Blogs from Prague, Czech Republic, Europe - page 3

I spent this morning (Monday) in Prague in museums. Then I took the train back to Vienna, a nearly five hour trip, which is bearable in first class. There’s more room in the seats and fewer people in each compartment. Today is a holiday here, and the cafe compartment was always busy. I was happy to have the book about Empress Maria-Theresa to read. It was good to visit the national museum in Prague, in the modern part of the city. A good reminder how regular people live the same lives in cities all over the world while tourists fill the historic streets and buildings. There was a sobering, informative display about the Nazi invasion during War II. So much evil towards innocent people, and even more violence to those brave ones who resisted. The second ... 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

http://www.heygo.com 3rd May - Our tour with Nikola today started in the Wallenstein gardens and then a journey on the iconic tram - Tram 22 It follows one of Prague's most scenic routes, passing by the National Theater to Staroměstská and Malostranská metro stations, and continuing up to the Belveder, Prague Castle and Pohořelec, with some stunning views along the way. The Wallenstein Gardens were built between 1623-1630, at the same time as the accompanying Wallenstein Palace. Like the Palace, they were built in the Italian Baroque style, and the Palace complements the Garden beautifully, especially the triple-arched entrance hall. The Palace is now home to the Czech Senate. The Gardens are also sometimes called the Waldstein Garden. The Prague Castle Royal Garden is just to the north of Prague Castle. It was originally built ... read more

http://www.heygo.com 2nd February - Crossing Charles Bridge - Prague Charles IV. Monument has a sword in one hand and a foundation charter of the university in the other hand. The pedestal is adorned with images of four faculties, theology, medicine, law and philosophy. The Monument was revealed in 1849, because there were fights around it in 1848 and the statue had to be encased to be protected from damage. According to the royal astronomers, construction of the bridge commenced at the suitable, lucky time of 5:31am on July 9th 1357. In palindromic terms this time can be numerated as a sequence of ascending and descending odd numbers (135797531); these numbers are carved on the Old Town Bridge Tower. Although construction ended at the beginning of the 15th century, this famous bridge did not have the look ... read more

Well, well, who’d have thought it? Time to board a plane again, at last. And it was a last minute idea. Lockdown seemed to be easing, at least it was, if not for long. We flew out on my birthday on cheap flights with Ryan Air. Actually, we had vouchers as our trip to Puglia earlier in July had been cancelled. So, it kinda felt like it was free. There’s a bit of a vacation debate going on at the moment. Some people take the view that holidaying is a risky venture given the pandemic. We decided back then that the only ‘risky’ part would be the on the airport and on the flight. As far as I could determine my research suggested that precautions in place would mean I would be as safe flying as ... read more