Prague with friends...

Some things are best done with friends.

And visiting the beautiful old town of Prague is one of them.

For 48 hours there was an invasion of 8 Wanstead Women .....

....and it was a great excuse to hire a guide for the morning and see the sights through fresh eyes.

For such a little country the Czech Republic sure has a lot of interesting history – I suppose that’s what happens when you’re bang smack in the middle of Europe, you keep getting invaded by your neighbours, and then your neighbours neighbours.

First inhabited by the Celtics and Germanic tribes, then the Slavic people onto the Romans for a bit, then it became part of the Habsburg Empire (Austrian), onto the Nazi’s and finally the Russians.  It’s frankly a wonder that the Czech’s have managed to hold onto their language and culture.

What's not quite as well known is that fact that the Czech Republic was one of the richest countries in the roaring twenties and thirties, with an art scene and a cafe culture (I like the sound of that!) and Prague was its thriving capital - think Cool Britannia in the 90s.

After the war and Nazi occupation the communist party was voted in.  No one could foresee that the Russians would invade, and the country would lay dormant under the communist dictatorship for nearly 50 years - all those businesses, shops, factories and any entrepreneurial spirit would lay gathering dust or fading away until the Velvet Revolution.

Here's a picture of us at the John Lennon Wall which started as wall of silent protest against the regime where graffiti would spring up like wild flowers.

But since the revolution the city of a 100 spires has relcaimed its place in Europe and now is one of the top tourist destinations, and it's a great place for a city break.

  

It was a wonderful to share some of Prague's gems with friends, to re-connect and to share a glass of bubbly on a rooftop bar overlooking the city.


Cheers girls!  and thanks for coming.

P.S if you're missing reading the blog in Czech here is a translation LOL!
http://translate.google.cz/translate?sl=en&tl=cs&js=n&prev=_t&hl=cs&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fpragueherewecome.blogspot.com%2F2012%2F03%2Fprague-with-friends.html&act=url