Prague
The Ibis hotel we were staying at for the two nights in Prague, Czech Republic, was the best positioned accommodation of the journey. It was located next to a giant shopping centre, a few bars and a tram line. We had all planned and paid for go karting at Europes largest indoor track, over 1km long. However, as we were driving into the city, we caught the last of a huge storm that had blown in. This storm had damaged the roof over the go kart tracking, forcing them to cancel that activity.
Having a late start the next day and nothing to do in the afternoon, was the perfect recipe for a big night out. We started the epic night by going to a pub around the corner from the hotel where our Tour Manager had suggested. Having most of the Contiki suggested places being dive bars, I wasn’t expecting much, especially when I heard you could buy buckets of alcohol there. However, what we found was quite a nice, stylish and modern bar with comfy seating, good music and awesome drinks.
I shared a Malibu Mohito and Colin got a Raspberry one for himself. It was quite fun, everyone in the group is getting along better probably because the end is so near, the newly formed couples feel more secure and we arent seen as threats to the ‘dude-bros’ anymore. As we were leaving, I decided to try the only drink on the menu that didn’t list its ingredients, a shot named ‘Godzilla vs King Kong’.
A friend on the trip had one with me, after doing the shot, she left the bar and promptly through up on the footpath. I was a little better than that and managed to keep it down though I did go to the bathroom just incase. When we were ordering another drink to help remove the awful taste in our mouth, I asked the bartender what was in it and he explained that the Godzilla was bohemian absinthe and King Kong was a local liqueur that is 80% alcohol.
We all got on the tram to head into the heart of Prague to go to a famous club called ‘Golden Tree’. The place was really awesome, as you descend down into the depths through the narrow and bendy corridors, you find many diverse and interesting rooms. There were traditional bars, there was a large dance floor with mirror walls, a bar with strippers dancing, rooms with couches and much more.
Getting an individual drink was quite costly, what was a lot cheaper was to get a bottle of something and shared it. SP, some others and I got a bottle of Absolut vodka and 6 Red Bulls for 33 Euros. I stayed until 2 or 3am and then FaceTimed Tanya back home till a bit after 4. I only managed to sleep for about three hours before waking up, we had forgotten to close the curtains and the bright European sunlight flooded the room.
The next day started off as a bit of a struggle. Colin through up within two minutes of him waking up, but after that, didn’t feel too sick. I felt good, just extremely tired. The activities for the day were some sightseeing on foot, a river cruise, nuclear bunker tour and a black light disco so a pretty full on day. The sightseeing was fun, but after all this time the statues and churches of Europe start all melding into one giant conglomerate.
By the time we walked to the river cruise the full effects of my tiredness set in. On the boat was a buffet of pretty average food and three free drinks. Not wanting to get back on the horse so soon, I opted for apple juice. The views from onboard while we were eating were not that impressive, mostly a wall or another boat would take-up the entire field of vision. After we had eaten but before I even got desert, I found a nice air conditioned spot on the floor and went to sleep.
I awoke just as the boat was docking, about an hour and a half later. Apparently the views improved a bit and we were guided through the sights by our captain, but I needed the rest. After the cruise, our already small numbers dwindled even more as people went back to the hotel to sleep. It was more walking, tram-ing and train-ing until we arrived at the cities largest nuclear bunker.
A guide dressed in traditional communist attire including an Ak-47 (but wearing sandals) greeted us at the entrance. He explained that it was built during the Cold War in response to the looming threat of a nuclear Third World War. As Czechoslovakia was on the border of the Iron Curtain, it would be the first hit by an attack and as such they wanted to be as prepared as possible. It was really cool (in both uses of the word) and different. The guide knew his stuff and there were a lot of cool artefacts to check out.
After the bunker tour it was a ‘get your own’ dinner so naturally Colin and I headed to KFC. The food there was the exact same, Czech Republic is very much westernised now, with the same brands and stores we do. We decided we wanted something a little more interesting so we found some markets set up. We got a traditional sausage hot dog and sat and watched some street performers. Before long it was time to head to the black light disco.
The black light disco is meant to be amazing and a must see when in town. The premise is dancers and objects covered in white or bright colours dance whilst lights and projections are played. I had hear mixed reports from awesome to only good if high to terrible. Personally, I thought it was pretty boring and average. After seeing shows in Vegas I found it pretty amateur and dull. If you were spending a lot of time here, maybe it would be worth it, but spending half the time here on that was a shame.
A few people who had skipped on some or all of the days activities went out along with some people who didn’t go out the previous night went out to the most famous club, the Five Story club. Apparently it was super packed and awesome, so I was a bit disappointed but I was just too exhausted. We got up early in the morning to head to the Rhine Valley.
About the Author
Mannan
Mannan is a software engineering enthusiast and has been madly coding since 2002. When he isn't coding he loves to travel, so you will find both of these topics on this blog.