Best day in Prague

So we were originally planning on heading to Plzen the day after Terezin, but to be honest after all the hiking around with cameras and the early mornings and in my case the time change still playing tricks (in fact I still couldn't tell you with any certainty what today is!) we decided to switch things up and stay in the city. It was a beautiful day and after our groundhog day breakfast we headed out to meet Roman Bily at the astrological clock for his popular Jewish ghetto tour. Actually Roman runs a short and long version of this tour as well as a communist tour and an underground Prague tour and if any of you come to Prague we can't recommend Roman's tours enough.

We left the former ghetto and made our way to the Mucha museum where in addition to the beautiful art nouveau master's work we saw a Japanesse man attack his girlfriend! No one ever expects public violence, or any sort of violence really, but in a museum full of beautiful artwork it seemed even more deplorable.

Next stop was the museum of communism, which appropriately enough is located next to McDonalds and a casino! Needing a bit of a snack before heading in, we bypassed Micky-Ds and went to a Pilsner Urquell pub next door and I somehow ended up with a liter of beer and a jar of pate :) Heather's choice of pickled sausages and cheese were good as well. Newly fortified we entered what turned out to be one of the most interesting museums I've ever visited. I remember images of the velvet revolution on my TV as a kid, but was really too young to understand and appreciate what was going on for these people. Now after spending several days walking the streets of Prague then seeing these same streets with tanks and police beatings and old ladies standing in front of a marching military the whole thing came to life.

Best of all the hurricane had passed and we were faced with facts of the situation and not tense with anticipation. A weight of sorts was off our backs and we could finally spend the day not worrying...much. lol a deep and heartfelt thanks to Don, Kim, and Cole for going above and beyond in looking after our home and cats in our absecence. Each having their own homes and animals and such to worry about and finding the time to check the damage and ultimately pumpIng out the water from our basement.

A beautiful day in a horrible place.

The day after the storm was beautiful in The Czech Republic. A bit brisk really and I think the cold air put some pep in our steps. We woke early to make our way to Terezin, a nazi concentration camp located an hour outside of Prague.

A short walk from our Hotel (which I highly recommend. The Hotel Leonardo has been amazing) is a subway stop and it took two subway lines and an hour bus ride to get to our destination. The thrill of the trip so far has been the escalator at the nearby subway entrance. It's easily 250 yards(!) straight down at a very high speed. I'm not kidding, the wind rushes in your hair and your initial reaction is like hitting the giant drop of a roller coaster. I have a picture posted on flickr, which is where I'll be posting these pictures for the time being.

So the Czech Republic is not big on signs for anything. I found out yesterday that people destroy signs whenever the country is invaded as a way of disorienting their enemies... Which I think tourists are now considered because they don't make it easy, anyway after some crisscrossing and questioning of strangers we found our way to the right bus and soon on our way. Terezin was a thriving community built inside a fortress that was an outpost of the 18th century Habsburg empire. The ramparts and high protective walls where separated in very few places for roads, which made it easy for the nazis to close up and form a prison out of the old fortress and stuffed 58,000 people into a town that had held only 7,000 a few months prior. No Jews were killed here intentionally, rather this was a propaganda camp which was used to show "how good the Jews had it" to the Red Cross and the world. They even shot a movie there showing people playing soccer and singing songs. This only lasted a short time before the nazis decided it was too difficult to keep the Jews locked up and soon the orders to ship the Jews to Auschwitz came... very sad indeed. The town has never quite recovered to this day and has a very real feeling of a ghost town. There are inhabitants, cafes, bars, hotels, stores, yet few people beyond tourists are ever seen and those that are seen wandering seem destitute. It seems the nazis cruelty didn't end at the end of the war for this little town...

I've been able to link to my flickr account so check in there from time to time for photos from the trip.

Rain rain, go away!

Well a lot has happened since my last post. The east coast wasn't the only place in the world to get a lot of rain, I can tell you that. We started out our castle day with a lovely, yet overcast, walk to ... you guessed it, the Castle. So far these have been my favorite times in the city. I love people watching and all of the architecture is beautiful. The hardest thing to get used to is how nobody wants to be nice and share the sidewalks! Grown men shoulder check (Czech) old ladies because no one wants to twist a little! Anyway, our first stop was to St. Nicholas Church. I really wish I could get the photo sharing working on this thing, the pictures to share are backing up! Anyway, from there we walked up to the castle and along the way discovered one can drink on the streets :) this is a good thing because between you and I (& Heather agrees) the whole castle complex is boring as hell and a waste of time. Unless you are into obscure Czech religious art and parlimententary history I'd say admire the castle from afar to enjoy it best. The other thing to note is they request a 10krown deposit to use their restrooms. Heather was physically barred from using one because she only had a 9 or a 20! I acted like I had paid when I walked in and she hissed something I'm sure translated into 'liar' at me. So this is when the skies opened up for the next 8 hours and really turned our minds back to New Jersey and the worry of what might happen.

Friday continued

What a city. The cobblestone streets twist and branch off in every direction like an old oak tree, yet we somehow managed to not get lost! After our much needed nap, Heather and I walked to this wonderful deli that served open face sandwiches with potato salad as a base and then some 20 varieties of various meats and cheeses... I called it heaven! From there we walked about a mile to Petrin Hill where we took a tram to there mini Eiffel Tower and the best view of the city. We skipped the lift and walked/hiked to the top and in all honesty the theme to Chariots of Fire was playing as we reached the top from a nearby building. It was appropriate for sure.

The outdoor music was to continue as we walked back to the hotel. A free concert along the river was starting as we reached the bridge. The band sounded, at first, a bit melodic with a bit of Pink Floyd influence and would transition into hardcore at the chord changes... We didn't stick around. We decided to eat at the traditional cafe our airport driver pointed out to us for dinner. I was expecting something more like the giant-tabled beer halls we'd seen on the travel channels but instead found more of a wine bar with an extensive menu. (and only two types of beer, light and dark) We both enjoyed a fresh salad and for dinner Heather had this polenta and potato mixed cake with a mushroom cream sauce and I had the chicken covered in mushrooms and leeks under melted emmental cheese and finished with scratchetel ice cream covered in hazelnuts and caramel, which went great with the lighter beer.

That effectively ended the day. The time change played it's tricks on us and we both found ourselves wide awake at 4am. It's 10 now and we are racing to catch breakfast before heading to the castle :)

I'm a little upset to discover I can't post images from my iPad to this blog. I may have to switch providers or post to my flickr account and link them here. I'll let you know.

Best,
T&H

Day 1: champagne dreams

Notes of our travels to Praha.

We can't believe how fast we got here. This time yesterday we were on the Jersey Turnpike breezing past sewage trucks and girls texting while driving. Today we have awoken in the heart of Prague. Minutes away from the best view of The Castle and The Charles Bridge.

The highlights of our journey here began moments after Heather predicted I'd get flagged going through security because of all my camera gear which of course means Heather gets flagged for no reason and is busted bring on a half-full bottle of water into the airport! Oh the shame of it all! :) Anyway, our flight went by super fast. When we were boarding two of the flight crew were popping champagne for 1st class and I asked if it was for us, we are on our honeymoon? They got all excited and asked our names and seat numbers. I thought for sure we were going to get upgraded, but instead we got a nice bottle of champagne and a cabin announcement that was followed by a round of applause from our fellow passengers. We were next to the loudest child on the plain who seemed to scream for an hour, but thanks to the generous loan of two sets of noise canceling headphones we could only tell how annoying he was By the looks the passengers around us were giving in the noisemakers direction. I don't know what those things cost but they are worth every penny!

Showing our passport to a disinterested security woman with giant fake nails was our stop at customs and in less than an hour we were checking in early (thank god) to our hotel. We had informed them of our honeymoon and were upgraded to a non-smoking suite and 20 minutes after settling in a bucket of champagne was delivered to our door! I told Heather that from now on we are always on our honeymoon!

At this point we are freshly rested and ready to explore. I'm anxious to start taking pictures and taste some local cuisine.