Castles and Shopping in Prague

Sunday, August 4, 2013. What a busy day we had today. Our Czech breakfast was very different from the ones in the Netherlands and Germany. The hotel serves mugs of coffee in a pot, rather than small demi-tasses. On the buffet, we found an egg salad dish, a noodle dish, small sausages that looked like hot dogs, beans, regular scrambled eggs, breads, cheeses, and yogurt. Pam remarked that the fruit yogurt was like the kind I served her as a child. We used to buy plain yogurt and mix spiced blueberry jelly into it. Sure enough, I saw other guests mixing other flavors of jelly into the yogurt. After breakfast, we set out to make the steep climb up to the castle. To get there, we crossed the Charles Bridge, a pedestrian bridge over the Vltava River. He weather was nice and cool without a cloud in the sky. There were very few pedestrians on the bridge as well. It was a perfect time of day for pictures and a steep climb. As we entered the square at the top of the hill, what should we see but Starbucks! We did not pay the fee to go in the castle, but did wander around the grounds to see the Saint Vitus cathedral, the gardens, and took beautiful pictures of the city of Prague below us. What goes up, must come down, so we made the long treck back to the bridge. On the way we encountered a bride and groom who were having their pictures taken on the steps to the castle. We were exhausted, so we decided to buy some meat, cheese, and fruit at a local grocery store (5$ only) and return to our room to cool off. after lunch, ibuprofen, and a rest, we took off for shopping in the Old Town. There were a lot of crystal stores and garnet stores. We had no interest in souvenire shops. We also walked through a mall and an open-air market. Pam found a book in English about the mole asisting in the birth of the rabbits that we were watching on the bus video. What are the chances of that happening? Needless to say, she had to buy the book. The mole is everywhere in the stores of Prague. It must be a very popular character. Next, we decided to rest again and cool off in the hotel air conditioning. This time we were forced to stay in a little longer, as a thunder storm rolled through. We had storms last night as well. By the time we left for dinner, it was 7:00 and much cooler outside. We found a restaurant that served traditional Czech foods and enjoyed goulash with potato dumplings. Our travel book warned us that frequently foreign travelers get less food and are charged more. Sure enough, there was a 60 Koruna (3$) cover charge on our bill and we only had 8 pieces of beef in our goulash. That makes me want to go back really soon! At least the pivo (beer) was cheap. There is a really good dark beer made by Kozel that we are enjoying and have found that it is well worth it to order the larger size. Pam announced on the way home that she had "had enough pivo for one night". I laughed so hard, I almost wet my pants! It wouldn't be the first time that happeded in Europe, but that is another story.

Next Stop: Prague

Saturday, August 3, 2013. Pam and I woke up early to set out on our journey to Prague. We caught the trains to Nuremberg where we were to catch a bus to Prague. The station at Nuremburg was huge with lots of stores and fast food restaurants. We grabbed a couple of mocha frappes from McDonald's while waiting for our bus to depart. Fortunately, we made reservations for the bus and arrived in plenty of time to find it. It turned out to be a double-decker bus with air conditioning, food service, and restrooms. It was really an enjoyable ride, except for a man I called "Zorba the Greek" who sat in the seat across the aisle and seemed to struggle with sleep apnea the whole way. We watched videos of a little mole and his forrest friends. I woke up to catch the video where the mole was delivering baby rabbits in visual way that you would not expect in a childrens cartoon. We were quite amused. After 31/2 hours, we arrived in Prague where it was over 90 degrees. We fumbled our way through the station looking to get Czech Korunas from an ATM and figure out how to buy metro tickets. The metro was easy to access and it was much cooler underground. Of couse, once out of the tube, it took some time finding the pathway to our hotel, but we made it. We are in a very old building, on the first floor up, that is decorated with a 1920's theme. Our room is rather ugly, but it has air conditioning! We had fish and chips at an Irish pub around the corner and were eager to rest up for a day of exploration in Prague.

Side Trip to Würzburg, Germany

Friday, Aug. 2, 2013. It is 4:30 in the afternoon. Pam and I are sitting in the attic room of our hotel with wet hand towels drapped around our necks. Believe it or not the room in the attic is actually cooler than the streets outside. It has to be in the 90s today. In spite of the heat, we took off for a neighboring town called Würzburg. It was only about an hour away by train. We were hoping to see the palace, do some shopping, and drink some wine. There are supposed to be some great cafes and wine cellars in town that offer many of the wiines made by the local wineries on the edge of town. You could see the vineyards in neat little rows on the steep hillsides behind the train station. That was our plan, until we faced the heat. Instead, we made reservations for a bus we have to take into Prague tomorrow, ate a sandwich and soda for lunch, bought more water, visited the post office, guzzled even more water, and went to the palace. We decided not to pay the huge price to get into the palace, but we did enjoy the free grounds and gardens. After 10 minutes we were roasting, so we decided to head back to the station and do some shopping along the way. Darting through stores helped keep us cool in their air conditioning. Fortunately, the trains have air conditioning, so it was a comfortable ride back to Rothenburg, until we broke down for about 10 minutes. A kind, German woman explained to us that one of the doors on the train was not closing so they had to fix it before we could go on. Hmmm...waiting on the tracks... is that like waiting on the tarmac at the airport? That's what we do best! Tonight, after the sun goes sown, we will find somewhere to eat dinner. We also want to explore a road that runs behind our hotel. It looks like there may be a bar there. Someone sure has been having fun there late at night. We shall see.

Our First Night in Rothenburg

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a beautifully preserved midieval city. It is a complete tourist trap, but breathtaking at every term. It is a walled city with 6 gates. It's streets are made of cobblestones and are quite hilly. Our hotel is at the bottom of a steep hill just down from the city center. The rooms are connected to and on top of a lovely pastry shop, which will be hard to resist. Our room, of course, is once again on the third floor. It is in the shape of a loft or an attic with the roof slanted in. We have a window that opens up for a breathtaking view of the countryside that overlooks the tiled rooftops of houses and some of the taller towers of the walled city. The view is amazing! There will be a price to pay, however. Tomorrow it is expected to reach 88 degrees, so I imagine it will get very warm in this lovely little room. We don't even have a fan up here and I am wondering what might fly inthe window at night if we leave it open. Time will tell. Once we settled in our room, we decided tonwalk back to a street near the train station where there is a coin-operated laundry. Pam packed only enough clothes for half the tip in an effort to lighten her suitcase, so she was hoping to take advantage of this service. Unfortunately, when we walked up the hill to the laundromat, we discovered that it was closed. Maybe tomorrow we can try again. After returning to the hotel with our dirty laundry, we tookmogg for a place to eat. We ended up at the top of that hill again and found a local Biergarten that was famous for its potato dishes. Beer houses typically have long tables out in the open air. This one was no different, except the tables were underneath huge trees and the were crawling with some kind of little black bugs like mites. They were everywhere! It really was annoying, but the beer and food tasted so good. Pam ordered a dish with potato dumplings mixed with sauerkraut and bacon sauce. I simply ordered boiled potatoes with skins on which were served with a huge pat of herbed butter. Both dishes were wonderful! We then went back to the center of the city for a tour with the Night Watchman. This gentleman dresses like a midieval night watchman and gives a tour of the city for 7 Euros per person. He relates the history of the city and is very humorous in the process. This was money well spent! What a day!

Journey to Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Wednesday, July 31, 2013. Pam and I had to get up pretty early today to get our suitcases packed for a trip to Germany. We were going to take a regional train to Rothenburg, but had trouble finding the correct platform due to construction. Instead we got on an intercity high speed train that was air conditioned and had more leg room than an airplane. We successfully made all of our connections even if it meant we had to lug our suitcases down two flights of stairs, only to drag them back up another two flights of stairs to get to the other side of the platform. Transfering from city to city is exhausting work! The German countryside was beautiful with little towns nestled in fields and valleys. We saw a lot of homes withi solar panels. There were even large fields with solar panels stretching across them. Wind power is big here as well. The further south we went, we could see vineyards placed systematically along the hillsides. Some of the hills looked rather steep. I'm not sure how easy it would be to cultivate. We are definitely going to have to try some of the local wines!

A Word About the Bridges Conference

Captain's Log: Sunday, July 28, 2013. I have suddenly entered a mysterious portal where people are discussing fractals, algorithms, isohedrons and who knows what else. They are a strange group of people who don't care how they dress and charge the buffet line when invited to do so. I am humbled and intimidated by their intelligence. Most are polite, but the conversation does not go far with me. Last night's speaker shared his research about how to cut a sphere such as the globe to make it lay flat. He must have offered 50 ways by simply changing the settings on his computer program. His partner did similar research by cutting orange peels and laying them out flat. Really? Thank goodness they fed us a lovely dinner and all the wine we could drink prior to the presentation. Did I mention that this event took place in an old church in the center of town? They set up a buffet table, bar and several pub tables with candles. Jesus would have been proud that so many people, who can't accept anything by faith, had entered His house. Pam and I ate our dinner in the pews along the walls and left our empty wine glasses on the banister. It was almost a sacrilege, but very humorous at the same time. I am trying really hard to comprehend this subject. The art is fascinating, but the math is confusing. Almost everyone speaks English here, which says a lot about the Dutch educational system and the priorities other countries place on learning other languages. It makes the U.S. standards look shameful. I have met some of Pam's friends and they are very real people. She gravitates toward the more artsy mathematicians who have personalities and like to have fun. Thank goodness! Tonight one of them will present his talents as a Mime in the church. Another friend is in charge of a theatrical performance on Tuesday. Pam is coordinating backstage activities and putting together props for the performance. What am I doing, you ask? I am sitting in a corner of the cafeteria drinking coffee, taking cold medicine, and documenting this trip. Hope you enjoy my efforts.

Hotel Amadeus

Hot, hot, hot! We are in another small room with a double bed, one small window and a FAN. The bathroom is much bigger and is on the opposite side of our room off the entryway. We immediately scored big points by breaking the lock on our door. The concierge is going to love us! I decided I better pay her compliments whenever I can so she doesn't think we are rude Americans. The bed is pretty comfortable, but who can sleep with all the trains and noise from the street. I think the teenagers must sleep till noon then stay up all night roaming the streets. I am actually less comfortable with the townies here than in Amsterdam. There are young kids hanging out everywhere in groups. They look like they have nothing to do, so I keep a tight watch over my belongings. We are not far from the heart of town in which there is a beautiful town sqare loaded with cafes. I slept with a wet towel over my face last night to beat the heat. I think I have developed a little cold as well that seems to be settling in my throat. Oh well, who needs sleep anyway.

Travel to Enschede

Friday, July, 26, 2013. I've decided I don't enjoy lugging my bags all over Europe. I used to do it with ease, but my body is definitely not as strong. Pam and I had so much fun getting our bags down the 3 flights of winding stairs in our Amsterdam hotel. We made a luggage brigade. I stood at the top of the steps and slid each bag to her at the bottom. Then, of course we had to load up and walk to the station. It always seems like an eternity with so much weight on my back. We found our train to Enschede (pronounced ON-skeduh). We have the luxury of traveling in the first class compartment using our Eurail passes. We basically had the entire compartment to ourselves. It was raining, but I ejoyed the Dutch coutryside filled with small villages and farms, some houses with thatched roofs, lots of horses and open fields. The last leg of our trip was under construction, so we had to take a bus into Enschede and walk another mile or so to our hotel. Of course the streets were once again laid out in circular fashion with little or no posted street signs. We found the Hotel Amadeus conveniently located right by the train tracks - yeah! As fate would have it, Room 23 was on the third floor. Fortunately the steps were wider and straight. However the temperature increased 10 degrees with each flight and there was no air conditioning. Yikes!

A Morning Walk in Amsterdam

Pam and I slept over 12 hours last night. We were so jet-lagged! This morning we enjoyed a complimentary breakfast of granola, hard-boiled eggs, apples, and toast with chocolate sprinkles on it. This is a Dutch tradition that I like! We left the hotel in cool weather. It was very enjoyable. We walked to Vondel Park and passed the Heineken brewery. Also went to the museum district, but did not take in any museums. In this area we found the Hard Rock Cafe and an open air market to browse. We had lunch in an Irish cafe of all places and couldn't even drink a beer for being on Ibuprofen. We couldn't see the Ann Frank house without a reservation. After lunch, we came back to our hotel and learned that my luggage had arrived from the airport, but Pam's did not. The hotel concierge was kind enough to place a call to the airport to see what was happening. While he was on hold with the airline, a carrier delivered Pam's luggage. That was perfect timing! Next we had to figure out how to get our suitcases up those dreadful stairs. We have already planned to slide them down the steps tomorrow when we have to check out! After a little rest and recharge Pam and I headed out again, this time to a section of town with small shops. Of course we found nothing that we wanted to buy. I then convinced Pam that we needed to see the red light district, which was nearby. The closer we got to the area, the sleazier things became. We walked down a street with prostitutes soliciting from the windows and doorways and saw many sex shops, bars, and porn theaters. The funniest thing was to overhear a group of college boys discussing whether or not to pay the price. There seemed to be an abundance of Argentinian restaurants in this region as well. We were getting hungry, but decided to get out of this environment. Every tourist in town was there! We walked back to our hotel and tried pancakes at a local cafe. These are similar to crepes with a variety of fillings. Pam ordered one filled with spinach and goat cheese. My selection was filled with ham and cheese. Our table was between a young dutch couple and two other young women. One of the girls was Chinese. Her friend was American, but was speaking Chinese to her friend. This is such an international city. Everyone speaks English, of course. I think we both have decided that Amsterdam is an interesting city, but not our favorite. Tomorrow we will catch a train for Enschede.

Hotel Hoksbergen, Amsterdam

Most of the buildings in Amsterdam are narrow. When they were constructed, people paid taxes bases on the front footage, so everyone built several stories high rather than across. Our hotel is designed in this way. Consequently, we have to climb 3 flights of narrow, steep stairs to get to our room. My feet only fit on each step sideways! Our room is so tiny. It is probably only 10 square feet with a teeny bathroom. There is nothing fancy about it. We have a huge window with openings, but no screens in the windows. Every so often we get a whiff of marijuana that someone is smoking near us. Poor Pam is allergic to the smoke and sneezes incessantly. Pot is everywhere. Someone was toking up at 8:00 this morning. It is everywhere on the streets. Speaking of streets, the good Doctor (Pam) is having trouble navigating because nothing is perpendicular nor logical. Often the streets curve and even change names. I find it difficult to see the names of streets clearly. The other thing that takes getting used to is that you constantly have to dodge cyclists and trams. We were almost run over by a tram. We know better today. There are so many cyclists in the city that there are lanes on either side of the street for them. All kins of people are on bicycles, including businessmen, girls in skirts, young children riding with moms, older people, and girls riding side-saddle with their boyfriends. It is all very cool.

Trying to Get to Amsterdam

My current trip is to travelto Amsterdam to attend a math conference with Pam. Don't even laugh at the thought of me at a math conference.We are currently sitting on the Tarmac of the first leg of our trip to Europe. We can't even get out of Cleveland. No problem. Pam and I ate Chex Mix for lunch. On second hand, we have a problem. 1. Weather in Cleveland and Detroit. 2. One of the fire cylinders in the luggage compartment was half full, therefore all the luggage had to be removed. Our luggage will not arrive on this flight with us. 3. We had to de-plane till they figured out what to do. 4. We re-boarded and are currently sitting at the gate. 5. Did I just hear the attendant say that the plane will be off balance because we have no luggage? All of this fun has taken place in CLEVELAND. Who needs adventures outside of the country! We fianlly made it to Detroit with not a minute to spare. So much for being able to walk in the airport before boarding the next flight. Our flight to Amsterdam was filled with abundance; food galore, drinks, movies, music, pillows and blankets. I loaded my purse with leftovers in case it will be a while before we eat again. My passport is going to smell like a banana! No sleepon the plane. Will arrive in Amsterdam near 10:00 am.

Welcome

Welcome to my travel blog! I may not be a gifted writer, but I want to use this blog to share some of the travel adventures I experience with those who are interested. I was bitten by the travel bug in 1972, when my parents put me on a plane to Tours, France to spend my Junior year of college studying French at the Institute de Touraine. I lived with a French family, took courses at the Institute, and had the opportunity to travel extensively through Europe. That experience changed my life forever. Not only did I discover that I had a passion for foreign languages and world cultures, I also learned that I needed to experience more of the world. Since that year, I have been blessed to travel to Europe two more times, Costa Rica, Mexico, Cuba, and have even visited the tip of Africa. Needless to say, I am eager to experience more places. My "bucket list" is getting longer every day! So, as travel opportunities arise, I will post my adventures here to share with my family and friends. I hope you enjoy the ride!