No you won't fool the children of the revolution

This weekend we whisked Julie away for an euroweekend to Prague. The Czech capital was lovely - warm, sunny and pretty. Sometimes almost too pretty and too clean, it was almost unrecognisable from the city I visited in 1992. Then, there were practically no tourists, not a lot of accommodation and eating out consisted of chewing gristly meat and leaden dumplings. It was beautiful, but still grim after years of communism. Now, it's all Italian restaurants, designer hotels and crystal shops on every corner, which is all very good for the cashed-up northern European tourist, but we did wonder how accessible it all was to the average Czech.

We ran into two groups of guys we know from London, which goes to show how small the world is (or at least how small the gay scene is in Prague). And the Czech boys are very pretty, in that hairless, suntanned, East European way. Both nights we ended up at Valentino's which was not a bad spot. In particular on Saturday night there was a room playing cheesy eurotrash and (I assume) Czech classics. It was hilarious and a lot of fun. The only other bar of note was 21, it had a good vibe, and at least was air-conditioned. In comparision Saints Bar, was too hot, and full of English expats. Add the heat and cigarette smoke into the mix and we ended up quickly downing our beers and leaving.



Prague at times seemed overrun with tourists, with Charles Bridge in particular bearing most of the weight of the onslaught. But buggered if I know where the tour groups all go at night, after 11pm there was practically no-one out. And it seems that Americans are travelling again too, for the first time in large numbers since September 11. We've noticed increasing numbers in London, and then this weekend in Prague we were lucky enough to encounter some (obviously not from NYC, M + R). One in particular at our hotel could project his voice with enviable clarity. "Where y'all from?" he asked the table next to him. The entire breakfast room of forty tables turned as one, after all he must have been speaking to us.....


Any hope of a moderate alcohol intake for the weekend went out the window when we arrived at the hotel maximillian and there was a complimentary bottle of wine in the room. Combine that with Czech beer (fantastic - Budvar, Pilsner Urquell, Gambrinus and Staropramen.....), lounge access at the airport, and a 3-hour delay to our return flight (thankyou BA!) and my liver is in desperate need of a few days off.

Speaking of alcohol, despite our worst fears and it's notorious reputation, Prague wasn't overrun by stag groups (buck's parties). I think the fact that the World Cup final was on on Sunday affected stag numbers and there are now cheaper Eastern European cities that meet the stag group criteria of cheap beer.

Saturday we attended an opera recital at the Estates Theatre. Unfortunately, it was after our very relaxing Thai massage, so the three of us were sitting there nodding off. I bet the short and halter top-wearing (seriously - at the Opera - where do these people come from?) octogenarians were so jealous. More pics here.