Only about 3 weeks to go!

Tomorrow, it will be three weeks until we leave for our trip! Yay!

Amazingly, I haven't already gotten every single minute of every single day planned out. EDP has been reading our travel books - a little bit every day and we've got a pretty good idea of what we'll do but with only two cities, we can be a little bit more laid back with our itinerary.

What have we decided we're going? Well, I think I've already mentioned a few things but here's what we've got in mind...

Prague

The main attraction in Prague is Prague Castle. It's one of the oldest castles in Europe and is HUGE. We're planning an entire day to take it in since there's more than just the castle to see. There are a number of churches, royal gardens and the palace that will be wandered around. We'll also visit Charles Bridge while we're in this area. The bridge is one of Prague's most famous monuments, due to its amazing views.

The Jewish Quarter and the Old Town are planned for another day. The Jewish Quarter features a few museums and a cemetery that come highly recommended. Close to the Jewish Quarter is Old Town. The main attraction here is the Old Town Square, with it's astronomical clock. This is also where Wenceslas Square is. It's a good thing we aren't going at Christmas time because I would definitely be singing Good King Wenceslas in the square if it was.

Beyond that, we also have tickets to see an opera at the Prague National Theatre (click the link, the pictures are stunning). We're seeing the Bartered Bride, composed by Smetana, a Czech composer. We have box seats for the performance, which sounds very fancy!

We also have a day trip planned out to Karlovy Vary, one of the most famous hot springs in the Czech Republic. Currently, the plan is to hike some of the trails in the area followed by booking a couple of spa treatments, including a dip in one of the famous hot springs.

Vienna

Originally, we had planned on taking an overnight train into Vienna. The price we found online was very reasonable and we'd save a night on a hotel. Then, when I tried to book the tickets, we discovered you have to buy a ticket for the train AND a ticket for the sleeper car. That made the price less reasonable. So we decided to take an earlier train and stay an extra night in Vienna. Unfortunately, our hotel was fully booked up so we booked a night at a nearby hotel and will have to move after our first night. A bit of an inconvenience but we'll manage :P

Once we're in Vienna, EDP's friend, Wayne, will be meeting up with us. Wayne is currently living in Germany so he's going to make the short trip to Austria and hang out with us for a bit. Yay!

Vienna will be a bit busier for us than Prague. There's a bit more going on there. Our cultural event will be seeing the Vienna Boys Choir and we'll be day tripping to Durnstein and the Melk Abbey. The plan is to rent a car and visit Durnstein, a little walled town where Richard the Lionhearted was imprisoned. It also features the ruins of Kuenringer Castle, which is claimed to have inspired the Brothers Grimm. There is also an Abbey not too far away that we might try to fit in and I'm pretty sure EDP told me about another little town but I can't remember what it was.

Back in Vienna, we're going to be taking a day with Shonbrunn Palace, it's gardens and it's zoo. Shonbrunn is a major tourist attraction and it's where the court went during the summer. The complex is enormous, which is why we'll be taking an entire day for it.

Another day will include a visit to the Imperial Palace, where we'll go to the Treasury to see the imperial crowns of the Holy Roman and Austrian Empires. This is the only part of the palace we're definitely planning on seeing but we'll check out anything else that catches our eye.

We're also considering a museum or two but will probably wait for Wayne to let us know if there's anything he wants to see before we make too many more decisions.

I think that pretty much covers everything we've figured out so far. I'm pretty excited the trip is so close now. Time to start packing, I think!!