Jan 5, 2019 - Returning to My Fairytale Village

Up at 6am this morning, all showered and packed up and ready to leave the apartment by 7am. Had an Uber pick us up and deliver us to the bus station and were surprised when we found she had actually dropped us right at the spot we needed to be in. Only a few minutes late, our Leo Express bus turned up, loaded up and we were on our way for the 2 hour drive down to Cesky Krumlov, one of my favourite destinations in Europe. It was 2C as we left Prague but very quickly dropped down to -1C as we headed south and the snow started to fall thick...

Jan 4, 2019 - Day 2 in Prague

Lateish start again this morning as nothing opens until 10.00am in winter. In due course put all our layers of clothes on, woollen tshirt, woollen skivvy, then a polar fleece top, two pairs of thick tights, woollen socks, jeans and hiking boots. Takes about half an hour to get dressed. Had ourselves a quick breakfast of Vegemite on toast (yes a tube of Vegemite always travels with us). Our first plan for the day was just a quick stroll around the corner to the Mucha Museum. Only problem in travelling in the cold in Europe is when you want...

Jan 3, 2019 - Exploring Prague

Late start for us today so we can finally rest and take a breath after the massive day for the girls yesterday. Had a weeks worth of washing to tend to and thank goodness for European radiators in every room as they are the most effective clothes dryers ever. A leisurely breakfast and housework until it was time to make our way out into the Old Town Square to meet up with our walking tour. I had been watching the snow falling in awe from the apartment window. Coming from a very different climate zone, we are like kids in a candy store with...

Jan 2, 2019 - Czeching in to Prague

Rude awakening at 3am this morning as we have to leave apartment at 4am to catch an Uber to the Krakow Bus Station where we will board a bus at 5am. This bus will take us 2.5 hours to the Czech border at Ostrawa where we will board a Leo Express train for a 3.5 hour trip to Prague. It was beautiful when I opened the outside door on to the street to see that snow was falling and whirling around in the light coming from the street lamps. It has fallen consistently through the night as there is a light layer on the ground. Not sure exactly...

Sep 26, 2018 - Last day in Prague

We woke up this morning to blue skies and the best weather we have had so far. Mike went to our local coffee supplier (Costa Coffee) for the usual lattes and we began packing for our departure later in the day. Once packed we walked into the Old Town and Republic Square area looking for a glove store one of our fellow travelers told Denise about. After an unsuccessful search we headed for Charles Bridge (circa 1357) where we mingled with thousands of our new friends who were intent on impaling us with their selfie sticks, civility gave way...

Sep 25, 2018 - Cesky Krumlov

Took a tour to Cesky Krumlov today. It is a little village about 2 1/2 hours outside of Prague. It is very charming, surrounded by the Vtlava River with a castle and clock tower which we climbed. We had "typical" lunch that was provided - chicken for Mike with dumplings (more like sliced bread), potato pancakes and cabbage soup. For Denise it was salad, a sort of frittata, mixed green veggies with garlic, potato pancake and hummus - not too bad. Had a beer from the local brewery in town - Eggenberg - and it was very good. Visited the...

Sep 25, 2018 - Prague day 3

We headed out on a sunny, but cold morning to get to town for a nice breakfast/lunch before heading out for our castle tour. As we reached town the sky opened up and we decided we needed to get a cab and get back to the room to get our rain gear. While our taxi driver from the airport was honest and fair, the driver from town took us on a very scenic route and charged us $15 for what is normally a 15 minute walk. We grabbed our stuff and headed back to town, but now with limited time to grab a bite to eat. We met our guide at the statute of...

Sep 24, 2018 - Prague day 2

Happily there was a coffee shop around the corner for a much needed wake up jolt. After returning to the hotel we were picked up for our tour of the Jewish Quarter. We joined a group of 4 other people and took off with our less than wonderful guide. He was very into architecture and the various examples and dates of Gothic, Cubist (who knew cubist was an architectural style?), Art Deco, Art Nuevo, Rennaisance, etc. There really are an amazing array of architectural styles in Prague and they are all beautiful. We continued through Old Town...

Sep 23, 2018 - Arrival cont

We had a bit of a long walk back to the hotel, had a glass of wine, and went to a local check restaurant/beer pub. Mike had the beef goulash with potato pancakes and dumplings and red cabbage. The red cabbage tasted more like red onions but who knows and the potato pancakes and dumplings are very different here than at home. Denise had a garlic soup with hey local cheese that was quite tasty. Finishing dinner we headed back to the hotel for the night.

Sep 23, 2018 - Arrival at Prague

We landed at Prague airport approximately 11:45 AM on Saturday the 22nd. The flight from San Francisco to New York was delayed one hour but it turned out not to be a problem. The flight from New York to Prague again was late but landed on time. Clearing customs was a breeze and we look for our pre-paid airport transfer person who apparently did not exist after spending some time hunting for him we gave up and took a taxi to our hotel. The hotel has some age on it but all in all it is more than adequate for the price we paid. Our journey...

Sep 15, 2018 - Cesky Krumlov

Our last stopover in Czechia was in Cesky Krumlov another mountain town not too far from the Austrian border. An early start, at least for us, allowed us to call in to a number of towns along the way from Kutna Hora. Those included Telc, Jindrichuv Hradec, Trebon and Cesky Budejovice. All were very colourful especially around their centre squares but Jindrichuv Hradec stood out for its lakeside setting. The onward 5 hour drive once again passed through undulating farmland on roads seemingly planned for bike riding. The only obstacle was...

Sep 13, 2018 - Kutna Hora

Kutna Hora in Central Bohemia held more special treats for us. We visited a small church which had been part of a monastery dating back to 1142. What made this site remarkable was the 60-70k human bones providing interior decorations. Bones, bones and still more bones supposedly assembled by a half-blind monk into chandeliers, ceiling hangings and wall features. Apparently his sight returned when he had finished his work. If we were to believe that we should proceed with our offer to buy the Sydney Harbour Bridge, we heard its going...