[View from the castle, overlooking the New Town]

We decide this morning to explore the opposite side of town, towards the castle area. We leave the bags in the luggage room and don't bother with the carnivorous breakfast. Thankfully this morning the lift is working - last night someone left a door open and it was broken, so we had to walk 100 stairs to the room. It's one of those old-fashioned ones with no doors. The bathrooms are quite ancient too, despite the rooms being new and spangly.

[Prague cathedral]

The train leaves at 3pm so we figure we have time to spare. We get a metro to the castle and walk up the stairs. A bloke at the top is selling cans for £1. We're almost desperate enough but not quite. Good view and nice area. Walk past the palace, cathedral and castle. Nice architecture, lots of colour and detail. Go into the cathedral and look around, along with a million other tourists, all in groups. We walk down another way, towards the centre again. We sadly haven't got time to get the cable-car up to another tower we wanted to see. We head towards lunch and shopping. We find a fab Italian off the main square, in a cellar,

[Stained glass window in cathedral]

and wish we had time for a long dinner. We rush around the shops before picking up the bags and speeding to the station. We get time to write postcards, as the train is delayed.

Overall Prague has been lovely, with great people and a good atmosphere. It's getting very touristy, but hasn't let Westerners and their ideas ruin its own culture and identity. Thoroughly recommended.

The journey starts hellishly as the train is stupidly hot. It appears to be a greenhouse and the air conditioning isn't working. Eventually there's enough space that we can move to a cooler carriage. We arrive in Berlin about 7.30pm, happy to ditch the souvenir bags, by now very heavy, in left luggage. We speak to some Merkins (note: another bad Merkin recommendation) about where they've just stayed, in The Tent. This is where we were considering heading, as everywhere we

[Berlin. A bombed church and its replacement stand side by side as a monument to the war, near Zoo station.]

phoned was full. Apparently it's about 45 minutes from the main station, but never full. We decide to eat first then go over. We wander around the station square and settle for McDonald's, which is pooh, cold and small.

We get a U-bahn and change, then two buses to The Tent, as the train line is being renovated. In all it takes over an hour and is a hassle. We meet some Ukrainians on the way, and all travel together. They think The Tent isn't cheap (it's £3 a night) and we wonder how they will cope with the rest of Europe. They apparently plan to hitchhike to Amsterdam. We find the Tent and check in. It's not particularly quiet/spacious/nice but it'll do. We hope for a good night's sleep.