Prague

October 19, 2015

Prague travel highlights

Cesky Krumloff, Charles Bridge, Local Art, Old Town Square, Prague, Prague Castle, Tynn Church

stayed: An air bnb right on freakin’ Old Town Square, which is where a ton of the major sites are located. It was baller status people. You could spit on the Tynn Church if you wanted to. Highly recommended and the host gave us all sorts of restaurant recommendations, which is a huge help when you have to make that decision three times per day. #travelerproblems

saw: Old Town Square including Tynn Church and the Astronomical Clock.

The mall Footlocker twice. You’d be surprised just how hard it was to find decent replacement tennis shoes, which I never did. Anyone want an EU Footlocker gift card?

Charles Bridge on a rainy, moody afternoon. Do your research before rubbing a status on there for good luck. We rubbed the wrong one. Whoops.

A day trip to the charming castle town of Cesky Krumloff. Note to travelers – use Student Agency bus service. It’s very easy AND they have wifi! Join up with a walking tour with local guide. And don’t forget to see the bears. Rawr.

John Lennon Wall and other cheeky Prague art.

Prague Castle, which I’d recommend get there early, like right when they open. They have a decent audio tour that’s reasonable. Note to travelers – before you do anything else, get into the Cathedral before the hordes of tour buses arrive.

conquered: How to successfully ice my feet each night. Frozen water bottles = success.

Prague public transportation. The maps look confusing but it was pretty straightforward. Great for getting around if you aren’t able to walk a ton.

How to avoid “noise” in photographs. Prague is crowded with a capital “C” and trying to capture photos around them is an acquired talent.

other travel notes: Good restaurants include: Mincovna right on Old Town Square and Lokal, which is near the Jewish Quarter. Our host told us that restaurants don’t stay open late, and he was right. Note to travelers: plan on eating dinner semi-early in Prague. Bars are open until the wee hours though. Breakfast is hard to find too. Cheerios, yogurt and apples became our go-to for the rest of the trip.

If you see something you think you might need, buy it right then and there! You don’t know how many times I kicked myself in the ass on this one. Ugh. A prime example – a pharmacy is different than a drug store. You can only find important things such as Aleve at a pharmacy NOT a drug store. Get that ‘ish when you can.

Dogs can go everywhere and 99% of them are off leash, even on busy streets! Those were some well-behaved pooches. Perhaps I should ship Stella off to Eastern Europe for some training!

October 8, 2015

Decisions, decisions

Amsterdam, Budapest, Dubrovnik, Eastern Europe, itinerary, Krakow, Ljubljana, Mostar, Prague, Split, Zagreb

The most common question I got prior to our trip was, “Why did you choose those countries?” When people think of Europe, I suspect London, Paris or any city in Italy comes to mind. Slovenia and Bosnia probably aren’t on most people’s radars and granted, they weren’t on mine either at first.

But in comes my most favorite of all favorite shows, Game of Thrones. Many of the scenes in recent seasons have been filmed in Croatia and that got me thinking…what ABOUT Croatia? I started doing some research and I came across my dear friend Rick Steves Eastern Europe itinerary. After googling a few of the places, we were sold! History, castles, coastline and cheap accommodations? Sign us up.

I basically took his suggested itinerary and adjusted it to the amount of time we were going to be there. Here’s what we ended up with:

Amsterdam, Netherlands – This stop was an add-on more than anything as the cheapest flight was found through here so we added two days to our trip. The flight from Seattle (with a quick stop in Iceland) was really an easy flight. Highly recommended flying into Amsterdam.

Prague, Czech Republic – Seemed only fitting to really start our trip with a visit to the “Paris of the East!” Plus, it’s one of the few cities that was untouched by the war.

Krakow, Poland – Per my hubby’s request. I should have given us a bit more time here, but it’s hard to narrow it down.

Budapest, Hungary – Also seemed to be a “not to miss” place. Like Krakow, another day would have been great here.

Ljubljana, Slovenia – Recommended by a colleague of mine. She said to add a day to this stop and she was SO right. Give this country at least 3 days.

Zagreb, Croatia – The capitol of Croatia. Not a ton to see, but it worked well logistically in our travel plans. It was a good place to reorganize and pick up our rental car for the drive down the coast.

Split, Croatia – Featured on the Game of Thrones. Enough said.

Mostar, Bosnia – A quick side trip that was the biggest unknown. Will it be safe? How’s the drive? What will we do there? All valid questions that were immediately answered as soon as we crossed the border from Croatia. Yes. Easy. Eat, drink and sight see!

Dubrovnik, Croatia – Also a Game of Thrones filming location not to mention a VERY romantic city. A great place to end our journey!

We spent anywhere from 2 to 3 days in each city, which was fine for some and not enough time for others. It was definitely an ambitious itinerary to say the least. As soon as you got semi-comfortable, it was time to pack up and run to the next train. I’m pretty sure we’ll never travel like this again, but it was a memorable learning experience all around!