David Currie

Had a trip to Goodwood race course today courtesy of my employer. Having seen nothing larger than dogs racing before it was quite awesome to see these powerful beasts up close in the paddock. We didn’t spend much time in the stand as it was much more exciting to be right up at the rail as the horses thundered passed. The course even lays on a minibus out to the start so that you see the pre-race preparation.

Having lost my first bet I then proceeded to win in five out of the six remaining races. I was hedging my bets each way though which, combined with small stakes, meant I was only about £15 up at the end of the day. Still, with work paying for transport, food and drinks the day was definitely a winner!

After the bustle of Prague it was nice to be taken out in to the countryside by our Czech friends Petr and Petra. It was a three hour train ride out to the village of Studenec where we have been staying with Petr’s family. Try getting any train journey in the UK for £2 let alone one for three hours! Yesterday we visited Petra’s home town of Hrádec Králové and then stopped briefly at Nove Mésto enroute to the fantastic sandstone rock formations at Adršpach.

Today, Petr was busy preparing for tomorrow’s event so we took the bus North with Petra to the Giant Mountains. We walked along the ridge from Å pindlerův Mlýn and up to Sněžka, the highest mountain in the Czech republic. It was then a bit of a sprint back down the valley to catch the last bus back.

Spent the last few days sightseeing in Prague and the surrounding area. We stayed in a building of the Theological Faculty of Charles University which our Czech friends had booked for us. It was comfortable and nice to have a kitchen. It was also in a quiet street so, other than the occasional burst of song from passing drunken Englishmen and the rowdy hen party down the corridor, it was possible to get a reasonable night’s sleep.

On Sunday we did a massive walking tour covering a large number of the historical sights. The weather was superb and it was nice just to wander around taking in the huge architectural variety. The camera was busy clicking away the whole time. We bought a ticket for the castle and also had some childish fun in the mirror maze. Had dinner at a small bar round the corner which, despite getting a mention in the Lonely Planet guide, was mercifully free of tourists (other than ourselves of course!).

On Monday we took the bus out to Kutná Hora. This was rather bad planning as, if we had read the guidebook properly, we would have realised that the cathedral is closed on Mondays. Almost missed the bus back as the driver decided to leave early while we were still eating our ice creams!

Yesterday we had another trip out of the city – this time taking the train to KarlÅ¡tejn. Having climbed the hill past all the tourist traps, we declined to join the hordes taking tours of the castle. Instead, we had a pleasant (and tourist free) walk through the countryside rejoining the trainline at DobÅ™ichovice.

Spent today back in Prague. Wandered over to VyÅ¡ehrad taking in, as is our want when visiting any city, the botanic gardens on the way. Rather bizarrely, bumped in to the same Asian film crew at the old castle that we had seen on Sunday. If you ever get to see “Love in Prague” then watch out for us in the background! Finally, we took the metro to Josefov and wandered around the old Jewish quarter.