České Budějovice

Never heard about this place before? So did I. We visited this small town on our way from Prague to Salzburg. České Budějovice is the Home of Budweiser, yes the beer! With a population of almost 100,000 people, České Budějovice is the largest city in South Bohemia. Many of my friends from the group think that this small city is the most beautiful city that we've visited during the trip. Let's see these pictures to understand why they could think that way.

Our bus stopped by the river not far from the hotel Budweis which is a pink hotel. A very impressive building. So we knew from our first steps that it was going to be a special kind of transit for us!

Than we continue walking to the center of the city which is a square, a beautiful square with colorful buildings.

There is also a tower called the Black Tower, was built of the dark local stone in the mid 1500's, and the viewing deck offers wonderful views over the South Bohemian countryside. But of course we didn't have the time to visit the tower.

The most impressive building is the town hall.

I envy people reading book at the square, it's so peaceful! I wish I could do the same.

We had a group picture in front of the fountain, which is located at the central of the square.

The square is surrounded by pub and cafes, of course all with the Budweiser.

We had lunch at a hotel called Maly Pivovar. Actually we had lunch at a restaurant inside the hotel. We had a salmon steak and a soup, and also a glass of ice cream.

We only stopped by for lunch and were given few minutes to take the pictures at the square. But this short visit was such a memorable experience for me. I am thinking of renting a car to explore Prague countryside with rene. Hope someday my dream will come true.

written on December 6, 2011

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Hilton Prague

I was very excited when I knew that Hilton will be one of our hotel during our east europe trip, I thought that the hotel was going to be as nice as Hilton Bandung, my hometown in Indonesia. But when we arrived at the hotel, it wasn't look like what I had in mind. Yes it was a huge hotel, and I believe many groups are coming here, which made this hotel looks very busy.

The biggest dissappointment is for the room, is it really a Hilton? Look at the TV, so old!

The lobby area is huge though..

The breakfast is really American, it was always crowded at the breakfast area.

The hotel located within a walking distance to the old town, and it is also a short walk to Palladium, the shopping mall. Of course there are many options which are closer to the Old Town. For example, Ibis is only few doors away from Palladium. But as for group, I think Hilton is great as it has a huge parking area.

written on Dec 5, 2011

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Prague Old Town

We continued walking from Charles Bridge to the old town of Prague. We passed by really antiques street, beautiful shops, lovely buildings, wohooo I love every corner of this old town:) I have managed to recap many pictures for this special post. Hope my blog readers can enjoy this old town just like me.

First destination was the astronomical clock, which what I read from Wikipedia, this clock was installed in 1410, making it the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest one still working.

The clock is located at the Old Town Square, a very busy square especially with a food festival when we visited the place.

I also saw people having fine dining at the resto around the square, wow every table has its own flame to keep the guests warm.

After visiting the clock and also the square, we were given free time to explore the old town on our own, our group visited the hard rock cafe first. While other people were shopping, I enjoyed free wifi from Hard Rock Cafe.

Than we walked to a street full of souvenirs shops. The famous souvenirs will be bohemian crystal, but of course it is too fragile to take it home.

All the shops are unique, the branded items, the chocolate shops, the toy store..they are all very photogenic:p

One of the famous tower is the Powder Tower, I visited this place with Pak Eddy and Lisa.

By the way, it was very challenging to find toilet at the old town. The toilets are limited, we had to queue and of course we had to pay.

We also had dinner at the old town, we had dinner at a Thai resto. Too bad no pictures were taken:p After the dinner, we went to Palladium mall before going back to the hotel. This mall has a Marks and Spencer outlet, Esprit, Mothercare, and also Sparkys, the toy store.

Later that night, when everyone were transferred to the hotel, I ask Pak Yulius, one of the photographer of our group, whether he would like to walk to the river near the hotel. He would love to. So we walked from the hotel and take a picture of Prague's river at night.

All about Prague was fantastic. There are still so many places to see, we had only a full day to explore Prague, and for sure it was not enough. Looking forward for another chance to visit this beautiful city.

written on Dec 3, 2011

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