It was good for me – was it good for you

Last night was a rough one. Not much sleep and both of us woke up still feeling pretty shitty. Made for a slow start to the day and I must admit this is the first day I didn’t want to get out and explore. We made it to the Castle in time to take the short tour but since we had already seen quite a bit the day before it worked out just about right. For some reason I am intrigued by views through windows so I occupied most of my time taking photos. Val thinks it’s stupid but that’s not the only thing I do that she thinks is stupid. Can you spell NASCAR.

On our way to the Castle we saw a dog carrying a tennis ball and it seemed clear it was just waiting for the right spot to play. Made Val think about Mia and since I look for things to validate my thoughts it seemed to point out that our basic desires and needs are all the same no matter where we live and that holds true with dogs too.

After we got out of the Castle we wandered around in the snow. Wandering has become one of my favorite vacation activities. The things you find are so much more special. We came across a couple of really cool buildings. One was the Loreto and it had a small church in it with organ music playing and a treasury that had a beautiful gold and diamond cross thing that I found very attractive. I don’t know what the other building was but I got a great picture of it.

We wandered back towards the Charles Bridge and it was so nice since there were a lot less people and it made things feel very different. I really liked it and am wishing we were staying a few more days.

We stopped at a restaurant that advertised Gipsy music on Friday and Saturday. We knew it wasn’t either of those days but thought a place that had gipsy music was worth going in. Not many people there and suspect they won’t make Fodors recommended must eat places in Prague but it was perfect for us. The waiter was friendly the food was good the company was great and it didn’t cost much.

On our last trip over the bridge we noticed a nativity scene that Val liked. Upon closer look we were concerned that baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph were somehow imprisioned in Prague. Maybe that’s why they have so many cool churches - to make up for their sins?

Have not been able to fit in the absinth run so will have to make a trip back with Alec. It just didn’t work out this time as with the Hockey game. We did cross paths with a trainload of hockey fans fully dressed and it made it clear to me that I do need to come back and fit that in too. Dara will come along for that one?

We have had a wonderful trip and it would not be possible for me to have a better travel partner. Val not my laptop. Just as she does in life she has supported me when I needed it, kicked me when I deserved it and loved me every minute of every day. I am lucky not good. I hope you have enjoyed the post they have been good for me. I think I’lll go have a smoke.

The Party’s Over?

Gary and I have always been partners . . . in life, in parenting, in adventures, in many other undertakings. BUT – he does not like being a partner in this persistent sinus/congestion and today it showed. He has been moaning, yes, moaning. And not in a good way. He stood at the Metro with his eyes closed and said, “I’m just hoping I can make it home.” Good lord. Dara and Alec, I’m glad he wasn’t the carrier of you two.

More beautiful sights today—Praha is a city I would visit again in a heartbeat. We woke up to a thin layer of snow which brightens the dingy January look of the city. We walked the length of Wencelas Square and placed a rose on the Jan Palach memorial. One of the great benefits of traveling is the “thinking” time you get. I complain that in my job and at home I am in reaction mode. Here, I can contemplate and pontificate (at length). This might explain some of Gary’s grumpiness! We followed the coronation path again down Celetna and across the Charles Bridge and I was able to make my once-in-a-lifetime wish on the John of Nepomuk statute. He was a priest that the queen confessed to. The king wanted to know the queen’s secrets, but the priest said nada and was thrown from the bridge. You can imagine that my wish was sweeping: World peace in my life time.

Camille – we saw an advertisement for “real gipsy musik.” We need you here too

Tomorrow is our last day. I am so grateful to have traveled with Gary, to have seen the sites that we will talk about forever, but am so excited to go back to those who adore me.

Val’s asleep now and I’m so sick I can hardly type but I gotta get this blog post done since everyone is so faithfully following it. OK Val is asleep, I’m not quite that sick, Val only exaggerates a little bit and I don’t have any idea how many folks follow the blog but suspect it is less than I assume.

Val did not mention the two beautiful churches we went into today. Very different styles both incredible. I don’t keep track of their names so well or know much of anything about Gothic or Baroque but these were very different inside and out. The first one allowed access to the gallery (second floor kind of) and was white and had lots of what I would describe as layers. The second one had some of the most beautiful stained glass I have ever seen and I have been around (Guemes, Bellingham and even to Seattle a couple of times)

The views from up at the Castle were spectacular but I was starting to run out of gas and we had to get back to the apartment. We will go back to the castle tomorrow. That is one of the things I have enjoyed about this trip is that we have been able to spend some time going back to places and not just have to hurry from one site to the next.

Val took a picture of a cool European guy on the escalator. This gave me a chance to be reflective about important things like how I have thought quite a bit about the fact that you get off of one underground line that connects to another and you go down some pretty long escalators to get to them. Just how far underground are these things? Tried to Google it didn't find much but they do say that they have the longest escalator in the world so it must be pretty deep. I am so sick I have to try to get some sleep.

PF Flyer

Spent the morning looking for cheap dress-up close without any success. Did stumble upon Wenceslas Square and had a good look around it. Inspiring seeing a monument to a young man who set himself on fire in 1969 protesting communist rule. Twenty years later a rally commemorating that protest started the Velvet Revolution which ended with the Communist government leaving Czechoslovakia about a year later. Not much for detailed history but it’s nice to see that individual acts (along with a whole lot of other circumstances I suspect) can lead to significant change.

Since we didn’t find any clothes we decided to do the best we could with what we had and assumed it would be good enough. I think we were wrong. It may have been us being sensitive but we didn’t seem too well received by some in attendance and the left over KGB lady usher. We got in ok and were directed to our seats. I looked around and saw lots of folks taking pictures so I discretely take out my camera and take one photo of the ceiling. The lady usher from hell busts me done and sternly tells me no photos. I apologized and said I thought it was ok since everyone else was taking photos. She looked at me as if to say “YFSA – if you didn’t come in REI Northwest attire and weren’t so obviously American maybe I would let you take a few photos but since you don’t get it put your fucking camera away, shut up and sit down”. I thought I saw an AK47 under her coat so I did what she said.

The concert (at least the part I saw – more on that later) was incredible as was the inside of the building. Really do love the orchestra part. Still don’t get the soprano part however. Can’t tell if it’s the words I don’t understand or what. The large lady with ample cleavage really had some range but it just doesn’t do much for me at all. A little past half way through the concert I had a coughing fit. It is hard to time your coughs during loud parts of the music or clapping breaks. Val nicely suggested I meet her in the hall after the concert. I obeyed as always.

I am glad to have witnessed the hall scene. They had a couple of screens showing the live action (just like sporting events) and you could hear the music (kind of). Some of the ushers including my friend were standing around watching. When a waltz song came on several of them including my friend started to waltz around the hallways. I wished I could dance it would have been fun to join them. Changed my impression of miss kgb too (a little).

After the concert we went to dinner at the fancy expensive restaurant that son in law suggested. Turns out it wasn’t as expensive as we thought. Got a dinner for two that had lots of meaty treats (sorry Mia) and included apple strudel for dessert. It was good and the most we have eaten since we left Anacortes.

We decided to wander a bit to find a Metro stop and got lost. Ended up in the complete opposite direction than I thought we were going at the river in a spot we had not been. Offered great views and wasn’t too far from a Metro stop so we walked along the river and enjoyed the scenery.

I titled this PF Flyer at the start with some vague reference to Prague Philharmonic then finally realized before I published it would be PP not PF. I like PF better and have a history of getting initials wrong sometimes so just deal with it. YYGG.

Val takes the reins

Val was our tour guide today and she is good (at tour guiding too). We did things today I have only dreamed about doing and there were no motorcycles involved. Two walks in one day plenty of transportation exchanges and we never got lost once.

Our first stop was some old fortress turned park and church. It was not very crowded with beautiful views of Prague and the grounds were incredible. The pictures are pretty good but they don’t do it justice.

On our way to our next stop we both agreed that short skirts and high heels are not always a good thing. No pictures but I am sure you can imagine.

Our next adventure was the royal walk and it included some of the sights we saw last night but now Val explained what we were seeing. We came upon some NFL nesting dolls. They had every team including the Steelers and Browns but did not have the Bengals. Must have been sold out Dan?

We got tickets for the Prague Philharmonic performance tomorrow. The tickets were expensive but since it is all in Czech money who cares. It looks like the hockey game is off but maybe I can catch some Euroleague Basketball in a bar that serves absinth? Really am looking forward to the philharmonic but we may need to do some shopping for both of us since our REI northwest attire might not fit in. The fellow at the ticket window advised Vietnamese second hand stores. He said they don’t check labels at the door. I am trying to decide if I should go with the second hand stuff or buy nice things that fit Alec and he can wear them. We will see where that goes. I am looking on the internet for good second hand stores and fancy retail outlets in Prague that are opened on New Year’s Day. Val has finally come around to the idea that bringing the laptop was a good idea.

We went by the restaurant that Adam had recommended and it looked too expensive and fancy for us. Hmm. We were hoping to get something to eat there in advance of the late night crowds so we needed a backup. I got Val some really nice street vendor sausage, one of those cinnamon toast things and a can of warm Czech beer to share between the two of us. Who said I don’t know how to treat a lady. I did get some extra cinnamon toast stuff as a bonus. I think that was because there was a fellow at the booth giving directions in broken English to a person and he ended it with “you can’t miss it”. I said that was the kiss of death and they both looked at me with somewhat angry stares. I said well anytime someone tells me I can’t miss it I usually do and then they got it, laughed and said welcome to Prague.

This is going to seem weird but I think I am missing having interactions with people. Not sure that is the case but maybe I’m not as antisocial as I think I am. I will give that some more thought after I have some absinth and let you know.

We went down to the river tonight to see the New Year’s celebration. Just like Bruce Springsteen? It was wild and fun. On the metro there was a young person playing the accordion and a group of young men singing songs. Since we don’t know the words we will assume they were Czech folk songs but it’s more likely they were just drinking songs. Here’s to Little Alec he’s with us tonight ………We got there early and found a vacant bench right along the river. The area in front of us filled up fairly quickly but it was fun watching the people.

“Love couple” were entertaining early and we thought they might put on quite a show but for some reason the fireworks between the 20 something girl and the 40 something guy never materialized. There was a fun drunk with some friends and another group of young people that kept things interesting while we waited the hour or so for the main show to begin. Lots of boats on the river the castle in the background and the Charles Bridge off to our left. Quite a site.

It was very crowded as it got closer to midnight but the crowd was fun and not obnoxious at all. We had read the there were lots of individuals fireworks let off at the Old Town Square area so we opted for the river display. I can’t imagine what the Old Town Square was like. There were tons of individual fireworks let off by the river in very close proximity to everyone. It was wild. No bottle rockets hit us and we only got showered with remnants a little. Val gave me a real kiss at midnight and I promised to buy her a farm in 2010. All in all a wonderful magical evening.

We working on a video of the fireworks scene and if we can figure it out I will post it asap.

Prague – aha

They call It Praha over here and I can see where the aha comes from. We didn’t get a full day because of the snow and rain but what we saw today was incredible.

I went out on my own this morning to get cash to pay for the apartment and pick up some groceries. Got a little sidetracked with a beautiful church whose name I don’t even know and another building that has some sort of concerts in it. Picked up some killer pastries (is it ever to early for dessert) on my way back and don’t know what it was called but the chocolate pudding and whipped cream inside a hard shell with chocolate coating was worth whatever it cost and I don’t know because the conversion is too complex for me. It’s vacation.

We both got a good nap to catch up with some of the sleep we have been missing and headed out around 2:00.

We weren’t sure where we were going just trying to get a feel for the town and didn’t know what to expect. Well it’s no revelation but each City has had its own feel and Prague is certainly different than all the others. Can’t describe very well with my limited vocabulary but it kind of has a small village feel to some parts, a cosmopolitan feel to others and then a bunch of really cool old buildings crammed in there. Now that I’ve painted a clear picture in your mind, let’s move on.

We made it to Old Town Square just before dark and it was spectacular. There was still a Christmas carnival going on with nice food and craft booths. They also had some music that was in Czech but it sounded fun and had some of the younger folks dancing. We went up in the Old Town Hall Tower and Val got some great shots while I helped some French women (they were older but those French women can get me to do anything if they just call me Gareee) figure out how to make a pressed coin. They didn’t speak English, I don’t speak French and neither of us knew anything about Czech language or money. It was fun and took my mind off the heights.

When we were leaving, the Astronomical Clock was about the strike 6 and a crowd had gathered to watch. It was cool and someone played some trumpet notes from the top and folks cheered. Might try to make it back for New Years or will watch the fireworks along the river. Had some great food at the booths. We got some dough that was wrapped around a hot rod and cooked over an open fire then rolled in cinnamon and sugar. A little like cinnamon toast but quite a bit better.

There seem to be lots of young people here. Not sure if they are in town for the celebration (New Years and Velvet Revolution Independence Day – I made that up but do know it is a big event) or if it is always that way.

We stopped at a supermarket in the City center and it is the first supermarket I have been in that is on two floors and has an escalator type device that allows shopping carts on it. It is basically a moving sidewalk on an incline and was a funny feeling riding it.

We got lost on our way home but at least we got our monies worth on the transit system. Had to go back to the same place twice then finally got pointed in the right direction to get back to our apartment. Val’s not so hot on my direction finding skills right now but I’m the best she’s got and I don’t eat much when I’m on vacation.

It rained quite a bit tonight and we were out in it more than planned but my coat and Val’s poncho worked and kept us and our stuff mostly dry. If it rains every day for the rest of the vacation we can’t complain because we have had wonderful weather.

We are having a little dilemma. Trying to pick between a Czech hockey game and a classical music concert. I say go to the concert hall and look at it for cheap and do the hockey game too but for some reason Val wants to hear the music. Do they have classical music at hockey games? We will keep you posted on where that goes.

Travel day to Prague

Every travel day is interesting and tests us in new ways. We had a pretty successful trip today; we got here without too many mishaps or wrong directions. One thing that has become quite comedic has been the fact that Valerie’s glasses broke so we are kind of down to one pair between us. We can see most things but transportation maps are usually in pretty small print. I usually ask Val to find or verify something and depending on how well we are getting along she will let me know that she needs the glasses to be able to do that. You can probably imagine the range of ways she expresses that to me.

We shared a train cabin with a lady and her 21 year old daughter today who had been in Vienna were going to Prague and then on to Budapest. They were currently from North Carolina but have lived in several countries over the years as her husband’s job requires quite a few moves. It was nice to have some conversations in English with someone other than ourselves.

If you haven’t done it I can’t explain how difficult it is to get from one place to another. The train was a little late and moved from one platform to another. That is not announced in English and you have to just get lucky to see it appear on the overhead. We almost got on a train to Rome. Maybe that would have been fun? Lots of other chances like that make we wonder how we have ever made it to Prague. One more trip and we will be back in Anacortes.

The landscape in the Czech Republic was beautiful on the trip over. Lots of farms and rolling type hills. I didn’t expect that but not sure what I did expect. Old communist tanks abandoned everywhere? The buildings range from cool old European to square boxes. Not sure what that means either, just and observation.

Train trips are tough on me. Too much time to think. Closed my eyes and didn’t fall to sleep. Rare. So therefore didn’t snore. Embarrasses Val but not me for some reason. Anyway the light filtering through the trees and other passing things made we think that it must be like using some drugs that I have never used since they were popular shortly before my time. The psychedelic effect was cool until I realized it would stop when I open my eyes. It helped pass the time and we made it safely to our apartment.

The apartment we are staying in is perfect. The location is a bit sketchy but I am hoping we adjust to that. It is right on a tram route that will take us to the downtown area but there is lots of painting and vandalism on the outsides of the buildings. The inside is spacious and lovely and appears to have decent internet service and is close to a real grocery store.

No pictures today so I went back and included ones we left out. Hoping for a more interesting post tomorrow.

Laundry day

Well even on vacation you have to take care of some mundane tasks. Still quite an adventure when you don’t speak the language and can’t read the signs. First problem was that I had to get money changed. The bank lady isn’t like the one at Horizon in Anacortes. She couldn’t or wouldn’t speak English and apparently didn’t find me too charming. I felt the same about her but got my 100 back in 5 20’s just the same. Now back to the machines. No English and a different system than our Laundromat. I was getting close to having it down but couldn’t find any detergent. Someone app

eared from the back room and made some motion that led me to believe he was asking if I needed help. I apologized that I only spoke English. He asked why I apologized and I told him that we weren’t the most popular folks in some countries. He said “we are all just people” and went on to give me the assistance I needed. My experience is that most folks recognize the similarities between all of us and our struggles / triumphs / dreams /needs / etc. Maybe that wasn't what he meant but it was what I heard. Anyway, the detergent is in the machine and I didn’t bother to ask about bleach or fabric softener. I think it is a waste of time anyway and just use it because Val tells me to.

Oh, by the way. How about those Bengals. Playoff bound and did it with a win not having to count on Baltimore losing even though Pittsburg beat them anyway (thanks Dan).

Went to a great little place that was really crowded but lots of fun today. They sell small sandwiches and beers among other things. We had a few sandwiches and three small beers. The beer was really good and I wondered if I like it better in small glasses. Didn’t wonder too long about that because it was getting dark and I have to say I love the lights of Vienna with the beautiful buildings as a backdrop. Took some decent pictures but the sights will stick in my mind for quite some time to come.

We came around a corner and there was a big door and small dome at the end of the street so I asked Val if she wanted to look inside. It was another splendid church. Not as special as our find from yesterday but still really cool. Not sure how many of those there are around here but suspect there are plenty of reasons to come back.

We are both still not feeling the best and today the drug stores opened back up.

Another interesting trip. The drug stores are apparently the only place they sell things like Dayquil since we couldn’t find it anywhere else. So I go in to the drug store and am trying to play it cool and look around for something with a sick person with a runny nose on it. No luck, lots of stuff I didn’t know what it was and was a little wary of taking a chance. A nice fellow says can I help you. I explained my situation and he pulls out from behind the counter something that looks very much like Vicks Dayquil. Glad I didn’t have hemorrhoids and just wanted to quietly pick up some Preparation H.

Travel to Prague tomorrow. Should be fun.