….as opposed to death by chocolate. I know which I’d prefer.

It had to be done. No trip to Prague is complete without crossing the Charles Bridge and battling against the opposing tide of guide’s upheld umbrellas and wayward selfie sticks. Our journey was only enlivened by a new game I’ve invented. I can no longer be bothered to weave out of the way of oncoming tourists. A light touch, elbow to elbow gets one point, a more agressive arm shove five points and a full blooded shoulder to shoulder encounter ten points. Double points are given if you can jostle a person while they are taking a selfie. By the time we got to the far side of the bridge my points tally was well over a hundred..

Our journey over the bridge was not just to accrue points in my ‘Biff The Tourist’ game. We were heading for three separate gardens, culminating in climbing the terraces below the castle ramparts. We managed two out of three…

One garden was quite bland, with it’s statues, fountains and large ornamental pond complete with koi carp. The terraces below the castle were prettier but more challenging to scale. We were rewarded with spectacular views..

Once we had reached the castle entrance, we were too tired to bother touring it, so we turned round and joined the throng on the way down, stopping from time to time to allow groups to pass in front of us, so that should we lose our footing, we would be assured of a least some padded buffers before rolling to a halt.

We tried desperately to locate our last garden and despite the directions from a tourist information office (given in the dark during a power cut) and a new map, it eluded us. Eventually we surfaced near Art & Food our dining selection for that evening. It’s a warm, friendly place. They have works of art on the wall and we were entertained by a jazz pianist for most of our meal. The first and last courses were great…this is my goats cheese and strawberry starter…

I had pork tenderloin as a main and although it was good, it was a bit stodgy and well, there was just too much on the plate.

We strolled back over another much less crowded bridge and made our way back here. Another walking tour is planned tomorrow, to the Jewish quarter. Guess what? We are the only two booked on it…no furled umbrellas for us..