Our Last Night in Prague

 

Our last night started with another boat cruise where we had the chance to see the beautiful lights of Prague. We have been absolutely blessed with no rain on this trip - even when there was rain forecast several days!!

Michael, our tour director and owner of Defined Destinations. He is the major reason we took a second tour with him this fall! Regina, our lovely, knowledgeable European tour leader. Regina was born in Poland, speaks German, and lives in Vienna. I loved talking history with her and getting her perspective on the three different countries we visited.

We were joined on our boat cruise with Pavel, our amazing local tour guide for Prague - he is an encyclopedia of information and kept us engaged and entertained as we learned about Prague.

 

After our boat cruise, we went to one last dinner featuring Czech foods, music and dancers. Then it was time to say our good byes. We leave tomorrow at 6 am and will arrive home the same day - the miracle of flying across the ocean.

Here are a few more pictures of Eastern Europe - This trip has opened my eyes to the importance of studying history. It has reminded me that as turbulent as our political times seem in the US today, overall, most of us haven't experienced the sorrows that the people of Eastern Europe experienced during the last 70 years. I'm grateful for this adventure and grateful to live in the United States. The people I met have enriched me with their friendships, and I've loved the food, music, and sights we've seen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Learning About Prague

Our hotel in Prague, Hotel Leonardo, was located in the old city about a block away from the Vitava River, the river that runs through Prague.

The "old city" is full of narrow, cobblestone streets - yet there is a modern tram service that operates and drops off at various points outside the old city.

 

Everywhere you see evidence of outside cafes bustling with people enjoying beer (Pivo), wine, coffee, and sweet treats.

There are multiple bridges over the river, but the most famous is the St. Charles Bridge. King Charles IV started the construction of the bridge in 1357 - the bridge was finished in the beginning of the 15th century. Prague, unlike so many other European cities, was spared the bombing during World War II - for that reason, the city truly has an "old world feel."

 

The St. Charles Bridge is filled with musicians and artists.

A photo with the St. Charles Bridge in the background.

Truly a highlight of our first day was a 4-hour walking tour with Pavel Kuca, our 36 year old local tour guide. Most of us agree, he was truly the best guide any of us have ever had! He was trained as a teacher and has his Masters in history; however, now he was a full time tour guide.

He made Prague's complex history come alive for us! This trip has been a wonderful chance to compare and contrast three different cities' experience during World War I, World War II, and the time since the Berlin Wall (and Soviet block) fell. Like Hungary, the current Czech Republic has been often a pawn in the hands of more powerful empires such as the Habsburg empire, Hitler's empire, and the Soviet empire. After a while, it gets very confusing about what really constitutes "a people" as there have been so many border changes over the years. For example, when I was in school, we learned about Czechoslovakia- in 1993 Czechoslovakia became the Czech Republic and Slovakia (not to be confused with Slovenia:-)

Pavel took us on a tour of the old city where we got to see many highlights like the Prague Astronomical clock which was first installed in 1410.

 

We then walked up to the Prague Castle which is located high up on a hill overlooking the river. Prague Castle is dominated by St. Vitus Catheral but also includes a group of other buildings that were used by the royal families over the years.

 

 

After our tour of Prague Castle, we walked down the hill through a vineyard while enjoying the beautiful views of the "old city" across the river.

 

 

Enjoying some hot mulled wine on our way down.

For dinner, we went to a traditional beer hall where we had another great meal complete with beer and some special Czech shots of liquor.

 

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We even had musicians to entertain us!

 

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On to Prague

Today, we left Vienna on a bus heading to Prague - about a six hour drive. We made a stop at a traveler's stop, mid morning - just had to show you what a traveler's stop in Austria looks like. Quite a step up from our American truck stops :-)

We arrived in Cesky Krumlov at about noon - we had about three hours to have lunch and explore. Michael, our tour director, said that Cesky Krumlov is one of his favorite towns in Europe. After spending some time there, I can definitely see why!! It was beautiful - we even had sunny weather to complete our time there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Afte Cesky Krumlov, we got back on the bus headed to Prague. We arrived at about 7:30 pm and then had a late dinner at our hotel. Tomorrow we will start our day with a walking tour of the city with our local guide.

 

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