Day 3 - Walking (of course) around Prague

St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle

Each day, I think, "Wow, I'm so exhausted, but in a good way." That couldn't be any more true than today. Not only did we walk a lot as usual, but we went to the Prague Castle, which is up a rather steep hill. We didn't walk through much of the castle / palace interiors opting instead to walk through the Royal Gardens, which were very pretty. It sure seemed like a quick walk back compared to the trip there -- ah, the beauty of going down hill.  We walked home via the famous Charles Bridge and saw three different couples taking wedding photos.



Scott's semi-dark lager



For lunch, we stopped at a local brewery and restaurant called Il Tri Ruzi (I'm guessing "The Three Roses" based upon the logo). Scott enjoyed their semi-dark lager, and while we enjoyed all the food we ordered, I was particularly impressed with a salad that contained beets and a delicious grilled goat cheese. It was so simple, yet so good. 

Other than that, we didn't do much eventful -- just lots of walking and window shopping, which was a perfect day for us. We took a mid-afternoon nap before heading back out for more walking and window shopping, plus a little actual shopping. Now, my legs are so sore that it hurts to get up. That should make walking back to our car with our luggage in the morning fun.

Tomorrow, we head back to Germany for the remainder of our vacation. Our next stop: the small town of Boppard, on the Rhine River. It's a 6-hour drive, so I'm sure we'll break it up a bit along the way at least to eat a bite and stretch our legs. Boppard will be our hub for a few days while we explore other nearby towns as well. More walking and more eating I'm sure.

Day 2, Nuremberg & Prague

My apple breakfast



Wow, I'm so tired! In a good way, but exhausted nonetheless. I can barely put together sentences -- in English much less any other language although I did break out some pretty fabulous Spanish tonight. More on that later. So, here's a fragmented, bulleted version of our day.

We started the day in Nuremberg. Got up early. Walked around a bit before most stores opened (at 9 or 10 a.m.). Grabbed some breakfast -- a sugar-coated apple. Yum! Explored a few parts of town we didn't see yesterday by foot. Bought a few souvenirs -- including some scrumptuous Elisen gingerbread for ourselves, which of course, we had to "test" right away. Headed back to our hotel. Checked out. Drove to the Documentation Centre Nazi Party Rally Grounds, an incredibly moving, somber and educational accounting of Hitler's rise to power and resulting atrocities. The museum is on the site of unfinished site where the Nazi party rallies took place in Germany.

 

The view of Tyn Cathedral from our room

 

Then, we headed to Prague. It was supposed to be a 3-hour drive to our hotel, but we left Nuremberg a bit later than expected and hit rush hour. Then, our hotel is located in a pedestrian only zone. We passed the parking garage where we intended to park and getting back around amidst heavy traffic (cars & people) and one-way streets took forever. We finally got settled in around 8 p.m.

It was difficult to get up and moving again, but we knew we'd be grumpy if we didn't eat soon, so we went out to explore the city. We're right next door to Tyn Cathedral and one of main squares in the old town where there's an astronomical clock (the 3rd oldest in the world, and the oldest still working). We grabbed a bite to eat -- proscuitto di praga (Prague ham) -- from a street vendor along Wenceslas Square.

Tyn Cathedral from the Square

There, a couple from Mexico City with their grown daughter joined us at our high-boy table, so we chatted for a bit. This is where I got to use my Spanish. They had just arrived today as well.



We walked and walked and walked some more to explore the city. It's such a lovely place. I'm looking forward to a full day tomorrow. I'm sure we'll log a significant number of steps on the pedometer; we've got to balance out all the food we're indulging in.

2012 Vacation Planning: Germany & Prague

We've finally booked our 2012 vacation. This year, we're headed to Germany and Prague. Croatia was also high on the list but because we are going in late September / early October, we opted to forgo Croatia this year and wait until a year when we go a bit more in the summer season. Maybe next year.

It's been a bit more challenging and frustrating to book this year's trip for 3 reasons:

1. Because of various other activities, work schedules, vacation days, etc., it took us a while to pick a date and we had to fit it in between a couple of other activities we have planned in the U.S.
2. There were a couple of festivals that we want to attend. If we were to plan our trip without this in mind, we could make a nice logical loop through Germany to Prague and back. Instead, to make these festivals, we are back tracking a bit along the way and not going in the order that makes the most sense geographically.
3. The day before we had locked in the exact dates for each location, I selected one to two top hotels for each spot. The next day when I went to book, every single one was booked for the dates we wanted. To make it worse, at least one of the online booking sites tells you when the last available room was booked. All were booked within the past 24 hours, so it was even more annoying to discover that some locations we had selected were booked just 7-10 hours prior. I think I could live without that feature.

I hate getting my heart set on something or making a plan in my head, then having to redo everything. We've now booked all our hotels and all would be absolutely perfect if I hadn't seen the ones we originally selected. :-) But I'm getting over it. And focusing on the fact that we'll be on vacation for two weeks. I can't wait.

So, that's my vent about vacation planning. More next time about where we plan to go.