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! :)
Saturday, June 21, 2008
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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