I couldn't make this up if I tried.
Have you hugged a tree today?
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Prague Part 1
The second stop of our spring break trip to Central Europe was Prague. We had heard so many things about how beautiful it was and it deserves its reputation. We arrived in the afternoon and wanted to head out immediately to take advantage of the sunshine. The owner of our b&b suggested we check out one of Prague's oldest but lesser known buildings, the Roman Rotunda:
On the same hillside as the rotunde, is one of Prague's most beautiful churches......look at these doors:
And the veiw of the city from up there was pretty amazing as well:
After dinner our first night, we took in one of the more unique tourist attractions: a classical concert. All over Prague, almost every night in several different venues, different concerts are offered at affordable prices. Peter and I heard the Prague String Quartet perform on the beautiful main stairwell of the National Museum. Here is Peter in front of the Museum building:
The audience sits on little pillows on the stairs to watch the show:
It was a really cool experience and a cheap fun way for us to experience a more refined taste of culture (ie. something we normally wouldn't do):
The next day, we checked out Prague's beautiful main square. The different colored buildings against the blue sky were so amazing:
The highlight of the square is the astronomical clock. We watched this 500 year old wander chime the hour from the ground with the swarm of tourists:
And from the top of the clock tower. After the clock finishes its elaborate chiming of the hour, this guy steps up in his hilarious outfit to play his horn and wave. He does not look pleased with his job. Of course, Peter found him hilarious and had to have a picture with the poor guy:
The view from the top was awesome. Here is the crowd watching below:
More of the view:
We also spent part of our day touring the elaborate Jewish Museum. Photos weren't allowed in the majority of the buildings, but this is a photo of the jewish cemetary. Over 12,000 tombstones are in this tiny area that served as the only burial space for Jews of Prague between 1439-1787.
During the afternoon, we continued taking in sights, including this statue of Kafka, one of pragues most famous authors and philosophers:
And this new sculpture that is made completely of keys: The word is "revoluce" which means revolution in czech. The sculpture symbolizes the 20 years since the Velvet Revolution, as the jangling of keys was a common symbol during pro-democratic rallies before the fall of communism.
I was surprised to learn this, but Czech people drink more beer than any other country in the world. Even more than Germans. So, you can imagine how excited Peter was to check out some of the local pubs.
With the help of our guide book, we found this hidden, no-nonsense pub. Apparently, part of the character of Czech pubs is their service without a smile. There are no menus, no choices......just long tables with ashtrays and one server who slams two pints of beer down and marks two pencil marks on the tiny piece of white paper that serves as your bill. As you can imagine, Peter was in heaven:
So this wraps up day 2 of our 3.5 day stay in Prague. I'll post the rest of Prague soon, with Bratislava and Vienna to follow.
On the same hillside as the rotunde, is one of Prague's most beautiful churches......look at these doors:
And the veiw of the city from up there was pretty amazing as well:
After dinner our first night, we took in one of the more unique tourist attractions: a classical concert. All over Prague, almost every night in several different venues, different concerts are offered at affordable prices. Peter and I heard the Prague String Quartet perform on the beautiful main stairwell of the National Museum. Here is Peter in front of the Museum building:
The audience sits on little pillows on the stairs to watch the show:
It was a really cool experience and a cheap fun way for us to experience a more refined taste of culture (ie. something we normally wouldn't do):
The next day, we checked out Prague's beautiful main square. The different colored buildings against the blue sky were so amazing:
The highlight of the square is the astronomical clock. We watched this 500 year old wander chime the hour from the ground with the swarm of tourists:
And from the top of the clock tower. After the clock finishes its elaborate chiming of the hour, this guy steps up in his hilarious outfit to play his horn and wave. He does not look pleased with his job. Of course, Peter found him hilarious and had to have a picture with the poor guy:
The view from the top was awesome. Here is the crowd watching below:
More of the view:
We also spent part of our day touring the elaborate Jewish Museum. Photos weren't allowed in the majority of the buildings, but this is a photo of the jewish cemetary. Over 12,000 tombstones are in this tiny area that served as the only burial space for Jews of Prague between 1439-1787.
During the afternoon, we continued taking in sights, including this statue of Kafka, one of pragues most famous authors and philosophers:
And this new sculpture that is made completely of keys: The word is "revoluce" which means revolution in czech. The sculpture symbolizes the 20 years since the Velvet Revolution, as the jangling of keys was a common symbol during pro-democratic rallies before the fall of communism.
I was surprised to learn this, but Czech people drink more beer than any other country in the world. Even more than Germans. So, you can imagine how excited Peter was to check out some of the local pubs.
With the help of our guide book, we found this hidden, no-nonsense pub. Apparently, part of the character of Czech pubs is their service without a smile. There are no menus, no choices......just long tables with ashtrays and one server who slams two pints of beer down and marks two pencil marks on the tiny piece of white paper that serves as your bill. As you can imagine, Peter was in heaven:
So this wraps up day 2 of our 3.5 day stay in Prague. I'll post the rest of Prague soon, with Bratislava and Vienna to follow.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Provence
I'm going to back track a little bit and finish blogging about Daddy and Sherrie's visit. We spent the last days of their stay in the South of France in the region of Provence. We were so happy to be heading South toward sun and warm temperatures........unfortunately warm wasn't really warm enough to make good use of the beautiful pool.......unless you are Peter.
It was his spring break after all...........
Notice what everyone else is wearing while Peter is working on his tan.........
This must be what happens after two semesters of European Economy in French..........
We spent our first full day exploring Vaison La Romaine, the small village close to our bed and breakfast. It has several remarkable Roman ruins that we enjoyed exploring.
The ampitheater was definitely the coolest part of the ruins.
The views and the acoustics were amazing:
We spent the afternoon taking in the other sights in Vaison including the ancient Roman Bridge. It was the only bridge in the area to survive a massive flood that occurred in recent years.
Provence is known for its colorful market days, so we spent our second day in a neighboring town called Isle sur la Sorgue, which boasts the best antique market in France. It is also really unique in the way that the town is split by a small waterway and the market lines up on both sides of the water. There were several waterwheels like this one.
Dad and Peter were much more interested in the cheese than the antiques:
And I will always remember this lunch spot, not because of the terrible service or charming view, but because this is where I dropped our most useful and reliable guidebook into the river. Sorry, Rick Steves.
On the drive back to our B & B, we stopped to take the magnificent photo opportunity of the countryside on the blue sky day.
After breakfast on our last day, we took a picture with our adorable hostess, Mady. She was so thoughtful and attentive and made our visit so much more fun. Here we are with Mady:
Thanks Mady for a wonderful stay in Provence and thanks Daddy and Sherrie for your much needed visit! We loved having you guys here with us.
It was his spring break after all...........
Notice what everyone else is wearing while Peter is working on his tan.........
This must be what happens after two semesters of European Economy in French..........
We spent our first full day exploring Vaison La Romaine, the small village close to our bed and breakfast. It has several remarkable Roman ruins that we enjoyed exploring.
The ampitheater was definitely the coolest part of the ruins.
The views and the acoustics were amazing:
We spent the afternoon taking in the other sights in Vaison including the ancient Roman Bridge. It was the only bridge in the area to survive a massive flood that occurred in recent years.
Provence is known for its colorful market days, so we spent our second day in a neighboring town called Isle sur la Sorgue, which boasts the best antique market in France. It is also really unique in the way that the town is split by a small waterway and the market lines up on both sides of the water. There were several waterwheels like this one.
Dad and Peter were much more interested in the cheese than the antiques:
And I will always remember this lunch spot, not because of the terrible service or charming view, but because this is where I dropped our most useful and reliable guidebook into the river. Sorry, Rick Steves.
On the drive back to our B & B, we stopped to take the magnificent photo opportunity of the countryside on the blue sky day.
After breakfast on our last day, we took a picture with our adorable hostess, Mady. She was so thoughtful and attentive and made our visit so much more fun. Here we are with Mady:
Thanks Mady for a wonderful stay in Provence and thanks Daddy and Sherrie for your much needed visit! We loved having you guys here with us.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Back from Central Europe
Whit and I just returned from a whirlwind trip through some of the beautiful parts of Europe. We drove from Strasbourg, France to Moritzburg, Germany (Dresden), then Prague, Czech Republique, then Bratislava, Slovakia, a day in Vienna, Austria and finally Schwangau, Germany (Bavarian Alps).
Whit will post a blog soon about the last weekend of her parents visit. We soaked up the sun with them in Provence and tasted some of the finest cuisine in France. Here is a sneak pre-view of "le commencement" of Spring Break 2010 (a bit of a change from Spring Break 2003):
However, I wanted to get started with our Central Europe trip.
We experienced and saw so many amazing things. We started our trip with a stop in Moritzburg, Germany, which is just 7km outside of Dresden. We visited the hunting castle of August the Strong. Augustus II the Strong (12 May 1670 – 1 February 1733) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania.
Our hotel was walking distance to the castle and the owner spoke no english. This was only an issue once after I asked about good restaurants in town and she kept leading me to the empty dining room of the hotel restaurant and throwing her hands in the air.
Nonetheless, the next morning we took advantage of the beautiful weather and scenery to enjoy a dawn run around the grounds of the castle.
August the Strong was big outdoorsman and loved large game hunting as well as porceline, oddly enough. This castle, which is on island in the middle of lake, was only used for hunting excursions and the inside is filled with his trophies.
We were blessed with a clear blue day to enjoy the castle. The last 3 months in Strasbourg were quite an adjustment to european winter. However we can't wait for the spring and summer here, which are beautiful.
Augustus the Strong used this well equiped ride to travel around the region. The chariot is even equiped with hill brakes to allow the horses to rest going up-hill!
When we entered the great hall it became obvious that August the Strong was a successful hunter.
This collection of red deer antlers is considered to be the largest in the world. In an adjoining room, which is appropriately called the Monströsensaal ("montrosity room") are 39 morbidly contorted antlers. During the reign of August the Strong the more abnormal a deer's rack, the more prestigious it was for the hunter. Thus, the hunters would intentially shoot the antler of young deer so that during the following seasons these "atypical" bucks would make great trophies. Unfortunately pictures of the racks were forbidden. All the same, every wall in the castle was decorated with giant racks of the magnificent creatures that roamed the woods of saxoney in 1600s and 1700s.
Stay tuned for our weekend excursion to Provence as well as Prague and a down home Czech experience with the Miklas family.
Whit will post a blog soon about the last weekend of her parents visit. We soaked up the sun with them in Provence and tasted some of the finest cuisine in France. Here is a sneak pre-view of "le commencement" of Spring Break 2010 (a bit of a change from Spring Break 2003):
However, I wanted to get started with our Central Europe trip.
We experienced and saw so many amazing things. We started our trip with a stop in Moritzburg, Germany, which is just 7km outside of Dresden. We visited the hunting castle of August the Strong. Augustus II the Strong (12 May 1670 – 1 February 1733) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania.
Our hotel was walking distance to the castle and the owner spoke no english. This was only an issue once after I asked about good restaurants in town and she kept leading me to the empty dining room of the hotel restaurant and throwing her hands in the air.
Nonetheless, the next morning we took advantage of the beautiful weather and scenery to enjoy a dawn run around the grounds of the castle.
August the Strong was big outdoorsman and loved large game hunting as well as porceline, oddly enough. This castle, which is on island in the middle of lake, was only used for hunting excursions and the inside is filled with his trophies.
We were blessed with a clear blue day to enjoy the castle. The last 3 months in Strasbourg were quite an adjustment to european winter. However we can't wait for the spring and summer here, which are beautiful.
Augustus the Strong used this well equiped ride to travel around the region. The chariot is even equiped with hill brakes to allow the horses to rest going up-hill!
When we entered the great hall it became obvious that August the Strong was a successful hunter.
This collection of red deer antlers is considered to be the largest in the world. In an adjoining room, which is appropriately called the Monströsensaal ("montrosity room") are 39 morbidly contorted antlers. During the reign of August the Strong the more abnormal a deer's rack, the more prestigious it was for the hunter. Thus, the hunters would intentially shoot the antler of young deer so that during the following seasons these "atypical" bucks would make great trophies. Unfortunately pictures of the racks were forbidden. All the same, every wall in the castle was decorated with giant racks of the magnificent creatures that roamed the woods of saxoney in 1600s and 1700s.
Stay tuned for our weekend excursion to Provence as well as Prague and a down home Czech experience with the Miklas family.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Castles, chocolate bunnies, and a boat ride
Daddy and Sherrie are leaving tomorrow after a wonderful two week stay. We have enjoyed having them here so much. Here are some more pics of their visit.
The patisserie window displays are even more impressive during Easter season, so we were always stopping to admire...yes, everything in the window is made of chocolate:
And of course, we did the obligatory tour of the beautiful Cathedral:
and checked out the square around the cathedral:
and took the boat tour around the city:
Another day, we ventured south to explore the most famous castle in Alsace, Haut Koenigsbourg. Originally built in the 12th century, this castle was restored in the early 1900's:
And it has cool drawbridges:
lots of old weapons:
And amazing views:
After leaving the castle, we had a nice lunch in the adorable Alsatian village at the castle's base:
On the drive back, we pulled over and took a moment to enjoy the beautiful landscape of the vineyards and Vosges Mountains:
We spent the last few days in the South of France, exploring Provence. I will post those photos soon. But first, Peter and I are headed to Prague, Bratislava, and Vienna for a spring break trip. We will start out after dropping Daddy and Sherrie at the airport. More to come when we return from central Europe.........
The patisserie window displays are even more impressive during Easter season, so we were always stopping to admire...yes, everything in the window is made of chocolate:
And of course, we did the obligatory tour of the beautiful Cathedral:
and checked out the square around the cathedral:
and took the boat tour around the city:
Another day, we ventured south to explore the most famous castle in Alsace, Haut Koenigsbourg. Originally built in the 12th century, this castle was restored in the early 1900's:
And it has cool drawbridges:
lots of old weapons:
And amazing views:
After leaving the castle, we had a nice lunch in the adorable Alsatian village at the castle's base:
On the drive back, we pulled over and took a moment to enjoy the beautiful landscape of the vineyards and Vosges Mountains:
We spent the last few days in the South of France, exploring Provence. I will post those photos soon. But first, Peter and I are headed to Prague, Bratislava, and Vienna for a spring break trip. We will start out after dropping Daddy and Sherrie at the airport. More to come when we return from central Europe.........
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