castle

Day 11 – Beirut

Posted on April 2, 2018

Hotel, sweet hotel.

An early start today, as we had to pack our things, clean up, get showered, dressed and ready by 8:00am. Oh and our electricity wasn’t working all morning, so that made things even more fun!

A scramble later, and we were picked up and driven to Beirut, to the hotel we’ll be staying in for the remainder of our trip. Oh and we picked up some kanafeh sandwiches on the way, which was unexpected, but pretty good. We only stopped to check in, drop off our bags and meet up with Zena, before heading back out for the day (Zade was sick and stayed back).

Our first destination was an old mosque located up the mountains a bit. There wasn’t a whole lot to see, but there was a nice man who showed us around and explained the various historical significance of each room.

Next up was Moussa Castle, which was built entirely by Moussa Abdel Karim Al Maamari and houses many of his creations, as well as historical items and weaponry from different periods.

From there, we went to lunch at an outdoor restaurant, surrounded by trees, a lake and a waterfall. There was live music and a set mezze/meat/fruit menu (no complaints here) which made for a nice atmosphere. Though when you’re eating under a tree, you have to be prepared to have random leaves and things fall onto your plates. But an otherwise great meal.

Everyone was pretty tired by this point (not to mention I had begun another sneeze attack), so we headed back to the hotel to get an early rest before our tour tomorrow. I took more photos than I thought though, so no early night for me!

Day 23 – Prague

Posted on July 19, 2017

It’s just like a bit of weird art.

We started the day by going to the Gerhard Richter exhibition at one of the National Galleries near our apartment. Apparently our tickets also get us into a bunch of other exhibitions around town. He had some really impressive photo-realistic paintings which were the highlight for me.

After walking around the gallery, we walked to the square and immediately needed to stop for a drink and morning tea, as it was insanely hot, and I was hungry. We shared a couple pizzas and had a cold drink, before beginning the long walk to where the other galleries we could visit were located. They were across the river, over near the Prague Castle.

We braved the heat and the many steps, finally arriving at one of the places, a palace, after an hour or so of walking. We entered, only to be told our ticket wasn’t actually valid for this place, or the other few in the area. It looked like it only gets into one other gallery, five minutes from the first. Feels bad man.

Since we had already trekked all that way, we thought we might as well go into Prague Castle again, and have a rest in a shady spot in the Royal Gardens, where it was nice and peaceful.

We sat on a bench under some trees and rested for about an hour, before going back to get some dinner. There was an Italian restaurant I found, near the river, which is apparently great, so we tried it out. It did not disappoint.

One of the best meals we’ve had on this trip so far! Fancy, but hearty and affordable. Some homemade lemonade. Rib-eye steak, mashed potatoes and mushroom sauce. Chocolate cake with lemon, banana, coconut and ice cream. Man I love food.

When we had finished our meal, we walked leisurely back to the apartment, following the river, watching the sunset. We came across this John Lennon Wall on the way back too which was cool.

Tomorrow is our last day in Prague. We have to check-out by 6pm, but our flight isn’t until late (11pm or so), so we’ll be hanging out at the airport! Yay! Not sure what we’ll do during the day, but probably won’t be many photos. Just relaxing, exploring a little more and having a nice lunch before getting organised to leave.

Day 22 – Prague

Posted on July 18, 2017

Han shot first.

A solo mission today, to Prague castle once more, as promised. The castle grounds are larger than I thought, so it was great to have enough time to walk around and see the different areas.

I revisited the South Garden and took some photos of the city below. It’s a great garden, which has amazing views of the city down the entire length.

I also found my way to the Royal Garden on the opposite side, which was much larger, and way less crowded. Hardly anyone was there, and it was quiet. A very calming, peaceful place.

After exploring those, I did a quick visit inside the enormous St Vita church. You had to pay to go properly go inside, but there was an area you could walk into inside which was free. Oh and this thing is huge. Like, crazy huge. Just an enormous structure. Quite a sight to behold.

At this point, the heat and constant walking was tiring me and I was hungry, so I started the long trek back to meet with the others and get some food. We ended up eating at the same Japanese place again and had another solid meal, before heading back to the apartment for the night.

Day 21 – Prague

Posted on July 17, 2017

What can you see, on the horizon?

Let me preface with: no camera today. Sometimes you just need a break from the extra weight of a camera/bag and a chance to experience the day without worrying about photos. We apologise for any inconvenience.

Our day began in the usual fashion at the apartment, before we headed out to visit Prague Castle, stopping into a church on the way. We didn’t realise how big the castle was though and how many different things there were to see inside.

We spent some time just walking around, checking out the buildings, churches, gardens and panoramic views the castle offered. I’m probably going to go back there tomorrow with my camera and spend the day exploring it properly, as the others want to do some shopping.

After that, we trekked back towards our apartment, and went to find some dinner. There was a highly recommended burger place near our apartment, so we walked there and it surely did live up to the reviews. Delicious burger, good atmosphere/music and pretty good prices.

We then had a short rest at the apartment before going to a nearby gallery which was hosting a concert we had booked tickets for in the morning. It was a Czech guitar duo, who had arranged and performed various classical songs in a small venue. Was a nice way to end the night.

Photos and details about the castle to come tomorrow.

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