In the end I hardly slept at all on the train to Prague, mostly due to chatting excessively to my fellow traveller Heidi, sitting opposite. Though American, she is spending a year living in Prague (working and studying) and so was travelling back to her temporary home. She was fascinated by my tales of the last 10 months, and before we arrived in Prague, she had very kindly offered to let me stay at her apartment.

It took 30 minutes on the Prague metro to reach Heidi’s place, being on the outskirts of the city in a quiet location. I got a couple of hours of sleep there, and then headed back in to the city to wander round the beautiful old town area.

After seeing a church I went to the top of the Powder Tower for the view of the city.

From the Powder Tower, the next stop was the famous Charles Bridge

I went up the Lesser Bridge Tower on the western end of the bridge, for the view looking back. The wonderful thing about Prague is the fact that no significant damage was done to the city in World War 2, and there are no modern high rise buildings – or any modern building within the main centre of the city.

It is 5 years since I first visited Prague, and the changes are significant following the end of communism just 18 months ago – a lot more life and color. Fortunately the city’s unique “look” has been preserved, with very few modern advertising signs in the old areas – so far at least.

After wandering round the castle in the afternoon I headed back to Heidi’s apartment to find she’d also returned and was starting to prepare a rather delicious meal, which fused Asian and Eastern European cuisine. After eating we headed out for the city centre once more, wandering in the old town, then having a beer in the lively and central Wenceslas Square. This is the least square-shaped square in Europe – being actually a long boulevard.

In the morning (27th August) I got off to a slow start – Heidi had already gone. I eventually headed in to the city late morning.

After going to an art gallery with some beautiful renaissance paintings I saw the changing of the guard at Prague Castle at midday. While this happened, the band played a tune which sounded remarkably similar to the theme from Thunderbirds!

I took photos in and around the beautiful St Vitus Cathedral – which is part of the castle complex.

I headed back down through Hradcany Square towards the Royal Garden on the north side.

I caught the metro to the museum where I met up with Heidi to go for a late lunch – she is definitely a “foodie” and took me to a restaurant with a nice terrace, for a typical Czech meal of pork and dumplings. Prices in Czechoslovakia are higher than they were under communism in 1986, but are still pretty low.

After a wander along the river, Heidi went to do an errand, and I went to the Old Town Square where there was more evidence (if any were required) as to why I hadn’t been able to find any Andean folk musicians when in Peru and Bolivia. They are all here in Europe!

The group I found just under the famous Astronomical Clock were from Potosí in Bolivia – the city at 4000 metres, where I had ventured into the scary silver mine.

After briefly wandering round an exhibition about Siberia I headed back to the apartment.

Next day was 28th August. Heidi, who is about to go on a 3 week trip to Paris and the UK, rushed off to finish up some essential business, and I had a very leisurely day. It was my turn to cook, so I went to a nearby supermarket and tried to decipher the Czech labels to get something edible to prepare later. I then spent most of the day bringing my diary up to date.

I also listened to a local English-speaking radio station, providing UK news, and also playing hits from the UK music charts. I have been completely out of touch with what are the current popular songs, but one new hit really stuck a chord with me. It’s apparently about the freedom sweeping the USSR and former communist countries, but actually appears to perfectly describe my experience of the failed Soviet coup last week. It’s called “Wind of Change” by a German group called Scorpions.

Heidi gets Newsweek magazine delivered, and I read a few older copies to see pictures of some of the news stories that I’d only heard about on the radio over the last few months.

When Heidi returned I gave her all the advice I could think of for her imminent trip. She wants to visit the Outer Hebrides as well as see a variety of things in the UK, so I essentially planned her itinerary for her, all the way from Paris to the little port of Uig on the Scottish Isle of Skye, from where she will need to get the boat to the remote outer islands.

We both leave Prague tomorrow by train, Heidi westwards to Paris, and me south into Bohemia.