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Showing posts from May, 2008

Czech it out (2) 捷克三日遊(2)

Our last day in the Czech Republic involved a lot of driving. 在捷克的最後一天,整天都開車到處跑。 In the morning we visited the Vysehrad (Castle on the Heights) on the south end of the city centre. One of our colleagues warned us beforehand to avoid driving in Prague. One of the reasons – we found out as we strolled through the myriad of streets – is that there are generally street signs only at one end of the street, typically the end with smaller street numbers. If the GPS fails or if there are temporary traffic diversions, a driving map wouldn’t be as helpful as it could be. (That’s also the reason why I found Prague rather difficult to navigate on foot at first; I ranked it almost on par with Venice which constantly fools people with its unnamed network of bridges and alleys!) The other reason became clear as we approached the park: we could not find a parking spot near Vysehrad after 15 minutes of searching. Eventually, I convinced our driver that we (i.e. cars) were allowed into the Vysehrad area...

Czech it out (1) 捷克三日遊(1)

My ‘conquest’ to the east continues after spending Easter in Croatia. Over the Pentecost long weekend (10th to 12th May), three other friends and I went for a trip in the neighbouring Czech Republic. Driving was a handy option for the four of us, as the Czech Republic was not that far away (the distance between Prague and Munich is only about 400 km), petrol costs were more reasonable when shared by 4 people, and it gave us much more flexibility with where we wanted to go. 今年是我的旅遊「東進年」,復活節到過克羅地亞後,我和幾個朋友上個長週末(5月10至12日)前往鄰國捷克玩了三天。由於距離不算太遠(首都布拉格離慕尼黑也是400公里左右),四人同行,駕車不但不貴,而且要往其他地方玩玩也更方便。 The 400 km drive was quite bearable as we have chosen to make a few breaks en route. After stopping at the border for money exchange and purchasing a highway sticker, we headed for the city of Plzen and spent 2 or 3 hours there. We had lunch at the famous local brewery of Pilsner Urquell and tried some ‘local cuisine’. It turned out that the food wasn’t too different from the meaty, hearty German fare, but...