Mighty Mighty Sounds

Mighty Sounds - the 'summer ska punk explosion' of the Czech Republic. Regardless of only knowing five of the bands (an improvement on the one I had known the previous year), it remained an incredible event.

Three days of music and camping (£25) in a country with gorgeous weather, cheap beer and some crazy people. Even with flights out (£100) and a few days spent in Prague either side (£10/night) the whole experience still works out cheaper than Reading, Glastonbury, Download or other UK festival.

 Prague is a stunning city. It is undoubtedly my favourite tourist city thus far. It's filled with unique shops or areas that are hidden amongst cobbled streets and stunning architecture. One cafe, dedicated to hot chocolate, serves mugs of what seems like melted chocolate with cream. It is so thick and sweet that you have to choose wisely, as more than one may leave you feeling slightly ill, but the selection is beautiful. A short wander left us stumbling across an 'Erotic City Supermarket' which made some attempt to disguise itself as a supermarket but contained nothing other than endless amounts of porn, toys and outfits. This visit was abruptly brought to an end by the realisation that all the pharmacies were going to close. To explain, one of the guys realised he'd been given pubic lice. This was genuinely from an elongated hug, poor guy, so all of his body hair was at risk. On arrival at a pharmacy, it suddenly dawned on us that no phrasebook was going to be of use. Our Czech was completely insufficient to help this guy out, leaving only one option. Charades.

Now in the middle of a pharmacy, scratching your head, acting like an insect and pointing to your crotch is not an ideal act. Luckily, the guy was able to effectively communicate 'itchy insects on my head, except down there' before having to whack out the eccentric hand gestures and facial expressions.

Trains in the Czech Republic are a little like those in Harry Potter. Now, I know very little about Harry Potter but you even have a little trolley that travels down the train, opening the compartment doors and offering various snacks; although these are far less magical and more crisp and beer orientated. The greatest thing about these trains is being to plug in your headphones, put on some shades and stick your head out of the train (NB sunglasses are essential unless you enjoy insects squirming in your eyes and endless tears from the rushing air). This is endlessly enjoyable.

The festival itself then consisted of beer, music, dancing, Sharpie mono-brows, accountants, yoga, sunsets, Czech look-a-likes, fire shows, getting tied to a bottle, endless amounts of Lucozade jelly beans and a huge storm strong enough to cause the merch tent to collapse and panels to be torn off the stages.

During this storm my tentmate went to sleep after 36 or so hours of being awake. This meant he was dead to the world. On my return to the tent I realised that our poxy £10 two man tent was really not holding up well, and realised drastic waterproofing action was in order. When I opened the door, my tentmate was knocked out with his sleeping bag slowly absorbing the puddles of water on the inside of our tent. I found emergency blankets, bin bags and anything else I could think of to create a waterproof layer over the top of our tent. All I needed was duct tape, which George was in possession of. After poking, shaking and yelling I eventually got 'nn the brg' out of him. Oh the bag! The bag under your head.

After a lot of hassle I found the tape and braced the storm. The emergency blanket slapped around my entire body by the wind. Using my body to place it on the tent, I tied the corners down, but even pulling the other two corners over the other side proved difficult. After roughly 20 minutes of battling, significant waterproof changes had been made and I braved sleeping inside. That night I slept in a sleeping bag placed inside another two bin bags. My tentmate slept through the entire debacle.

On our return to Prague we visited a must-see of Prague: the Cross Club. It's a bar/club or sorts with loads of little sections with furniture and designs built from old machinery and scraps arranged into what feels like a maze. Every year they hold after parties with a number of DJs across multiple rooms, allowing you to explore the venue and adventure between the different styles you fancy.

Prague is somewhere that has to be  visited at some point in your life. Alongside the stunning city cenbtre, the river and its islands provide some gorgeous scenery, relaxing bars and pedalo races... and for a pound a pint with some gorgeous beers, you can't really go wrong!

Houdini - Foster The People
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04TXoFI6CSM&ob=av2e