Yep, I'm so at home here, so comfortable walking these streets, I feel like I could just take off my shoes and walk barefoot like I do at my own home. (And I just might do it if it wasn't 90+ and the dogs didn't use the streets as their own personal toilets.)
Friday night, we wondered around and found a place with delicious salad, covered in cheese, apples and walnuts. Just the thing for two relatively healthy girls who haven't seen many vegetables or fruits over the last few weeks! We sat right on one of the main piazza's and enjoyed the ambiance.
Afterwards we decided to follow our ears and find the music we had been hearing. In the shadow of the Uffizi Museum was a man with a guitar and a woman with a microphone. They really sounded amazing, but perhaps it was just their surroundings. I listened to her sing "Let It Be"and felt completely at peace.
For dessert we of course had to find gelato, and we weren't far from one of my favorite spots, Gelato de Neri. It is a small little gelato place, with delicious gelato! I actually remembered the guy who served us ice cream from four years ago. I guess it must be a good job to hold on to! And he wasn't 300 pounds heavier like I'm certain I would be if I worked at a gelateria for four years!
We are enjoying a few comforts of home in our hotel, mainly the DVD player with available English speaking movies. We watched Love Actually Friday night, what a great movie and a wonderful way to end our first day in Florence!
Yesterday morning we decided to go visit some of the churches. We started with the grandest of all, the Duomo, the center of Florence. The cathedral is grand, beautiful and relatively simple in a matter of speaking. The floors are decorated with beautiful marble designs and a few stained glass windows are scattered about. However, the dome itself is anything but simple. The inside of the dome is an incredible piece of artwork, a giant painting. It is a scene, the bottom of which is hell and then the top of the dome is heaven. The graphics of the the lower portion of the painting certainly make a person want to behave his/her best. You know, a two headed monster creature devouring humans... just stuff like that! :)
At the Duomo you may climb to the top of the dome or to the top of the belltower, sort of at opposite ends of the church. I had climbed the dome twice before and had decided we should climb the belltower to have a more beautiful view of the dome itself. But then, I realized that from inside the church, you are not permitted to go near the underside of the dome, so the only way to see the painting on the inside of the dome is to climb up and get closer to it.
The climb was difficult, but a lot more pleasant than I remembered. When I had climbed it before, the narrow, extremely narrow, spiral staircase was in fact and entry way and an exit way. It was quite nerve-racking. Thankfully, things have changed, and there are two different sets of steps you use. You climb up, and are then deposited to the interior of the dome so that you can admire the mural. Once you have made your way around the interior of the dome, you climb up a steep set of steps on the outside of the dome to the top so that you are rewarded with an incredible view of the city of Florence and the surrounding countryside. I fully recommend the 436 step climb to the top! It is totally worth it!
Besides the Duomo, there are two other main churches that help frame the city of Florence. We went to Santa Maria Croce next. Again, a beautiful, open cathedral with impressive statues, flooring and wooden ceiling. There were also statues and tombs of people such as Galileo and Dante. Wow!
We had seen in a book that one of the top ten best ice cream places in the world was here in Florence. (Another one we actually ate at in Paris, so we are checking off that list!) We went there and enjoyed some delicious ice cream, however, I don't really know how here in a place with so many delicious flavors of gelato, you can actually decide that one place has the best ice cream in the world!
We headed towards the Central Market, which is basically just a giant grocery store, but one of my favorite places here in Florence! When I lived here that summer, my classes were right next to the Central Market, so I would finish class, then go pick out somethings for lunch, go home and sit on my terrace and enjoy fresh foods of Italy. That's what we did yesterday! The downstairs has breads, meats (including cows' faces), and cheeses. The upstairs has vegetables, fruits, nuts and olives. I had a delicious meal of a banana, some thin rosemary bread, pistacchios and pecorino cheese dipped in honey. Yes, honey. It is amazing! I had learned that trick last time I was here, and who could really go wrong with two wonderful treats combined anyway? Cheese AND honey?!
We enjoyed the lunch in our room, in the air conditioning, while watching a movie then ventured out again. We went to the train station and made our reservations for Rome (we learned our lesson), and then did some shopping. We went in a few clothes stores, nothing too special and then went to the street markets! I love the street markets! Everything is really reasonable, of seemingly good quality and the market goes on forever. When I was here a few years ago, I bought two fabulous linen skirts that breathe well and are extremely comfortable. I have an orange one that came in handy at those hot fall football games. Well, I found the same guy, with the same skirts and now have a purple and brown one as well!! I enjoyed buying some small tokens and gifts along the way, including an Italia Soccer shirt.
We refreshed ourselves and then went out in search of a delicious meal. We ate on a different square, again enjoying the people (and carosel) watching. I had some fabulous lasagna! We were serenated by a street performer, of sorts, but one with real talent. She stood off to the corner of the great square with a microphone and an accompaniest on an accordian. It sound ridiculous, but she had one of the most beautiful, operatic voices I have ever heard. When she broke into Ave Maria, my heart just sank into another peaceful state like the night before. How pleasant life is right now! It is just perfect!
Of course we joined the children and rode the carosel as people watched us go round and round surrounded by children. What fun!
We went to a pub near where we eaten the night before because they said they had karaoke on Saturday nights, and well, I love karaoke! Unfortunately the place was practically empty, no singers and near 100 degrees, so needless to say, we did not stay for long!
I have enjoyed reading on the terrace the last couple of mornings. Although it is really just big enough for me to sit and then put my feet up on the other chair, it is so pleasant, greeting the morning with the pigeons around and the sounds of Italy. There is an older man who must live below and has the small garden area below us. Yesterday morning he mopped the area and this morning he was repairing a bicycle. I love this place!
Our hotel does not have breakfast, so we are forced to dine on croissants and other goodies from local bakeries. This morning we picked some up and then sat on the steps of the Duomo to enjoy our breakfast.
We went over the river to the Boboli Gardens. These gardens compare, although not quite as grand, to the gardens at Versailles. They are attached to the Pitti Palace, which I have visited before and once you've seen one palace, they aren't all that interesting. So, we just visited the gardens. They are so huge, so expansive. They provide incredible views of Florence and the surrounding areas. This is a definite for any visitor to the city. There are open, wide pathways, and ways that lead through the shade of old trees. There are fountains and statues scattered about. I think I could live with a garden (and gardener) like this!
We actually spent most of our time at a beautiful area; a small island with flowers, surrounded almost by a moat or small lakes. But we weren't just enjoying the beauty, but watching a poor hedgehog who wandered into the water and could not find his way out, so he was swimming in circles. We were two of about ten people who tried in vain to find a way to rescue him. Finally, after close to an hour, some men who worked there found a way onto the island and were able to scoop him up, but I'm afraid he may not have made it from sheer exhaustion. The men took him into the woods though and hopefully he came back to life after some rest. Not sure, but it was reassuring how many people were eager to rescue this small creature.
I of course met some cats along the way, oddly enough, I believe I remember meeting one of them there before, and he was very happy to accept my attention. He looked well fed and perfectly happy with his life. Who wouldn't be living in such a place!?
We found some much needed refreshments and sat by the palace for a while, just glad to be out of the sun. Then crossed back over the Ponte Vecchio. The Ponte Vecchio (literally Old Bridge) is covered with tiny jewelry shops. These shops, because they are not technically in Florence, do not have to pay taxes, that is why they sell expensive things! The bridge is also famous for being so romantic. Men take their ladies to the bridge, put a lock on the bridge and throw the key into the river, signifying that the key to their heart has been locked up and it belongs to that lady now. I know... awww...
We found a sandwich for lunch, but did not want to eat too much as we are going to a nice dinner tonight at a delicious restaurant! Then decided to come here, to the internet cafe for a bit, because it is air conditioned!
Love to you all! Have a great week!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
Ahhh... Firenze
Well, if Italy is like a second home to me, Florence is the kitchen and the den in this home. Three or four years ago I spent part of a summer here in Florence taking a cooking class and a photography class. Yes, I don't know how I managed to make it through the difficult time! :) The photography class was a lot of fun and gave me an opportunity to get some beautiful black and white prints and this incredible city. But the cooking class is something I will never forget. I don't cook that much now, but at that point in my live, I didn't cook at all.
The first day of my class it was already harder than I thought it would be - just cracking an egg and mixing it with flour to make pasta. Simple enough, but my teacher was talking fast and everyone else seemed to know exactly what was going on while I struggled, lacking in my "kitchen abilities." However, the class soon became one of the best experiences I have had in my life. The class taught us about different festivals and holidays throughout Italy and the food that they traditionally cooked with the holiday. I didn't enjoy all of the food, but as a picky eater, I can honestly admit that I did try it all. If you have ever been to my house for a meal, I'm sure I fixed you the pasta sauce that I learned to make while I was here, as it is the best sauce ever. I have made it so many times, I know it by heart and it always brings back warm memories.
What I learned most in that class was not to follow recipes, or at least, not to depend on them. I learned that if something doesn't taste right, adjust. I learned that sometimes the best tastes come from experimenting. I learned that cooking was fun and that experimenting was even more fun. Our hotel is not far from the school where I studied. Maybe I can go back and tell Marcella what a difference she has made in my life!
Well, thats enough about that... I guess before I gush no about Florence, I should finish my tales of Venice. We enjoyed a delicious dinner on the grand canal of Italy, not far from San Marco's square and enjoyed just sitting and visiting in the Italian style of dinner. Then we wondered back through the square and enjoyed more gelato (I'm pretty certain it is a requirement here to eat it twice a day)! We watched children and families walking through the square, chasing pigeons as the sun went down and the lights came on in the square. It was really beautiful.
We went back to our hotel and watched the second half of the other semi-final game. Spain scored three goals against Russia in that second half and advanced onto the finals. So, Germany and Spain will meet on Sunday night in the Euro Cup finals. We will for sure find a fun place here in Florence to watch the game.
The heat had worn us all out again, but we were not quite ready to give up on the evening, so we decided to go sit in the shadow of the Rialto Bridge on the Grand Canal and have a drink and some dessert. It was a beautiful end to our time together in Venice.
Sadly, Angie left us this morning, headed to Prague with her family for a mission trip. Emily and I set off on our own to Florence, and yet again another train ride. We have a Eurorail Pass which gets us onto all of the trains, but then again I'm not positive what it does because...
We had had reservations for all of our other trains, but since most of them were long distance, we decided we should make reservations (which are cheaper with the Eurorail than just buying a ticket). This train from Venice to Florence left almost every hour, so we decided we would just hop on one. Apparently, that is not how it is done. We got on this great, very nice, air-conditioned train and comfortable seats. The train began filling up and most people who got on seemed to be looking for actual seat numbers rather than just anywhere like we had sat. We thought... oh well... we'll see what happens! Luckily, we took off and no one needed our seats! Until the next stop that is, when the train filled up completely. We sat in space in between the trains for a while until they cam to collect our tickets. We showed them our Eurorail Pass, but the kind lady told us we had to make a reservation, but that it was a full train, but we still had to pay. So we paid about 15 euros for no seat... oh well. We ended up in the snack car though (no seats, but little table to lean on) and made friends with a couple of Canadian travelers who we played Uno with to pass the time. We ended up having a great time!
Our hotel is similar to the last one, it is small, and just a door on the ground floor leads up two flights of stairs to the entry level and the rooms. It is more of a hostel, but Emily and I have a small bedroom and private bath. We somehow got lucky and have the only room with "conditioned air." We also have a tiny, but still exsistent, terrace. It is just big enough for two chairs, very tiny, but still a glimpse into the outside world, the inner workings of Florence and her small interior gardens. I love it! It reminds me of my apartment when I stayed here!
Emily and I have already eaten at a familiar restaurant and at the 72 Flavors Gelato place, another favorite of mine! Yes, there are 72 Flavors, even though it is actually called Festival Gelato. I got Zuppa Inglese (similar to tiramisu, but with rasberry instead of coffee) and Cream Caramel, otherwise known as a small slice of heaven! We walked by the Duomo, to the Uffizi, onto the Ponte Vecchio bridge and through the street markets. Man, it really feels like home! I love being back!
The first day of my class it was already harder than I thought it would be - just cracking an egg and mixing it with flour to make pasta. Simple enough, but my teacher was talking fast and everyone else seemed to know exactly what was going on while I struggled, lacking in my "kitchen abilities." However, the class soon became one of the best experiences I have had in my life. The class taught us about different festivals and holidays throughout Italy and the food that they traditionally cooked with the holiday. I didn't enjoy all of the food, but as a picky eater, I can honestly admit that I did try it all. If you have ever been to my house for a meal, I'm sure I fixed you the pasta sauce that I learned to make while I was here, as it is the best sauce ever. I have made it so many times, I know it by heart and it always brings back warm memories.
What I learned most in that class was not to follow recipes, or at least, not to depend on them. I learned that if something doesn't taste right, adjust. I learned that sometimes the best tastes come from experimenting. I learned that cooking was fun and that experimenting was even more fun. Our hotel is not far from the school where I studied. Maybe I can go back and tell Marcella what a difference she has made in my life!
Well, thats enough about that... I guess before I gush no about Florence, I should finish my tales of Venice. We enjoyed a delicious dinner on the grand canal of Italy, not far from San Marco's square and enjoyed just sitting and visiting in the Italian style of dinner. Then we wondered back through the square and enjoyed more gelato (I'm pretty certain it is a requirement here to eat it twice a day)! We watched children and families walking through the square, chasing pigeons as the sun went down and the lights came on in the square. It was really beautiful.
We went back to our hotel and watched the second half of the other semi-final game. Spain scored three goals against Russia in that second half and advanced onto the finals. So, Germany and Spain will meet on Sunday night in the Euro Cup finals. We will for sure find a fun place here in Florence to watch the game.
The heat had worn us all out again, but we were not quite ready to give up on the evening, so we decided to go sit in the shadow of the Rialto Bridge on the Grand Canal and have a drink and some dessert. It was a beautiful end to our time together in Venice.
Sadly, Angie left us this morning, headed to Prague with her family for a mission trip. Emily and I set off on our own to Florence, and yet again another train ride. We have a Eurorail Pass which gets us onto all of the trains, but then again I'm not positive what it does because...
We had had reservations for all of our other trains, but since most of them were long distance, we decided we should make reservations (which are cheaper with the Eurorail than just buying a ticket). This train from Venice to Florence left almost every hour, so we decided we would just hop on one. Apparently, that is not how it is done. We got on this great, very nice, air-conditioned train and comfortable seats. The train began filling up and most people who got on seemed to be looking for actual seat numbers rather than just anywhere like we had sat. We thought... oh well... we'll see what happens! Luckily, we took off and no one needed our seats! Until the next stop that is, when the train filled up completely. We sat in space in between the trains for a while until they cam to collect our tickets. We showed them our Eurorail Pass, but the kind lady told us we had to make a reservation, but that it was a full train, but we still had to pay. So we paid about 15 euros for no seat... oh well. We ended up in the snack car though (no seats, but little table to lean on) and made friends with a couple of Canadian travelers who we played Uno with to pass the time. We ended up having a great time!
Our hotel is similar to the last one, it is small, and just a door on the ground floor leads up two flights of stairs to the entry level and the rooms. It is more of a hostel, but Emily and I have a small bedroom and private bath. We somehow got lucky and have the only room with "conditioned air." We also have a tiny, but still exsistent, terrace. It is just big enough for two chairs, very tiny, but still a glimpse into the outside world, the inner workings of Florence and her small interior gardens. I love it! It reminds me of my apartment when I stayed here!
Emily and I have already eaten at a familiar restaurant and at the 72 Flavors Gelato place, another favorite of mine! Yes, there are 72 Flavors, even though it is actually called Festival Gelato. I got Zuppa Inglese (similar to tiramisu, but with rasberry instead of coffee) and Cream Caramel, otherwise known as a small slice of heaven! We walked by the Duomo, to the Uffizi, onto the Ponte Vecchio bridge and through the street markets. Man, it really feels like home! I love being back!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
My "Complete" Venetian Day
Yes, it seems like I had a perfect day here in Venice! But first, let me tell you about last night. The food here is delicious, as you can only imagine. I have had pizza for lunch, but have decided I will have different types of pasta for dinner. Last night we went to a restaurant to watch the semi-final game. I chose a pasta that was described as "an herby dumplings with marzcapone cream cheese and walnuts." Well, the dumplings somehow tasted more like savory doughnut holes, and it was soaked in cream cheese. So as your mouth waters, I'll let you decide if it was good or not!
As far as the soccer, or football match, goes, we enjoyed a rather exciting game between Turkey and Germany. Turkey dominated the game. We ended up leaving with about 15 minutes left, even though the score was tyed at one each. The TV's kept going out and our wooden benches were not comfortable, so we decided if it went into overtime, we could catch the end of it in our hotel after a gelato. The game was over by the time we got back to our room, so we just all assumed that Turkey was moving on to the finals. However I asked someone this morning and they said that Germany had won, 3-2. So, we missed a lot of excitment... oh well! Russia and Spain play tonight to see who will join Germany in the finals.
I began my morning with a stroll, and another walk to the fresh market, it always grabs my attention! I found a delicious orange juice, then met Angie for a doughnut and some shopping! We all meet up together and made an important stop at the grocery store for a loaf of bread. We went to San Marco's after that.
The long seemed incredibly long, but it moved very quickly. Italian churches always amaze me, no matter how many times I have stood in their glory. San Marco's is particulary unique. Inside the church is incredibly detailed, just beautiful. The ceiling and the domes are mosiacs, mainly made up of gold leaf; simply stunning. The floors, though warped from years of floods, are made of mosaics of marble with intricate designs. It is breathtaking to stand in the grandeur of cathedrals like this, and I don't even think this one compares to those in Florence and Rome.
We climbed some very steep steps in order to have a fantastic view of San Marco's square, Venice's center and most recognizable image. People and pigeons are scattered about the large square, trying not to melt in the heat.
Next, we went up the tower that is also in San Marco's Square. I had actually never been up the tower before and was delighted to see the views it provided. This tower did have an elevator, and because of the heat, I must admit, I was thankful it was not a lot of stairs to the top. The views were just breathtaking. I love the rooftops of Europe, those red-clay tiles and small streets make for a picturesque scene everywhere you go! We were able to look out and see Lido, along with most of Venice.
At noon, while we were at the top of the tour, the bells began to ring! At first, this giant bell just started swaying back and forth, then all of a sudden, a loud clanging noise! It was extremely loud, but a beautiful tone as well! We were thrilled to hear the bells chime from so close despite the possible loss of hearing.
After that, we decided it was time to feed the birds, and no, it did not cost two pence a bag! :) Angie had not fed the pigeons last time she was here and she was determined to do that. Em and I were also eager! We had brought the loaf of bread and were much more prepared than most of the other tourists around. I started, just by throwing a couple of pieces of bread on the ground and within seconds, I was surrounded! They were all over my arms, my hands, my feet, even my head and shoulders! I couldn't see my feet or my purse that was on the ground because of the pigeons. They tickled my toes as they searched for crumbs. Emily soon joined me as she couldn't stand missing out on the fun, but Angie was a bit hesitant.
Em was covered as soon as she held a piece of bread, but Angie only reached down to feed them as she was unsure about them landing on her!
Em was covered as soon as she held a piece of bread, but Angie only reached down to feed them as she was unsure about them landing on her!After our adventure with the pigeons, we, first washed our hands, and then enjoyed some delicious pizza and some more shopping. Shopping here is so much fun because all of the glass is just so beautiful and despite the fact that it is in every other shop, it is also unique!
I have been to Venice four times, but have never been on a gondola. I know... I think it was always because they were so expensive, and they are, but today, we decided it had to be done, and since we were doing it, why not do the longer tour!? We had a marvelous time in this old Venetian treasure, floating along quiet canals through Venice as our guide expertly manuevered us through the narrow passage ways. Sadly, he did not sing, but on a perfectly sunny day in Venice with some of your best friends, who needs the song?
(Notice our driver who trained for 2-3 years to drive a gondola is on the cell phone! :))
We head to Florence tomorrow! Hope you are having a great week! Also, please excuse any mis-spells you see! For some reason the spell check does not work here, and unfortunately I have come to rely on it!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Venice
Yes, it feels like home to me, even though I am making new and exciting discoveries!
Angie arrived yesterday afternoon and now we three are having a great time together! Yesterday afternoon we just spent some time walking around, getting lost in Venice. I somehow actually made it back to a church I had visited on a previous trip. This is the church that you see in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. If you remember, they were in Venice, inside of a library when they went down under the library and discovered one of the nights tombs. Soon they were surrounded by rats, but managed to escape. They popped out of a sewer hole, in the middle of a peaceful scene in front of a church. Well, we found that church! The inside of the church is not the inside of the film, but still, pretty cool!
We went inside to see an exhibition of some of Leonardo's amazing creations. Not only did he paint the oh-so-famous Mona Lisa, but he was an inventor and scientist. We didn't really understand all that we saw, but it was still pretty neat to see!
We made our way back to the canal and had a glorious dinner on the canal near the Rialto Bridge. I had some delicious pasta, Angie enjoyed some lasagna and Emily enjoyed some local oysters. We had a great time and ended up dining like true Italians, staying at our table for over three hours. Our waiters were fun and we decided that we should celebrate. So, since it was my 24 and 3/4 birthday, the waiters sang Happy Birthday to me and brought me a tiramisu with a candle! Who else can say that they celebrated their 24 and 3/4 birthday in that way?!? :)
Our hotel is just a couple minutes walk from the Rialto Bridge, so incredibly convenient. I explained that it was just a green door that led us to the place, but it is perfect. I will try to explain it, although it is a little complicated. You walk in the green door, up a flight of steps, so the hotel itself really does not have a ground floor, just a door on the ground floor. At the top of the stairs is a small reception office. You turn to your left and go up another flight of stairs to the rooms. What is really neat is that these stairs, while surrounded closely by 4-story buildings, are actually outside, open to the world above. At the top of the stairs there is just one level of hotel, about 8 rooms in all from what we can tell. Our room is at the end of the hall, curved back around, so that when I look out my window, I look outside, but also down at the reception desk... very strange, but also really neat!
The room is quite small, but just fine for the perfect location. We are just living out of our suitcases and enjoying the area! The shower however is a different story. It is in the corner of the bathroom, so two walls of the shower are walls of the bathroom and the other two walls are sliding doors. I would assume that each door is about 2 feet long, on a good day. These doors lock magnetically together. When washing your hair, in order to actually leave your hands on your head and put your elbows out, you must turn diagonally to spread your elbows out completely. Ahhh.... European showers....
Our hotel does not have breakfast, I believe this is our only one like that, but I'm ok with finding a few special breakfasts on our trip! I had a nice OJ, a delicious croissant and a small apple delicious-something. Perfect! We walked to the produce and fish market this morning, just to admire and wonder what life might be like here. You could buy anything from zucchini flowers to octupus. The fruits and vegetables were just beautiful, and the lobster crawling around was a little terrifying!
Angie had remembered going to one of the surrounding islands with her family and we decided to try that out. We went to Lido, a quaint little island, that is so quiet in comparison to the busy Venice. Our grand adventure, and honestly one of the most fun things I have ever done, was renting a two-person bike. Angie had told us about this and told us how her mom had sat in the middle and didn't do any peddling. I wish you could have seen the images I had in my head of Angie in the front, peddling on, with Em in the back working hard to keep up and me in the middle, somehow balancing and staying on. I just kept picturing us falling over.
Thankfully, my image couldn't have been farther than the actual and it was amazing! Picture, if you will a golf cart, only instead of a motor, it is two bikes together with a seat across just big enough for three small young ladies. We took turns peddling and just enjoying the few. We rode all around the little island! It was hot again today, but with our small canvas shade, it was not too bad!
Here we are riding in the bike...
Angie arrived yesterday afternoon and now we three are having a great time together! Yesterday afternoon we just spent some time walking around, getting lost in Venice. I somehow actually made it back to a church I had visited on a previous trip. This is the church that you see in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. If you remember, they were in Venice, inside of a library when they went down under the library and discovered one of the nights tombs. Soon they were surrounded by rats, but managed to escape. They popped out of a sewer hole, in the middle of a peaceful scene in front of a church. Well, we found that church! The inside of the church is not the inside of the film, but still, pretty cool!
We went inside to see an exhibition of some of Leonardo's amazing creations. Not only did he paint the oh-so-famous Mona Lisa, but he was an inventor and scientist. We didn't really understand all that we saw, but it was still pretty neat to see!
We made our way back to the canal and had a glorious dinner on the canal near the Rialto Bridge. I had some delicious pasta, Angie enjoyed some lasagna and Emily enjoyed some local oysters. We had a great time and ended up dining like true Italians, staying at our table for over three hours. Our waiters were fun and we decided that we should celebrate. So, since it was my 24 and 3/4 birthday, the waiters sang Happy Birthday to me and brought me a tiramisu with a candle! Who else can say that they celebrated their 24 and 3/4 birthday in that way?!? :)
Our hotel is just a couple minutes walk from the Rialto Bridge, so incredibly convenient. I explained that it was just a green door that led us to the place, but it is perfect. I will try to explain it, although it is a little complicated. You walk in the green door, up a flight of steps, so the hotel itself really does not have a ground floor, just a door on the ground floor. At the top of the stairs is a small reception office. You turn to your left and go up another flight of stairs to the rooms. What is really neat is that these stairs, while surrounded closely by 4-story buildings, are actually outside, open to the world above. At the top of the stairs there is just one level of hotel, about 8 rooms in all from what we can tell. Our room is at the end of the hall, curved back around, so that when I look out my window, I look outside, but also down at the reception desk... very strange, but also really neat!
The room is quite small, but just fine for the perfect location. We are just living out of our suitcases and enjoying the area! The shower however is a different story. It is in the corner of the bathroom, so two walls of the shower are walls of the bathroom and the other two walls are sliding doors. I would assume that each door is about 2 feet long, on a good day. These doors lock magnetically together. When washing your hair, in order to actually leave your hands on your head and put your elbows out, you must turn diagonally to spread your elbows out completely. Ahhh.... European showers....
Our hotel does not have breakfast, I believe this is our only one like that, but I'm ok with finding a few special breakfasts on our trip! I had a nice OJ, a delicious croissant and a small apple delicious-something. Perfect! We walked to the produce and fish market this morning, just to admire and wonder what life might be like here. You could buy anything from zucchini flowers to octupus. The fruits and vegetables were just beautiful, and the lobster crawling around was a little terrifying!
Angie had remembered going to one of the surrounding islands with her family and we decided to try that out. We went to Lido, a quaint little island, that is so quiet in comparison to the busy Venice. Our grand adventure, and honestly one of the most fun things I have ever done, was renting a two-person bike. Angie had told us about this and told us how her mom had sat in the middle and didn't do any peddling. I wish you could have seen the images I had in my head of Angie in the front, peddling on, with Em in the back working hard to keep up and me in the middle, somehow balancing and staying on. I just kept picturing us falling over.
Thankfully, my image couldn't have been farther than the actual and it was amazing! Picture, if you will a golf cart, only instead of a motor, it is two bikes together with a seat across just big enough for three small young ladies. We took turns peddling and just enjoying the few. We rode all around the little island! It was hot again today, but with our small canvas shade, it was not too bad!
Here we are riding in the bike...
We stopped at the beach, I think it was a private one, but oh well! We walked on the beach and stuck our feet into the Adriatic Sea! The sand was hot and the water warm. We collected shells and wondered how far they may have traveled. The sand did not compare to the beauty of ours in the Gulf, but you know what, I was on an Italian beach today, standing barefoot, collecting shells with some great friends on a sunny day... I'm not sure it could have gotten much better. Wait... did I mention we finished our ride with gelato? Now, it is perfect!
We rode/peddled our way around most of the island and enjoyed how peaceful it was! We saw Venice from afar and enjoyed the views along with the homes we came across.
We took the water bus back to San Marco square and set off to find some bird food so that we may enjoy one of the staples of Venice - feeding the pigeons in San Marco Square. However, we were sadly disappointed that while there were plenty of pigeons, for some reason the people selling food were missing. However, we found a grocery store and some bread and plan to return tomorrow, prepared!
The heat, the sun, the peddling and the breezes on the water took a toll on us all today, so we came back to the hotel and laid around for a bit, then showered to wash away sand and stickiness. Soon we will enjoy a delicious Italian dinner and watch the first of the semi-final games.
I am so glad to be back in Italy, and so glad to be enjoying this incredible place with friends. I'm sorry that you can't all be here with me! Thanks again for reading, I love hearing from you all!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Italia...
I'm not sure exactly why, but coming to Italy somehow feels like coming home. My mom's side of the family has some of the olive skin and dark hair typical of Italy, but I believe they are from Southern France. I don't know why I have such a passion for this country, but I do. I have been here four times and even though I cannot speak the language, nor really find my way around without a map, it still feels like home. I love this place!
Our overnight train was really quite pleasant. Perhaps that is because I am comparing it to our last overnight experience which was, to say the least, an adventure, but this one was not that bad. We were on beds, bunk style, in a small cabin with two other beds. One of the other people in our cabin was a young woman who taught English and Spanish at a school in the Austrian countryside. I enjoyed talking and learning from her. She taught at a vocational school for 15-19 year olds. The school was specifically for tree-growing and wine making. (Dad, maybe you could go for a while! :)) She said that most of the students boarded because it was the only school like that in Austria and that the school was 90% boys. She was headed to meet up with part of her school group who was visiting their sister school just outside of Venice. I have really loved learning about education in these other countries we have visited.
Our other cabin mate was a man who was very nice and seemed probably as uncomfortable being in there with three girls as we were with being in there with him. It really worked out fine though. I was never in a deep sleep, but I slept most of the time and felt relatively rested when I woke up.
We arrived in Venice! As the train station was crowded, we decided to try to figure things out on our own without a map. The hotel we are staying at had sent me directions. They told us which water bus (yes, water) to take and then the only directions said "walk through S. Bortolomeo Square and S. Lio Square - 10 meters before the San Lio Square you'll see a green door on the right side of the street." So with the help of a few kind strangers and those directions, we miraculously found our hotel. We were able to leave our luggage there, but not get into the hotel yet, which explains why we have taken the time to sit in the internet cafes and update our travels in the air conditioning.
The heat that we were lacking in Paris and Berlin, we are making up for here. It is in the 90's and very hot. But, I decided it would be this way at home too, so no reason to complain. (Of course if I was at home, I would probably be inside! :)) We are hot and sweaty, but so is everyone else, so when in Rome...
We ate an early lunch since we didn't really have much dinner or breakfast. I am so thrilled to be here with Italian food and I think Emily is as well! We sat and enjoyed incredible pizzas.... the food in Italy cannot be beat! We walked around for a while, went to San Marco Square and looked in some glass stores.
Our hotel, even though we haven't seen our room yet, seems great! It is a cute little place, doesn't look like there are very many rooms and it is only a couple minutes walk away from the Rialto bridge and about five minutes walk to San Marco's square. I am thrilled with the location!
If you haven't been to Venice before, it is quite the experience. So different from anywhere else in the world. There are no cars. The "streets" are incredibly narrow because it is just for people to walk along, no cars. The rivers and canals are the way you travel from place to place. So the public transportation is actually a boat, yes a boat. We rode on the water bus, which is similar to a small ferry just for people.
It always amazes me how beautiful this city is and how it was built. It was built onto a swamp and the whole city is built up on posts, yes posts. This would seem sort of understandable if it was a small city and all of the buildings were made of light wood, but no, these are giant stone buildings and a rather large city. Fascinating! Of course, the city is sinking slightly a little each year, so one day it may not be here. But we'll enjoy it while we can!
Soon we will go to our rooms and settle in a bit before meeting Angie at the water bus. Then our real adventure of the city will begin!
Our overnight train was really quite pleasant. Perhaps that is because I am comparing it to our last overnight experience which was, to say the least, an adventure, but this one was not that bad. We were on beds, bunk style, in a small cabin with two other beds. One of the other people in our cabin was a young woman who taught English and Spanish at a school in the Austrian countryside. I enjoyed talking and learning from her. She taught at a vocational school for 15-19 year olds. The school was specifically for tree-growing and wine making. (Dad, maybe you could go for a while! :)) She said that most of the students boarded because it was the only school like that in Austria and that the school was 90% boys. She was headed to meet up with part of her school group who was visiting their sister school just outside of Venice. I have really loved learning about education in these other countries we have visited.
Our other cabin mate was a man who was very nice and seemed probably as uncomfortable being in there with three girls as we were with being in there with him. It really worked out fine though. I was never in a deep sleep, but I slept most of the time and felt relatively rested when I woke up.
We arrived in Venice! As the train station was crowded, we decided to try to figure things out on our own without a map. The hotel we are staying at had sent me directions. They told us which water bus (yes, water) to take and then the only directions said "walk through S. Bortolomeo Square and S. Lio Square - 10 meters before the San Lio Square you'll see a green door on the right side of the street." So with the help of a few kind strangers and those directions, we miraculously found our hotel. We were able to leave our luggage there, but not get into the hotel yet, which explains why we have taken the time to sit in the internet cafes and update our travels in the air conditioning.
The heat that we were lacking in Paris and Berlin, we are making up for here. It is in the 90's and very hot. But, I decided it would be this way at home too, so no reason to complain. (Of course if I was at home, I would probably be inside! :)) We are hot and sweaty, but so is everyone else, so when in Rome...
We ate an early lunch since we didn't really have much dinner or breakfast. I am so thrilled to be here with Italian food and I think Emily is as well! We sat and enjoyed incredible pizzas.... the food in Italy cannot be beat! We walked around for a while, went to San Marco Square and looked in some glass stores.
Our hotel, even though we haven't seen our room yet, seems great! It is a cute little place, doesn't look like there are very many rooms and it is only a couple minutes walk away from the Rialto bridge and about five minutes walk to San Marco's square. I am thrilled with the location!
If you haven't been to Venice before, it is quite the experience. So different from anywhere else in the world. There are no cars. The "streets" are incredibly narrow because it is just for people to walk along, no cars. The rivers and canals are the way you travel from place to place. So the public transportation is actually a boat, yes a boat. We rode on the water bus, which is similar to a small ferry just for people.
It always amazes me how beautiful this city is and how it was built. It was built onto a swamp and the whole city is built up on posts, yes posts. This would seem sort of understandable if it was a small city and all of the buildings were made of light wood, but no, these are giant stone buildings and a rather large city. Fascinating! Of course, the city is sinking slightly a little each year, so one day it may not be here. But we'll enjoy it while we can!
Soon we will go to our rooms and settle in a bit before meeting Angie at the water bus. Then our real adventure of the city will begin!
Salzburg and Vienna
I truly loved Salzburg, in great part because it was the home of the Sound of Music, no matter how cheezy that sounds, but that movie seems to be so magical to me, that being there among the story - both true and Hollywood, was pretty fascinating!
We enjoyed our last night in Salzburg watching Russia beat the Netherlands in the second overtime in the main square. We have had so much fun watching the Euro Cup, partly because it is just what you should do here and what everyone else is doing here. It is a way to participate, to be European. And we all love soccer and don't get to watch much of it in the states. It is fun to watch a crowd get into a game, no matter what country they are from, but just cheering on their favorite.
Sunday morning I woke up and hiked up to Nonnberg Abbey. It is here that the real Maria once lived, where she taught and where she was married. Some of the outside was shot in the film, but the interior of the abbey was in Hollywood. The scene where the children went to inquire after Maria and then the scene where the soldiers try to chase the family off, only to find their cars are not working, were shot here. I only ventured around a little. It was really quite open, but it was Sunday morning and I did not want to disturb.
Since I was already half way up the hill that also holds the fortress, I thought, why not, let's just go all the way. I only encountered a few people on my journey, mainly locals out for a walk or a jog, sometimes with their dogs. There were signs on the pathways, so I never really felt lost, even though I didn't really know where I was going! It was quite the walk upwards, but it was also enjoyable.
Once at the top, most of the pathway was shaded with old, beautiful trees and I was blessed with incredible views of the city. I wondered until I found the spot where Maria first taught the children to sing. Do you remember the scene? They had just learned the notes, out on the hillsides, then they went into town. Then, while sitting on a bench in front of a stone wall overlooking the city, she says "Now, once you know the notes, you can sing a million different tunes just by mixing them up." Herman and I both had our pictures taken here. Even if you don't have the love for the film that I do, you would have appreciated these views.
I set out on my walk about 7:30 probably, and starting at 8:15, the bells of the churches in town began ringing. I was incredibly blessed to have this serenation on my hillside journey until 9. It was just heavenly! The bells, these famous old city bells rang and led me on my way.
I had a little trouble getting back down. One sign pointed towards stairs, so I went about half way down the hill on these stairs, only to discover that the stairs ended with a pathway to go back up - makes sense right?!? :) No matter what though, I made it up and then I enjoyed a glorious morning on the hillside of Salzburg, and I did make it back down as well!
We went to Mozart's birthplace before we left. Although I do not have near the amount of appreciation for Mozart's music that I should, being in his birthplace was thrilling. I was in the actual room where he was born; the actual room where this musical genius was brought into the world. The room had objects that had once belonged to him. I saw some of his hair and a little stuffed rabbit.
The museum, his former house, is a very interesting museum, and we heard many say that it was much better than his residence that is also a museum. It was sort of modern, but I don't want that to scare anyone away. I fully recommend it! The room where he was born is a small room, wood floor, that is painted blue and it is well lit. On the ceiling are geese hanging, all headed in the same direction, towards the window. I know that this symbolized something, but sadly now, I cannot remember. In the walls surrounding the room, there are these items of his past.
Next, our train ride adventure from Salzburg to Vienna. We got on the train, to find that it was quite full, and the open seats were taken over by people who were not too keen on sharing. Some friendly Italian soccer fans squeezed in together though and opened some seats for us. We joined a man from San Fransisco, a more free-spirit DJ who generously shared his space. The train was a little miserable, only because there was no air, the windows did not open and it was 90 degrees outside. We enjoyed visiting, reading, napping and watching the scenery go by.
The car we were on was full of Italian fans; Italy was playing in Vienna that night! In fact, above our heads was an Italian flag drapped over the seats. They were loud, roudy and so much fun! It is so much fun watching people so into a sport and with such love for their team, similar to the way we all feel about Auburn.
Three hours later, we did arrive in Vienna and took a taxi to our hotel. Our hotel room was very nice and absolutely perfect for us. It was really a suite: three beds, two couches, two chairs, a table, a desk and a nice bathroom. We were able to spread out a bit and enjoy some space for a while after being cramped on a hot train.
We found our way to the Fanzone, the giant TV set up in the center of town to watch the Italians verse the Spanish. There were a ton of people there! It was quite the set up with multiple TV's, and since the game was actually in Vienna, the crowd there was pretty excited. We found one of the giant screens though were people were sitting (not standing) and decided that would be a good option!
The game went 0-0 the whole time, through two overtimes and into a shoot-out. Spain one the quarter-final game in the last shot of the the shoot-out. It is pretty impressive to me that three out of four of the quarter final games went into double overtimes, two of them even went into shoot-outs after the two overtimes. So Wednesday and Thursday night are the semi-final games between Russia, Turkey, Spain and Germany. Sunday night will be the final game. We will be in Florence then and happy to watch the exciting conclusion!
Monday morning, Mary left us early. We will miss having her with us! We only had the one day in Vienna and didn't really know what to do. Fortunately, I had a friend from high school who has been living in Vienna for a while who showed us around and gave us an amazing tour of Vienna! Chris has been living here for a while, teaching English to children and to business men. He seems to have enjoyed the city even though he will be heading back to the states soon. He was a GREAT tour guide and we cannot thank him enough for taking the time to show us around!
We walked all over the old part of the city, looking at churches, palaces, museums and parks along the way. Vienna is a beautiful city. The central part of Vienna is really very small, so it was easy for us to make our way around just by walking. Chris was able to give us some of the history of many of the places as well as some fun and interesting facts that only a true local can say. We saw places where Hitler had given speeches or where he had had coffee.
For lunch, Chris took us to a little place we would not have found on our own, a perfect place for us to enjoy our last Austrian meal! We had some delicious schnitzel in a huge portion and enjoyed almost every bite of our leisurely meal.
After lunch, since it is Vienna, and what most people do here is enjoy coffee at little cafes, we walked for a bit and then sat back down to enjoy some afternoon treats! It was a perfect day and a great way to see the city since we only had the one short day! Thank you so much Chris!!
We gathered our belongings and went to the train station where we would board our overnight train. We saw one of our first Auburn hats and were thrilled to yell, and receive a "War Eagle!"
We enjoyed our last night in Salzburg watching Russia beat the Netherlands in the second overtime in the main square. We have had so much fun watching the Euro Cup, partly because it is just what you should do here and what everyone else is doing here. It is a way to participate, to be European. And we all love soccer and don't get to watch much of it in the states. It is fun to watch a crowd get into a game, no matter what country they are from, but just cheering on their favorite.
Sunday morning I woke up and hiked up to Nonnberg Abbey. It is here that the real Maria once lived, where she taught and where she was married. Some of the outside was shot in the film, but the interior of the abbey was in Hollywood. The scene where the children went to inquire after Maria and then the scene where the soldiers try to chase the family off, only to find their cars are not working, were shot here. I only ventured around a little. It was really quite open, but it was Sunday morning and I did not want to disturb.
Since I was already half way up the hill that also holds the fortress, I thought, why not, let's just go all the way. I only encountered a few people on my journey, mainly locals out for a walk or a jog, sometimes with their dogs. There were signs on the pathways, so I never really felt lost, even though I didn't really know where I was going! It was quite the walk upwards, but it was also enjoyable.
Once at the top, most of the pathway was shaded with old, beautiful trees and I was blessed with incredible views of the city. I wondered until I found the spot where Maria first taught the children to sing. Do you remember the scene? They had just learned the notes, out on the hillsides, then they went into town. Then, while sitting on a bench in front of a stone wall overlooking the city, she says "Now, once you know the notes, you can sing a million different tunes just by mixing them up." Herman and I both had our pictures taken here. Even if you don't have the love for the film that I do, you would have appreciated these views.
I set out on my walk about 7:30 probably, and starting at 8:15, the bells of the churches in town began ringing. I was incredibly blessed to have this serenation on my hillside journey until 9. It was just heavenly! The bells, these famous old city bells rang and led me on my way.
I had a little trouble getting back down. One sign pointed towards stairs, so I went about half way down the hill on these stairs, only to discover that the stairs ended with a pathway to go back up - makes sense right?!? :) No matter what though, I made it up and then I enjoyed a glorious morning on the hillside of Salzburg, and I did make it back down as well!
We went to Mozart's birthplace before we left. Although I do not have near the amount of appreciation for Mozart's music that I should, being in his birthplace was thrilling. I was in the actual room where he was born; the actual room where this musical genius was brought into the world. The room had objects that had once belonged to him. I saw some of his hair and a little stuffed rabbit.
The museum, his former house, is a very interesting museum, and we heard many say that it was much better than his residence that is also a museum. It was sort of modern, but I don't want that to scare anyone away. I fully recommend it! The room where he was born is a small room, wood floor, that is painted blue and it is well lit. On the ceiling are geese hanging, all headed in the same direction, towards the window. I know that this symbolized something, but sadly now, I cannot remember. In the walls surrounding the room, there are these items of his past.
Next, our train ride adventure from Salzburg to Vienna. We got on the train, to find that it was quite full, and the open seats were taken over by people who were not too keen on sharing. Some friendly Italian soccer fans squeezed in together though and opened some seats for us. We joined a man from San Fransisco, a more free-spirit DJ who generously shared his space. The train was a little miserable, only because there was no air, the windows did not open and it was 90 degrees outside. We enjoyed visiting, reading, napping and watching the scenery go by.
The car we were on was full of Italian fans; Italy was playing in Vienna that night! In fact, above our heads was an Italian flag drapped over the seats. They were loud, roudy and so much fun! It is so much fun watching people so into a sport and with such love for their team, similar to the way we all feel about Auburn.
Three hours later, we did arrive in Vienna and took a taxi to our hotel. Our hotel room was very nice and absolutely perfect for us. It was really a suite: three beds, two couches, two chairs, a table, a desk and a nice bathroom. We were able to spread out a bit and enjoy some space for a while after being cramped on a hot train.
We found our way to the Fanzone, the giant TV set up in the center of town to watch the Italians verse the Spanish. There were a ton of people there! It was quite the set up with multiple TV's, and since the game was actually in Vienna, the crowd there was pretty excited. We found one of the giant screens though were people were sitting (not standing) and decided that would be a good option!
The game went 0-0 the whole time, through two overtimes and into a shoot-out. Spain one the quarter-final game in the last shot of the the shoot-out. It is pretty impressive to me that three out of four of the quarter final games went into double overtimes, two of them even went into shoot-outs after the two overtimes. So Wednesday and Thursday night are the semi-final games between Russia, Turkey, Spain and Germany. Sunday night will be the final game. We will be in Florence then and happy to watch the exciting conclusion!
Monday morning, Mary left us early. We will miss having her with us! We only had the one day in Vienna and didn't really know what to do. Fortunately, I had a friend from high school who has been living in Vienna for a while who showed us around and gave us an amazing tour of Vienna! Chris has been living here for a while, teaching English to children and to business men. He seems to have enjoyed the city even though he will be heading back to the states soon. He was a GREAT tour guide and we cannot thank him enough for taking the time to show us around!
We walked all over the old part of the city, looking at churches, palaces, museums and parks along the way. Vienna is a beautiful city. The central part of Vienna is really very small, so it was easy for us to make our way around just by walking. Chris was able to give us some of the history of many of the places as well as some fun and interesting facts that only a true local can say. We saw places where Hitler had given speeches or where he had had coffee.
For lunch, Chris took us to a little place we would not have found on our own, a perfect place for us to enjoy our last Austrian meal! We had some delicious schnitzel in a huge portion and enjoyed almost every bite of our leisurely meal.
After lunch, since it is Vienna, and what most people do here is enjoy coffee at little cafes, we walked for a bit and then sat back down to enjoy some afternoon treats! It was a perfect day and a great way to see the city since we only had the one short day! Thank you so much Chris!!
We gathered our belongings and went to the train station where we would board our overnight train. We saw one of our first Auburn hats and were thrilled to yell, and receive a "War Eagle!"
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Some Pics...
This is the castle and cathedral in Prague from the top of the "Eiffel Tower."
Here we are in front of the back of the house that was the Von Trapp's home in the film. By the way, the real famiy's house will be opening up as a Bed and Breakfast in a couple of months.
"I am sixteen going on seventeen!"
This was the way up the luge that we then slid back down! So much fun!
This is the Old Town Square in Prague where we watched all of our soccer games!
Another view of the Prague castle from Charles' Bridge.
I just had to include this picture to show that while we are thoroughly enjoying the amazing sites we are seeing, we are also making sure to take time and be our goofy selves!
And here is Herman at the famous Astronimical Clock of Prague!
My Favorite Things...
Today, I danced in on an Austrian hillside, walked down the aisle where Maria and the Captian were married, danced around the gardens that the children danced around, danced around the gezebo and sang Do Re Mi with a bunch of strangers; could life be any better right now?
If you are not an avid Sound of Music fan, first off, you may be crazy, second off, feel free to skip the next couple of paragraphs. Our tour guide, Martina, of Bob's Special Tours came to pick us up at the hotel. We were in a van which was great because we were free to ask questions and stop at smaller venues, things like that. We were really lucky and our other "van-mates" were all girls, all American and all our age. We had a great time together, and yes, there were seven of us and our leader, Martina... sound familiar to anyone?
The Von Trapps were a real family and a lot of the film is actually true. However, there was no Baroness, no Ralph and the character of Max represented the family priest. Maria was actually born on a train, raised in Vienna as a foster child with an atheist family. She went to school to become a teacher and then had a deep desire to become a nun. She requested the strictest of abbeys and was sent here to Salzburg. She taught in the nunnery school where she taught one of the Von Trapp children. She immediately fell in love with the child, and the other six children. There were seven, just two boys, although they were the oldest and the youngest. One day one of the children asked Maria if she liked their father, of course she said yes, what else do you say to a child. They rushed home and told their father, who was looking for a wife and mother for his children. He immediately proposed, story goes that she dropped the ceramic vase she was holding. She went to discuss the idea with Mother Superior and ended up marrying the Captain and they had a good life together. One other thing - he was 47, she was 22.
After marrying, they had three children together. The children did all have incredible voices and sang for people all over Europe, people such as the Pope and the Queen of England. Eleven years after marrying, they family snuck out of Austria on the train. The went to America from there. Although it was not like climbing over a mountain, Hitler did close the boarders the next day, so it was still a narrow escape.
Much of the inside shots of the film were shot in Hollywood, but the outside scenes were all around this area. The house was several different houses in fact, one was the backside, one the front and a different on the inside.
Edeilweiss is not the national anthem, it was composed by Rogers and Hammerstein, and it is a protected flower here that only grows at the peaks of mountains, so you are not allowed to pick it.
Liesel, the actress who played Liesel, sprained her ankle when dancing around the gazebo that was especially constructed for the film. There were actually two gezebos, they needed different size ones for different events. The gezebos were left here in Salzburg as a gift, but because too many people got hurt dancing around in the gezebo, they had to close it. So, we got to see the outside of it, but not go into it.
Our guide took us through the lake country, which was just beautiful and made the tour worthwhile even if you are not the avid van that I am. The lakes were teal, just beautiful and the surrounding towns were shot in the opening scene of the film.
We stopped on a lovely hillside with a huge field that looked like Maria's opening number in the film. We danced about, sang, and acted like the giddy fools we were. We even, as a group of seven, lined up and sang Do Re Me! Oh my! I couldn't have enjoyed myself more!
As a side stop, we went down a luge ride. It was really quick, but lots of fun to go down a mountain as you looked out over the beautiful countryside! We also went to a small place and had delicious, homemade "crisp apple strudel!" Amazing!
We went to the church where the wedding was filmed in one of the small towns. It was a huge church and it looked very different, it is amazing what Hollywood can do, but still, it was the church and I walked down that same aisle! The real Von Trapps were married in the church that is in the Nunberg Abbey here where Maria was a teacher. I hope to take the short hike up there in the morning.
We ended up at Mirabell Gardens where many of the scenes from "Do Re Me" were filmed. We jumped up the steps, pranced around the fountain, posed in front of statues, all of the above! Our tour of the Sound of Music ends there, but it was so much fun! Hailey, somehow we need to find a way to work into a field trip to bring kids here! Not only is it the home to the Sound of Music, but also the birth place of Mozart! I think it sounds very educational! :)
We walked around and enjoyed the small city of Salzburg. I came upon a store where my parents that my parents and I had marveled at before. It is a huge store full of decorated blown eggs. When I say huge, I mean thousands upon thousands of eggs. Have you even blown an egg to decorate for Easter? It is extremely difficult! I had remembered it from the last time I was here and decided that I could not pass up another opportunity, so I purchased a few and had them shipped home!
For the afternoon we went up to the Fortress that overlooks the city. It is one of the oldest and largest in Europe and is situated in a wonderful lookout spot. We spent a couple of hours wondering around the courtyard, the palace and military museums before sitting with a Coke to enjoy the view for a bit.
This evening I went into the Salzburg Cathedral which I thought was truly beautiful and not nearly as gaudy as the other churches in the area I have seen. It was huge and decorated with murals on the ceiling. I walked a few more short steps to St. Peter's, no, not the one in Rome, and happened upon some sort of service. The monks were singing and the acoustics were fantastic. I sat, mezmorized for a few minutes by the beautiful voices these men had.
I went out to the cemetry beside the church which was the inspiration for the cemetry in the film, although that was a Hollywood creation. Although the cemetry is old, the tombstones are not. This is because people rent these plots, they do not own them, so if family members don't pay rent, they're out and someone new is in!
After that, I walked over to the otherside of the river where I wandered down a small road to find the birthplace of the man who wrote Silent Night. Just a small landmark, but quite an important man!
Another soccer game will be on in the square in a few minutes, so we will probably enjoy those festivities again shortly! Tomorrow we head to Vienna, Mary leaves us the next morning, we spend the day in Vienna, the night on a train to Venice and then we will meet up with Angie in Venice! So, you probably won't hear from me for a few days, but we will be fine! Have a great week and I really do appreciate you taking the time to read!
If you are not an avid Sound of Music fan, first off, you may be crazy, second off, feel free to skip the next couple of paragraphs. Our tour guide, Martina, of Bob's Special Tours came to pick us up at the hotel. We were in a van which was great because we were free to ask questions and stop at smaller venues, things like that. We were really lucky and our other "van-mates" were all girls, all American and all our age. We had a great time together, and yes, there were seven of us and our leader, Martina... sound familiar to anyone?
The Von Trapps were a real family and a lot of the film is actually true. However, there was no Baroness, no Ralph and the character of Max represented the family priest. Maria was actually born on a train, raised in Vienna as a foster child with an atheist family. She went to school to become a teacher and then had a deep desire to become a nun. She requested the strictest of abbeys and was sent here to Salzburg. She taught in the nunnery school where she taught one of the Von Trapp children. She immediately fell in love with the child, and the other six children. There were seven, just two boys, although they were the oldest and the youngest. One day one of the children asked Maria if she liked their father, of course she said yes, what else do you say to a child. They rushed home and told their father, who was looking for a wife and mother for his children. He immediately proposed, story goes that she dropped the ceramic vase she was holding. She went to discuss the idea with Mother Superior and ended up marrying the Captain and they had a good life together. One other thing - he was 47, she was 22.
After marrying, they had three children together. The children did all have incredible voices and sang for people all over Europe, people such as the Pope and the Queen of England. Eleven years after marrying, they family snuck out of Austria on the train. The went to America from there. Although it was not like climbing over a mountain, Hitler did close the boarders the next day, so it was still a narrow escape.
Much of the inside shots of the film were shot in Hollywood, but the outside scenes were all around this area. The house was several different houses in fact, one was the backside, one the front and a different on the inside.
Edeilweiss is not the national anthem, it was composed by Rogers and Hammerstein, and it is a protected flower here that only grows at the peaks of mountains, so you are not allowed to pick it.
Liesel, the actress who played Liesel, sprained her ankle when dancing around the gazebo that was especially constructed for the film. There were actually two gezebos, they needed different size ones for different events. The gezebos were left here in Salzburg as a gift, but because too many people got hurt dancing around in the gezebo, they had to close it. So, we got to see the outside of it, but not go into it.
Our guide took us through the lake country, which was just beautiful and made the tour worthwhile even if you are not the avid van that I am. The lakes were teal, just beautiful and the surrounding towns were shot in the opening scene of the film.
We stopped on a lovely hillside with a huge field that looked like Maria's opening number in the film. We danced about, sang, and acted like the giddy fools we were. We even, as a group of seven, lined up and sang Do Re Me! Oh my! I couldn't have enjoyed myself more!
As a side stop, we went down a luge ride. It was really quick, but lots of fun to go down a mountain as you looked out over the beautiful countryside! We also went to a small place and had delicious, homemade "crisp apple strudel!" Amazing!
We went to the church where the wedding was filmed in one of the small towns. It was a huge church and it looked very different, it is amazing what Hollywood can do, but still, it was the church and I walked down that same aisle! The real Von Trapps were married in the church that is in the Nunberg Abbey here where Maria was a teacher. I hope to take the short hike up there in the morning.
We ended up at Mirabell Gardens where many of the scenes from "Do Re Me" were filmed. We jumped up the steps, pranced around the fountain, posed in front of statues, all of the above! Our tour of the Sound of Music ends there, but it was so much fun! Hailey, somehow we need to find a way to work into a field trip to bring kids here! Not only is it the home to the Sound of Music, but also the birth place of Mozart! I think it sounds very educational! :)
We walked around and enjoyed the small city of Salzburg. I came upon a store where my parents that my parents and I had marveled at before. It is a huge store full of decorated blown eggs. When I say huge, I mean thousands upon thousands of eggs. Have you even blown an egg to decorate for Easter? It is extremely difficult! I had remembered it from the last time I was here and decided that I could not pass up another opportunity, so I purchased a few and had them shipped home!
For the afternoon we went up to the Fortress that overlooks the city. It is one of the oldest and largest in Europe and is situated in a wonderful lookout spot. We spent a couple of hours wondering around the courtyard, the palace and military museums before sitting with a Coke to enjoy the view for a bit.
This evening I went into the Salzburg Cathedral which I thought was truly beautiful and not nearly as gaudy as the other churches in the area I have seen. It was huge and decorated with murals on the ceiling. I walked a few more short steps to St. Peter's, no, not the one in Rome, and happened upon some sort of service. The monks were singing and the acoustics were fantastic. I sat, mezmorized for a few minutes by the beautiful voices these men had.
I went out to the cemetry beside the church which was the inspiration for the cemetry in the film, although that was a Hollywood creation. Although the cemetry is old, the tombstones are not. This is because people rent these plots, they do not own them, so if family members don't pay rent, they're out and someone new is in!
After that, I walked over to the otherside of the river where I wandered down a small road to find the birthplace of the man who wrote Silent Night. Just a small landmark, but quite an important man!
Another soccer game will be on in the square in a few minutes, so we will probably enjoy those festivities again shortly! Tomorrow we head to Vienna, Mary leaves us the next morning, we spend the day in Vienna, the night on a train to Venice and then we will meet up with Angie in Venice! So, you probably won't hear from me for a few days, but we will be fine! Have a great week and I really do appreciate you taking the time to read!
The Hills are Alive...
No, sadly this is not the hill that Maria sang on in the opening number of the classic film, but it was close enough that we decided we should run around and sing just as she did. So yes, today, I ran around on an Austrian hillside, sang and leaped around while listening to the soundtrack of the Sound of Music; my life is almost complete now! :)
I Have Confidence...
We have now conquered metros in three different foreign cities and yesterday we conquered the trains of Europe. We successfully transferred to six different trains in three different countries yesterday, so as Maria sang through the streets of Salzburg... "I Have Confidence!"
We made sure this time of which train station we were to be at yesterday morning and since we would have had to change metro lines twice to get there, we opted for a taxi ride! We made it to the station just fine, had to wait for a bit, but then found our train, got on and claimed a little cabin all to ourselves. With all of our luggage, we did not look to be too inviting, nor did it look like we had a lot of space, so we made ourselves comfortable and took up a six person cabin, quite easily I might add! A few minutes later the man came by to ask us for our tickets and informed us that we were in a 1st class cabin and of course, our tickets were for 2nd class (no wonder it was so comfortable)! We looked at each other, not wanting to drag our huge suitcases anywhere else and asked how much it would cost for each of us to stay, when we said 5 euros, we easily gave in, who knows, we might have given in had he said 100!
Our next train helped us to even out that first class, as it as a hot, crowded train and we got four seats to ourselves and sat with our legs high up on our suitcases that were on the floor. On the third train, we discovered a small little cabin at the end of the car that had three pull down seats and lots of space. It was not the most comfortable, but it was right at the door, so we didn't have to lug our suitcases anywhere and we had space that we could all fit comfortably!
We knew that it was almost time for our stop, and as the trains often only stop at a station for a few moments before pulling away again, we had to be ready. At this one stop, still not the name of our trainstation, we looked on the train and realized not a single person besides us remained. I found someone who worked on the train and showed her the name of the station we were looking for and she said, "yes, here." I was confused, but we decided we should get off. After getting off we realized that a few steps away, the station changed names, I believe that was the border town between Czech and Germany. Since there was only one other train at this station, we easily found ours although it had no people, no conductor when we were supposed to leave in 10 minutes. We decided to have a seat in this beautiful, clean car though and make ourselves comfortable. Thankfully, after settling down, the train did start and take us to our next destination.
It was at this next change that we only had six minutes to change to the next train. Thankfully, we must be living right, and the train we got off of shared the platform with the train we were leaving on so that we did not have to go down a flight of stairs (with our luggage) and back up another flight to go under the train tracks.
Somehow, on the next train, we managed to end up in 1st class again, but the man did not offer us a chance to stay, so we squeezed into the other little compartment and found space for our luggage on the hot train.
Our next stop, which was at about 4, we had 45 minutes, by far the most time at any stop, so we were able to eat and sit for just a few minutes. We borded our last train which was again rather crowded so that we had to split up, but we found space and it was relatively clean. And somehow, amazingly, we made it to Salzburg!
We had help from kind strangers who helped us with luggage or told us where to go along the way. We enjoyed observing the different train stations, some of which seemed to be at hayfields. Our favorite part was watching the old women open the doors as the train was still moving and hopping off into one of these fields and walking on. For those of you who were wondering, my suitcase did make it, but the tape will need repair, but this yesterday was a big test and it passed!
Our hotel in Salzburg is great! It is very nice, and although it is the smallest room we have had so far, it is in an awesome location, just a block from one of the main town squares. The receptionist has already been very nice and very helpful. Her hair is dyed black, but her bangs are green, white and red. When I asked her if she was cheering for Italy, she said yes. As she does not look Italian, I asked her why. She said, "I don't know, but when I was ten, they had the cutest players and you don't abandon your team!" Sounds good to me!
We walked the block down the road to the main square and were thrilled to find that here too they have a giant screen set up for watching the soccer matches. Mozart is probablz rolling in his grave, for around his grand statue in the center of the square (he was born here), are beer tents. The side of the cathedral has signs for the games and then beautiful statue that Maria splashed in when she came out of the abbey singing I have confidence is also surrounded by tents. What a sight! We enjoyed people watching and watching the game, but as it went into a double overtime and a shoot out, we decided to watch the end of it in bed! Turkey did a great job in the shoot out though and beat Croatia in this quarter final game.
We are doing a Sound of Music tour this morning and I couldn't be more thrilled! I certainly hope the hills are alive today!
We made sure this time of which train station we were to be at yesterday morning and since we would have had to change metro lines twice to get there, we opted for a taxi ride! We made it to the station just fine, had to wait for a bit, but then found our train, got on and claimed a little cabin all to ourselves. With all of our luggage, we did not look to be too inviting, nor did it look like we had a lot of space, so we made ourselves comfortable and took up a six person cabin, quite easily I might add! A few minutes later the man came by to ask us for our tickets and informed us that we were in a 1st class cabin and of course, our tickets were for 2nd class (no wonder it was so comfortable)! We looked at each other, not wanting to drag our huge suitcases anywhere else and asked how much it would cost for each of us to stay, when we said 5 euros, we easily gave in, who knows, we might have given in had he said 100!
Our next train helped us to even out that first class, as it as a hot, crowded train and we got four seats to ourselves and sat with our legs high up on our suitcases that were on the floor. On the third train, we discovered a small little cabin at the end of the car that had three pull down seats and lots of space. It was not the most comfortable, but it was right at the door, so we didn't have to lug our suitcases anywhere and we had space that we could all fit comfortably!
We knew that it was almost time for our stop, and as the trains often only stop at a station for a few moments before pulling away again, we had to be ready. At this one stop, still not the name of our trainstation, we looked on the train and realized not a single person besides us remained. I found someone who worked on the train and showed her the name of the station we were looking for and she said, "yes, here." I was confused, but we decided we should get off. After getting off we realized that a few steps away, the station changed names, I believe that was the border town between Czech and Germany. Since there was only one other train at this station, we easily found ours although it had no people, no conductor when we were supposed to leave in 10 minutes. We decided to have a seat in this beautiful, clean car though and make ourselves comfortable. Thankfully, after settling down, the train did start and take us to our next destination.
It was at this next change that we only had six minutes to change to the next train. Thankfully, we must be living right, and the train we got off of shared the platform with the train we were leaving on so that we did not have to go down a flight of stairs (with our luggage) and back up another flight to go under the train tracks.
Somehow, on the next train, we managed to end up in 1st class again, but the man did not offer us a chance to stay, so we squeezed into the other little compartment and found space for our luggage on the hot train.
Our next stop, which was at about 4, we had 45 minutes, by far the most time at any stop, so we were able to eat and sit for just a few minutes. We borded our last train which was again rather crowded so that we had to split up, but we found space and it was relatively clean. And somehow, amazingly, we made it to Salzburg!
We had help from kind strangers who helped us with luggage or told us where to go along the way. We enjoyed observing the different train stations, some of which seemed to be at hayfields. Our favorite part was watching the old women open the doors as the train was still moving and hopping off into one of these fields and walking on. For those of you who were wondering, my suitcase did make it, but the tape will need repair, but this yesterday was a big test and it passed!
Our hotel in Salzburg is great! It is very nice, and although it is the smallest room we have had so far, it is in an awesome location, just a block from one of the main town squares. The receptionist has already been very nice and very helpful. Her hair is dyed black, but her bangs are green, white and red. When I asked her if she was cheering for Italy, she said yes. As she does not look Italian, I asked her why. She said, "I don't know, but when I was ten, they had the cutest players and you don't abandon your team!" Sounds good to me!
We walked the block down the road to the main square and were thrilled to find that here too they have a giant screen set up for watching the soccer matches. Mozart is probablz rolling in his grave, for around his grand statue in the center of the square (he was born here), are beer tents. The side of the cathedral has signs for the games and then beautiful statue that Maria splashed in when she came out of the abbey singing I have confidence is also surrounded by tents. What a sight! We enjoyed people watching and watching the game, but as it went into a double overtime and a shoot out, we decided to watch the end of it in bed! Turkey did a great job in the shoot out though and beat Croatia in this quarter final game.
We are doing a Sound of Music tour this morning and I couldn't be more thrilled! I certainly hope the hills are alive today!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Last Update from Prague
Last Update from Prague
In just a few short hours we will be setting out on a marathon of trains! We will be on six different trains in the course of the day! We are all going to eat our Wheaties so that hopping from train to train (please refer back to earlier stories that involving hopping!), may be a little bit easier. We have all thoroughly enjoyed Prague and I will happily add it to my “Must See” list. Our next destination is Salzburg where we hope to find the hills alive with music!
I, we, are finally feeling comfortable with this city, we have walked the same streets many a times and the confusion we felt on the first day is much better. The city is still a little hard to navigate, but because of its very manageable size, it is fine! Now that we are comfortable here of course, that means it is time to move again!
I went for a walk again Wednesday morning as the city was waking up. I set out this time to the hill next to the hill with the castle on it. I wasn’t exactly sure what I would find, but I thought it looked like a fun challenge. A challenge it certainly was. I kept walking, finding basically no people and no signs. I knew that there were things to do at the top, but I never knew how high the top was. I got to a point where it was up or back down the same path, and since I am my father’s daughter and do not believe in taking the same route twice, I kept going up. Until, not only was I out of breath, but another path met up with mine, so I was able to go back down a different way and enjoy the scenery.
Our first adventure together on Wednesday was the Tyn Church which is in the Old Town Square. It was a beautiful cathedral, as all are that we have encountered, but again, I felt like it was very gaudy and not necessarily all coordinated. No matter what though, it is incredible to stand in amongst all of the grandeur of such cathedrals. We went to the Church of Saint James next, which while it is similar to the other cathedrals in the area, it has an interesting tale to it. Supposedly, several hundred years ago, a robber was trying to steal some of the churches jewels, but when his hand came across the statue of the Virgin Mary, it froze. I’m not sure exactly what happened next, but I do know that the man’s decrepit arm hangs at the back of the church as a reminder, I suppose of the miracle and a reminder to other thieves.
The Jewish Quarter was next on our list, as it is not far from the Old Town Square either. The Jewish Quarter is one of the original four small towns in Prague. This area, as most in this part of Europe, was highly affected by Hitler’s cruelty and while there are not many Jewish families here anymore, many Jews were brought here during Hitler’s reign. There are about 5 synagogues in this small area; we only went in one, but it was truly moving. It was called the Pinkas Synagogue, and covering the walls were names of Jews who had lost their lives during the Holocaust in this area. While seeing the thousands upon thousands of names over the walls, you hear the names read over a speaker to make the experience even more meaningful. Upstairs is an exhibit of children’s artwork from the early 1940’s. An art teacher for the Jewish children had taught them about letting their feelings out through art, so much of art shows what life was like, or just what the children felt.
Just outside of the synagogue is an old Jewish cemetery. The cemetery itself is probably about 2-3 acres, not very large in size, but it is seems to be almost on a hill, in the middle of the city. This cemetery has been used for hundreds of years and when one level was full, they just brought in dirt and added it to the top so that they could prepare for another level. That’s why it seems so high up. Whenever they added a level, they moved the tombstones up as well, so the cemetery is completely filled with tombstones, so much so that you could barely move in between them. I cannot remember how many thousands of people were said to have been buried here, but it was a lot!
After a delicious lunch in the Old Town Square, we enjoyed some street and market shopping. There are all of these little vendors set up with produce as well as traditional Czech toys, postcards, jewelry and candies! I love shopping like that!
We walked across Charles Bridge, which we have now done several times as it is a centerpiece of town and quite the attraction! Along the bridge are artists lined up selling their paintings, jewelry, photographs and even portraits that they can draw for you on the spot. We stopped at the famous statue of St. John of Nepomuk. Apparently the queen confessed all of her sins to John and the king demanded he share the secrets with him. The priest however did the right thing and kept all of the queen’s secrets. The king was so mad that he threw John off the bridge where he died. But when he landed in the water, five stars appeared. So, the statue is said to bring good luck. We all rubbed it in hopes of that being true, but I believe we all feel pretty lucky to be visiting this beautiful place anyway!
We walked up past St. Nicholas and visited a place where the lucky Samantha Brown had visited, a road that is marked with interesting designs above the doors. These were used as postage symbols, instead of numbers on the doors.
Black Light Theater is very popular here, so we decided we should take part in a show while we were here. We went to Image Theater where we saw a combination of mimes and modern dance. It was very strange, but also quite enjoyable. The mimes were great and performed great skits without any talking, then in between their acts, the lights would go out, and incredible costumes and effects helped the dancer perform mesmerizing dances. I would recommend it, but do know that it is quite strange!
We ended the evening, like most others that we had in Prague, by joining the locals in the Old Town Square to watch one of the Euro Cup games on the big screen. What a setting! A beautiful old square, thousands of people, a grand cathedral and a giant big screen, it is really quite amazing!
Yesterday morning on my walk I went down to see a building that my tour book had said you must see, even if you don’t go in it. It is called the Dance House, or something similar and is a place where many famous people go to eat when they come to Prague. The building itself looks like it has difficulty standing, as it twists and turns up, and larger at the top than at the bottom – yes, it was a site to see! I also went and enjoyed some people watching as I wrote some postcards in the Old Town Square.
My suitcase has been on several big adventures with me before and has done very well. It is doing well so far despite the giant hole that appeared when we drug our suitcases down a mile of cobblestone streets in Prague. So, even though this suitcase will probably call the dumpster home when I return to the states, it must make it through the rest of the trip. Instead of asking people for “duct” tape, I saw that going well (“Duck tape?”), I asked for thick tape and was led to a giant supermarket/department store. Here I found, well everything you could ever need, but also some packing tape, no duct tape. My suitcase looks rather pitiful with bandaids and lots of tape, but I hope it holds up through the trip, if not, I guess I will get to purchase a fun, European suitcase! J
We set out yesterday morning and first went across Charles’ Bridge, again, to enjoy the artists, the statues and the people. When we came to the end of the bridge this time though, we found a portrait of the Virgin Mary with a light in front of it. Legend says that if you stare at the picture and the light flickers, it is a sign of emanate death. I did glance at her, but not for too long and the light did not flicker! I thought about taking a picture, but I didn’t want to look at her any longer, just to be safe!
The hill, that I had made it part way up the day before was next on our list. We rode the “Funicular,” a sort of tram thing that took us to the top, which was much quicker than my climb would have been! At the top we were greeted by beautiful rose gardens, the smell of them just carried through the air. I realized then, that in a strange way, I actually miss my roses at home. I enjoyed the bright colors and the fragrance though as we went to the tower on top of the hill. This tower, although much shorter than the Eiffel Tower, was modeled after it. We climbed the steps, just shy of 300 to reach the top and get a glorious view of the entire city. We looked down on the castle and its cathedral, we could see the Old Town Square and Charles Bridge.
In the bottom of the tower is a small, quite ridiculous museum. I can’t really explain it well, because I don’t really understand it. The museum is about Prague’s genius who never lived and his great inventions, makes sense, right? Well, there were all of these crazy inventions that perhaps had not been claimed, or many of which there is really no need for in the world. There was a picture of a sea-turtle which this man had trained to tango, photos that he supposedly took, stories of other inventors whom he helped and even a dress that he wore in his girlhood. Yes, you read that correctly. It was perfect for a good laugh, though none of it really made sense.
The Labyrinth of Mirrors was right next door, where we joined about a hundred children as they entered. There was a very small maze that was even more confusing because of all the mirrors, and then a mirror room with all sorts of distorted mirrors that changed our appearances. We had a lot of fun making weird faces or stretching our bodies into disproportionate ways.
Since we had crossed the river many a times, we had seen the paddle boats out in the river and decided that looked like a fun outing. We rented a pedal-boat for an hour and cruised on the river. It was so relaxing and peaceful. The pedaling was never very hard, especially since we sat in reclining, beach-like chairs enjoying our cruise. We saw lots of ducks, swans and my favorite – some baby ducks who were exciting about diving into the river and popping back up again!
The marionettes are everywhere here, so we decided that we should go see a marionette show while we were here. We went to see Don Giovanni, an opera written by Mozart, specifically for and about Prague. The opera itself I’m sure was not funny, but the marionette show of the opera was hilarious. The puppets were dressed in beautiful costumes and we could just see the hands of the puppeteers who directed them. “Mozart” would come out every now and then and direct a number, but the funniest part was when two of the puppets were performing part of the opera, Mozart fell asleep and began snoring loudly, so the puppets on the stage began to jump around and make noise in the middle of their singing to wake him up. It was quite a hit and another recommendation on my list of things to do in Prague!
Again, we joined the crowd and watch Germany beat Portugal last night. It really is fun to have a place to go outside, in a beautiful city and be with a ton of people to enjoy the sporting event of the summer. I am sad to leave Prague, because I have thoroughly enjoyed it here, but I am excited to prance about where Maria and the Von Trapp’s pranced about and eager to explore the next city!
In just a few short hours we will be setting out on a marathon of trains! We will be on six different trains in the course of the day! We are all going to eat our Wheaties so that hopping from train to train (please refer back to earlier stories that involving hopping!), may be a little bit easier. We have all thoroughly enjoyed Prague and I will happily add it to my “Must See” list. Our next destination is Salzburg where we hope to find the hills alive with music!
I, we, are finally feeling comfortable with this city, we have walked the same streets many a times and the confusion we felt on the first day is much better. The city is still a little hard to navigate, but because of its very manageable size, it is fine! Now that we are comfortable here of course, that means it is time to move again!
I went for a walk again Wednesday morning as the city was waking up. I set out this time to the hill next to the hill with the castle on it. I wasn’t exactly sure what I would find, but I thought it looked like a fun challenge. A challenge it certainly was. I kept walking, finding basically no people and no signs. I knew that there were things to do at the top, but I never knew how high the top was. I got to a point where it was up or back down the same path, and since I am my father’s daughter and do not believe in taking the same route twice, I kept going up. Until, not only was I out of breath, but another path met up with mine, so I was able to go back down a different way and enjoy the scenery.
Our first adventure together on Wednesday was the Tyn Church which is in the Old Town Square. It was a beautiful cathedral, as all are that we have encountered, but again, I felt like it was very gaudy and not necessarily all coordinated. No matter what though, it is incredible to stand in amongst all of the grandeur of such cathedrals. We went to the Church of Saint James next, which while it is similar to the other cathedrals in the area, it has an interesting tale to it. Supposedly, several hundred years ago, a robber was trying to steal some of the churches jewels, but when his hand came across the statue of the Virgin Mary, it froze. I’m not sure exactly what happened next, but I do know that the man’s decrepit arm hangs at the back of the church as a reminder, I suppose of the miracle and a reminder to other thieves.
The Jewish Quarter was next on our list, as it is not far from the Old Town Square either. The Jewish Quarter is one of the original four small towns in Prague. This area, as most in this part of Europe, was highly affected by Hitler’s cruelty and while there are not many Jewish families here anymore, many Jews were brought here during Hitler’s reign. There are about 5 synagogues in this small area; we only went in one, but it was truly moving. It was called the Pinkas Synagogue, and covering the walls were names of Jews who had lost their lives during the Holocaust in this area. While seeing the thousands upon thousands of names over the walls, you hear the names read over a speaker to make the experience even more meaningful. Upstairs is an exhibit of children’s artwork from the early 1940’s. An art teacher for the Jewish children had taught them about letting their feelings out through art, so much of art shows what life was like, or just what the children felt.
Just outside of the synagogue is an old Jewish cemetery. The cemetery itself is probably about 2-3 acres, not very large in size, but it is seems to be almost on a hill, in the middle of the city. This cemetery has been used for hundreds of years and when one level was full, they just brought in dirt and added it to the top so that they could prepare for another level. That’s why it seems so high up. Whenever they added a level, they moved the tombstones up as well, so the cemetery is completely filled with tombstones, so much so that you could barely move in between them. I cannot remember how many thousands of people were said to have been buried here, but it was a lot!
After a delicious lunch in the Old Town Square, we enjoyed some street and market shopping. There are all of these little vendors set up with produce as well as traditional Czech toys, postcards, jewelry and candies! I love shopping like that!
We walked across Charles Bridge, which we have now done several times as it is a centerpiece of town and quite the attraction! Along the bridge are artists lined up selling their paintings, jewelry, photographs and even portraits that they can draw for you on the spot. We stopped at the famous statue of St. John of Nepomuk. Apparently the queen confessed all of her sins to John and the king demanded he share the secrets with him. The priest however did the right thing and kept all of the queen’s secrets. The king was so mad that he threw John off the bridge where he died. But when he landed in the water, five stars appeared. So, the statue is said to bring good luck. We all rubbed it in hopes of that being true, but I believe we all feel pretty lucky to be visiting this beautiful place anyway!
We walked up past St. Nicholas and visited a place where the lucky Samantha Brown had visited, a road that is marked with interesting designs above the doors. These were used as postage symbols, instead of numbers on the doors.
Black Light Theater is very popular here, so we decided we should take part in a show while we were here. We went to Image Theater where we saw a combination of mimes and modern dance. It was very strange, but also quite enjoyable. The mimes were great and performed great skits without any talking, then in between their acts, the lights would go out, and incredible costumes and effects helped the dancer perform mesmerizing dances. I would recommend it, but do know that it is quite strange!
We ended the evening, like most others that we had in Prague, by joining the locals in the Old Town Square to watch one of the Euro Cup games on the big screen. What a setting! A beautiful old square, thousands of people, a grand cathedral and a giant big screen, it is really quite amazing!
Yesterday morning on my walk I went down to see a building that my tour book had said you must see, even if you don’t go in it. It is called the Dance House, or something similar and is a place where many famous people go to eat when they come to Prague. The building itself looks like it has difficulty standing, as it twists and turns up, and larger at the top than at the bottom – yes, it was a site to see! I also went and enjoyed some people watching as I wrote some postcards in the Old Town Square.
My suitcase has been on several big adventures with me before and has done very well. It is doing well so far despite the giant hole that appeared when we drug our suitcases down a mile of cobblestone streets in Prague. So, even though this suitcase will probably call the dumpster home when I return to the states, it must make it through the rest of the trip. Instead of asking people for “duct” tape, I saw that going well (“Duck tape?”), I asked for thick tape and was led to a giant supermarket/department store. Here I found, well everything you could ever need, but also some packing tape, no duct tape. My suitcase looks rather pitiful with bandaids and lots of tape, but I hope it holds up through the trip, if not, I guess I will get to purchase a fun, European suitcase! J
We set out yesterday morning and first went across Charles’ Bridge, again, to enjoy the artists, the statues and the people. When we came to the end of the bridge this time though, we found a portrait of the Virgin Mary with a light in front of it. Legend says that if you stare at the picture and the light flickers, it is a sign of emanate death. I did glance at her, but not for too long and the light did not flicker! I thought about taking a picture, but I didn’t want to look at her any longer, just to be safe!
The hill, that I had made it part way up the day before was next on our list. We rode the “Funicular,” a sort of tram thing that took us to the top, which was much quicker than my climb would have been! At the top we were greeted by beautiful rose gardens, the smell of them just carried through the air. I realized then, that in a strange way, I actually miss my roses at home. I enjoyed the bright colors and the fragrance though as we went to the tower on top of the hill. This tower, although much shorter than the Eiffel Tower, was modeled after it. We climbed the steps, just shy of 300 to reach the top and get a glorious view of the entire city. We looked down on the castle and its cathedral, we could see the Old Town Square and Charles Bridge.
In the bottom of the tower is a small, quite ridiculous museum. I can’t really explain it well, because I don’t really understand it. The museum is about Prague’s genius who never lived and his great inventions, makes sense, right? Well, there were all of these crazy inventions that perhaps had not been claimed, or many of which there is really no need for in the world. There was a picture of a sea-turtle which this man had trained to tango, photos that he supposedly took, stories of other inventors whom he helped and even a dress that he wore in his girlhood. Yes, you read that correctly. It was perfect for a good laugh, though none of it really made sense.
The Labyrinth of Mirrors was right next door, where we joined about a hundred children as they entered. There was a very small maze that was even more confusing because of all the mirrors, and then a mirror room with all sorts of distorted mirrors that changed our appearances. We had a lot of fun making weird faces or stretching our bodies into disproportionate ways.
Since we had crossed the river many a times, we had seen the paddle boats out in the river and decided that looked like a fun outing. We rented a pedal-boat for an hour and cruised on the river. It was so relaxing and peaceful. The pedaling was never very hard, especially since we sat in reclining, beach-like chairs enjoying our cruise. We saw lots of ducks, swans and my favorite – some baby ducks who were exciting about diving into the river and popping back up again!
The marionettes are everywhere here, so we decided that we should go see a marionette show while we were here. We went to see Don Giovanni, an opera written by Mozart, specifically for and about Prague. The opera itself I’m sure was not funny, but the marionette show of the opera was hilarious. The puppets were dressed in beautiful costumes and we could just see the hands of the puppeteers who directed them. “Mozart” would come out every now and then and direct a number, but the funniest part was when two of the puppets were performing part of the opera, Mozart fell asleep and began snoring loudly, so the puppets on the stage began to jump around and make noise in the middle of their singing to wake him up. It was quite a hit and another recommendation on my list of things to do in Prague!
Again, we joined the crowd and watch Germany beat Portugal last night. It really is fun to have a place to go outside, in a beautiful city and be with a ton of people to enjoy the sporting event of the summer. I am sad to leave Prague, because I have thoroughly enjoyed it here, but I am excited to prance about where Maria and the Von Trapp’s pranced about and eager to explore the next city!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
More in Prague
I think Prague should be on your "must see" list. It is a great city and I have been thoroughly pleased and impressed with the city and her people in just the few short days I have been here!
The last two mornings I have gotten up and gone for a walk by myself. I didn't realize how much I had missed mornings. Of course, I had been my usual self and still been waking up early, but I ended up just doing things in the hotel while the others woke up and got ready. I decided that I wanted to get out and see the city. I love watching a city come to life in the morning. People walking children to school, people walking their dogs, friends enjoying a coffee together, stores opening up and artists setting up their booth on the street. There is a certain energy and feeling as a city comes to life and I have enjoyed being a part of it here in Prague the last couple of mornings. Another bonus is that there are not nearly as many people out on the street, so I can enjoy more of the sites more peacefully as well!
Our first adventure yesterday morning was St. Nicholas' Cathedral. I did a bit of research the other day and found out that St. Nicholas is actually from Turkey and was never officially canonized. I still haven't put all of the pieces together as to why there is a cathedral here named after him, I must work more on that, but I do know that it was built by the Jesuits.
First we climbed the attached bell tower and enjoyed some beautiful fews of the city and all of the rooftops. We learned more about the history of bell making and the magical power that many bells seem to posses.
The inside of the Cathedral is grand, and almost gaudy with all of the gold "trimmings." Apparently the Cathedral was built to remind people of the power of Rome and looking around, you can easily tell that! My parents made a discover recently, that is of course not a discovery to a lot of the world, but it was a discovery to our family. Apparently Mary's mother, Jesus' grandmother was named Anne. If you don't know, that is my middle name and my grandmother's name. In the Cathedral, there are several small chapels, one of them is dedicated to St. Anne, but I was disappointed that it was the one chapel that was closed for some renovation work.
Next we opted for a walking tour of Prague. Prague is a great city for walking because everything is so close and convenient. There are not many stop lights, only at major intersections. At those lights, you must wait for the "little green man" to say that you can walk, but at all other crossings all you have to do is step onto the crosswalk and people stop for you to cross!! Amazing! We had found a brochure for a walking tour and decided it looked good, so we met our guide and about 20 other people in St. Wenceslas' Square to begin our 4 hour tour.
There is so much history here, just like in other parts of Europe because this area has been inhabited for so long. She told us about wars, revolutions, changes in dynasties and ruling powers. Sadly, I don't remember enough to explain the history to you, perhaps when I get home I can do more research and have a deeper understanding of the happenings here.
She did show us where the Communist Museum is and although we did not visit it, I found it humorous when she told us that the museum was in the same building as a casino and McDonalds. "Finally, they are all together," she said!
Our tour took us around the Old Town Square, the New Town Square, the Jewish Center of town, the Charles Bridge and back up to the castle. Prague is actually made up of 4 different small towns that used to each have their own city hall, and a wall built around the city. That helps to explain why the streets are so difficult to navigate and how they don't necessarily run in block forms!
On our tour we also took a short trolley ride. We had ventured onto the metro here, but not yet the trolley and I don't think we will again! It was jam-packed when we got on the trolley and so we had to stand and hopefully find something to hold onto. I guess because the trolleys run on the road, not underground like the metro, they have to make frequent, jerky stops. No matter what, we were thrown around a lot! We made it safely to the castle though and can Czech (haha!) trolleys off of our list!
On our way to St. Nicholas yesterday morning we happened upon the restaurant, Olympia, which a local had recommended to me back in April. Surprisingly, we found it by accident, I remembered the name and we made it back there later that afternoon! It was great, pretty local and traditional food. We have all enjoyed goulash several times the last few days. It is basically beef stew with some sort of potato bread. Delicious! Last night mine also included potato pancakes, which I know sounds weird, but I don't see how you can really mess up meat and potatoes!
We had enjoyed our tour guide, Nina, earlier in the day, so we decided to meet up with her for a ghost tour of Prague last night. We met her in the Old Town Square and followed her to some quiet corners and some churches where she told us about ghosts that haunted the city. She also had her 20 year old sons in on the deal, for after she told us a story, someone dressed like the ghost would appear behind a corner. Our favorite was the one about the skeleton that walked around begging for money, and then a person dressed in a Halloween like skeleton costume came out from behind a corner with his hands out begging for money. Our guide was enjoyable, and the ghost tour ended up being more funny than scary, but no matter what, we had a good time!
We all thought that the German language was a challenge, which it is, but many of our English words are sort of similar to German words. Our at least if you can manage to pronounce the German word, it ends up sounding like the English word with some extra syllables attached. I am so thankful here that most people speak English. This language is a challenge! Nothing looks familiar! It is similar to the Russian language, but not as many different letters. Our guide told us yesterday, jokingly, that a person who speaks two languages is called bilingual, a person who speaks three trilingual and a person who speaks one is called American. It is true, whenever I travel abroad, I feel ignorant that I cannot speak a language and that they can all speak mine. I am so impressed with the people here!
The people here, much like Berlin, have been very friendly and very helpful. It helps to make this already beautiful city even more beautiful!
Thanks for reading!
The last two mornings I have gotten up and gone for a walk by myself. I didn't realize how much I had missed mornings. Of course, I had been my usual self and still been waking up early, but I ended up just doing things in the hotel while the others woke up and got ready. I decided that I wanted to get out and see the city. I love watching a city come to life in the morning. People walking children to school, people walking their dogs, friends enjoying a coffee together, stores opening up and artists setting up their booth on the street. There is a certain energy and feeling as a city comes to life and I have enjoyed being a part of it here in Prague the last couple of mornings. Another bonus is that there are not nearly as many people out on the street, so I can enjoy more of the sites more peacefully as well!
Our first adventure yesterday morning was St. Nicholas' Cathedral. I did a bit of research the other day and found out that St. Nicholas is actually from Turkey and was never officially canonized. I still haven't put all of the pieces together as to why there is a cathedral here named after him, I must work more on that, but I do know that it was built by the Jesuits.
First we climbed the attached bell tower and enjoyed some beautiful fews of the city and all of the rooftops. We learned more about the history of bell making and the magical power that many bells seem to posses.
The inside of the Cathedral is grand, and almost gaudy with all of the gold "trimmings." Apparently the Cathedral was built to remind people of the power of Rome and looking around, you can easily tell that! My parents made a discover recently, that is of course not a discovery to a lot of the world, but it was a discovery to our family. Apparently Mary's mother, Jesus' grandmother was named Anne. If you don't know, that is my middle name and my grandmother's name. In the Cathedral, there are several small chapels, one of them is dedicated to St. Anne, but I was disappointed that it was the one chapel that was closed for some renovation work.
Next we opted for a walking tour of Prague. Prague is a great city for walking because everything is so close and convenient. There are not many stop lights, only at major intersections. At those lights, you must wait for the "little green man" to say that you can walk, but at all other crossings all you have to do is step onto the crosswalk and people stop for you to cross!! Amazing! We had found a brochure for a walking tour and decided it looked good, so we met our guide and about 20 other people in St. Wenceslas' Square to begin our 4 hour tour.
There is so much history here, just like in other parts of Europe because this area has been inhabited for so long. She told us about wars, revolutions, changes in dynasties and ruling powers. Sadly, I don't remember enough to explain the history to you, perhaps when I get home I can do more research and have a deeper understanding of the happenings here.
She did show us where the Communist Museum is and although we did not visit it, I found it humorous when she told us that the museum was in the same building as a casino and McDonalds. "Finally, they are all together," she said!
Our tour took us around the Old Town Square, the New Town Square, the Jewish Center of town, the Charles Bridge and back up to the castle. Prague is actually made up of 4 different small towns that used to each have their own city hall, and a wall built around the city. That helps to explain why the streets are so difficult to navigate and how they don't necessarily run in block forms!
On our tour we also took a short trolley ride. We had ventured onto the metro here, but not yet the trolley and I don't think we will again! It was jam-packed when we got on the trolley and so we had to stand and hopefully find something to hold onto. I guess because the trolleys run on the road, not underground like the metro, they have to make frequent, jerky stops. No matter what, we were thrown around a lot! We made it safely to the castle though and can Czech (haha!) trolleys off of our list!
On our way to St. Nicholas yesterday morning we happened upon the restaurant, Olympia, which a local had recommended to me back in April. Surprisingly, we found it by accident, I remembered the name and we made it back there later that afternoon! It was great, pretty local and traditional food. We have all enjoyed goulash several times the last few days. It is basically beef stew with some sort of potato bread. Delicious! Last night mine also included potato pancakes, which I know sounds weird, but I don't see how you can really mess up meat and potatoes!
We had enjoyed our tour guide, Nina, earlier in the day, so we decided to meet up with her for a ghost tour of Prague last night. We met her in the Old Town Square and followed her to some quiet corners and some churches where she told us about ghosts that haunted the city. She also had her 20 year old sons in on the deal, for after she told us a story, someone dressed like the ghost would appear behind a corner. Our favorite was the one about the skeleton that walked around begging for money, and then a person dressed in a Halloween like skeleton costume came out from behind a corner with his hands out begging for money. Our guide was enjoyable, and the ghost tour ended up being more funny than scary, but no matter what, we had a good time!
We all thought that the German language was a challenge, which it is, but many of our English words are sort of similar to German words. Our at least if you can manage to pronounce the German word, it ends up sounding like the English word with some extra syllables attached. I am so thankful here that most people speak English. This language is a challenge! Nothing looks familiar! It is similar to the Russian language, but not as many different letters. Our guide told us yesterday, jokingly, that a person who speaks two languages is called bilingual, a person who speaks three trilingual and a person who speaks one is called American. It is true, whenever I travel abroad, I feel ignorant that I cannot speak a language and that they can all speak mine. I am so impressed with the people here!
The people here, much like Berlin, have been very friendly and very helpful. It helps to make this already beautiful city even more beautiful!
Thanks for reading!
Monday, June 16, 2008
I love Prague!
Despite the rainy day, I love Prague. If you know me at all, you know that Florence is probably my favorite city in the world. Prague is not quite Florence, but the narrow streets, the cobblestone road ways, the historic buildings, the friendliness of the people, and the quaintness of the city is perfect!
We went to the castle today. It is supposedly, by some standards, the largest castle in the world. It is more that all of the surrounding buildings and the castle itself make it the largest, the castle itself is not that large.
There is a grand cathedral, St. Vitus's Cathedral, inside the walls of the castle, though not as large, the stained glass windows resemble the beautiful windows of Notre Dame. We also went in several small museums, which included history of the palace, and fun "army" gear. There is a small Basiclica and a Convent, which was closed today, but we may visit tomorrow. The palace itself was sort of a disappointment. They were renovating on the outside, so there was scaffolding everywhere, and inside we were really only allowed in a few rooms. Through some of our readings, we believe that someone may currently live there, so perhaps that is why.
We entered into a grand hall. It was huge, and even said to hold inside jousting events. All I could imagine was the grand balls and parties that I could host in the room. I don't know why, but I would love to have a giant room like that to host parties and balls in. I know that sounds very silly, but I know that my roommate, Stephanie would agree and attest to the fact that I would put it to good use. No matter what, I gawked at the incredible room for quite some time.
I also enjoyed another great site in this hall. There was a group of about 30 very young children, all in brightly colored raincoats and hats. They were so cute and so much fun to watch as they enjoyed the palace!
We found some fun little shopping stores on the "Golden Lane" after enjoying a lovely, hot meal. It got colder with the rain, but we hope the weather warms up a little tomorrow!
We found our way back home, which is a challenge and we are now enjoying an Internet Cafe, so that we can all have a little computer time. Thanks again for reading, I am so glad I can share stories soon after they happen! My love to you all!
We went to the castle today. It is supposedly, by some standards, the largest castle in the world. It is more that all of the surrounding buildings and the castle itself make it the largest, the castle itself is not that large.
There is a grand cathedral, St. Vitus's Cathedral, inside the walls of the castle, though not as large, the stained glass windows resemble the beautiful windows of Notre Dame. We also went in several small museums, which included history of the palace, and fun "army" gear. There is a small Basiclica and a Convent, which was closed today, but we may visit tomorrow. The palace itself was sort of a disappointment. They were renovating on the outside, so there was scaffolding everywhere, and inside we were really only allowed in a few rooms. Through some of our readings, we believe that someone may currently live there, so perhaps that is why.
We entered into a grand hall. It was huge, and even said to hold inside jousting events. All I could imagine was the grand balls and parties that I could host in the room. I don't know why, but I would love to have a giant room like that to host parties and balls in. I know that sounds very silly, but I know that my roommate, Stephanie would agree and attest to the fact that I would put it to good use. No matter what, I gawked at the incredible room for quite some time.
I also enjoyed another great site in this hall. There was a group of about 30 very young children, all in brightly colored raincoats and hats. They were so cute and so much fun to watch as they enjoyed the palace!
We found some fun little shopping stores on the "Golden Lane" after enjoying a lovely, hot meal. It got colder with the rain, but we hope the weather warms up a little tomorrow!
We found our way back home, which is a challenge and we are now enjoying an Internet Cafe, so that we can all have a little computer time. Thanks again for reading, I am so glad I can share stories soon after they happen! My love to you all!
Finally, some pictures!
Finally, some pictures! These are not in order, but it is a lot of trouble to move them around, so I will just explain them as I go and hope you forgive the fact that they are out of order! :)
This creature is largest dinosaur skeleton ever "constructed." Notice how huge he is and then look at the size of his head - must not have been too smart! :)
Here we are at the Checkpoint Charlie Museum in front of a piece of the Berlin Wall.
One of the images I liked most on the East Side Gallery, the stretch of wall that is still standing and decorated.
If you did not just say "awe," I think something may be wrong with you! This is Knut, the famous polar bear from the Berlin Zoo and he looks like he wants a hug!
That is my hand, and that is a Panda Bear! Sad that the glass is there, he really looked very friendly!
This was my shaved meat sandwich that we ate in Berlin. It was delicious, and yes a challenge to eat!
This is Martin Luther's 95 Theses, a document that I was ecstatic to see despite the fact that I could not read a word of it!
This is the Reichstag, the building which helped to finalize Hitler's rise to power, for he actually damaged it, but blamed it on the Communists.
This is Herman. My cousins gave me this precious little creature before I left. He has traveled in my purse around Europe, taking pictures at major attractions. When I return home, I plan to make a book about his travels. Here he is enjoying Chicken Schnitzel in Berlin.
These are our suitcases, that we lifted, way above our heads, and this is how secure they were on the twelve hour train ride!
This is inside the church that is right next to the church in Berlin that was damaged in Berlin and now looks like a hollow tooth. The stained glass was just beautiful!
This is a chocolate sculputre, yes, chocolate sculputre, of the church I was just talking about. The one in the middle is the one that was damaged, and as this is a near perfect replica, you can see the damage at the top (that is not where someone took a bite out of it!). The smaller church on the right is the outside where the above picture of Jesus and the blue glass was taken. This chocolate sculpture was inside Europe's biggest chocolate store, which we really enjoyed!
Here we are in Berlin at the famous gate at the famous gate of the Berlin Wall.
This creature is largest dinosaur skeleton ever "constructed." Notice how huge he is and then look at the size of his head - must not have been too smart! :)
Here we are at the Checkpoint Charlie Museum in front of a piece of the Berlin Wall.
One of the images I liked most on the East Side Gallery, the stretch of wall that is still standing and decorated.
If you did not just say "awe," I think something may be wrong with you! This is Knut, the famous polar bear from the Berlin Zoo and he looks like he wants a hug!
That is my hand, and that is a Panda Bear! Sad that the glass is there, he really looked very friendly!
This was my shaved meat sandwich that we ate in Berlin. It was delicious, and yes a challenge to eat!
This is Martin Luther's 95 Theses, a document that I was ecstatic to see despite the fact that I could not read a word of it!
This is the Reichstag, the building which helped to finalize Hitler's rise to power, for he actually damaged it, but blamed it on the Communists.
This is Herman. My cousins gave me this precious little creature before I left. He has traveled in my purse around Europe, taking pictures at major attractions. When I return home, I plan to make a book about his travels. Here he is enjoying Chicken Schnitzel in Berlin.
These are our suitcases, that we lifted, way above our heads, and this is how secure they were on the twelve hour train ride!
This is inside the church that is right next to the church in Berlin that was damaged in Berlin and now looks like a hollow tooth. The stained glass was just beautiful!
This is a chocolate sculputre, yes, chocolate sculputre, of the church I was just talking about. The one in the middle is the one that was damaged, and as this is a near perfect replica, you can see the damage at the top (that is not where someone took a bite out of it!). The smaller church on the right is the outside where the above picture of Jesus and the blue glass was taken. This chocolate sculpture was inside Europe's biggest chocolate store, which we really enjoyed!
Here we are in Berlin at the famous gate at the famous gate of the Berlin Wall.
Another City, Another Adventure
It wouldn’t be a good trip if there weren’t good stories to tell, right? Well, let’s start our story with Sunday morning, going to the train station. Our hotel in Berlin was only about a ten minute walk to the train station, so instead of catching a cab, we walked, which was very reasonable, however with all the extra weight in a suitcase and backpack, it was quite a trek! We made it to the train station with plenty of time to spare and tried to find our track. We looked for several minutes and didn’t see anything that made sense, so we finally found someone and showed them our ticket. It is always a bad sign when you show someone who works there something and they look confused, as this individual we found. Finally, he figured out that we were just at the wrong station. (Berlin has 4).
Ok, so looking at the clock, it is 10:27 and our train leaves at 10:46, what is the next step? Thankfully, he said that the train we were standing next to would take us to the correct station in 4 stops. So, we did not have time to buy a ticket and thankfully no one asked us for one. We jumped on the next train (remember when I say jump, we have 50+ pound suitcases, backpacks, and purses) and headed east. The train could not have moved any slower… we watched the clock tick…
We finally arrived at the correct train station at 10:41, split up and looked at maps and information booths. We found one that had our train and something that said track 2, so we ran with it, literally. Down four sets of escalators and stairs, we found our way to track 2, jumped on the train (again, picture the extra supplies) and within a minute the train was moving. Amazing…
Luckily, the train was not crowded and we were able to each have two seats so that we could read, nap, watch the scenery pass by, listen to music and discover things about the city we were about to explore!
I saw lots of those giant windmills as we passed through the country side. I am amazed at how well other countries are doing with finding new ways for energy as well as the trash that they produce. Most of the trash bins in public places in Berlin were actually divided into 4 – a section for plastic, paper, waste and something else… I was so impressed, but upset at the same time as I remembered that Alabamians throw away more than twice the national average of daily waste.
Mom had asked me what the scenery in Berlin was like. It was very flat, no inclines whatsoever, and I really couldn’t see mountains in the distance either. I would like to look at a more detailed map when I get home. Leaving Berlin though, we went through a beautiful, extremely varied array of landscape. We saw rolling hills, vineyards on the sides of mountains, and fields full of poppeys. The houses we passed were those typical of what you would picture in the mountains of Austria or Switzerland, great little, simple houses. We passed several areas of places that we may could compare to trailor parks, however calling these that is a complete put-down. They were tiny houses, I would compare them to the size of my dorm room at Auburn, but they were beautiful, complete with lacey curtains and a small garden outside. They were all in large groups, so these tiny houses were almost on top of each other, and yet they were all incredibly tasteful. Just beautiful!
I had grabbed a sandwich before we left for this 5-hour train ride. I have really enjoyed just the sandwiches here. I usually get a ham and cheese, but remember that it comes on a beautiful baguette, not just plain old bread. If you know me at all, you know that I typically don’t add things, like salt, pepper or butter to my food. Well, the Europeans for some reason make their plain ham and cheese sandwiches with butter on them. I don’t know who thought of that, but I think they are brilliant!
We crossed the border into the Czech Republic, somewhere during our train ride and some police came on the train, just walked up and down, I guess letting us know that they were there. They were pretty serious looking, with their guns in belts and no smiles. When two of them passed my seat, they stopped for a second. Being a bit nervous, I turned to see what they were looking at and realized they were smiling at Happy. Happy is my world-traveling stuffed dog. He has traveled to New Zealand, Australia, Alaska, Europe four other times and all over the United States. When I was younger, he traveled with me to Israel and Egypt where he encountered another curious guard. At the border of Egypt, a very scary place, the guard called me up to the window. He took Happy from me (a very frightening thing!), and began playing with him as if he were a puppet. Perhaps I named him well, perhaps he makes all sorts of people happy. I know that I’m 24 and travel with a stuffed animal, but why would I want to put a stop to his incredible adventures? J
This is completely off subject, but then again I was just talking about a stuffed dog, but I forgot to say something about Paris that I had wanted to include. In front of Notre Dame is a huge square, called the Court of Miracles. I had always heard that and just assumed that it was in front of a church and the “miracles” part of the name had something to do with that. However, there are always gypsies and beggars in this square. It is called the Court of Miracles, because at sundown, when all of the gypsies go home, some of them who had had crutches or some other crippling issue; miraculously could walk again without the crutches. I just thought that that was interesting and I wanted to share before I forgot!
We arrived in Prague and made a guess at which train station to get off at. I’m not sure we made the right decision, but we are here safe and sound, so nothing else really matters. The first business was to go to an ATM and get money. The Czech Republic is not on the Euro, so we had to get different money to spend during our time here. The money here will be a challenge to my math skills. For each amount that we see, we must divide by about 15 to get the equivalent price in US dollars. So, something that says 300 here is actually only about $20.
We had all read in our books that we needed to be cautious of scams in Prague. We should never really feel unsafe, but that people here loved taking advantage of tourists, especially if giving back change for things, like they may “accidentally” count wrong. We had also been warned that the taxi drivers loved to take advantage of tourists just off the train and that they would charge us way too much. We watched an American couple go up to the taxi driver and then turn and walk away. Since they appeared to be used to this area, we asked them what had happened. They said that the driver had tried to charge them way too much money, so that they were going to take the metro. We decided that we had conquered the metro in two other cities, that we could surely do it here!
The metro here only has three lines, which makes things easier, than the 15-25 lines we were used to. We found a map and figured out what we thought was the closest stop to our hotel, then we figured out what type of ticket we should purchase. Only problem was that the ATM had just given us thousand dollar bills (about $65) and the machines for tickets only took coins. So we bought snacks and drinks at the metro store and then purchased our tickets. Man, we were proud of our accomplishments.
We jumped on the correct metro train (again, remember the jumping and the extra weight that is still with us). We got off at our destination several minutes later and began walking towards our hotel. This next part of our journey will later be described to my grandchildren as that we were barefoot, in the snow, it was 18 miles and uphill the whole way. No, it was nowhere near that bad, however all of the streets here are cobblestone (which I love!), which adds a new level of difficulty when rolling a suitcase. We walked to one corner, only to realize that we were fenced in and had to walk back a block in order to get outside of the fence. We walked probably a mile and a half pulling this luggage on cobblestones, with our callused hands when we began feeling some sprinkles. I believe it was at this time when we walked passed a pub that was blaring High School Musical 2’s “You are the Music in Me.” It is one of my favorite songs and somehow gave me a whole new burst of energy. Perhaps it was just the fact that a pub was playing High School Musical!
Nevertheless, after our travels, we did finally reach our hotel! It is very simple, but plenty of space for us! There are two rooms, a bathroom, a couch, a small table and a small hallway in between. The funny thing is that the only decoration in our whole “suite” is a fake tree. There are no paintings on the wall, just a tree in a corner.
We stepped out of the hotel and decided to wander. I typically have a very good sense of direction and manage to find my way around most places, however, I started off on the wrong foot here thinking I was headed in one direction, then just got more and more turned around. When that happens to me, because it usually doesn’t, I get really frustrated and can’t make sense of things. The roads are not organized into blocks at all, so that is part of the problem, but did not at all account for the mis-directions going on in my head! Oh well, my goal for today is to get oriented and not get lost again!
I sort of liked just wandering though, this really is a beautiful city. This city was the only major city in Eastern Europe to escape bombs of the 20th Century wars. So the “age” that I felt Berlin was lacking is all over the place here! The roads, of cobblestones, are narrow and the buildings are old and beautiful. While I have much to learn about the history of this city, I know that this country only gained their freedom about 20 years ago, so they are still enjoying the fact that they are their own country. Perhaps that is why they have chosen not to become part of the Europe Alliance and switch to the Euro.
This is also the home of Wenceslas, whom you know from the Christmas carol. “Good King Wenceslas last looked out on the feast of Steven.” He was a wise and good king of the 10th Century. He was one of the few kings that was well-educated. He made wise decisions for the country, is credited with Christianizing the nation, improving culture and making smart alliances. After his death, the people so loved him, that he was canonized as a saint.
There is also a cathedral here dedicated to Saint Nicholas. I cannot find any more information in my book, so I must do some research somewhere to see if this is in fact where Santa Claus first started doing his good deeds! I’m excited to learn and see more!
We made it to the Old Town Square just in time to see the famous clock chime the next hour. We joined several hundred other tourists to watch as a skeleton rang a bell, which called out the twelve apostles who then went back into hiding with the rooster crowed. It was pretty neat, especially to think that it was built hundreds of years ago. We cannot yet figure out how to read the clock itself, it is quite complex, but perhaps we will figure it out during our stay!
The square, last night, was the center of a huge festival of some sort. We started watching the people and realized that the Czech Republic must have been playing a soccer game last night, so we decided to join the tailgating party. There were hotdog and drink stands all around the square. We enjoyed a Czech hotdog, which was a giant piece of sausage in a baguette, delicious, as we sat on the cobblestone ground surrounded by lots of people!
A band came on the stage and sang several songs, in a different language, that got the crowd going. Then, we were surprised to hear the YMCA as well. No one really seemed to know the dance, but we of course did the dance in the middle of the square and no one really seemed to care.
At 8:45 the game began. We were forced to stand up so as not to be trampled. I really don’t know how many people were there, several thousand I assume though. The game was played on two giant screens. I cannot tell you how much fun it was to be in the center of all of the cheering, joining in, cheering for the Czech team! The first half, Czech scored two beautiful goals and the crowd went wild. I was so impressed with the class of the crowd as well. Sure, people were drinking, having a good time and loud, but I didn’t hear many boos towards the other team, and each time their team took a shot, even when it was missed, they clapped. It was very different that American football games in the south!
The weather here was noticeably warmer when we got off the train, but as night fell, I was thankful we were so tight in the crowd that my chin was practically resting on the boy’s shoulder in front of me because it kept the warmth in!
In the last few minutes of the game, Turkey ended up scoring three goals, and despite the fact that the Turkey goal was thrown out of the game for pushing someone, the Czech team couldn’t rally back. Again, though, I was impressed with the class of the crowd. While people were obviously disappointed, no fights broke out and I didn’t hear any yelling at the Turkey fans who were there, none of that.
I am so glad that we happened upon that event in the square, it made for a marvelous first night in Prague! Although it is raining this morning, I am still excited and eager to see more of the city!
Ok, so looking at the clock, it is 10:27 and our train leaves at 10:46, what is the next step? Thankfully, he said that the train we were standing next to would take us to the correct station in 4 stops. So, we did not have time to buy a ticket and thankfully no one asked us for one. We jumped on the next train (remember when I say jump, we have 50+ pound suitcases, backpacks, and purses) and headed east. The train could not have moved any slower… we watched the clock tick…
We finally arrived at the correct train station at 10:41, split up and looked at maps and information booths. We found one that had our train and something that said track 2, so we ran with it, literally. Down four sets of escalators and stairs, we found our way to track 2, jumped on the train (again, picture the extra supplies) and within a minute the train was moving. Amazing…
Luckily, the train was not crowded and we were able to each have two seats so that we could read, nap, watch the scenery pass by, listen to music and discover things about the city we were about to explore!
I saw lots of those giant windmills as we passed through the country side. I am amazed at how well other countries are doing with finding new ways for energy as well as the trash that they produce. Most of the trash bins in public places in Berlin were actually divided into 4 – a section for plastic, paper, waste and something else… I was so impressed, but upset at the same time as I remembered that Alabamians throw away more than twice the national average of daily waste.
Mom had asked me what the scenery in Berlin was like. It was very flat, no inclines whatsoever, and I really couldn’t see mountains in the distance either. I would like to look at a more detailed map when I get home. Leaving Berlin though, we went through a beautiful, extremely varied array of landscape. We saw rolling hills, vineyards on the sides of mountains, and fields full of poppeys. The houses we passed were those typical of what you would picture in the mountains of Austria or Switzerland, great little, simple houses. We passed several areas of places that we may could compare to trailor parks, however calling these that is a complete put-down. They were tiny houses, I would compare them to the size of my dorm room at Auburn, but they were beautiful, complete with lacey curtains and a small garden outside. They were all in large groups, so these tiny houses were almost on top of each other, and yet they were all incredibly tasteful. Just beautiful!
I had grabbed a sandwich before we left for this 5-hour train ride. I have really enjoyed just the sandwiches here. I usually get a ham and cheese, but remember that it comes on a beautiful baguette, not just plain old bread. If you know me at all, you know that I typically don’t add things, like salt, pepper or butter to my food. Well, the Europeans for some reason make their plain ham and cheese sandwiches with butter on them. I don’t know who thought of that, but I think they are brilliant!
We crossed the border into the Czech Republic, somewhere during our train ride and some police came on the train, just walked up and down, I guess letting us know that they were there. They were pretty serious looking, with their guns in belts and no smiles. When two of them passed my seat, they stopped for a second. Being a bit nervous, I turned to see what they were looking at and realized they were smiling at Happy. Happy is my world-traveling stuffed dog. He has traveled to New Zealand, Australia, Alaska, Europe four other times and all over the United States. When I was younger, he traveled with me to Israel and Egypt where he encountered another curious guard. At the border of Egypt, a very scary place, the guard called me up to the window. He took Happy from me (a very frightening thing!), and began playing with him as if he were a puppet. Perhaps I named him well, perhaps he makes all sorts of people happy. I know that I’m 24 and travel with a stuffed animal, but why would I want to put a stop to his incredible adventures? J
This is completely off subject, but then again I was just talking about a stuffed dog, but I forgot to say something about Paris that I had wanted to include. In front of Notre Dame is a huge square, called the Court of Miracles. I had always heard that and just assumed that it was in front of a church and the “miracles” part of the name had something to do with that. However, there are always gypsies and beggars in this square. It is called the Court of Miracles, because at sundown, when all of the gypsies go home, some of them who had had crutches or some other crippling issue; miraculously could walk again without the crutches. I just thought that that was interesting and I wanted to share before I forgot!
We arrived in Prague and made a guess at which train station to get off at. I’m not sure we made the right decision, but we are here safe and sound, so nothing else really matters. The first business was to go to an ATM and get money. The Czech Republic is not on the Euro, so we had to get different money to spend during our time here. The money here will be a challenge to my math skills. For each amount that we see, we must divide by about 15 to get the equivalent price in US dollars. So, something that says 300 here is actually only about $20.
We had all read in our books that we needed to be cautious of scams in Prague. We should never really feel unsafe, but that people here loved taking advantage of tourists, especially if giving back change for things, like they may “accidentally” count wrong. We had also been warned that the taxi drivers loved to take advantage of tourists just off the train and that they would charge us way too much. We watched an American couple go up to the taxi driver and then turn and walk away. Since they appeared to be used to this area, we asked them what had happened. They said that the driver had tried to charge them way too much money, so that they were going to take the metro. We decided that we had conquered the metro in two other cities, that we could surely do it here!
The metro here only has three lines, which makes things easier, than the 15-25 lines we were used to. We found a map and figured out what we thought was the closest stop to our hotel, then we figured out what type of ticket we should purchase. Only problem was that the ATM had just given us thousand dollar bills (about $65) and the machines for tickets only took coins. So we bought snacks and drinks at the metro store and then purchased our tickets. Man, we were proud of our accomplishments.
We jumped on the correct metro train (again, remember the jumping and the extra weight that is still with us). We got off at our destination several minutes later and began walking towards our hotel. This next part of our journey will later be described to my grandchildren as that we were barefoot, in the snow, it was 18 miles and uphill the whole way. No, it was nowhere near that bad, however all of the streets here are cobblestone (which I love!), which adds a new level of difficulty when rolling a suitcase. We walked to one corner, only to realize that we were fenced in and had to walk back a block in order to get outside of the fence. We walked probably a mile and a half pulling this luggage on cobblestones, with our callused hands when we began feeling some sprinkles. I believe it was at this time when we walked passed a pub that was blaring High School Musical 2’s “You are the Music in Me.” It is one of my favorite songs and somehow gave me a whole new burst of energy. Perhaps it was just the fact that a pub was playing High School Musical!
Nevertheless, after our travels, we did finally reach our hotel! It is very simple, but plenty of space for us! There are two rooms, a bathroom, a couch, a small table and a small hallway in between. The funny thing is that the only decoration in our whole “suite” is a fake tree. There are no paintings on the wall, just a tree in a corner.
We stepped out of the hotel and decided to wander. I typically have a very good sense of direction and manage to find my way around most places, however, I started off on the wrong foot here thinking I was headed in one direction, then just got more and more turned around. When that happens to me, because it usually doesn’t, I get really frustrated and can’t make sense of things. The roads are not organized into blocks at all, so that is part of the problem, but did not at all account for the mis-directions going on in my head! Oh well, my goal for today is to get oriented and not get lost again!
I sort of liked just wandering though, this really is a beautiful city. This city was the only major city in Eastern Europe to escape bombs of the 20th Century wars. So the “age” that I felt Berlin was lacking is all over the place here! The roads, of cobblestones, are narrow and the buildings are old and beautiful. While I have much to learn about the history of this city, I know that this country only gained their freedom about 20 years ago, so they are still enjoying the fact that they are their own country. Perhaps that is why they have chosen not to become part of the Europe Alliance and switch to the Euro.
This is also the home of Wenceslas, whom you know from the Christmas carol. “Good King Wenceslas last looked out on the feast of Steven.” He was a wise and good king of the 10th Century. He was one of the few kings that was well-educated. He made wise decisions for the country, is credited with Christianizing the nation, improving culture and making smart alliances. After his death, the people so loved him, that he was canonized as a saint.
There is also a cathedral here dedicated to Saint Nicholas. I cannot find any more information in my book, so I must do some research somewhere to see if this is in fact where Santa Claus first started doing his good deeds! I’m excited to learn and see more!
We made it to the Old Town Square just in time to see the famous clock chime the next hour. We joined several hundred other tourists to watch as a skeleton rang a bell, which called out the twelve apostles who then went back into hiding with the rooster crowed. It was pretty neat, especially to think that it was built hundreds of years ago. We cannot yet figure out how to read the clock itself, it is quite complex, but perhaps we will figure it out during our stay!
The square, last night, was the center of a huge festival of some sort. We started watching the people and realized that the Czech Republic must have been playing a soccer game last night, so we decided to join the tailgating party. There were hotdog and drink stands all around the square. We enjoyed a Czech hotdog, which was a giant piece of sausage in a baguette, delicious, as we sat on the cobblestone ground surrounded by lots of people!
A band came on the stage and sang several songs, in a different language, that got the crowd going. Then, we were surprised to hear the YMCA as well. No one really seemed to know the dance, but we of course did the dance in the middle of the square and no one really seemed to care.
At 8:45 the game began. We were forced to stand up so as not to be trampled. I really don’t know how many people were there, several thousand I assume though. The game was played on two giant screens. I cannot tell you how much fun it was to be in the center of all of the cheering, joining in, cheering for the Czech team! The first half, Czech scored two beautiful goals and the crowd went wild. I was so impressed with the class of the crowd as well. Sure, people were drinking, having a good time and loud, but I didn’t hear many boos towards the other team, and each time their team took a shot, even when it was missed, they clapped. It was very different that American football games in the south!
The weather here was noticeably warmer when we got off the train, but as night fell, I was thankful we were so tight in the crowd that my chin was practically resting on the boy’s shoulder in front of me because it kept the warmth in!
In the last few minutes of the game, Turkey ended up scoring three goals, and despite the fact that the Turkey goal was thrown out of the game for pushing someone, the Czech team couldn’t rally back. Again, though, I was impressed with the class of the crowd. While people were obviously disappointed, no fights broke out and I didn’t hear any yelling at the Turkey fans who were there, none of that.
I am so glad that we happened upon that event in the square, it made for a marvelous first night in Prague! Although it is raining this morning, I am still excited and eager to see more of the city!
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