Buses, trains, bones and Danes

We are near experts at the bus/train/tram/metro thing by now, in large part due to Tom’s keen sense of direction. I was hoping (before the trip) that he would step up to the plate on the transportation issue and he really has. I feel confident putting myself in his hands at this point.



The weather has been holding and I have been wearing my short sleeved shirts which is a welcome break from the same three shirts that I have been wearing for 3 weeks now. When we went to the front desk at our. hostel, our friend Miraslov informed us that there was possible rain in the forecast for the day. I went back upstairs for my never before used umbrella, just in case. The rain never materialized but somewhere, someone is sporting a brand new, pretty pink umbrella (that I thoughtfully left on the train for them).



We rode the train from Prague to Kutna Hora. It is a town about 40 miles and a $6.oo/ 1 hour train ride away. We arrived and jumped on a local bus that took us into town. We wandered around the old part of town and saw the beautiful Santa Barbara church. Tom went looking for a meal promised by our good friend Rick Steves at a Czech/Italian restaurant. I was sort of happy when the restaurant didn’t have a clue what he was talking about when he asked for the “Spaghetti with kielbasa swimming in catsup”. He settled for a pizza with salami and loved it.



After seeing a few other sights we headed for the famous “Bone Church”. Thousands of bodies were unearthed and the bones were used to decorate the church. I will let the photos that I post speak for themselves. My favorite “decoration” was a skeleton with a bird (made of bones) on his shoulder, sitting like a pirates pet. The funny part is that the bird is pecking the skeleton’s eye out. Really… it’s funny!



As we left the church I was approached by an American couple who had spotted Tom’s Rick Steves guidebook. They were looking for help to get back to the train. The four of us teamed up and chatted the entire walk to the station. They were from Chicago and I was getting a kick out of his accent, which was like so many I heard growing up. At the station another couple heard the four of us laughing and speaking English and quickly joined the party. They were New Yorkers so we pretty much had the US covered.

Dinner was “U Fleku” part 2. We had such good time the first night that we decided to go for a repeat performance. We had to settle for just an accordion player, but we enjoyed the company of some Germans at our table (you sit family style in the Czech Republic) and the Danes at the next table over were entertaining. The one Danish guy told Tom “More valuable than diamonds or gold is a blonde woman”. My kind of guy!

What do you get when you have the Pope, a Jewish holiday, a Czech and a Russian?

Since the Pope is in town and we can’t see the castle , we decided to spend the day in the Jewish Quarter of Prague. I was especially interested in seeing the cemetery, and the synagogues are supposed to be beautiful. Well, guess what? Apparently September 28th is a Jewish holiday. Yup. Closed. Everything. We enjoyed the day around the city, taking more photos and wandering the alleys and side streets. We stopped in a café intending to have some apple strudel and a coffee/tea for breakfast (but I’m sure you have guessed by now!) no one serves strudel before noon here. Tom settled for a croissant and I had an omelet. We showed them though! We skipped lunch all together and had strudel inste ad! Unless you consider the deep fried dough filled with cheese, (or the icecream and beer on the boat tour we took) to be lunch.




Speaking of the boat tour, we went on a tour of the Vlatava River, which was great fun. As you board the boat they offer you your choice of beer or coffee. (Coffee for Tom, the delicious Czech Pivo for me!) Then they come by with your choice of icecream bar or plum filled gingerbread. Now, does this seem odd to anyone else? Beer and icecream? You don’t think we said no though, do you? I am beginning to get a clearer picture however as to why I am walking my a** off and it’s still the same size as when I left home! The tour itself was interesting and we learned some things we hadn’t heard form our guide the day before. Everything was going smoothly until our boat captain(who spoke six languages and could do the tour in all six if necessary) mentioned that the Czech Republic currently has no government . I asked (silly me) how that happened. He began to explain, and during the conversation he happened to mention that he really likes Putin (Russian leader). The Russian guy on the tour asked what the guide based his opinion on, and…. Well…things got a wee bit tense. It was pretty interesting to listen to a Czech and a Russian (with VERY opposing points of view ) discuss politics. Let me just say though, at one point I was really happy that I know how to swim.

Dobry den from Prague

Tom and I spent the day seeing Prague with a Czech tour guide today. Her name is Milada and I found her through a friend who was in the Czech Republic in May. We had her take us around all of the “towns” of Prague. We spent 5 hours on foot, getting acquainted with the area. I really enjoyed getting all of the little details and history of Prague from her. Tom was a bit like a school boy on a field trip. He just wanted to run free and get into trouble! He is looking forward to tomorrow when we can just wander on our own and (probably) get lost.
The Pope is in town for the next few days and he is a guest of the President (who’s residence is the Prague castle). Looks like we will have to miss this castle because everything is closed and blocked off around the castle itself.
Milada recommended a traditional Czech restaurant to us and we enjoyed the meal once again. Tom ate dumplings stuffed with smoked meat, in gravy. I ate Fried potatoes and fried cheese, with a side of red cabbage. I know, weird, but it was yummy. Tomorrow we are looking for the vegetarian place in town so we can have some vegetables! (except cabbage!) By the way, for those who have heard about the Czech beer, yes, it is really good, and cheap. We paid twice as much for Tom’s water today as we did for my large beer.
The weather was absolutely perfect for a day out today. It was chilly when we left our hostel but warmed up so that I was sleeveless this afternoon. I am so happy that I seem to be the one that the warm weather is following!
We are loving the public transportation here. The one obstacle so far is that the ONLY word we have seen in English is Exit. No street signs, direction signs, public maps…. No translation. Tough because the Slavic languages are really foreign to me. Funny, because Milada speaks Czech, Russian and German in addition to English. She said English was the toughest to learn. That makes me feel good about my language learning…. I already speak the difficult one!

Enjoying the photo opportunities in Prague

Tom in Prague

Tom showed up in London and guess where we took him?

Leeds Castle Maidstone, England

Big Ben London, England

The smallest house in Great Britain / Conwy, Wales

I look like Gulliver! A giant in a tiny world!

Tavi and Beege at Avebury
(standing stones 16X bigger than Stonehenge)

Self portrait at Stonehenge

Yay! We are in Prague!

Easy Jet was.. well... Easy!

Tom and I have arrived safely in Prague. We took a London taxi to Liverpool train station after we dropped Carrie off at her train station this morning. She had to fly home from Heathrow airport and we flew from the opposite side of London’s Stansted airport. Poor Carrie had to brave the tube system on her own. Good thing we had all taken the tube together on Thursday, so she had a little practice.

Tom and I took the express train to Stansted without incident. We were hours early due to the fact that we allowed ourselves plenty of time for mistakes on our part, or train difficulties and unexpected events. Thankfully everything went flawlessly and we enjoyed some down time over coffee/tea while waiting for our flight. We loved Easy Jet. It was sort of nice to not have flight attendants banging down the aisles with drink carts. The flight was smooth and we arrived without incident.

Once in Prague, we purchased tickets for the bus/train to take us into the city. It cost 65 Czech coronas ($3.10) for the two of us and our luggage. Cheap!
We took the bus, transferred to the train, and changed trains twice without a problem. Tom really took charge and had it all figured out. We stumbled alittle when we got off the train and zigged when we should have zagged (bummer when you are carrying backpacks and camera bags, water bottles and guidebooks…. Yes, I am sure we looked the tourist part!) We had to walk uphill rather than downhill to get to our hostel, but we made it.

Starving when we arrived, we asked at the hostel for a dinner recommendation. Monika sent us to U Fleku, the oldest restaurant/beer hall in Prague for a traditional Czech dinner. The restaurant was opened in 1499. You read that right! 1499! For those of you not so up on your history, that is only 7 years after Columbus DISCOVERED America! Crazy, huh???
Dinner for me was an easy choice. They had one token vegetarian option: Cabbage slaw, sweet red cabbage, potato pancakes, hash browns, and steamed vegetables. Yup, two kinds of cabbage, two kinds of potatoes, and veggies… and I was happy to have it. Tom had sausages and cabbage slaw. Those who know of Tom’s love of all things sausage know he was a happy guy. If this wasn’t enough, when we arrived at the restaurant there was a PARTY going on inside! We were entertained by a tuba player and an accordian player playing oomph type music while the crowd clapped and sang along at the top of their voices. They had the place rockin! All of this and the two photographers??? Not a camera between us.

2 minutes on a paid internet..

Tom arrived safely and we are on our way to Prague.

What's in a name

We spent the day today in The Cotswolds. It is an area of England with cute little villages and thatched roof cottages. We saw Anne Hathaway's cottage (Shakespear's wife). Cute cottage, beautiful gardens and orchards and tasty fruit. (How would I know that it was tasty, you might ask? Well, it was going to fall on the ground and rot anyway.)

We went to a weekly market in Stow on the Wold (hey, I couldn't make these names up! I did mention that we stayed in Studly last night, didn't I?) After the market and Tea, we visited Burton on Water, the "Venice of the Cotswolds". We finished the day in Chipping Campden. If you looked up "CUTE" in the encyclopedia you would see Chipping Campden's picture.

Tonight we drove to Bristol, England and we will see Bristol. Bath, and a few other places tomorrow. The countdown is on to pack it all in before we head for London. After that Carrie has to go home.

Tom arrives the day after tomorrow. I am really looking forward to that. My adventures have just begun (but I am going to buy a good map everyplace we go!).

.....and then it's only a mile.

When in Britain, and you hear (or read) these words, beware. There is a secret math formula involved. It goes something like this:
Take the mileage quoted
Double that amount
Now add another mile or so for good measure
Take the final mileage you have figured and add alittle bit more distance
The final sum is an approximation of how far it really is to where you are trying to go.

You would think that we would have learned that secret by now. Maybe after tonight when we spent 3 hours driving around in circles looking for our hotel. Many helpful people and secret distance directions later, we arrived....but not untilafter someone told us "and then it's only 1 mile".We drove for almost three miles, didn't find the location so we drove back and forth in the dark, looking. We finally stopped in someone's driveway (they had their lights on!) and I knocked on the door. A very nice gentleman gave me directions (yikes!). The entire drama really came together when we passed the spot we originally turned around, and lo and behold... our hotel... 50 yards (around a corner) further.

Never let it be said that a European holiday is all castles and palaces.

Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh
The Prince's place when he's in town

I didn't do it!

The photo from the Great Rental Car Incident.
Mykael is her mother's daughter! Everything gets captured on film.

The view from Loch Cottage where we spent the week. Right ouside our front door!

Mykael in Peebles

Traquair House, Peebles, Scotland (the oldest continuously inhabited house in Scotland)

Serious about gum

Monkey Face at Linlithgow (part of a fountain)

Mykael at Linlithgow

The group at Linlithgow Castle, Scotland

Rosslyn Chapel, Rosslyn, Scotland

See! We do other things besides castles!
This was in the da Vinci Code

Edinburgh Castle, Scotland

Not in the hostel, but it is a man in his unde! On the Royal Mile, Edinburgh

The first and only Starbucks I have seen so far. Of course we had to stop! (This was when we were all together in Edinburgh.)

Caenarfon Castle, Wales (I told you the weather has been on our side!!)

Tea in the square of Caernafon, Wales (the tea is coming!)

Self portrait in Conwy Castle, Wales

I have so much to catch up on! We left Scotland on Saturday. We had to have Mom to the airport by 5am, so we were on the road early. We drove for a few hours and then pulled into the parking lot of a computer superstore and took a 20 minute power nap in the car. We were in three countries in one day. We left Scotland that morning, drove through England, and we were in Wales by 1:30 in the afternoon. We stopped to see Conwy castle before finishing our day at our hostel inCaernafon (Can are von) Castle. We didn't actually sleep in the castle there, we only stayed within the walls of the castle. We had a great hostel there. The only complaint was the house that it was in was kind of like an old victorian with LOTS of stairs! We were two flights up, and the kitchen (with the free breakfast) was one flight down. Ugh! We mentioned my difficulty with stairs to the woman running the place and she kindly put us on the ground floor the 2nd night. That just left one flight of stairs between me and the food!

Each castle we have seen has been so unique, and this one is amazing. We enjoyed a cup of tea on the town square, overlooking the castle itself. When we toured it, we met a Welshman who lived 30 miles away and was visiting Caernafon for only the 2nd time. He told us that Europeans have all of this at their doorstep so they don't feel the need to go out and see it.... weird, huh?

Carrie had her opportunity to see a man in his underwear while at the hostel here. An older gentleman locked himself out of his room this morning, while wearing his underwear (and a sweater). He came to her to ask for help, but she had difficulty understanding his English (he was from Budapest), so he wandered around until Esumae (the woman from Holland, with the African name, which I took a stab in the dark at spelling, who runs the hostel) (phew) showed up to let him in. At this point, I feel the need for a disclaimer: I have stayed in countless hostels and I have never seen a man in his underwear.

If you want to sleep in a castle, you've gotta climb the stairs!

This is about as up to the minute blog post as you can get. Carrie and I finally have a hotel with internet so I could post this shot of the two of us in front of the castle that we are staying in for the night.

Yes, it's a real castle. Just lying around, not needed by any royalty I guess, so now it's a hotel. See the light in the upper left? The window below is our room, and the window next to the light in the turret is our "office". We have a desk in the turret tower. I know!!!!

As far as the stair climb goes.... funny thing... did you know that they don't have "lifts" in old castles? Go figure! This means lots of flights of stairs. If you forget something in the car, suddenly that thing really isn't that important. Especially since it isn't only the castles that don't have elevators. Hmn... pretty sure we haven't been on an elevator since we arrived in Britain twelve days ago, and we have been lot's of high places (oh my aching thighs... and glutes.... my knees... my hip....)