Czech Republic
Stromovka park is very worth visiting. It's popular but you can find quiet parts as it is huge, and it has a few lakes. The planetarium is here, near the entrance in the park, and is a good diversion. Outside the park and nearby is the Exhibition Grounds, in a few buildings, which I thoroughly recommend as there are very interesting exhibitions for the public on nearly all of the time, and a few really good permanent exhibitions (and a famous big fountain). Take a look at what is on.
The modern art palace of the National Gallery is not far from here and is a great gallery which many tourists miss because it is not near the Old Town, the Castle or Malostranska. It is usually quite quiet and I really recommend seeing it. It could take most of a whole day with a lunch break to visit all of the floors, so one and a half hours is the minimum time I recommend. You can have tea or coffee or a cold drink and snacks there.
The vast majority of people who visit Prague see only the three main areas with maybe also the Jewish Quarter and/or New Town and miss these attractions I mention. But especially if you have been to Prague before, make a point not to miss them. Don't forget the great value of Pension Vltava and recommend it to those who would like a very basic, clean and quiet place to stay with the added bonus of cheap drinks in your room at any hour.
For £7 or £8, have a sauna for a few hours in a basement private day spa near Holesovice station. Another similarly priced sauna in Holesovice is infinit (infinit.cz) which also has a jacuzzi.
If you plan to visit Prague on June 16 2007 you can visit museums and galleries there for free. Called Museum Night, most museums and galleries will be open til late at night to create a special atmosphere.
www.abcprague.com/2007/05/21/dont-miss-museums-in-prague-for-free
Restoration of old gallery after floods. Sits on river bank and has strange sculptures in courtyard and modern arcitectural bits added to old building.
Don't know its name but its towards the south end of Kampa island right on river bank.
Somewhere hidden behind or around the castle but I'm damned if I can be more specific is a hilarious and unadvertised museum of handmade miniature objects. Some loony hirsute Russian chappie made them and they include a tiny foil choo-choo mounted on a hair, a horseshoe and locket attached to a flea, a picture of Jesus on a seasme seed, and a 3-D model of the Tour Eiffel on a bisected cherry stone. Among other delights. You amble around peering through magnifiers and are quite simply left agog. There was noone else in there at all the day I went (high season, the old town was thick with tourists) and it does not seem to feature on any of the brochures. Perhaps I'm making it up. But, I'm not. Sorry this is so vague, but I thought it worth posting even so, as in retrospect it was a true highlight.
Hardcastle area
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