PRAGUE

We stayed in the lesser quater at the Rocco Forte Augustine hotel. Absolutely fantastic stay. Great concierge and service. Good spa


Must see

Prague Castle. Take the tram and go all the way up the prague castle. See the Loretto Cathedral and the monastry. then enter the castle. 


Whats and absolutel MUST SEE is prague castle by night. Its a sight not to be missed. Go late night after the tourists have retired, to the Charles bridge and gaze .

                                                      ASTRONOMICAL CLOCK TOWER






Must see a Back Light theatre preformance. Look up google or ask conceirge to book. 


Walk around the Town square and the old town square . Reach at an hour time eg 1 pm or 5 pm , and hear the bells to dink tink bring. interesting if you can make it at that time, else u havnt missed something very fantastic. But do see the clock. 


Charles bridge. You cannot miss it. Basically one can walk all over prague. its a small city. 

Wal to the street for shopping. - Plzeňská . All top ends, but worth going to see the buzz. Lots of dept stores. Ask around

Manufactuer - local spa stuff. Very nice. Shops all over prague.

Crsytal. If you want to pick up somethiung large look around, But definatley pick up something small as a sovenior. 
Moser. ask concierge. there is a large one in Plzeňská. expenxive.
Artelglass . very nice stuff (look up net)
Blue - also lovely stuff. (in airport and all over prague)


Restaurants. 


four seasons hotel - Cottacruda
Bellevue. 
Kampapark
Barock
NOstress


Wine bar - j Vinograf wine cafe. Very close to charles bridge. look up net for complete address. go early. very small. gets full. also serve food.


La Bodeguita del medio. cuban bar. amazing place. if you want to eat book in advance, or just go for the ambience and a drink. 


Lots of other bars, MI, Bombay High, ask concierge. 

Dresden - Germany

We stayed at the older, quieter part of dresden. Across the Elben river, in Bulox Palais Hotel.
Wonderful small setting with great service, friendly concierge and amazing spa.

Restaurants
Carrousel - Bulox Palais. Book in advance. Ask for veg food to be prepared on booking, sit back and be amazed.
Villandry - book in advance - meditarranean.
Pfunds dairy - must visit for lunch or dinner. The food is to die for. Well stocked bar.

Must visit Residencescholss. Book tickets in advance. Gorgeous sculptors, art, curios, artefacts.
Zwinger palace.
Opera House
Volkswagen Glass factory
Beer garden local microbreweries.

The British - Stiff Upperlip.

I am in a hotel in London, and for the first time ever, experiencing a small flavour of racism. The hostess at the breakfast room, had no problem letting an ENTIRE family of 5, walk in with flipfliops but she asked me not to do so the next day. By the way their flipflops were uglier.
The doorman in this hotel has a beautiful pointed nose. And he holds it up so well, it cuts into the chilly london winds.
Its really quite amusing. While their lips are stiffened and supporting their nose, held high in the air, from below their waist - these idiots are getting raped!
If they care to look down, they will find their pants have been ripped open.
I have this very racist fantasy of my own. Every time a proper Brit serves me or asks if she / he can help me in a shop, i take extreme perverse pleasure in it. More so when we enter a shop or restaurant and they look like "helooo, do you know where you have placed  your filthy feet into??" And yet it takes just a wee bit of snobbishness on your part to set them straight. Me- I could not be bothered. I am an Indian at heart, with a good dose of pedastrian - ism! I dont care to look or behave fancy. And if that is the defination and basis of your treatment, well its fine by me. All i hope is at some point your fore father was a British Babu and now you are serving me, and feeling humble about the business i have given you, a part of your paypacket has come from me! HA!!
I hope your forefather is groaning and turning in his grave and you go home everyday and hear those groans in your sleep!
HA!
As the world is realising the status of India, I stand by proud. The only thing I envy every European Citizen is their roads and instilled sense of traffic.
The way they zip by on cycles, gettting traffic priority. And no cars honking after every breath the driver takes.
And no rickshaws! Those vehicles, one day i shall acid burn a few!

Prague

I have never seen a prettier city by night. When the tired tourists toddle back home, the babies are asleep, the last of the city retires into their hotels and homes, the city shines out in all its glory. We were walking back after a wonderful meal, and the city felt silent and warm. Not weatherwise warm, that was cold enough to freeze our eyelashes. But welcoming warm. The few tourists left were as mesmerized by the city as us. We all hung around, feeling mutual bonhomie and peace.
Madhur and me, were on top of the Charles bridge. In the day its noisy, with throngs and throngs of tourist, hawkers and road side musicians. But night weaved a different spell. All around the city the lights peppered the sides of the city. But these lights were not scattered. They were lined beautifully, but it yet gave the feeling of pleasant planning, not ruthless lines like in a highway. We looked around wonderstruck and then realised that the housing and hotel constructions have been beautifully planned. No haphazard construction, no sudden reisdential or commercial complexes in the middle of the hertiage sites. The Prague castle, the many cathedrals, monastries, domes and towers stood out in their own blissful glory, with no blinking light distractions from homes and cafes. As a result the entire visual city of Prague could be gulped in, with a landscopic eye view, with no obstructions from either side of the bridge.
Having said that, Prague is the city of maximum cafes and restaurants I have ever seen. Every nook and cranny, alley and broadwalk has copious amounts of them. (this is planning by the Prague govt i say, the hertiage sites had many cafes in and around them, but none - absolutely none played disco lights with the hertiage sites).
Coming back to the cafes, you name it and a restaurant exists. Look left, look right and look sideways, restaurants, cafes, crystal shops (prague is known for its crystal, and rightly so !) and more bars.
We had some of our best meals here and visited some of the best bars too. Names will follow in next blog!
In the daylight, Prague gave me a feeling of desperation. Of locals scrambling and clawing their way up. At night, the city lost this sluggishness, and shined out with music, theatres, operas, and buzzing bars. Not to mention the castle which took on a life of its own.
The prague Castle is HUGE. Its supremely massive, one of the largest Castle complexes in Europe. It towers over the city and stands in kingly stature booming over the city. Its majestic and classy. Most constructions range from the 11th Centuary onwards, relatively new when you compare them to Rome etc, but extremely well maintained.
All in all Prague was a worth visit. It holds a special place in my eyes!

Prague

Help! The Chinese have landed. They are all over the place! In throngs! Talking loudly! In their nasal and they wear neon coloured clothes. While we sat for coffee, an entire train load walked past. One of the women was wearing yellow, striking golden yellow jeans, blue shirt and a neon dazzling pink half jacket. Like a beacon!
We walked and walked and walked. All over the Prague castle and the area surrounding it. The Prague castle being the biggest castle complex in Europe. After seeing what they had to show, I am further convinced that the Indian governtment is run by jackasses. If I were to compare Prague to India, then turning the oldest ancestral house, in our village in Maulasar into a heritage site, in itself can attract tourists from all over!!! With typical Rajasthani food seRved, and a small tour to the fields. Voila!!! Maulasar village and villagerS heading towards prosperity. If Prague was wah wah!. Then Maulasar, that unknown village would be wah wah and wah! There were cupboards in the castle, which made Madhur sneer and say "ha! These and better would be seen in any bawas house in Bombay" and it's a fact. In name of tourism, countries show their local garbage and run the country. India has treasures, and we are running after garbage.

Dresden to Prague

We went to a Guinness record holding store today. For the most beautiful dairy!!! And beautiful it was. The entire wall was covered with enamelled tiles. But I was more excited to hear that a dairy in germany was world famous. I could expect that from Switzerland or new Zealand or even from the farting cOws of England. We had a wonderful sinful meal of cheese soup and more cheese with fresh baguette and the suggested buttermilk. Hmm hmm! Picked up fantastic apricot jam with wasabi flavour and some yet to taste -chocolates.
As we drove down to Prague the entire scene changed. Suddenly kids were allowed to pull down their pants and pee on the grass next to parked cars and men were stopping at road bends and openly peeing. The drivers were cutting into lanes. There was honking. The buildings changed.
Everyone who heard I was going to Prague had a sparkle in their eye when they spoke about this city. I have loved it too. But beneath the beautiful facade I find, lies the public who Is clawing its way up. The need to please is very intense. The need to be a part of the EU as a valuable member has them under immense pressure. But it's pretty. And the effort being made is supremely visible and tremendously apreciated.
Tomorrow we are going to see the Prague castle. It's massive. And we have these quaint attic rooms with the castle view, in a hotel which is part monastery. (we tasted the monastery brewed beer ) and I hereby dedicate my life to this monastery.

Dresden

It's so cold here, I have forgotten what warm feels like. It's tiring just putting on the layers of clothes and even more tiring taking it off for a few minutes when inside a store then putting them all again for a few min walk to another indoor area. My body is mighty confused, I can tell you that!
Dresden is a mix of old world and the new modern hubs. A bit disconcerting to see a beautiful architectural marvel of a cathedral next to a new modern high rise residence complex. But what gorgeous collections exist here! We went to " residenceschloss" the residence of the king. And the collections of armour, ivory carving, jewellery, gold and silver pieces were a sight which left my mouth hanging. The security came in and asked me to shut it, lest I salivated on their polished to a shine glass cases. Most of the cases were humidity controlled, and had some sort of heavy absorbent chemical slabs inside. The German attention to detail is something we should try to achieve, without being too "bawa" about it
The new treasure room indeed had some eye popping displays. One in particular was a minutely carved ivory piece. It was a ship with Intricate carving on the sails, the god of the seas holding it up and his two horses rearing up, helping him with the weight. If I was a art thief this is the piece which would be the one which would be my coup.
The Turkish collection had four horses at the very entrance. I was in an instance trance. Think of the tallest person you know. Now imagine that person standing ram rod straight - but still under the massive belly and chest of the horse! Riding a horse that tall = equivalent to being on the first floor of a building.
We finished the day with a five course meal after a litre of beer at a local brewery.
We leave Dresden tomorrow with a heavy heart and a heavier stomach.
And hopefully softer weather in Prague.