Emily loves The Czech Republic (České Republice)

This one was a week spent with my friend Lucie in Olomouc and Prague. Lucie is from the Czech Republic so during the holidays I decided to pay her a little visit and get to know some stuff about her home country as well catch up and drink an insane amount coffee.

I can't say I learned much from this holiday in way of which hotels to stay at because I was lucky enough to be staying in Lucie's family home in Olomouc and with her sister in Prague. But I can give you a few tips on some great places to visit when there and how to deal with being in this country if you don't have a Czech speaking friend.

It's true when I say no-one is expecting you to go to the Czech Republic and be fluent in the Czech language but it does help to revise some basic language before you go. Personally I like to do this wherever I go I think the locals appreciate you making effort even if your pronunciation isn't spot on. A nice little site I came across before venturing into the unknown of Eastern Europe is http://www.myczechrepublic.com/. Here you can find some useful phrases covering typical tourist subjects such as greetings, eating out, getting directions and some random ones you might come across if you're lucky "Smím prosit?" (would you like to dance) to which you must of course reply "are you kiddin’? I love dancing let’s go!!" ok I don't know how to say that in Czech but maybe the more subtle approach will do, a simple 'yes, why not' ('jo, proč ne'). The thing I like best about this little sight is that besides each phrase is a play button so you can even practice saying it right before trying out your new language on the experts. Brilantní!!

Another really important thing to do when you visit Prague is make a note of the places that you eat that are exceptionally good and value for money (*cough* errrrm....yeah something I didn't do) but there is this really great pub/restaurant we visited in Prague. Maybe I can be forgiven for not remembering the name of this place as Lucie didn't have a clue either. All I can tell you is if you walk into a pub with lots of varnished wooden beams and a particular Czech puppet dominating the surroundings then order a plate of something czech it was good and value for money.

Prague (Praha)
Top places visit

1. The Prague castle (night and day - it looks different in the dark)
a. The Charles Bridge
b. The Astronomical Clock (on the hour so you can see the musical instrument playing puppets pop out as the clock chimes)

2. The Museum of Communism (http://www.muzeumkomunismu.cz/eng_find_us.html) - Really interesting to see historical information from different perspectives. I stumbled across this museum on my way to meet Lucie for a drink and I'm really glad I did.

3. The restaurant U Brejšků (for directions click here) http://www.ubrejsku.cz/br_mapa.asp - It's the one with the puppet of this czech character, Vojak Švejk a famous Czech character of a solider.

Olomouc
Top things to see and do

1. Visit the Astronomical Clock - Yes, there is one in Olomouc too!! ( I did not take that picture, sorry yes next time I will set up my camera on time delay and make sure I get the top of the clock in - sorry Lucie, great bricked ground but it's not the main attraction!)

2. Spot the Baroque Fountains - we are sure there are six we think there may be more but I'm told not even many people from Czech know for sure. The most famous is the Neptune one.

3. Drink some Kofola - it's a bit like coke but nicer I think, it's also "VERY" Czechish and became popular in the 60's in Czechoslovakia during communist times as a substitute for the western Coca-cola and Pepsi and is now only avaliable from Czech Republic and Solvakia (I've read quite a few pages about people in the USA having difficulty finding it there so literally if you're in Czech try it - you might not get another chance!)

4. Notice the Holy Trinity Column - a UNESCO world heritage site, this column is representative of the Baroque period.

Overall top tips

1. practice some basic lingo - especially if you want to visit smaller places outside of Prague (not everyone can speak English)

2. get a map of the areas you want to visit - you can find these at most tram and tube stations, tourist info places or if you're super organised, online before you leave

3. public transport - I travelled from the main station Prague (Praha hlavní nadraží), to the main station Olomouc (Olomouc hlavní nadraží), all the cities have a main station and will be called the name of that city followed by "hlavní nadraží" (main station).

4. the currency - Czech crown or koruna (Kč) £1 is about 28 CZK