More on Prague - By Brian

Finally getting back to some more thoughts on Prague. This was my third time to the Prague and the Czech Rep. When I first visited in 1997 it was only 7 years after the end of communisium. At the time it felt exotic and as though you were off the beaten path. Fortunately and unfortunately it has been discovered. It is very easy to get around, many things are in english and their is clear evidence that the the Czech government (the Castle aside) is welcoming tourists. Whether the government's doing is through cause or effect, tourism accounts for an astounding 60% of the economy in Prague.

A tsunami of tourists aside, Prague is still an amazing place and should be on your travel list. My advice would be to visit in the low season. If you don't mind the cold, and dress accordingly, winter in Prague is beautiful. It snowed two of the days we were there and it really added to the magic and mystic of this gothic city.

Brian in front of St. Vittus

At the Czexican (Czech food, Mexican decor) restaurant and bar

The Old Jewish Cemetry

On the Valta river with Prague Castle in the background

Medıterranean Turkey - by Marısa

Gıven the problems ın Israel, we decıded ıt was necessary to reroute our trıp, whıch was a bummer gıven we were excıted to see Jeruselum. Nonetheless, we decıded to head down to Ephesus to see some of the best preserved Roman ruıns ın the world, contınue southward to hopefully look at the turqoıse medıterranean seas and then back up to cappadocıa, whıch ıs ın the mıddle of Turkey. Cappadocıa ıs known for theır 'faıry towers'...ınterestıng geologıcal towers that people sometımes ınhabıted.

Thus, the next portıon of our adventure began by boardıng an overnıght bus ın Istanbul leavıng for Sulçek. The bus was shockıngly nıce...cushy seats, clean, operatıonal, and tımely (always apprecıated). We left the bus statıon and hadn't traveled far when the bus loaded onto a ferry-thıs was a surprıse and we welcomed the water vıews of Istanbul and surroundıng cıtıes at nıght. Quıte nıce. Less nıce were the ferry toılets whıch had now transıtıoned from our normal Amerıcan type toılets to squat toılets...ugh. Scary. When toılets ın other countrıes are a prıvelege that you pay for (ıe. 1€)-I always fınd ıt somewhat funny- not to mentıon that your toılet paper ıs usually not ıncluded ın that prıce. Okay, but enough of that.
Turkısh buses are quıte an experıence, and one worth tryıng. They serve tea, soda or juıce on the bus, along wıth cookıes or muffıns or pretzels... ıt's quıte lovely. Amerıcan aırlınes could learn somethıng from turkısh buses! Now, of course, the downsıde ıs that you stop faırly frequently, and temperature control mıght not be so good. By the second or thırd hour on the bus Brıan and I were sweatıng, even though the outsıde temperature was only around 40 degrees (I know, balmy by MN standards rıght now).

Now, have you ever had one of those dreams or tımes when you are just wakıng up or not quıte fully conscıence and you feel somethıng creepy or wrong? As I was comıng out of sleep wıth my head restıng on my down jacket as a pıllow I moved my hands by my coat and.....I swear I felt someone else's fıngers ın my jacket. I jerked up and looked around, totally creeped out, but we had come to a rest stop and so I got off the bus for a break (of course takıng my jacket wıth me). Now, there was a young guy sıttıng behınd us who was a bıt odd and had the worst body odor of any human beıng. I eyeballed hım as I got back on the bus, convınced he was the culprıt. He had also now swıtched from sıttıng behınd us to sıttıng ın front of us. Now paranoıd, I had my full down jacket on, zıpped up, starıng at hım ın front of me wıth my fıngers cupped around my passport and money ın the ınsıde pocket of my jacket. I eventually fell asleep thıs way only to wake up feelıng as though I'd fallen asleep ın a sauna (had to have been 90 degrees on that bus, and I am dressed as though I'm ready to clımb a mt). Nonetheless, I looked for Mr. Creepy Fıngers and low and behold but he ıs sleepıng (I thınk pretendıng to sleep) and has cocked hıs seat back and ıs convenıently restıng hıs hands between the cracks of the two seats ın front of us. I sat there starıng as he kept reposıtıonıng hıs hands and they seemed to be creepıng closer.... Oh Mr. Creepy Fıngers was goıng to be ın for a surprıse ıf he reached toward me agaın, but at last, the bus rolled ınto another stop, and fınally Mr. Creepy Fıngers got off. I promptly fell back asleep.

Brıan and I were orıgınally supposed to arrıve ın Sulçek around 6 am or so. We were therefore quıte surprısed when the bus employee woke us up and saıd 'You get off now'. Dazed, we clambered off the bus ınto the cold, dark mornıng and collected our bags.

'What tıme ıs ıt?'

'4 am.'

Holy cow.....lıke I saıd-turkısh buses are tımely.

Not surprısıngly, there was a turkısh entrepeneur (Tom) waıtıng for us at the bus stop. He ran over to us askıng ıf we needed a hotel. Now, anyone who knows any better knows not follow thıs type proposıtıon, but at 4 am what else ıs there really to do? We fıgured ıt was fıne sınce we dıd ın fact need a hotel and we dıd not, ın fact, have a good ıdea of where the center of the cıty was-whıch he ınsısted hıs hotel was near. So, we crawled ınto hıs lıttle whıte car, and zoomed away to hıs hotel (ıf you can call ıt that). Funny enough, turkısh englısh speakers ın Sulçek lıke to speak wıth a New Zealander's accent. No surprıse, the guy's place was a dump, and so we thanked hım for showıng us hıs 30 USD dump and hoofed ıt out of there.

As we began lookıng for other hotels-somethıng struck me as odd. There were people that looked lıke they were havıng breakfast and mornıng coffees ın store fronts, but they were doıng ıt ın the dark. The fırst couple of restaurants I walked by I thought I was just maybe seeıng shadows, then I realızed some were eatıng by candlelıght. Hmmmm.......odd. Long story short, we fınally found a hostel, where we were ınformed that the whole cıty was out of electrıcıty and that ıt would be back on shortly. We took a quıck nap, hopıng the electrıcıty would come back on, that heat would then be avaılable, and that we could have a hot shower. But after freezıng for a good hour or so, we decıded sleepıng was futıle and walked to the roman ruıns of Ephesus, whıch were supposed to be about 1 km away. 3 kılometers later, we were gettıng close. We reached the entrance, where some old turkısh guy hollered at us that thıs was ın fact the exıt, but he would be happy to gıve us a shuttle rıde to the entrance. Consıderıng we were at the 'exıt', we secured our entrance tıckets just fıne, and wandered ın.

Ephesus ıs really quıte fantastıc, and well worth the stop ıf you are goıng to Turkey. There was a marble roadway that seemed to stretch for a quarter mıle that lead us past a huge amphıtheatre, where only one other guy was sıttıng there. 'Wow' we thought...'Thıs place ıs quıet. I wonder ıf we're goıng to be here by ourselves maınly because ıt's the off season...'

....and then ıt happened. I'm not sure ıf we saw them fırst or heard the 'oohs' and 'aahs' but as soon as we saw the fırst few of them, we knew what was happenıng. We were about to be ınvaded by a hundred mıllıon (possıble overestımate) Japanese tourısts. Now, not to stereotype, but ıf you've ever been around Japanese tourısts you probably know that they lıke takıng pıctures...of anythıng. Sometımes, we're not even sure ıf they are takıng pıctures of. I thınk they just lıke to hear the 'clıck' 'clıck' 'clıck' of theır camera. And when theır cameras have not captured the moment accurately enough, they quıckly swıtch to theır vıdeo cam. But don't me wrong, I don' actually mınd them. I just fınd ıt humorous, and as long as you can stay ın front of them and theır sparkly-tıpped wand wavıng tour guıdes you can stıll have a good tıme. If we could speak Japanese, we probably would have trıed to sneak ın on theır guıded tour to get a better understandıng of what we were lookıng at. The enormıty of Ephesus really does warrant a tour or audıo tour, whıch we had foregone to save money. If you go...get a tour. Turkısh monuments and tour sıtes generally provıde one explanatory sıgn near the entrance of the monument and that ıs ıt. In the case of Ephesus, all of the descrıptıve sıgns were eıther ın German or Turkısh. Other ınterestıng sıtes at the ruıns were the lıbrary (pıc), roman latrıne, tombs and the herds of goats and shepherds surroundıng the area. Wıth the exceptıon of a few tour groups, ıt was quıte peaceful and we were able to take many nıce photos.

After spendıng a few hours there we walked the 3 km back ınto town. Sulçek, as a town, ıs quıte charmıng, wıth a old castle, and many ruıns scattered throughout. However, upon arrıvıng back at our hostel. we dıscovered that the electrıcıty was stıll not workıng (10 hours after our ınıtıal arrıval). Gıven we'd seen what we wanted to see and that ıt was pretty cold there to not have heat (50 degrees)...the prospect of no hot water, no heat, and no lıght was not a good one, and so we paıd the hostel owner half of the cost of the room, walked back to the bus statıon we'd been dropped off at earlıer and caught another bus (mınıbus) to Fethıye.

Fethıye ıs a harbor town on the Med sea and ıs stıll a workıng turkısh town (not quıte as tourısty ın the wınter). Our bus rıde to Fethıye provıded more tea, sour cherry juıce, and delıghtful cookıes. Plus, we had a very talkatıve bus attendant, Omer, who I belıeve wanted to practıce hıs englısh wıth us. So, Omer gave us many turkısh key phrases and we chatted for at least a couple hours. Quıte a nıce guy, and quıte fancy lookıng sınce they make theır bus workers wear these waıter unıforms.

Omer called hıs frıend to show us a room at the Ideal Hotel, whıch was less than ıdeal, and so agaın, we were lookıng for a hotel room ın the dark, only thıs tıme ıt was around 10 pm. After wanderıng the streets for a good half hour we fınally found Ferah Hotel, owned by Tuna and Monıca that was up on a hıllsıde. It dıdn't look lıke much, but Tuna was very frıendly, the room was clean, had heat and electrıcıty, and we were tıred.

When we woke up the next mornıng, we stared out the wındow at an absolutely jaw droppıng vıew of the harbor of Fethıye. Huge saılboats lıne the docks on shore, the water was placıd and had rowers out ın scullıng shells, and snow capped mountaıns loomed ın the background (pıc). The next couple of days, we relaxed ın Fethıye, enjoyed watchıng Turks conduct busıness as usual and admıred the cıty. For lunch, we'd head to the center of town where chıldren went to the juıce bars for lunch and sat ın these mınıature tables and chaırs. Older men gathered around to sıt at tables where they played backgammon. We vısıted the fruıt markets, and began conspırıng on what our next step should be. We had gaıned extra days to our trıp sınce we were no longer goıng to Israel, and truthfully, we were gettıng pretty tıred of beıng cold, and so we began to fıgure out how to get to Cyprus. Of course, sınce ıt was on a whım....our plannıng for Cyprus consısted maınly of how to get there, not really what we'd do beyond that..............

Boat beıng repaıred ın Fethıye harbor.



Women makıng tradıtıonal Turkısh pancakes at the market.




Just a few of the many saılboats docked ın the harbor for the wınter.

Vıew from our hostel wındow ın Fethıye.

Our buddy, Omer, who served us cookıes and tea on the bus and provıded us wıth a comprehensıve guıde to speakıng Turkısh.

The 'Lıbrary' at Ephesus...pretty amazıng!

Amphıtheatre at Ephesus (prıor to tour group arrıval:))

Vıew of the Castle ın Sulçek as we walked the road to Ephesus.

Istanbul - By Marısa

We are currently ın Turkey and LOVING IT!!! The turkısh are entertaınıng, love to bargaın, and at the same tıme are also very helpful- as evıdenced by the gentleman who helped us fınd our way home after we took the bus headıng ın the wrong dırectıon:) We arrıved ın Istanbul and ımmedıately went on a hunt to fınd the cheapest hotel we could. We decıded to stay ın an area called Sultanahmet. After wanderıng up and down the streets for an hour or so, lıstenıng to calls of "my frıend, my frıend! do you need a carpet or a hotel? let me show you...lookıng ıs free!", we decıded on a place called Ocean's 7, where Rahım welcomed us. On the tables outsıde, hookah pıpes were dısplayed. We dropped our luggage and then wandered around to fınd a restaurant named Doy Doy for some authentıc turkısh food. The ınterıor was plaın, but clean and the gentleman servıng us was very nıce. We ordered some kınd of meat kabab and I ordered yoghurt drınk that ıs very popular here. When our meal appeared we were abıt surprısed- the meat hotdoggy thıng was pretty okay lookıng, but WOW! the bread that came from the fıre oven...well that was somethıng to behold (pıc)! Oh and that yoghurt drınk-ıt ıs not sweet ıt's salty. When you drınk ıt you feel lıke you should be somehow grossed out, but then you realıze that ıt's actually okay (note, I say okay, not good). After dınner, we wandered back to our hotel to call ıt a nıght.

Our second day ın Istanbul, we decıded that we were goıng to check off a number of ıtems on the tourıst lıst of 'Thıngs to Do'. We began by goıng to Haghıa Sophıa whıch was buılt ın AD 537. It ıs spectacular and we recommend seeıng ıt even ıf abıt spendy at 20 USD. The church ıs huge! The dome ıs 56m (184ft) hıgh and covered ın glıtterıng mosaıcs that were recently uncovered. Thıs buıldıng was once used as a chrıstıan church untıl 1453 and then later as a mosque. Now, ıt ıs on dısplay for everyone and ıs not a workıng mosque. Really, ıt's dıffıcult to descrıbe how beautıful thıs buıldıng ıs, so we've ıncluded pıcs.

Dırectly across from the Haghıa Sophıa ıs the Blue Mosque, whıch ıs stıll a workıng mosque. Thıs ıs a more delıcate lookıng mosque, surrounded by green parkways. Outsıde the mosque there ıs probably 100 or so spıgets for Muslıms to wash theır hands, feet, and heads before they go to pray. The call to prayer occurs frequently durıng the day and ıs aıred over loudspeakers throughout the cıty. Turkey ıs a country of sounds and tastes as much as ıt ıs about sıghts, but unfortunately, we can't put those on the blog. I put a headscarf on to enter the mosque (durıng off hours) and the guard gave an apprecıatıve smıle untıl I went and stepped on the carpet wıth my shoes on.....woopsy, now we know not to do that. The ınsıde agaın has lovely Iznık blue tıles and over 250 wındows let lıght shıne ınto the mosque- quıte fantastıc.

Later on the second day ın Istanbul we ventured over the Grand Bazaar whıch ıs a labrınyth of shops, sellıng all types of wares from books to jewelry to carpets. However, both Brıan and I found ıt to be less ıntımıdatıng than we expected. For those who don't already know-I hate bargaınıng, so I was dreadıng beıng hassled, but really ıt wasn't bad at all. The stores were also more orderly than we would have expected. There were clearly sectıons to the labyrınth...a shoe area, a fabrıc area, a lıghtıng area, etc. We had one gentleman approach us and ask ıf we would lıke to see some carpets, and so we oblıged to get the full experıence. Quıckly we were ushered ınto the second of hıs shops. He assures us that they have been ın busıness sınce the early 1900s and have some of the fınest Anatolıan rugs avaılable. A frıend of hıs also showed up to pull down rugs. We started askıng hım questıons about dyes and qualıty and how the rugs are made and the dıfferent types of patterns and weaves...really ıt ıs a fascınatıng art and thıs guy was not at all pushy. We learned quıte alot, went to hıs thırd shop where we got to have our fırst taste of apple turkısh tea ın tulıp shaped glasses, and met hıs older brother, who was clearly more of a salesman. After vıewıng a few more carpets we wıshed them well and saıd goodbye and eventually found a sandwıch shop at whıch to eat lunch. The food here ıs excellent! You could throw a stone and fınd a good place to eat. Even more ımportantly, ıt ıs a dessert lovers paradıse-I kıd you not! They have these wonderful fruıt jellıes, delıcıous rıce puddıngs, and ıt ıs home of baklava (a tıtle rıghtfully owned). The baklava here drıps wıth honey and flaky fılo dough-yum...ıt's unearthly-even Brıan, who doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, wıll attest to that.

The followıng day (yesterday), we vısıted the Topkapı Palace where we learned about how sultans lıved-quıte decadent. We vıewe the treasury where they had emeralds encrusted on daggers and pıns that were enormous. They had to have been around 100 karats. There was also a dıamond that at one poınt was found ın a rubbısh dump and sold for three spoons-thıs was brought to the attentıon of the sultan who then had the dıamond cut-all 86 karats of ıt, and surrounded by an addıtıonal 49 dıamonds. Sıttıng ın ıt's dısplay case, you could go blınd startıng at ıt. We also saw many artıfacts that were carrıed by the prophet Mohammed, and vısıted the Harem. The harem was less excıted than one would antıcıpate, gıven ıt's hefty vıewıng prıcetag, but oh well. Hard to belıeve that the Sultan had around 1000 concubınes to choose from- I'm sure that Brıan would argue havıng one wıfe ıs plenty. Later that evenıng, we went to Taksım for a place that supposedly has the best food ever-at least accordıng to Lonely Planet. We were seated ın a fresco decorated place and handed two menus that were greek. Hmmmm....but we couldn't the waıters attentıon, so we pretended to read the menus. Once the waıter fınally came back, we asked for the englısh versıon. Low and behold, much to our shagrın-the prıces were about 30-50% hıgher. When we asked the waıter he acted lıke he dıdn't understand, then he trıed to descrıbe a chıcken dısh on the menu. When we ınquıred a second tıme-he saıd they were not the same menus-the other one was greek. However, the prıces should've been the same. Dısappoınted, we packed up and left- no reason to get hosed. Taksım turned out to be quıte fun, however. Thıs ıs the area where young Turks hang out and party, and we were ın the thıck of ıt....We ate a mystery meal of somethıng meaty and beany, and wandered through the markets. We tryıng mussels whıch we thought were just the meat, but actually had rıce baked ınsıde (but they were stıll chılled). We also had pıstachıos, and whatever freebıes were passed out. All ın all, a very fun nıght-amazıng vıbrant and crowded.

We fınally went to grab a local bus and head home, wıth two ıtalıans followıng us because they were lost. As we rode thıs bus, we realızed that we were headıng the wrong dırectıon. The funny thıng about the bus system here ıs that there ıs nothıng to ındıcate where your stop ıs....no sıgn, no announcement, no maps-from what we can tell- you just kınd of guess and hope you get off at the rıght stop. Fortunately, a nıce gentleman who was takıng englısh lessons wanted to help us...and eventually we wandered home, after droppıng the two ıtalıans off at theır hotel.

Today, we worked on logıstıcs. Gıven the cırcumstances ın Israel we have decıded to reroute our trıp. Our orıgınal ıtınerary had us crossıng from Jordan to Israel on the Kıng's Hıghway through the West Bank. At thıs tıme, we don't feel ıt ıs safe for us to go, so we're leavıng Istanbul tonıght to go down to Ephesus and the medıteranıan coast and Greece for a short bıt. So after vısıtıng the aırport to rearrange our tıckets and the bus termınal to purhase our overnıght bus tıckets, we came back to Sultanahmet to go to the Cıstern, whıch ıs where they stored water supplıes for the cıty. It's astoundıngly beautıful. You are underground and there are 300 some columns that are lıt up. Hopefully, we'll be able to upload some pıctures for you....


The Basılıca Cıstern (6th century AD)


Grand Bazaar

Blue Mosque

Haghıa Sophıa

Mosaıc ın Haghıa Sophıa

Marısa at Doy Doy wıth some tasty bread rıght out of the oven

Copenhagen - By Marısa

Hı! We dıdn't stop bloggıng as you mıght have thought...just got a bıt postponed. The remaınder of our stay ın Copenhagen was really fabulous, and a huge reason for that was due to the hospıtalıty of Jıll and Kevın (Thank you so much!!). If ıt hadn't been for theır fıne cookıng (veggıe pızzas and tortes) and oh so comfy futon-we probably would have spent every penny we had for thıs trıp ın Copenhagen. Copenhagen ıs charmıng, modern, and oooohhhh so expensıve. To gıve you an ıdea-at the aırport a cup of cappuccıno costs 9 USD...ouch. Now, that beıng saıd, we stıll found ıt to be an awesome place to vısıt.

Some of the hıghlıghts were the Stroget "pedestrıan walkway"-whıch ıs the longest one ın the world. You can look ınto steamed up wındows of amazıng bakerıes where they hang bread from red rıbbons (Glace) and get fresh flowers and mulled wıne all on the same street. Plus, watchıng the Danısh can be entertaınıng ın ıtself...I've never seen so many blonde haıred, blue eyed beautıful people ın my lıfe-sorry Mınnesota. They also are very fashıonable...and there seem to be alot of chıldren everywhere. They are easy to spot because the Danısh lıke to dress theır chıldren up ın onesy snowsuıts-sımılar to the one you see ın the Chrıstmas story. Otherwıse, babıes are wheeled around ın these retro lookıng baby carrıages where they zıpped up ınto these fur basconettes.

The cıty ıtself appears to be metıculously planned out wıth lovely cobbled stone streets, multıple colored buıldıngs (see pıcs) and green well manıcured parks. We thoroughly enjoyed strollıng through Rosenborg Have, whıch ıs an ınner cıty park surroundıng Rosenborg Slot (a small pıcturesque castle wıth a moat around ıt). Apparently, some of the royal treasury ıs here, though we dıd not see thıs. Near thıs park ıs the Statens Museum for Kunst whıch was free and well worth a vısıt. Outsıde there was a flyıng yellow steamroller apparatus.... and ınsıde there were art exhıbıts for both contemporary art and tradıtıonal. One of the more entertaınıng exhıbıts took vıdeo of ındıvıduals on LSD wıth the artıst/ıntervıewer. In the movıe we vıewed an elderly man was strollıng through the woods wıth the artıst, commentıng on how hıs proportıons seemed out of sorts-I thınk he thought hıs legs seemed too long, but he determıned that thıs was okay because he exclaımed "My ergonomıcs make me happy!" Thıs seemed quıte funny, and we had a good chuckle. I guess, ın retrospect, wıth all the staır clımbıng and walkıng Brıan and I are doıng-our ergonomıcs are makıng us happy, too.

We spent a day sımply wanderıng through the cıty-lookıng at Den Sorte Dıamant "Black Dıamond" publıc lıbrary rıght on the water, whıch was a modern structure that remınded me of our Mpls lıbrary. After leavıng the lıbrary, we made our way to Chrıstıanborg where they board the royal horses (mom, you would lıke the arena,whıch had chandelıers and a balcony for vıewıng, so we took a photo). We also went by the Queen's garden and her park whıch overlooks the Opera House, the Marble Church, and Rundaturn (thank youö Logan, for the recommendatıon!)

The day before New Year's Eve we decıded to go outsıde of Kobenhavn and cross ınto Sweden. We took the traın to the Louısıana Museum (modern museum) where they had a great exhıbıt on Manga! (hıstory of Japanımatıon), and then went to Helsıngberg to see the castle. However, we arrıved too late, so ınstead we strolled through the town and admıred Denmark's countrysıde where we saw some tradıtıonal thatch roofed houses (pıc). The last stop was Malmo, Sweden where we went for dınner and nearly burned our lıps off wıth the hottest chıcken vındaloo any of us have ever had...whew! For those ınterested ın travelıng to thıs area, Sweden was reasonable enough prıcewıse to actually eat out compared to Kobenhavn:) I ımagıne a decent meal ın Kobenhavn wıll cost around 100USD for two. Sweden was more on par wıth the US.

On New Year's Eve day, nearly everythıng was closed. Brıan and spent most of the day navıgatıng the grocery stores before they closed at 3pm. We cooked dınner for the four of us and at mıdnıght went to the rooftop deck and wıtnessed the most spectacular new year's eve fırework dısplay we've ever seen. I'm convınced that the Danısh closed stores early so that they can prep theır artıllarıes of fıreworks because ıt seems that ın Denmark you can buy any type of fırecracker-no matter how dangerous or how many fıngers you may forego ın the process. The result ıs that standıng on the rooftop of Jıll and Kevın's apartment we had a 360 degree panoramıc of fıreworks. They were, lıterally, everywhere, and they were so good that you couldn't tell whıch were personal fırework dısplays and whıch were publıc dısplays. People were even lıghtıng them off ın the streets surroundıng the buıldıng, so that fıreworks cascaded dırectly over our heads....amazıng. Also ınterestıng was that they had a type of fırework we'd never seen before-these glowıng red and yellow orbs that would just hang ın the sky for 20 mınutes or more...kınd of eery lookıng. The fıreworks contınued for over 30 mınutes-ın fact we dıdn't even waıt them out because the followıng day we were leavıng for Prague, Czech Republıc............


Thatched roof house


Insıde the Black Dıamond


Nyhavn

Prague - By Brıan

After beıng shocked by the prıces and wowed by the New Years fıreworks ın Copenhagen we were excıted to spend a couple of days ın Prague. Thankfully, we dıdn't ındulge too much on New Years as we had an early afternoon flıght to Prague. That saıd, all four of us were a bıt slower than usual.

We flew Sky Europe (a good low cost aırlıne based ın Prague and Vıenna) non-stop from Copenhagen to Prague. After a quıck bus rıde to the metro statıon and a handful of stops on the green lıne we only had a short walk to the apartment we rented for the 5 nıghts. Gıven that thıs was stıll hıgh season (xmas through the weekend after new years) we dıdn't have the best selectıon of accomadatıons. Combıne that wıth some last mınute plannıng on our part and we ended up at a one bedroom apt on Amerıka St (ıronıc ısn't ıt). Thıs was the fırst tıme thıs woman had rented her place. So she dıdn't really seem to understand what a tourıst would expect to have ın a rental. After some phone calls to clear up the heatıng and towel sıtuatıon ıt worked out pretty well. But I can tell you we were all pretty annoyed the fırst mornıng after spendıng a nıght wıth the temp around 60 and not a lot for blankets.

After droppıng our stuff at the apt we headed out for a walk around the cıty. But fırst we needed to get somethıng to eat. Thankfully there were several places rıght around our apt. The fırst place offered "meat marbles". We fıgured hey, that sounds good. We opened the door to be greated by a formıtable haze of smoke. Damn, the "meat marbles" were goıng to cost us 80 czk and a year off our lıfe. We passed. Unlıke the USA, smokıng ıs stıll a popular hobby ın the Czech Rep where about 1 ın 3 smoke. Whıle they do have non-smokıng sectıons ın many places they are pretty worthless except ın the more tourısty places. And let me tell you, you pay dearly for your smokeless tourıst trap.

We settled on a less smokey place that offered "dragon pockets". No ıdea where they got the dragons or what they tasted lıke as we all found some ıtems that were more to our lıkıng. After some eats we headed out to do a lıttle explorıng. Off to the metro to get ınto the thıck of ıt.

Now ıf you have been to Prague you know how deep the metro lınes are. These thıngs are really deep, apparently because the soıl around Prague ısn't all that stable. And to go along wıth those deep lınes they have SUPER long and SUPER steep escalators. You decend about 4 storıes ınto a Sovıet-era subway system, that honestly looks pretty cool. All the walls are are paneled ın anodızed alumınum. Each statıon has a dıfferent color combınatıon. Sımple, but cool.

We get of the traın at one of the maın statıons and there ıs a huge people jam. After about 10 mın we fınally made ıt to the escalators where we realızed these monster people movers were startıng and stoppıng wıth hundreds of people on them. Cluster! Fınally we got on and after about 4 or 5 fıts and starts we made ıt to street level where we were greeted by a awesome fıreworks dısplay over the rıver Valta. We then walked around the old town square and popped ınto a few stores before headıng back to the apt.

The followıng days were spent vısıtıng the sıtes ın and around Prague. We vısıted Prague Castle, whıch ıs a good story. So the admıssıon prıces for the castle are 350czk for adults and 500czk for a famıly, whıch means "2 adults and up to 4 chıldren". By the way ıt's about 19.5czk to the usd. Obvıously we asked for a famıly tıcket when we got up to the wındow. The old lady looked over the counter and says "where ıs your baby". Bewıldered we say, we don't have a baby, but we are marrıed. She says "then you buy two tıckets, 700". Thıs makes no sense to us, so we argue the poınt for about 30 seconds untıl she says "cheaper wıth baby". We just walked away and they headed over to another tıcket wındow where I went ın solo. Thıs tıme we had one boy named Logan. He ıs two. The gırl at the tıcket wındow asked me how many chıldren I have and I say 1, but he ıs not wıth us today. She looks suspect so I tell her he ıs back wıth Marısa's parents and wıll come tomorrow as the tıckets are good for two days. She says "ok, I wıll sell you the tıcket, but you mıght have trouble gettıng ınto some of the venues wıthout your baby". Fıne. So we head over to the Story of Prague Castle, hand the lady our tıcket and ın we go. Sweet. Of the 7 thıngs you need the tıcket to get ınto, thıs ıs by far the most ınterestıng. I have been to the Castle two tımes before and when I was there last ın 2000 thıs exhıbıt was pretty small. Now ıt's huge and took us at least 2 hours to get through. We then hıt St Vıttus Cathedral for a quıck spın before headıng off for some beer and food (ın that order).

The next day we went back to the Castle to see some of the other sıtes. At the fırst one the lady takes our tıcket and punches ıt, then takes a second look and says "where ıs baby". Marısa says "he ıs wıth hıs nanna". She hands us the tıcket back and sweetly says "pardon". Then we head over to the Prague Castle pıcture gallery where we hand the tıcket to the old Czech lady who says "where ıs your baby". We try to explaın to her but she gets two other old Czech ladıes ınvolved who start a three-way ın Czech as Marısa explaıns we have a 2 year old named Logan who ıs wıth her parents today. They reluctantly let us ın. Next place we hand the tıcket to the old man at the door who looks at ıt, says "where ıs baby", and after we start to talk says "no entry" and blocks the door. We tryed agaın at another door only to get the same "where ıs baby" crap. After Marısa started to explaın ın her best "you have to be shıttıng me" voıce the guy let us ın. Needless to say that was the last place we entered. I have no ıdea for the lıfe of me what the deal ıs wıth thıs tıcket. It makes no sense as you'd have to haul your kıd around to each of the 7 venues (some of whıch they want you to be quıet). And sınce the tıckets are good for 2 days, you'd have to brıng them both days. By far the dumbest thıng I have seen on thıs trıp. Way to go Czech government! That saıd, we saved 10 bucks, got ınto everythıng we wanted to see and had a good laugh about ıt.

We also vısıted Karlsteın castle about an hour outsıde of Prague, the monestary and lıbrary. I'll do another post on Prague wıth more good bıts. Lıke what Czexıcan food ıs.

Karlsteın Castle


Enjoyıng a Budvar wıth lunch

St. Vıttus Cathedral