There are a lot of sore English heads in Prague today after a heavy night exploring the alcoholic charms of Prague. These days the beer prices are as legendary as the beers themselves and full advantage seemed to be being taken.

We flew out on Wednesday afternoon and it wasn't long before we were getting into Czech footballing discussions. Our taxi driver from the airport revealed that he had played for Dukla Prague for 15 years, even representing them against Birmingham City.

Surprisingly he was unaware of the Half Man Half Biscuit song All I Want For Christmas is a Dukla Prague Away Kit and found it impossible to understand the basic principles of Subbuteo when mimed to him from the back of the cab. Not sure he appreciated the singing too much either and may have charged us extra because of it.

As we arrived at the hotel we thought it was only right to ask for his autograph in the circumstances, however when pressed for his full name he would admit to being ‘Josef' and his signature suspiciously didn't have that practised look that those of professional footballers inevitably have.

Due to the Czech Republic being keen to get tourists to visit in their droves they are quite happy to let anyone who comes to write nice stuff about their city stay at hotels for free. Therefore the Czech Tourist Authority arranged a room at the Hotel Astoria (www.hotelastoria.cz) in the old town which is an ideal place to be based for a spot of sightseeing as well as being as fine a hotel as you'll find.

Once settled into the hotel we popped out for a bite to eat at a local bar named Amos (they were confused by our asking whether the owner was an Emmerdale fan) where we had two fairly extensive meals and a half litre of Pilsner Urquell each for the princely sum of £6.

Then to was off to have a night-time peruse of the city's sites having already got a spectacular look at the castle as we drove across a bridge over the Vltava, it appearing mistily on the horizon as evening set in.

The Old Town Square is as spectacular as rumoured, although not of the same hugeness as Red Square, visited by the Blue Army a year or so ago. However the twin churches at either end and the other impressive buildings sides even in the evening are as impressive as any other European city we could name.

Despite being at the centre of most of the 20th century's political and armed conflicts Prague somehow managed to avoid the damage that many cities suffered. Therefore the buildings of earlier ages still sit alongside the more modern structures.

The Astronomical Clock in the Square is another attraction. Apparently the designer of it was deliberately blinded in order that he could never reproduce his effort which seems a touch harsh.

However, so skilled was he that he knew the inner workings of the clock so well that he pulled out some cog or other rendering it useless for a period. Apparently it was a similar story with the maker of the old scoreboard which sat on top of the North Stand which is why it used to get the teams and scores wrong fairly regularly.

We moved on through the cobbled streets which perhaps surprisingly had huge piles of replacement cobbles stacked up. Repairs to the city are clearly carried out in the off-season and there seemed little fear that English football fans might go on the rampage using these as weapons. Handy cheap souvenirs though.

As may be the Dukla Prague away kits we saw in the window of the Sparta Prague shop. Odd really, given that Dukla Prague don't actually exist as a single team anymore having merged with another club a few years back.

Then it was off to one of the beer halls, named U Medvidku (in English The Little Bears, presumably as you feel like one with a sore head the next morning), for much of the rest of the evening.

Despite the European tours now having gone on for a couple of years it is still surprising to bump into someone you are more regularly seeing in Mannings in a bar in Prague. Or to walk past a table and hear two English voices discussing whether Frank Clarke and Jimmy Robertson really were the best ever deadline day signings made.

Staropramen, Budvar and more Pilsner Urquell were consumed in equal measure, all at prices under 50p and there was a brief conversation about the logistics of running TWTD from the Czech Republic. Sadly it was deemed unworkable.

Another bar and it was back to the hotel to recover ahead of today and the trip to Liberec. Apparently nine or so coaches are making the journey, a locally based American clearly having made a packet out of laying on transport.

We're not in the coaches, but are taking advantage of the cheap hire cars and are leaving around lunchtime in order to get a look around Liberec and prepare for the match. You never know, we might even splash out a few pence on some more beer as well.

Photo: Action Images

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