Blogs from Old Town, Prague, Czech Republic, Europe

Tonight features dining and entertainment. I booked a special Historical Fantasy Show using Viator (my favorite booking website). The plan calls for a traditional Czech dinner, all the wine and beer you want, a full 5-Course meal, and entertainment. Sounds fun, so let's go! We asked at the front dest the best way to get to the restaurant. They said go out the door turn left and left again. Walk past the Astronomical Clock and 5 minutes from there is the restaurant. Great, 30 minutes later, after several wrong turns and going in the wrong direction once again, we arrived at our destination, U Pavouka at the Korma Restaurant. Dinner was scheduled for 8 PM. We arrived a little early. We left a full 45 minutes early to compensate for getting lost, so we had some ... read more

We slept in a bit this morning all the way to 8:30 - almost as if we were on vacation! Yesterday was tireing but was well worth it. On our journey to the Charles Bridge yesterday, I discovered that on the Vltava River they run some afternoon lunch cruises. You would think that since we are going on an 8 day cruise in two days we would not find this enticing but you would be dead wrong! Our Viking cruise is on the Main River so, when we were offered the opportunity to cruise on two diffent rivers, of course, we decided to go. Today's plan was to sleep in, check; leave the hotel about 10 AM, check; and arrive at the cruise ticket office about 10:15. Swing and a miss here. We asked our concierge ... read more

Everyone seems to have a list of best beer drinking cities. A case can be made for even the smallest town having a great craft beer or specialty brewery. But I am thinking more of cities where you can roam around, find bars all over the city, and making it impossible not to find a good beer or a good beer establishment. Here is "the" list from Frommer's, some of which I agree with, some rather marginal. And of course, there are omissions. Dublin-home of Guinness and a bar on every corner! Templebar, touristy but fun. Tokyo-never thought of Tokyo as a beer city, but I am willing to give it a try next visit! Munich-the Oktoberfest, and much more, always easy to find a beer party, anytime. Love Hofbrauhaus. Portland-a west coast beer haven with ... read more

I have had a wonderful and relaxing few days with Reni and Gerhard at their holiday home but today it is time to continue my European adventure. Reni and Gerhard see me off at Gmünd station which is just on the Austrian side of the Austrian/Czech border. If you look at the atlas you will see just how many countries do border Austria! I used to become quite tearful when saying Goodbye, but these days we tend to see each other at least four times a year, so it isn’t too bad. In fact, I shall be heading back to Vienna in three weeks time to celebrate Reni’s 60th. I cannot believe that she is that age!! I enjoy a pleasant train journey through the Czech Republic. The first train, a local stopper, is quite full. ... read more

This morning, under cloudy skies but mild temperatures in the upper-60s, we embarked upon the first of two guided tours of Prague booked through a local agency. Today's itinerary focused upon the Old Town Square, the Jewish Quarter (Josefov) and the Charles Bridge. Our personal guide, Marek (along with a friendly young driver named Karel), turned out to be an impressive guy in his 40s who speaks nine languages--incredible! Throughout the tour he exhibited an encyclopedic knowledge of Czech history, while setting a pace that was easily manageable for us. The driver dropped us off in the vicinity of the Jewish Quarter, a three-block area in the Old Town that has been home to a Jewish community for a thousand years. Jews first came to Prague in the 10th-century, where they were allotted the least hospitable ... read more