Prague

This was my first time in Prague and i was not sure what to expect. Many have said that its one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but it has become stag party capital of Europe - how does that comfortably sit side by side?

To be honest i am not sure it does. Yes the old town is quite stunning and the views from the castle are very impressive. There is character all around the place and generally speaking the architecture has been well matched over the years. But in other places it struggles to combine old and new and has characteristics that reflect it is still trying to catch up with the rest if Western Europe economically. Wherever you go in the world there are people trying to entice you into one restaurant rather than another but here it seemed less charming than other places. And the variety of people encouraging you from early evening into the local "cabaret" don't add to the atmosphere.

Most European cities are now trying to encourage the upper end traveller and Prague will need to decide whether it wants to remain a party city or takes steps such as those adopted by Dublin to try and move up market. I enjoyed my couple of days here but i suspect in a few years time it will either be a lot better or lot worse place to go.

Picture here

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Books read - one yes i have finished The Millennium Trilogy. I have now decided to attempt a much more challenging and controversial read - Peter Kay : "Saturday Night Peter"

Weather - good, dry and warm for most of the time. It did rain from around midday on Saturday, but i somehow managed to cope by finding a sports bar that showed both the Bolton v Spurs match and then the England v New Zealand rugby. Shame about the result.