Czech Republik

I planned this trip very late during December and this was the last country I had visited. After being, ditched by Gilla God and Hickey, I was lucky to find Taid and Radhika on the Frankfurt station when they were also heading towards Praha. There is a night train from Frankfurt that goes to Praha everyday. Since Czech wasn't included in Schengen then we had to pay some money for the tickets to reach there. Also at the border they stamped a 3 day entry onto our passports when we entered. But now there is no problem and Czech is very much accessible from this year onwards.

I just visited Praha in Czech and mind you, its the only city worth visiting after I went through the Internet about other attractions. The city was way beyond my expectation for a previous communist country. Everything here is very economical right from food, conveyance and Absinthe (Holy water). The city has many attractions like the biggest astronomical clock of Europe, the Charles bridge, Opera house and the market near central square. I bought a 3 player chess from Praha, a bottle of Absinthe (80% alcohol) and some nice souvenirs. A day is enough to see Praha if one doesn't want to try out the Absinthe shots the traditional way with sugar!
The stay is also very cheap here and Sutta lovers can get the cheapest suttas out here. Being in Eastern Europe, it can get very cold (Upto -10 degrees) in December. So plan a trip not late than November to Praha. The city has many museums and nice markets.

From Praha one can go to Slovakia which has nice mountain ranges calles Tatras. I didn't visit them but from the description that Jhumka gave to me, it was similar to Swiss Alps. So people who are on Schengen and don't have a Swiss visa, Slovakian Tatras can be a good compensator.