Prague, New Years, Duck!

The last few days has been probably the most interesting of the trip so far. Arrived in Prague at about 3pm and went on a walking tour straight away. Steve is officially 'cold' at -8C, but the sites of the city are amazing. Checked out the Hradceny Castle, the Charles Bridge, the Old Town, the Town Square. We took a river cruise today and checked out the Jewish quarter, which has the oldest synagogues in Europe not levelled by the Germans during WW2.

Last night for New Years Eve was interesting. Clearly fireworks are not illegal in the Czech Republic, as walking into the centre of town felt a bit like downtown Baghdad. Most of the fireworks were just small rockets, but some of them sounded like small car bombs. We also saw some guys on the Charles Bridge who had a rocket that was about 3 foot tall and a foot wide, on fire, and laying on the ground after the cops told them to put it out. Seeing the police in full riot gear was also pretty funny. It's okay mums, we're alright. Though we did see a guy get hit with a firework.

At midnight we found a really cool place to watch the fireworks from, just near the main bridge with a perfect view of the Castle. It was a pretty impressive sight, made all the more for the signal flares and home made rockets the locals were letting rip. Aftetr the fireworks we walked back to the hotel in a brisk -6, but it really is a beautiful city. Though Steve has caught a bit of a fever, it's mostly passed now, so a bit more low key NYE than we expected. Though we did try an amazing spirit that had herbs and spices in it.

Things here are CHEAP. Tonight we ate a full dinner for a about 15 Euro, and last night we were drinking pints for about a buck. Some of the Czech food is also amazing. In the time here we've had fried cauliflower, boar goulash (Steve), some really bland local dumplings, Pickled Mushrooms (Ness). All in all, loved the city, and it may be the best place we've visited yet. Could easily have spent another few days here and still not seen everything - unfortunately, being New Years Day, a lot was closed today.

Tomorrow, off to Munich.

Observations of note:
- Smoking inside is yucky.
- People take their dogs into shops!
- There aren't many public toilets (Steve and some of the boys have 'relieved' themselves across Europe)
- Lots of statues of dudes on horses.

TTFN!