Sun. Oct 11, 2015 Prague
Uneventful flight to Prague and easy transfer to our apartment. The apartment is wonderful, right in the center of Old Town, which make the three flights of stairs up to the apartment somewhat more bearable. We met Dorothy and Dick (Dodi) who had arrived Friday and already had the lay out of the land. Spent the afternoon exploring, then had a fabulous dinner at the Bellavue which is one of the top ten rated restaurants of over 4500 in Prague. It was riverfront with a direct view of the sun setting over the castle – perfect !!
Uneventful flight to Prague and easy transfer to our apartment. The apartment is wonderful, right in the center of Old Town, which make the three flights of stairs up to the apartment somewhat more bearable. We met Dorothy and Dick (Dodi) who had arrived Friday and already had the lay out of the land. Spent the afternoon exploring, then had a fabulous dinner at the Bellavue which is one of the top ten rated restaurants of over 4500 in Prague. It was riverfront with a direct view of the sun setting over the castle – perfect !!
Old Town Square - we stayed just couple of blocks away from here
Town Hall and Astronomical clock - a crowd gathers on the hour to listen and watch the clock's mechanical procession of the 12 apostles
Dodi and Jon - We enjoyed the clock from the comfort of our cafe table
Dodd, Jon and me at the Bellevue
Mon. Oct.12, 2015
Full day today with a six hour tour of the city. We started with a walking of old town, then ate lunch. We then to the tram to the castle which is the largest castle in the world. We enjoyed touring the cathedral and spectacular views down over Old Town. Next we trekked down to the Charles bridge and walked over it. It is lined with statues on both sides that end with a large stone ach. We wrapped up our town tour with a cruise on the Vitava River. We ate dinner at a local Czech restaurant and had gelato from a store next door to our apartment. Prague is the fifth most visited city in Europe and it is easy to see why. A mixture of architecture, cobblestone streets and narrow alleys. It was cold today, glad we brought our down coats with us.
Full day today with a six hour tour of the city. We started with a walking of old town, then ate lunch. We then to the tram to the castle which is the largest castle in the world. We enjoyed touring the cathedral and spectacular views down over Old Town. Next we trekked down to the Charles bridge and walked over it. It is lined with statues on both sides that end with a large stone ach. We wrapped up our town tour with a cruise on the Vitava River. We ate dinner at a local Czech restaurant and had gelato from a store next door to our apartment. Prague is the fifth most visited city in Europe and it is easy to see why. A mixture of architecture, cobblestone streets and narrow alleys. It was cold today, glad we brought our down coats with us.
Early morning view of the street each way in front of our apartment
Performers in Old Town Square
The video below is of a great group, and while filming I captured a young school girl dancing with lightning feet !
Our guide, Jon and Dick
Jon and Me - lunch
I just kind of like this pic
This UNESCO-listed Prague Castle was a massive, fortified complex of churches and palaces.
Inside we explored the courtyards and buildings, including St Vitus Cathedral.
Dorothy and I tried to get him to smile - but no can do
View from castle down over the Vitava river to town
Arch at Charles Brigde
Typical pose of beggar
Pigeon statue on Charles Bridge
Cruising on the Vitava River
Not sure what this is, but he was hanging out on the river bank
View of Castle from water
Charles River bridge from the water
the boat depot
Me and Dorothy
Happy Prague
Walking toward Old town Square
Just me, and in my usual pose below
Tues. Oct. 13 2015
Long day of touring, a 6 hour round van trip to the town of Cesky Kemlov. The van made a sardine can look underpacked, but it got us there and back. It remains unseasonable cold, mid 30’s today. We arrived and it was a really beautiful scene – castle on the hill, valley below with a village nestled in. We ate lunch, walked about, then wrapped up with a tour of the castle. A guy in the group who had just completed a Viking river curse said that it was ADC – another damn castle or another damn church. We packed back into the sardine mobile and arrived back home at 7:00 PM. We stopped at a cozy pub for dinner on our walk back to the apartment. Getting a bit pork and dumplinged out, but the beer never disappoints. Jon and I are both coming down with colds, I am sure there is some Czech remedy for it. It was funny because we get pick ups with our tours. Yesterday a car came at the designated time to pick us up and drove su about three blocks. Today we were met by a woman. We had to follow her on foot for about five miles to the sardine mobile pick up point. Jon had his pedometer spinning.
Long day of touring, a 6 hour round van trip to the town of Cesky Kemlov. The van made a sardine can look underpacked, but it got us there and back. It remains unseasonable cold, mid 30’s today. We arrived and it was a really beautiful scene – castle on the hill, valley below with a village nestled in. We ate lunch, walked about, then wrapped up with a tour of the castle. A guy in the group who had just completed a Viking river curse said that it was ADC – another damn castle or another damn church. We packed back into the sardine mobile and arrived back home at 7:00 PM. We stopped at a cozy pub for dinner on our walk back to the apartment. Getting a bit pork and dumplinged out, but the beer never disappoints. Jon and I are both coming down with colds, I am sure there is some Czech remedy for it. It was funny because we get pick ups with our tours. Yesterday a car came at the designated time to pick us up and drove su about three blocks. Today we were met by a woman. We had to follow her on foot for about five miles to the sardine mobile pick up point. Jon had his pedometer spinning.
Me, Dick, Jon and Dorothy
Dodi In Cesky
Cesky Krumlov
Dick just makes me laugh, watch below and you will see why....
Dick and our tour guide
Cesky was recently designated as one the top 20 most beautiful towns n Europe
That "B" banner bus be for Blake
Cesky complete with waterfall
Jon and me
This windows opens up to sell cone like pastries that are dipped in sugar or chocolate
Wed. Oct 14,2015 Prague
We split up from Dodi in the AM and just explored by foot. There are twists and turns, and alleys that you never know what you will find in. We headed to the Charles bridge where Jon had the great idea to climb to the top of the arch. I was OK with it because you start off in a small room with a short staircase visible. You ascend the first flight stairs, then you see them, about 8 flights of ladder steep stairs. Not happy. We finally made it to the top huffing and puffing. The views almost made up for the climb. Next we crossed back over the bridge to meet up with Dodi for lunch. More shopping and walking after lunch. It was lightly raining, but only enough to be a nuisance. We got back late afternoon and got packed up, then waited for our pick up to go to a folklore show and dinner. Again, we were met by guy on foot who we followed and walked about five miles to our pick up point. We were joined to by two young ladies from Pakistan. The walk was not bad, but again it was cold and drizzly. We were the last ones to arrive to the show, and clearly things had been gong on for awhile because the entertainment was in full swing and people were already eating dinner. We were told we would be picked up at 11:00 PM, but the show was over by 9:45 PM and everyone left. One of the Pakistani girls swung into action and got the manager to call the transfer company so we only ended up waiting till 10:20 PM, Luckily the driver drove directly back to the apartment so we did not have to walk in the rain. Even though the evening was not quite as planned, it was still a fun way to spend our last night and wrap our visit to Prague.
We split up from Dodi in the AM and just explored by foot. There are twists and turns, and alleys that you never know what you will find in. We headed to the Charles bridge where Jon had the great idea to climb to the top of the arch. I was OK with it because you start off in a small room with a short staircase visible. You ascend the first flight stairs, then you see them, about 8 flights of ladder steep stairs. Not happy. We finally made it to the top huffing and puffing. The views almost made up for the climb. Next we crossed back over the bridge to meet up with Dodi for lunch. More shopping and walking after lunch. It was lightly raining, but only enough to be a nuisance. We got back late afternoon and got packed up, then waited for our pick up to go to a folklore show and dinner. Again, we were met by guy on foot who we followed and walked about five miles to our pick up point. We were joined to by two young ladies from Pakistan. The walk was not bad, but again it was cold and drizzly. We were the last ones to arrive to the show, and clearly things had been gong on for awhile because the entertainment was in full swing and people were already eating dinner. We were told we would be picked up at 11:00 PM, but the show was over by 9:45 PM and everyone left. One of the Pakistani girls swung into action and got the manager to call the transfer company so we only ended up waiting till 10:20 PM, Luckily the driver drove directly back to the apartment so we did not have to walk in the rain. Even though the evening was not quite as planned, it was still a fun way to spend our last night and wrap our visit to Prague.
Really - a four cheese sandwich - delish !
Just one flight of the 100 flights of steep stairs we climbed to the top of the bridge house
Jon at the top
View of Charles bridge
Jon - and yes it is raining again
Me on Charles bridge
Umbrellas everywhere
Touching the statue of St. John is suppose to be good luck
Walking around the neighborhood where are the embassies are
Dodi at lunch
Our last evening in Prague at the folklore show
Jon pulling the horse hair to make an interesting musical sound