The Trip:   I love train travel!   Especially when it's through an area I have not been before.  We arrived at the Zoologist Garten station at 11am for the 5 hour trip to Prague.   We booked first class seats but they were not much different to the normal class seats...    except our seats were contained in a room.  It was a really nice trip.  After we changed engines at Dresden the trip became much more picturesque as we crossed the Czech border.  The funniest part of the trip was when we arrived at the Holesovice (or Hole Service) station.  Neither of us had read anything about Prague or bought any guides.  And there were plenty of people hanging out at the station willing to take our money...   we had none to give because we didn't know Czech have their own money, the Koruna.  So eventually we got some help and eventually got on a subway train which took us right to the Venecia Hotel.

Day 01 - Stars Guesthouse:  Once we had booked in we went for a walk around the city to see if we could find somewhere to eat and have a few drinks.   A man in a sex shop told us where we were and gave us a map recommending which places to visit.  So we headed off to Cafe Erra for dinner...    bad decision.  The atmosphere and the gay crowd were very cool...   but the food was not good at all.   Then we headed down to the Friends bar for a few beers.   It was Monday night and there were very few people there.  So we decided to have an early night.

Day 02 - Phillip's Version:   Touring day.  We decided not to get trapped on any tours and walk ourselves around the city.  It really only takes about 30 minutes to head from our hotel to the other side of the city.  So we found our way around a load of old buildings and churches and even got to go inside a few of them.  Not all of them would allow photos to be taken inside.   The Prague Castle was most impressive.   Then in the afternoon we ended up in the seedy William Higgins "Drakes" bar.   A place where you can watch guys pole dancing and rent an escort.  There was also a large cruising area.  But the place again was pretty empty.   The barman told us it won't get busy till after 11pm.   So we headed back to the hotel for some R&R before heading out for the night.   For dinner we ate in a tourist trap restaurant in Wencelas Square (also the shopping area).  Then we headed over the Escape Club for a few beers and listen to some music.   It was a small club with every guest being greeted by about 30 rent boys who were dancing around, stripping, ogling us, and doing just about anything to get your attention.  It was really funny.   And then we headed back to Drakes to find that it hadn't gotten much busier at all.   We were back at the hotel sleeping by 2am.

Day 02 - Andrew's Version:   Gay men and dance floors. The tradition is long. The tradition is sacred. The place where divas become demi-gods. The most potent incarnation is our lady Madonna. She has long used her lyrics to ordain the dance floor as a particular place of worship. A place where worries are left behind, where the ability to express yourself in a spontaneous and unpremeditated way reign supreme. Another religion seemed to be in practice on the “Escape” dance floor. Escape is one of the clubs Phillip and I visited in Prague. It is a rent boy club.

Their temple was different. We were greeted by an exotic bamboo lined entrance. Animals claiming particular iconic status here, most notably the gigantic boa constrictor snake enclosed in a large glass case.

Moves on their dance floor seemed constructed. Interaction appeared structured. A strict choreography guided tonight’s performers. Their religion enshrined the commercialisation of the dance floor. Each young dancers goal was money.

From my perspective it was heresy. It was apparent by the sour look on my face. Phillip told me to lighten up, that it wasn’t “that bad”. He was right. We all sell something. Life is a market. We sell knowledge, our time, our bodies. The dance floor, for me, is an escape from this reality, not its institutionalisation. They danced to the sounds of Don McLean’s “American Pie”. The lyric progressed “the day the music died”. Call me dramatic, but for me, in the context of that bar it did.
 

Day 03 - And the Rain Came:  Today was Andrew's last day in Prague.  It was also our last day at the Venezia bed and breakfast.  We got up late for brekky and then checked out.  We headed through the rain to walk to the other end of the city to the Tulip Inn where I will spend the next 2 nights.   We wandered for ages in the rain until we found a place to eat and get dry.   We went into a large self serve cafe.   I bought what I thought was a plate of beef casserole with potatoes.  I ended up with a plate of liver and potato.   The potatoes were great!    Then we searched for ages to find the Grand Cafe for one last treat of coffee and beautiful cakes but could not find it again.  I think things keep moving here.   The streets are all curvy and kriss krossed.  We would be completely lost without a map.   Then Andrew left to go back to London.   This is the part of the trip where I start doing some travels alone.

Day 04 - Doctor Doctor:   I actually haven't been 100% well for the past couple of days.  I've had a really sore throat.  I put this down to kissing strangers in Berlin.  I always get a sore throat which I call "boy germs".   So I found a doctor's clinic in Wencelas Square, which surprising I got straight in to see.  The doctor said it was nothing serious and gave me some drugs, charged me 4000 Korunas (about the same price as a nice pair of Diesel jeans) and sent me on my way.   Today is also chore day.  I have taken my washing to a laundromat and had my haircut by a woman that didn't speak english.   But god she gave an amazing head massage as she washed my hair.   I now look like a tall dark and handsome latino man from a magazine on the salon's coffee table.  Later in the afternoon I had my first Prague date with Lukas.  He was such a cool guy, and laughed at everything I said...  maybe he was just nervous.  He told me some really interesting stuff about what it's like to grow up and live in the Czech Republic.

Day 05 - The Night Train:  Today was a little strange.  I had to check out of my hotel at midday, but my train to Frankfurt would not leave until 10pm.  So I left my luggage at the hotel and went wandering through the streets of Prague.  It was kinda nice having no agenda for the day.  I went into some parts of the city I hadn't seen yet and saw some really stuff.  Later in the afternoon when I got tired of walking I went and saw "Kinsey" at the downtown cinemas.  In the film they spoke english with Czech subtitles.  I couldn't imagine what it would be like in Australia if most big movies had to have subtitles.
Later in the evening I returned to the hotel to grab my bags and head to the train station.  At the main station there was a bizzare mix of trains turning up.  Some old diesel trains that I hadn't seen in years!   Some really cool looking trains too.  Anyway, when I eventually got onto mine I quickly learnt that I had a sleeper cabin all to myself.  It was a confined space but it was kinda cool being able to sleep all the way to Frankfurt.   At 1am I was woken by the German customs officials checking passports.  The young  guy at my door seemed to be excited that he was looking at an Australian passport.   He put my details into his tiny Sony Vaio and then I went back to sleep in my little rocking room.  In a few hours I would be in Frankfurt.

PHOTOS

Andrew on the train to Prague	Striking a pose		Out little stop in Dresden		Our engine looks like a 70's caravaning experience
Andrew makes a bed in our cabin		5 hours later we are in Prague	That's one way to ride a horse
Wencelas Square
		The Old City Centre	Wedding photos by the astronomical clock	Inside a huge church
		Workman hammering in the stones to make up a footpath
	Skater shot			Checking out the Praga
Lunch time in the touristy areas of Prague	Mmmm...  friend bread		Coca Cola boy photo for Andrew	The beach in Prague?
	Guarding the Prague Castle		Workmen sealing the footpath
			This is the only photo I could take before being asked not to
Prague skyline from up high at the Prague Castle			Andrew and I are buying this block
		Neat tricks at the train station	Ogling fancy cars again	Shop advertising	Summertime in Prague
Andrew heads back to London	Prague is...  Marlborough Country	Prague sex shops	Okay...  I though it was beef..	Waiting at the Prague train station	Maccas everywhere!
I took this photo for Greg.  The dangerous and recalled products still have a market in Prague.	My confined quarters for the next 8 hours	Did you hear something?	A little bit out of order, but this is Lukas who I met on my last day in Pargue