On the Road with Flip Byrnes

Prague

Back on the road after an Olympic pause, Flip lets loose in Prague

People say there are many signs in life. And I finally saw mine. I saw it while traveling on the Swiss highway at 100km/ph and it said "Fly Baboo. Geneva - Prague Daily". With no further ado I pulled off at the train station in Aigle, ditched Sir Lancelot, headed for Geneva and got on the next plane to the Czech Republic.

This, of course, was not part of the plan. Fresh from working on the Olympics and a little strung out I was driving the 2CV to his summer home, when I made the discovery that any rail station in Switzerland will mind a car for 30 Swiss francs (around $30 AUD) for a month and a bag for AUD$2 a day. Hello, Prague! Goodbye Switzerland!

I knew little about Prague given that when I woke up I didn't know I would be sleeping there, but we've all heard of it. This former Communist city was one of the many jewels the Eastern Bloc was hiding beneath its Iron Curtain and since it reopened its doors in 1989 it has been touted as a European hot spot. And know I know why.

Simply put, Prague must surely rate as one of the best cities in the world. It has all the right ingredients, cobbled crooked streets, nothing more than walking distance and the excitement of being in a Bond film courtesy of the local accents which make everyone sound like a Russian baddie.

Rather than hotels, grab an apartment, which seems to be the standard procedure. My 40 euro a night budget bought me an apartment in the center of the old city. I was expecting a hotel room, so when I opened the door to my deluxe penthouse with 4 rooms, a marble bathroom and even a foyer (!), I was a little floored.

When the receptionist asked me if the room was Ok, I was tempted to leap frog the counter and French kiss him with gratitude. Finally, a place in Europe where you can get more than a little bang for your buck.

The old town will immediately seduce. Small and compact every corner yields a new surprise, shops bursting with local garnets and amber, more full of Baboushka dolls and even a book shop devoted to Aanagrams. Winter is off season, but this is the time to come. Charles Bridge is wreathed in mist, the ground is coated white in the old square and the gothic architecture glints with unexpected trims of gold.

The best way to see the town is on hoof. Take a walking tour (www.praguewalks.com). I did a Communism Walk which takes you through the land marks of the Revolutions, equally appealing was the Pub Walk through the Old Town or the Little Lanes which explores the cobwebs of narrow streets.

After a sumptuous few days doing cartwheels through my apartment, the next day is the Spindylv Miln mountains for, you guessed it, snowboarding. Then with no rest for the wicked, onto Transylvania and Romania, where legend has it the mountains are big and the vodka is cheap.