city trip | One Life by jamieonline

Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic is a stunner! A weekend trip there just is not enough. (My visit was #2 on my list of things for 2011). I checked my camera today and saw that I had taken 194 photographs in two days! I really couldn’t capture it enough. My camera is attached to my hand at all times.

Here is a snap-shot of picturesque Prague.

(Click on the picture to enlarge).

: The amazing Gothic towers (260-ft high).

: Church of Our Lady of Tyn

: Old Town Square

: The clock on Old Town Hall

: Charles Bridge (Karluv Most)

: The crowds queuing to rub the plaque.

: Rubbing the brass plaque on the Charles Bridge. A tradition.

: Prague’s skyline.

: I just happened to walk past. I loved this scene.

: I couldn’t resist a snap shot of this poster.

: Looking at across the Vltava river.

: Picture perfection.

: Ornate decoration all over this great city.

: Now THIS is a lampost.

: The popular Jewish area with tourists.

: One of the shop signs.

: Just one of the amazing puppet shops.

I stayed very close to the centre. Literally 5 minutes from our apartment and we were at the central Old Town Square. Prague is conveniently close to the airport. The transfer taxis are great value! It was also quite strange visiting a European country without the Euro (and that’s coming from a Brit).

I loved the Charles Bridge (in one of the photos). I came home and wanted to do a little research as to why people were touching the plaques. I found out that:

One statue receives a great deal of attention from both Czechs and foreigners; this is the statue of Jan Nepomucky (John of Nepomuk), who was thrown from the bridge in chains. The base of this statue has two bronze plaques, each well-polished by thousands of hands touching it. The belief is that touching the plaque portraying the martyrdom of John of Nepomuk is lucky, and that the person touching it will return to Prague. Many people make wishes when they touch the plaque. (Thanks to BlogKingWencelas for the info).

Now I wish that I’d touched it too – instead of taking so many pictures. Hey ho – who needs luck?

More to come about Prague. I had many more discoveries in that great city! I think I may need to revisit this summer.

If you travel frequently you have most likely experienced a trip or holiday where something vital has been left at home. I know that it has happened to me on numerous occasions. If however, you are not an experienced traveller then you may worry about what to pack. There is nothing worse than unpacking in your hotel and discovering that you’ve left the mobile phone charger, underwear or belt at home. It can be the little things that wind you up the most.

Knowing what to take on a trip, holiday or ‘world tour’ (you never know) is a tricky business especially when there are such strict rules about your luggage (when it comes to air travel). From my experience of travelling and enjoying holidays over the last couple of years I would recommend that you compile a list to use for each and every time you travel. Here are some simple tips:

Make a list of the things that you need on your typical trips. It takes some forward thinking. The best time to prepare your list is not before you next travel, but when you return from your next trip or holiday. When you arrive home you are more likely to make the correct judgment on exactly what you needed (people often over-pack and later regret it). You can check what was used and discard what was not. Once you have your list though, it is ready for all future trips.
Organise your list into categories. I decided on these for my checklist: essential travel documents, hygiene, clothes, first aid and miscellaneous.
Create separate lists for different types of trip away. Perhaps you’d have the following (it all depends on your hobbies and lifestyle): city-trip, summer break, winter break, action/adventure/camping.

I surprised myself when I came back from a 2 week holiday. I looked in my bag and realised that there were so many things which I’d thought were essential and in actual fact had not been any use at all. This spurred me on to make a list. This summer I went on a 4 week travel around Europe. The list for my camping trip was a life-saver. Not only did we prepare everything before going, but we managed to keep track and ensure that we brought everything back with us too.

If you have any other travel tips and advice then it would be great to hear.