Here we go, adventure time! This post covers our time in Vienna and Prague. It’s a little on the long side…. Let’s start with Vienna :) Vienna It was about a 3 hour train ride from Budapest to Vienna, and the same feeling of amazement that hits me whenever I travel by train in Europe found me again. It’s just so easy! It’s so quick and easy to travel to another country, it’s one of the reasons I love Europe so much. The opportunity for exploring is always there, right at your fingertips. I get all tingly just thinking about it. So we got in from the train at around 4pm on Thursday. Once we got to the Hostel, we took the time to semi-plan our day of sightseeing for Friday and look up the best ways to get around. Once we’d accomplished that, we headed back to the train station to get our tickets to Prague for the upcoming Saturday and and find a grocery store to get dinner. On the way back, we saw an old looking dome thing and went to have a look. Because why not. We still don’t know the name of the church that we walked by, but that’s another thing I love about Europe. It can look very modern or built up, but there will always be a little peek of the historic. Even on a walk back from the grocery store. We had a lovely supermarket dinner and then we went down to the bar at the hostel for happy hour at the hostel. 1 euro beer, yes please. I brought a deck of cards with me so Sam and I played down there and observed the other people staying in our hostel. We think we saw three guys trying to hit on one girl. Interesting odds. Then we went to bed, though neither of us could fall asleep very quickly. We woke up to a cloudy day and started our day of sightseeing with buying a 24 metrocard. There was a little boy there who I think was trying to steal the extra change that would come out of the machines when you bought your ticket and we had to box him out away from our machine. It was really strange. Well, anyways, we went on our way to Schönbrunn Palace and Gardens, the imperial summer residence of the emperors/empresses of Austria, the most notable being Maria Theresa and Franz Joseph. Franz was the longest reigning emperor and he was both born and died at Schönbrunn. Just to bring it full circle to my previous writings about Versailles, Marie Antoinette spent time here too, since Maria Theresa was her mother, and there were a number of portraits of her as a child. The tour of the rooms of the palace was very aesthetically interesting. The different rooms of the palace portrayed the taste influences that each of monarchs had when they owned the palace (with a general Baroque theme) and all the rooms had the same giant porcelain heater which used to be the central heating system of the palace. I could spend the whole blog post talking about all the different room styles, but I won’t because I would get bored typing and you would probably get bored reading, so if you want to know you’ll just have to ask me in person and I’ll try to remember as much as I can. Unfortunately I have no photos to show you what I’m talking about since photos of any kind are not allowed inside the palace. An interesting fact, though, is that a 6 year old Mozart played there and he is included in a painting of a wedding that he did not attend. At the time of the wedding he was only 4, but by the time the painting was commissioned he was a few years older and had garnered a lot of fame, so he was included in the painting. The gardens were beautiful. Although not as expansive as Versailles and the overcast-ness of the day made it all seem a little more dreary than it should have been, but it was brightened up by seeing a familiar face! We ran into a friend I went to college with who is traveling through Europe and Central America for 6 months with his friend, and it happened that we ended up in Vienna at the same time! I hadn’t seen him in a while, so it was good to catch up, albeit briefly. They were headed out of Vienna that night so after chatting and walking the gardens we went our separate ways. See ya back in the US, Adam! Our next stop was the garden maze; it was small and still very confusing. But we made it out alright, in case you were concerned. From Schönbrunn we took the metro to the Vienna State Opera house. Apparently you can get standing room tickets for the opera being performed that day for less than 4 euros if you arrive early enough and wait in line for about an hour and a half. We had considered it, but we thought that might be too long and standing for a three hour opera performance sounded like a lot of work. Just something to add to the to-do list for next time. Instead, we went on a guided tour and the building is just beautiful and a lot bigger than you’d expect. Only about 30% of the building is original, as most was destroyed towards the end of WWII, including the stage and auditorium, and then restored. Now, the Opera house boasts the largest repertoire in the world, performing 45-50 different operas and 10 different ballets per season. They also do not perform the same opera twice in a row; they put on a different opera almost every day of the week! They can have up to five shows running at once. For example, the day before our tour they had Madame Butterfly, the day of our tour was Anna Bolena and they day after our tour was Macbeth. This means the stagehand and stage crew are in constant movement because each day the stage must be set twice: once for rehearsals in the morning, and once for the night’s performance in the afternoon. Honestly, the whole thing sounds chaotic, but I guess it works. They also start planning seasons five years in advance. FIVE YEARS. Absolutely insane. We wandered around the Museum District after our tour and then walked back up to St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Apparently there is a Saint Stephen who deserves a cathedral in every country. It was beautiful and the outside reminded me of Matthias Church in Budapest. I will say, though, that the inside was not as gorgeous. From there, we took the metro to the Belvedere, which houses some other lovely Baroque style gardens and palaces that used to be the summer residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy. We grabbed some dinner and then headed back to the hostel for some much needed downtime and 1 euro beer. I think we did very well for having only one day in Vienna. Saturday was a maze of navigation with our bags. But we made it to the train and successfully disembarked in Prague! Prague Once we got to Prague, we were given a tour around town by our host, who is an Olympic gold medalist. Apparently in the Czech Republic if they win a gold medal, they’re given a car because his car had the Olympic rings and his name on it. We walked around Old Town square at night and watched the little show at the Prague astronomical clock that goes on at every hour. The clock was installed in 1410 and it is the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world. However, it is the oldest one that is still in working condition! The next day we woke up late and then headed into town on the metro, which is super easy to use. We toured the same places we had seen the night before, but this time during the day. We started at the Municipal House and Powder Tower. The Municipal House used to be the Royal Court palace until around 1485. Now, it is a concert hall, ballroom and civic building, as well as housing a few restaurants. It’s right next to Powder Tower, which is one of the original gates into Prague from the 11th century. From there we meandered around, eventually ending up in the middle of Old Town Square. The square is really quaint, I really enjoyed getting to walk around it and explore. We stopped off to take a look at the astronomical clock again before heading to the Charles Bridge. On the way to the bridge, Sam saw a nutella filled chimney cake that she wanted and I saw a guy selling mulled wine so we knew where we were going on the way back. The Charles Bridge is a walking bridge that links Old Town to Prague Castle. It is the oldest bridge in Prague, having survived quite a few floods and is famous for its many street vendors. We were crossing from the Old Town side to the Prague Castle side, and from the latter you can see the house of the painting of the Virgin Mary. The legend goes that the owner of the house saved the painting from a flood by hanging it on the outside of the house and left it there. We walked down to the river’s edge to take some photos of the bridge in its full capacity and then headed over to the John Lennon Wall. The Wall was an innocent, normal wall until the 1980’s when it was filled with graffiti inspired by John Lennon and the Beatles. The Wall is continually changing, so all of the original paintings are lost now under layers and layers of paint. One of my staple posters from college that hung up for 3 of my four years was of the John Lennon Wall. It’s an iconic photo from the wall; it’s a giant peace sign with “IMAGINE” written through it. My poster looks like this, but unfortunately it had been painted over so I didn’t get to see it in person. The wall is still pretty awesome though. I found a sharpie in my bag, so Sam and I left our signature (#travelwithapaddle) before we headed back across the bridge for our treats. I love mulled wine. Especially when it cost $1 and I get to sip it while walking the streets of Prague. During our stay at Lennon Wall, I took quite a few photos for people. I’m usually asked quite a bit, and I thought it was because I’m a fairly unintimidating female who probably looks like I wouldn’t try to take off in a full on sprint with a stranger’s valuables. Well, maybe that’s still part of it, but I also think it has to do with my camera. I thought about this after a couple asked me to take their photo. I told them to check it to make sure it was alright and they said “I’m sure it’s great, you look like you know what you’re doing.” Is it that I look like I know what I’m doing or is it my camera that looks like I know what I’m doing? Probably just the camera. But I do sometimes know what I’m doing (shout-out to Intro to Digital Photography and my man Eric). Our second day in Prague was another late start and we took the metro to Prague Castle. The castle grounds are pretty cool, and they’re all enclosed within a brick wall, so you feel as though you’ve entered a whole new little world. When we went to buy tickets for the different elements at the castle, we realized you can get them for very cheap if you’re a full time student and under 26. Thank you, University of Minnesota ID with no graduation date (I didn’t want to lose my Macalester one, so I’m cheating a little. Sorry, Mac). Sammie didn’t have a student ID, but she said “oh I only have an ID that says I’m under 18” and the woman gave her the discount anyway. without checking her ID, which would have led to the discovery that Sam was in fact 18. Looks like we get lucky sometimes. We started our tour of Prague Castle with the Old Royal Palace. Honestly, not much going on there. But it did have one room that I found interesting; it was the re-done after having been burned in a fire. This room was the New Land Rolls, which is decorated with a crests of Czech Royalty and Nobility. It looks very impressive. In a small adjoining room have some cool old books that contain written records of disputes. From there, we ventured over to St. George’s Basilica. I don’t know much about it, but it is the oldest church building within Prague Castle limits. Next was a stroll down Golden Lane. Golden Lane is a street of tiny, adorable, brightly colored houses. It’s named after the 16th century alchemists that supposedly used to look there for a reaction to produce gold. Apparently, there is no actual documentation of alchemists ever living there, but whatever. I spun one of the tools they used, so I’m basically as qualified as they were. Add that to the resume. Each of the little houses shows a small part of what life was like back then, as well as a medieval armory museum, which includes a look at torture devices. Ouch. I could feel my body hurt just looking at them. In the armory there was a room devoted to sword guns. That’s right. A fully operational gun with a sword blade attached to it. The 10 year old version of my brother would have freaked out. The 19 year old version said they were “cool” and then asked if he should cut his hair. Things change. (In case you were curious, my answer was “yes and shave off whatever is growing on your chin”). The houses are numbered, and house number 22 is connected with the Czech-Jewish writer Franz Kafka (he is the author of The Metamorphosis), who lived there for two years in 1916 and 1917. It’s said that he wrote A Country Doctor while there. At the end of the street is Daliorka Tower, which was a prison in the 18th century. It’s named after a legend about its first inmate, a young knight named Dalibor of Kozojedy. He was sentenced to death and imprisoned in the tower for sheltering rebellious serfs. According to the legend, he learnt to play violin during his imprisonment and the people of Prague heard his beautiful music, affording him their sympathy and giving him food and drink because of it. Apparently he was so popular that the authorities were a little frightened to announce his execution date. Well, anyways, eventually the violin played no more so I guess we all know what happened there. The final stop in our tour of Prague Castle was St. Vitus Cathedral and a climb up its tower for a panoramic view of Prague. Definitely worth the 187 steps (though on the way down I only counted 179….hmmm….), you can see the entire city! And the inside of the cathedral was gorgeous as well. After a little adventure of taking a tram the wrong direction (whoops), we made it back for a brief nap before dinner and to explore the city at night. We decided to treat ourselves to some real Czech food, so we went out to eat at the restaurant called Krcma. I highly recommend it; our waiter was super nice and the food was fantastic. I had some more mulled wine that was so good, and Sam had a hot chocolate. It was cold outside, what can we say. I had the traditional beef goulash, which is different to the Hungarian goulash that I talked about before. The Czech version isn’t a soup, it’s a thicker sauce and it’s served with spicy green peppers, potato pancakes and dumplings, which is a sort of bread. So good. And I had a Czech beer because when in Rome. Or I guess Prague. You get it. After dinner, we walked around the city at night and crossed Charles Bridge to see everything before heading back to pack up our stuff. And stopped to get ice cream. Even though it was cold. Today we took a 5 hour train ride and have arrived safely in Berlin! But you’ll just have to hear about that later. Gute Nacht!
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I’m Anya Phillips, a data analyst and travel enthusiast who is always on the lookout for the next adventure! Categories
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