Canals, Chocolates & Crowns - Amsterdam, Brussels & Prague

Europe
September 25th 2008

Published: March 4th 2009

Canals, Chocolates & Crowns - Amsterdam, Brussels & Prague

Amsterdam, Holland

We love to travel, but we love something even more…traveling with friends! During our worldwide adventure, we’ve been very fortunate to have some of our wonderful friends join us along the way. Our luck seems to continue. Our friends, Jon (“Kell”) & Christel, met up with us in Amsterdam. I hadn’t been back to Amsterdam since a study abroad trip in college (Everyone can guess that that was more than a few years ago!). Kell & Christel had found us a great flat above an antique store in a very lovely neighborhood, Jordaan. Rembrandt was one of Jordaan’s most famous residents. Sometimes, the mention of Amsterdam conjures images of Amsterdam’s Red Light District and tolerant drug policies, but those are but a small part of this incredibly pretty city - - boasting endless canals that meander through the city, cheerful bicyclists peddling by with baskets full of flowers, and historic cobblestone streets leading you to discover charming treasures in the city. One of my favorite scenes was a couple holding hands while cycling, all the while dressed in a sundress and business suit!
During our stay, we visited

Jason, Kell & Christel enjoy a tour of Heineken Brewery

Heineken's big pot stills...

many wonderful museums - the Van Gogh Museum (Trivia: Although VG’s work includes over 800 paintings and 1000+ drawings, his artistic career only spanned 10 years from 1880-1890), the Rembrandt Museum (Trivia: Rembrandt’s Nightwatch painting was so named because when it was discovered, it was so dirty that they mistakenly thought it was a night scene!), the Rijksmuseum and the Houseboat Museum.
Living on a boat may seem a bit cramped for most people, however houseboats are very sought after in this city of canals. In fact, all the boat slips are taken in Amsterdam. If you want to live on the water, you have to buy an existing boat which is quite expensive (comparable to a traditional house price!).
Amsterdam is known for its infamous Red Light District so a guided walking tour of the area seemed essential. Our guide imparted lots of colorful stories and facts about this historic area. One unique factoid is that the oldest working prostitute is a mature 85 years old! We also enjoyed plenty of the local beverages - - beer tasting at the Heineken Brewery and sipping jenevers (Dutch gin) at Proeflokaal Wijnand Fockinck (est. 1679) - try saying that name three

Belgian Beauty

Grand Place, Brussels

times fast!
One of our favorite days was spent relaxing at Vondelpark, Amsterdam’s largest public park. We just love the European parks! A Sunday afternoon coupled with the sun shining, the park was bursting with people - lots of families and couples lounging on the grass, kids biking about, and rollerbladers wheelin’ by. We even saw an industrious bicycle entrepreneur selling cold beers and sodas from her bicycle saddlebags!

Brussels, Belgium

We took a quick day trip to Brussels, Belgium, the train ride boasting views of lots of agriculture and pretty fields. Out the windows, we tried our best to spot our favorites: goats & tulips. Arriving in Brussels, we wandered the beautiful shopping arcades…making sure to sample plenty of the celebrated Belgian chocolates, waffles and Belgian beers (we dropped into one bar that boasted a list of over 2500 beers!). We enjoyed lunch surrounded by breathtaking Gothic architecture in the gorgeous central square, The Grand Place.
We toured the city by foot - - swinging by the national symbol, Mannekin Pis Fountain, the peeing boy statute who is dressed up in various outfits. We sampled escargot (Fun factoid: Kell loves escargot!) before touring some of the city’s

St. Michel & Gudule Cathedral

Brussels, Belgium

attractive gardens and lovely cathedrals (Saints Michel and Gudule Cathedral) and, of course, we had to make a stop at the beloved park, Parc de Bruxelles.

Prague, Czech Republic

Our early morning trip to Prague started with a hiccup for Kell and Christel - - a mix-up in flight dates ended in extortionist ticket price for their new plane tickets. (I’m certain the SkyEurope executives are definitely vacationing in Fiji on their dime! hehe) Upon arriving in Prague, it’s easy to see why 60% of Prague’s economy is fueled by tourism - it’s a gorgeous city. We began our touring at Prague Castle, the biggest castle complex in the world, seat of the Czech power, housing the president’s office and ancient Bohemian jewels. Kell especially loves the steep hills and the sun beating down (Cricket likes to comment, “Uncle Kell’s face sure gets red!” hehe). With the hills, you are rewarded with scores of gorgeous views of the city - - viewscapes of the river, bridges and a sea of red roof tops. You can’t help but be impressed when you catch a glimpse of the stunning Gothic-style St. Vitus Cathedral (begun in 1344 - finished in 1929!).

The Balloon...

Prague, Czech Republic

The Vltava River separates the medieval castle district (Hardpan) and the Little Quarter (Mala Strana) on the west bank from Stare Mesto (Old Town) and Nove Mesto (New Town) on the east. We wandered through the Little Quarter - built in the 17-18th c. by victorious Catholic clerics on the foundations of their Protestant predecessors’ Renaissance palaces. Our walking tour continued past the beautiful Baroque church, St. Nicholas Church and on to a pub for some pivo (beer) - - paid in Schlotzkys!! Jason had, jokingly, told Kell that the Czech money was called Schlotzkys (not the correct Czech Crown). So even after Jason came clean, out of habit (and humor!), Kell kept asking for the prices of things in Scholotzkys!!! “How many Schlotzky’s for four pivos??!!” hehe
We strolled across the Charles Bridge, which boasts beautiful views and 30 18th c. statues along with a multitude of vendors and buskers. Across the bridge awaits more beautiful buildings. Many of the country’s buildings suffered minimal damage due to the rapid occupation during WWII. In Stare Mesto (Old Town), we enjoyed Staromestske Nam (Prague’s Old Town Square), the Gothic steeples of Tyn Church and the Old Town Hall’s Clock Tower. This

Crew enjoying Prague

Charles Bridge in the background

astronomical clock springs to life each hour. I especially enjoy seeing clocks around the world because of my mom’s love of antique clocks. Josefov is Prague’s Jewish Quarter. Franz Kafkas’s three sisters were among the 78 thousand Czech Jews killed during WWII. We settled on this area to sample the fine Czech food (including the best pretzel I’ve ever tasted). Jason also started his obsession of trying every city and country’s version of goulash.
Some of our time in Prague was consumed by our Russian embassy visits to obtain our Russian visas. The small upside was the embassy was in a pretty area full of chestnut trees, the locals’ baskets overflowing with them (and some industrious squirrels (Shekels’ favorite!) sneaking a few nuts).
To sample Prague’s many pivos, we commenced a self-guided beer tour (accompanied by beer cheese! Mmmmmmmmmm) near Strahov Monastery (another unbelievable view!). While tasting, Kell regaled us with more funny “I got screwed” transportation stories of the grumpy old subway cashier refusing to return the overpay amount on his tickets. We joked that the cashier is now vacationing on the Adriatic Sea with Kell’s sizable “tip.” Poor Kell, he just couldn’t catch a break on any form

Gothic architecture

Czech Republic

of transportation! The major upside is we’ll be able to laugh about all these stories for years to come (and Kell can spend hours plotting his revenge!). We tried lots of fun beers. Czech beers are almost all lagers, many were unpasteurized so you won’t find them sold out of the country. We stumbled upon a pretty park filled with wild berries and trees dropping pears and crab apples. We walked along the river to Wallenstein Gardens and Palace (Wallenstein was a 17th c. general) where beautiful white peacocks roamed, with their babies following close behind.
We took a day trip to the town of Kutna Hora. Kutna Hora has a very unique (and arguably creepy) sight, the Sedlec Ossuary - the Church of All Saints. When the Schwarzenberg family bought the Sedlec Monastery in 1870, they allowed a local woodcarver to get creative with 40-70 thousand people’s bones that were in the crypt. They are now “decorations” and furnishings for the chapel - garlands of skulls, chandeliers of femurs, etc. We also visited a grand, Gothic cathedral, Cathedral of St. Barbara, which boasted many beautiful frescoes. Unfortunately, Kell and Christel were heading home the following morning. As is our

Kell, Cricket & Christel enjoy a cool beverage!

Cricket is wearing her new Halloween costume (gift from Kell & Christel)

tradition, they joined us in the “thumbs up or thumbs down” ritual and we all gave Amsterdam, Brussels and Prague the “thumbs up.” Cwickie gave a definite “thumbs down” for Uncle Kell & Aunt Christel leaving us!
Thanks to Kell & Christel for an amazing journey with amazing memories to boot!

What we’ll miss:
Laughing so hard our stomachs hurt
That “oh-so-perfect” (yet to be replicated) Czech pretzel

What we won’t miss:
Every transit system sticking it to poor Kell
Kutna Hora map being so inaccurate that we had to walk 50000+ miles in the pouring rain

Additional photos below

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