It's here. WE'RE here. We have just come back to our hotel after our first day in Prague. But let's go back a bit... Let's start with yesterday.
Yesterday, I got up early and took Penny over to the dog park for a good run. Then, it was home to get Penny bathed, get showered & dressed, get the last minute packing done, and get all of Penny's packing done. Shortly after 1, my parents picked EDP, Penny and I up and we took off for my Gran's for a visit. After a cup of tea, we headed over to the airport so that EDP and I could check in. We hadn't been able to check in online so we (read: I) wanted to get to the airport at least three hours early so we didn't have to rush through anything.
Well, the airport was really quiet. And after waiting for somewhere around 30 minutes to check in, we breezed through security and hiked over to our gate. EDP went to grab a snack and I settled in to wait for boarding. Not long after our snack, the plane started to board. I didn't understand why they were boarding so early so I took another look at my ticket. I thought we were leaving at 6:50. Nope. We were leaving at 6:10.
The flight was relatively smooth. We had one bit of turbulence with the seat belt sign on but other than that, it was good. The landing was smooth and we were on time. We cleared customs in Brussels and then headed over to our gate where our connecting flight was already boarding. It left right on time and was a great flight. We got to Prague with no problems, collected our bags and were ready to go.
We took a taxi to our hotel, where we stowed our bags and then decided to head down to the Old Town Square by way of the Charles Bridge after grabbing a quick bite to eat (apple strudel for me, cheese plate for EDP.) Our hotel is on a fairly long, steep hill with the castle at the top and the bridge at the bottom. We headed down to the bridge along the cobblestone roads and found our way to the Old Town Square and the astronomical clock. We went to the top of the tower to get a great view of the city (yes, including me - we just had to wait for my drugs to kick in.) Space was really cramped, though, and with so many people, it was hard to get a good view of anything. But what we did see what beautiful - and there were a LOT of spires to see, so it's not hard to understand where the "city of a hundred spires" tag comes from. Once we were back down in the square, we headed back up to the hotel to check in.
Our room is up on the third floor and is really more of a suite. We've got a lovely four poster bed with a little sitting area. We also have a large hall area where our luggage is residing and where the bathroom and another small bedroom opens off of. Hotel Green Lobster has turned out to be pretty good so far. Once we got our bags dropped, it was time for a shower and a nap (or a nap and a shower, for some of us.) Then it was back into the Old Town Square for dinner and a ghost walk.
EDP had found a restaurant in our guidebook he wanted to try so we were making our way down to it when we realized that he had expected me to remember where it was and I expected him to have the guidebook with him. We ended up finding it anyway and dinner down in their lower level. I had traditional Bohemian cabbage pancakes and EDP had some kind of platter with duck and ham and sausage and dumplings and cabbage and bread and who knows what else. I also dived right into drinking a beer with my dinner, something I'm not going to be adding to my short-list of worthy alcoholic beverages but it did get Thing 52 off my list.
Once dinner was over, we headed back into the square to wait for our tour to start. Our guide was Simon, who appeared to either be British or faking a British accent. He lead us around some gorgeous streets and alleys, telling us some of Prague's less-than-rosy past. It was a nice night for a walk and seeing a lot of the buildings lit up for night was beautiful. With the tour over, we headed back to our hotel where we've settled in for the night and I expect will be getting to sleep soon. We do have some lovely pictures, already, and I'd post them but I'm just too tired right now. Maybe tomorrow.
It's the final countdown...
1 hour since the bags have been at the door.
20 minutes until my parents come to pick us up.
3 hours until we're at the airport.
5 hours, 14 minutes until it's time for drugs.
5 hours, 44 minutes until the plane takes off.
Oh, and of course, here is the obligatory picture to prove I can pack light.
If the rain in Spain falls mostly on the plains, where does it fall in Prague?
It would appear that it doesn't. Current forecast for Prague is showing 23 and sunny every day we're there. And Vienna won't be much different. We'll see temperatures from 21 - 24 with mainly sunny conditions.
Vacation is looking promising.
Vacation is looking promising.
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!!
Czech this out...
You thought we were going to Chile, didn't you? Well, we were planning a trip to Chile in the fall but we've decided to postpone it for now and head over to Europe instead. So where are we going?
Prague and Vienna.
Yeah, I know, right? It's going to be awesome.
We've pulled this trip together rather quickly. Less than two weeks ago, the idea of postponing Chile came up. Now, we've got our vacation time approved (and I don't just mean me - EDP scheduled his time off already, too), flights and hotels booked, and have started the lists of what we want to see. And really, most of it has come together in the last three days. And we haven't even bought our guidebooks yet.
So now it's time to start the travel blog and record all of the details. For those interested:
We depart from Toronto on September 24 in the evening. We land in Prague around 10 in the morning on September 25.
From there, we'll make our way to Hotel Residence Green Lobster. Seriously, that's what it's called.
Hotel Residence Green Lobster, Prague
We'll spend 4 days in Prague, hopefully taking in an opera, touring Prague castle & the Charles Bridge and seeing if we can make our way to one of the hot springs, which Prague is famous for. We also hear that Prague is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe so we'll be spending lots of time drinking it all in
After we've spent our time there, we'll take the September 29 overnight train to Vienna and check in at our Vienna hotel, Pentahotel, for the next 4 days.
Pentahotel, Vienna
While in Vienna we'll be seeing a performance from the Vienna Boys Choir (tickets already booked!) and visiting Schönbrunn Palace, along with it's gardens and zoo
Early in the morning on October 4, we'll head to the Vienna airport and fly back to Canada.
So yeah, a bit of a change of plans but we're pretty excited about what's coming up in about two months. It will be different from our Italy trip. We'll only have two hotels instead of five so we can settle in a bit more, I'll have my netbook with me to blog frequently, and EDP now has a really nice camera so we'll get some amazing photos.
We're looking forward to spending the next two months figuring out everything we'll see. So far, it's looking like the Prague half of our trip will be a bit more relaxed and laid back whereas Vienna seems to have a lot more going on so will likely be a bit busier. I think EDP is probably most excited about the fact that I won't be whining to stop for gelato every 15 minutes. But I hear the strudel in Vienna is amazing and apparently, the most famous dessert in the Czech Republic is a pancake stuffed with ice cream & fruit and topped with whipped cream so I don't think I'll be lacking in the sweets department.
Also, for those of you keeping score - while there aren't any volcanoes to climb or waters for snorkeling in Prague or Vienna, I'm looking to cross of Thing 58 and Thing 93 while in Prague and Thing 88 in Vienna.
PS - here's a list of all the flavours of gelato I had...
Hazenut
Raspberry
Vanilla
Banana
Strawberry
Lemon
Toffee
Coffee
Chocolate Chip
Chocolate Orange
Dark Chocolate
Cream (but they call it fiordilatte, which sounds much fancier)
Ferrero Rocher
Peach
Panna Cotta
Plus, tartufo twice :)