian/Gothic charm. We crossed over Charles Bridge with a little difficulty due to the amount of people swarming to get a photo and the merchants lining the bridge selling their (expensive) souvenirs. Along the length of the 516m bridge there are 30 statues, each depicting various saints and patron saints venerated around 1700. All of these statues are now replicas of the originals, but still are amazing pieces of art. The Old Town end of Charles Bridge is considered to be one of the most astonishing civil gothic-style buildings in the world.  Even with the throng of people packing the bridge, it is still a must see for visitors to Prague.


Exploring the city by foot is definitely worth the effort! Everything is seen from a different perspective. We found ourselves lost on a few occasions but it just helped us to learn more about the city and see some really interesting sights. A little bit of sun cream would not have gone astray though.

Back to School

We had our first day of "School" today, the beginning of our TEFL certificate. It was interesting and strange, with a whole lot of nothing thrown on your plate. We are expected to 'just plan a lesson and teach' with a look of 'what's so hard about that?' from the teacher and a bunch of blank expressions from the students. All in all we think it will be fun, the people are really nice and the course is not too busy, with a day off Tuesday and a cheeky Friday afternoon off too! Our first actual teaching classes begin this week, one on one with a local Czech, teaching them basically whatever they want to know. If we can manage to hold a interesting conversation with a stranger who speaks intermediate English for one hour then we are doing well.

Prague is such a beautiful city, with photo moments coming up at almost every corner. We found the tower that the Amazing Race contestants had to climb, and it is just down our street! It feels very surreal. The area we are living in is amazing, Namesti Republiky, which is about 15 minutes walk from Old Town Square (where the astronomical clock is). This area is beautiful, close to the Charles Bridge, but FULL to the brim with tourists, a little like us actually :) Here is a photo of the Prasna Brana aka Powder Gate from Amazing Race:

Finally Here!

You never realise how exhausting long haul travel is until you begin with a red eye flight...what a killer! We arrived in Dubai after a short stop over in Singapore airport at about 2pm. It was 44 degrees outside and any relieving breeze was straight off the desert and scorching! We decided to make the most of our time in the city and went sight seeing. First stop, Mall of the Emirates, with the indoor ski slopes and aquariums. Amazing! The whole centre just screamed of the wealth of the UAE, with every light, post and door frame adorned. We found our way to the ski slope (of course), but didn't go in this time. It looks like lots of fun, as you can watch through a glass wall the goings on of the "Ski Park". I was jealous...it looked cold in there! We hopped back on the metro and found our way to the Burj Khalifa, or the worlds tallest building, which is just as impressive as it sounds! It really is huge, putting all of the other beautiful building surrounding it to shame. It, of course, had lights, fountains, palm trees (with lights too) and was a real spectacle to see at night when everything is lit up.
Totally exhausted and dehydrated by this time we called it a night and had to hop back on the metro to travel another 40 minutes to out hotel! For a place that looks to be small, it really isn't. The new and bedazzled areas of the city are spread out with old and run down areas in between which are full of cleared land, ready for the next new and exciting building to be built.

Burj Khalifa

We are now in Prague and it is very damp here (much like home i think) and after going the wrong way on the tram, getting very wet waiting for transport and confusing the poor man at the ticket kiosk in the metro with our lack of Czech, we are doing quite well with the transport :) as if. It will take LOTS of getting used to here, especially as people do not speak nearly as much english as we expected. Its all part of the experience though, and we are enjoying it all.

Prague Trams

Andel; waiting for the tram