We began with the morning song and after we were outside the city and on the open road. We took it in turns to introduce ourselves and tell everyone a funny happening.
this proved to be hilarious. my favourite part was listening to everyone talk about their travelling and where they had come from. So many people had gone about their travels so differently and come from all over the world. the dominant group were aussies! yew. then came the Yankies and represntatives from India, Hong Kong, South Africa, Canadia, the UK and of course NZ. not meaning to toot our own horns but we were one hell of a group :)
So after a hilarious bus ride we arrived at our lunch destination- Dresden.
And what a beautiful city it is. Unfortunately for Dresden it was targeted by the allies during the war and as such was severly bombed and damaged during WWII. You can still see the bullet holes and such today. But a very intellegent goverment sought to rebuild the city in the same fashion as before the war. So instead of having a mix match of architctural eras such as Berlin had. Dresden was all old world charm :)
Me infront of the The Fürstenzug: (Procession of the Princes) its a large mural of a mounted procession of the princes of Saxony, made out of 25,000 Meißner porcelain tiles. It details the thousand year history of the Princely house of Wettin.
On our quick walking tour we saw Dresdens main attractions, such as the Opera house, the domed Frauenkirche, the Royal Residence – once home to the Saxon Kings – and the Zwinger Fortress, a massive palace where royals went to party!
The Frauenkirche- i.e Church of Our Lady- Severly damaged in the war and only just completely refurbished in 2004. you can see the different ages of the stones :)
It was our first sunny day since beggininng the trip 3 days ago. It was still freezing and not snowing like Berlin. but the sun was enough to warm our spirits and keep us going. Many of the group took time to indulge in the german equivalent of gluhe wijn. i.e Warmed wine. Having already had it a couple of times in dutchyland i opted for something simple and familiar. MACCAS.... im so ashamed haha.
After saying goodbye to Dresden we boarded the bus and buckled down for the four hour drive to Prague. I mostly slept and looked out the window, much to my dismay. my camera was not handy when i came across my future home.... a bunch of castle ruins high ontop of a mountain and just above a lake in the boring outskirts of rural prague :) I will go back there and find it one day...
Driving into prague was unfortunately un impressive as we drove via the industrial area and were staying outside the old city centre, upon arrival at our hotel we found the bus couldnt quite fit by an illegally parked car, as you would expect a bunch of willing boys got off and managed to bounce the car out of the way and we were able to set down and head upto our hotel rooms.
Bouncing the car out of the way...
This is where the fun begins. Our first night in prague we were treated to a traditional prague dinner in an out of the way resturaunt in the city centre. i was so at awe by everything i saw that i couldnt quite reach for the camera. Then we were accosted by a russian man who only knew how to say 'pretty girl' and 'fucking hell', so we moved into the resturaunt pretty quickly.
we all sat together and enjoyed dinner. being too tired and without shame i used my fingers to roll up a crepe so i could better eat it. i soon found myself the centre of attention and the butt of all future contiki jokes! my sides hurt from all the laughter and it was a great mood setter for the upcoming pub crawl!!!
My traditional prague dinner: this is the main course, its a kind of meatloaf with heavy sauce and then a dollop of whipped cream and strawberry jam ontop... it was suprisingly tasty for the first few bites. And after those few bites i was overwhelmed by the rich sauce and the sweet jam.. defintely an acquried taste haha.
In an down and out of the way bar we found ourselves supplied with free and unlimited vodka and absinth shots as well as beers and white wines. It was a tiny place and with only a short amount of time there we found ourselves lining up the shots and going for gold. MY poor darling paige found herself all too worse for the wear before we made it to the second pub and was then quickly taken home. i however managed to dance myself stupid, talk lots of shit, get lost from the group and making friends in a random Kfc parlour and finally at a 5 floor dance club with 300 16 year old danish tourists! it was a fantastic night/ morning! as it was 4.30 before i crawled into bed covered in disgusting beer and smoke ash and still dancing to an imaginary beat!from left to right: Nikki, Emily, Paige, Ashley, Stacey and Feliz (who got engaged here in prague the next day!!! crongrats again guys!)
