Ten Things To Do Cheaply In Prague.

1. Camp. We stayed at Sokol Troja camping. The showers were rubbish but we could use a kitchenette so we didn't use up our own gas.

2. Tram. Driving in the city looked a nightmare. Although our legs did get a proper work-out over the three days there. Especially as it was unusual that we knew where we were going.

3. Live Music. There were three groups of entertainers in the square at once on Thursday. One consisted of four men on stilts trying to dance and some musicians. A band on the Charles IV bridge did a super Frank Sinatra impression.

4. The Clock Tower. Better than any map.

5. The Castle. Quite a long walk but not good on the details unless you surreptitiously join a tour.

6. Avoid the Square. We found a great bar where cocktails were about £4 (half the price of a beer on the square) and we even got some free ones from the barman.

7. Ice-Cream. Seems very cheap in the Czech Republic. I tried mango and caramel flavours.

8. Siam Orchid. The Thai restaurant hidden away. Meal for two, including drinks, £20.

9. Beer. From the supermarket. Wide variety, none of which I understood, all pretty fair and less than £1 a bottle (50cl).

10. Walk. At night. Gorgeous.

Birthday!

Waking later as there wasn't the blazing sun of the previous days I flicked the curtain to reveal the gloomily predicted grey skies. But after my tea and when Ed had decided it was a reasonable hour to get up, we had a special breakfast in the van with pink champagne and Czech pastries. I had four cards too! And some more at home.

We spent the day wandering: Prague Castle, the opposite side of the river to the city, was more of a fortress than a castle, then we retraced now familiar steps to some shops for a few birthday purchases. It was 4.30 by the time we arrived back at the campsite so not much time for a nap if we were going to catch 'happy hour' at a swish cocktail bar in town.

The evening was fantastic. After a Pina Colada at the bar with its wide sofas and plump cushions we made our way down a side street to the Thai restaurant suggested by the Lonely Planet and that (fortunatley) we had dug up earlier on. Definatlty worth it. I had a cod dish with spicy vegetables and Ed had beef in a thin red curry sauce served in a bowl, we shared rice noodles with chicken and peanuts. After we continued our night exploring a few of Pragues hip and hopping bars. I had maybe a cocktail too many but it was a really fun night. Big thanks to Ed for making it special!

Czech Republic #1.

Spent the day in spa town Karlovy Vary. Yesterday's sojourn in nearby picturesque village Loket was a good welcome into the country - the small island like fortress town was buzzing with life and out waitress spoke fluent German and English. Today was much hotter - 28°C at its highest. Regular intervals of gusty wind down the Templa River kept us sane while we joined the crowds with our new traditional porcelain mug, sipping the heated mineral water. (A swim in the outdoor thermal pool got us off to a good start though.)

So now we are fully rejuvenated to continue to Prague! That is if you give ice-cream the same qualities as this hideously warm, iron-like water. It tasted like bits of the shiny porcelain were coming off into the water, and what it did to the stone basins it dribbled into isn't exactly good advertising.

Comparison of a porta-loo and weeing in a forest / hedge.

• Porta-loos can be well located in car parks & unlike public toilets they are not locked overnight.
• They are both free (unlike many public toilets).
• Sometimes peeing outside is difficult due to residential areas / busy roads / street lights.
• Porta-loos smell.
• Not too many people tend to wee outside and it is very unusual to be in the same spot. Therefore there is not a build-up of human wastage / faeces.
• Sometimes porta loos supply their own loo roll.
• Most times one has to use one's own loo roll.
• Defecation is all part of the natural process of life and should therefore not be kept inside a small plastic box.
• Behind a tree can be more discrete than in a porta-loo in a car park.
• Splash back is more often a disadvantage of peeing outside.
• Neither has its own lighting.

No. times weeing outside = 6
No. times using porta-loo = 3

Leaving Lepzig

Unfortunately I didn't have time at the internet cafe to update the blog. Leipzig is great. Modern, fun and architecturally aesthetic. We also had the added pleasure of a night in a campsite.

Three Days Down the Rhine.

We started off at Cologne then drove for maybe an hour to Koblenz where we crossed to the left bank as the road trails alongside the river. Our first stopping point was Braubach. There was a campsite but parking just outside it meant that we were chased away by a rather stern sounding German... so we parked up the road.

On closer inspection of the available parking it appeared that there was a special campervan ground which was 7Euros a night plus electricity, we learned all this from the first English people we had seen; a lovely couple also travelling down the Rhine, back to their home in Croatia. We decided to stay where we were. And had a fantastic nights sleep, disregarding the huge cargo trains landside and the loud ferries river side.

So we have been continuing our journey South (19.5.11) stopping every 10k or so to wander in the quaint German towns. Walking is the best way to get to know the place. A short hike took us to the hills, through a forest and into the castle that crests Braubach - the only original in Germany. Good views and good weather set spirits high.

The other piece of vitally excuiting news is the discovery of how brilliant the solar shower really is!! Although its probably not at its peak in such close proximity to roads...

A Rose Garden in the Centre of Cologne

The undulating noise throngs
in circles round the city. No space
to sit, to be, to breathe.

But there's a ruin: old house
overgrowth toying at its walls.
And through a gate, barred yet

open to a wandering soul
and padding feet will lead you there.
Up a brick stair and out

from the lusty bracken, higher
until you ring the city ringed by cars;
a quiet terrace. Sunny spots

and peaceful benches, their firm seat
reassuring like a hand on your shoulder.
Old couples come here. You will see

them strolling, quietly. It seems they know
how sweet earth grown scent
can rest a heart, and mind with things to say.

Celebrations in the Dam

It's a shame when it rains on your holiday. It's raining this morning. We were thinking of doing one last trip into the city centre before our 48 hour tram tickets ran out but I think we might just check out and go on our way. Fortunately we have had quite a good weekend, if not a little windy, and also fortunately we have a nice cosy campervan to hide in rather than one of the little tents blowing around on the field in the middle of the campsite.

Yesterday we woke up late, read some books and found out where we should go. A new map (now the fourth in our collection of maps of Amsterdam) pointed out an area we hadn't been - on the West side of the city, Jordan. So making the most of any tram connections we negotiated our way over to these quaint residential streets. As Ed was nearly dying of hunger (!) we focused in on a pancake restaurant, which the map had suggested. For once I dared to try maple syrup with my bacon... not actually as bad as you would think...

The restaurant itself was underground, a queue of people indicating its tiny entrance, and at every proceeding corner was a small bar with chairs spilling out alongside the cycle path. Huge decorated house boats lined the canals and with fewer tourists this place had a relaxed buzz about it. However, any place with a TV screen was packed out, we could hear the cheers from where we were, thundering out past each bend, it was incredible. And then half an hour later, when we found ourselves back near to Dam square, we turned in on thousands of Ajax supporters pouring through the streets. We had no idea where they were headed, or where they had come from - it was crazy!

And to top our chilled out Sunday off, the tram back to the campsite collided with a bus!! Luckily no-one was hurt, but we were not the only English on the tram and so none of us really knew what was going on. One of the windows in the tram had shattered but was still in its frame and the back window of the bus had a precarious jagged line around its edge.

So now on to Germany.

In Bruges

Roads Lead to Many Places.

1. Dover to Dunquerque
2. Dunquerque to Oostend
3. To a night stop by the beach and the motorway
4. Day trip through Bruges
5. Carrying on towards Amsterdam
6. Via a traffic jam
7. Park outside camp-gates
8. Check-in in the morning
9. Shower and head off
10. Get back for some grub.

Belgie

The evening cool, the breathy sea,
Something new it's telling me.
Sandy spits, studs of grass
Stretching out until it's
Dark. Humm and whirr
Off the ramp: into the queue;
No directions; only maps;
All places pass -
Spinning, spinning, past
until the morning.