Flying Home

Wednesday April 9, 2014

We went to a rehearsal this morning of the Prague Philharmonic and then headed over to the airport in Prague. From Prague we flew to Frankfurt and then onto New York JFK airport. We actually got in after 8 pm and then got a cab over to LGA airport for our morning flight. We stayed at a hotel near that area. We could not get a flight out to Orlando from JFK.



Here is the interior of the building where the symphony performed.


The theater building where the symphony played had this sign in the bathrooms. They did not want you to use the hand blowers during a performance.


Last minute photo in Prague-not many bridges in our area are this ornate


The lounges overseas serve real food with lots of choices versus just snacks.



Thursday April 10, 2014

We are headed home from New York, but it is one of those situations where you can't get there from here. We won't get into Orlando until about 6 pm this evening. Then to wash clothes so that we are ready to go again. You never know when you need to pick up and go again.



Lots of planes were lined up to take off at Laguardia airport this morning.



I will eventually write a recap of our trip after the dust settles and we have a chance to look over more of our photos.

All in all we had a very good trip and saw lots of interesting places in a short 2 weeks. The toughest part is flying to and fro.

Prague Day 2

Tuesday April 8, 2014

We drove by a former communist stadium. It could hold about 300,000 people. Whew! It is definitely in need of repair right now too, so currently is not safe to use.



We were fortunate to see a very old and huge library that Jesuit monks control, and it is difficult to actually get into. It is called Strahov Monastery which is high up on the hillside overlooking the city of Prague. During Medieval times the only educated people were the religious groups, so therefore they controlled the knowledge at that time. There are 50,000 books housed there.












Stairway leading to the 2nd level


We also checked out the Loreto Shrine, but photos were not permitted. So nothing to show here except the outside of this building. It was actually housed inside of this building. It is supposedly a replica of the house in which Mary received the Annuciation.



Next was the Prague Castle and the Old Royal Palace with all of their treasures and relics. The last place for the morning was an area called the Golden Lane where the artisans lived just within the palace area but down a little street. There they lived in very tiny connected homes or cottages and produced their wares. The houses consisted of one very tiny room.



Changing of the guard at the Prague Palace


Lovely stained glass windows





Back of the Cathedral


In the Golden Lane.

The afternoon consisted of touring the gardens which were lovely and also extravagant in a very odd way. One was a black wall that was called a grotto but it wasn't really a cave but an ugly mass with homely mean faces imbedded.



View before heading down to the garden


White peacock in the garden area





Below are a couple photos of the ugly black wall or grotto. Somebody definitely had too much money and didn't know what to do with it.

Wouldn't you love to have this in your backyard?


Notice the one with tongue hanging out-yuck.


We then saw the infant of Prague which truly is small. The Baby Jesus isn't even 2 ft. tall since it wasn't supposed to be on a front altar.

Sorry this is sideways


We had a little time of our own to check out a few things or to revisit others. We needed a little free time to explore. We checked out a Tesco store which is like a Target and then we just wandered about checking various sites of Prague.

We had a farewell dinner celebration at a local brew pub. We had a very nice time. It did take awhile to warm up to this group but we did meet some really nice folks.




Our tour guide in Europe and the accordion player


The brew pub in action while folks are dining.

This evening we went down to the bar to relax and Walt ordered an Absinthe which WE would not recommend. It is really strong and not very tasty. The bar tender recommended sugar but that did little to enhance the taste.




It came straight in a small shot glass. I put my little iPad connector next to it to give it a little perspective. We experienced it. :-(

Old Town Prague Area

Monday April 7, 2014

We took the bus to Old Town and then did a walking tour of several of the various churches and had numerous architectural buildings pointed put. The city of Prague has the most varieties of architecture of almost anywhere. There is Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Art Nouveau, Cubist, Post Modern and of course the socialist type from the communist era. The city is quite a mixture. There are also some very modern commercial buildings as well.
























We also crossed the Charles Bridge, but this time we did it during the day. It is lined with all sorts of statues most of which are from the 17th century. We walked down to Kampa Island where we saw the long wall with all sorts of legal graffiti which is the wall of John Lennon. Lots of folks have added to this wall which has lots and lots of layers of paint.



We watched the old astronomical clock strike and see the apostles make a rigid circle through 2 windows and a skeleton ring a bell while a rooster just crowed 3 times. Wow! What excitement. Actually since it was built in 1490, that is phenomenal. It also has astrology, moon cycles, when sun sets and seasons. If you wanted to see the real time, there were 2 other clocks on the tower. This clock strikes close to the hour up until 9 pm each day. It was interesting.



We were also able to check out some of their markets which are active since they are the markets for Easter.



Notice how neatly the fruit is displayed to sell


This lady is hand painting eggs for the Easter Holiday.


In the afternoon we toured around the Jewish Quarter. We toured several synagogues as well as a Jewish Cemetary. This old Cemetary had over 12,000 graves in 11 levels packed into a very small area. The Spanish Synagogue looked very Moorish and different.





All in all it was a busy day.

Around Prague

Sunday April 6, 2014

We headed out of Prague today. We stopped in Becov and went into a castle that housed a very special reliquary of St. Maurus from the 13th century. This relic had gone through all sorts of difficulties such as broken ornamentation, buried, put in a bank box and stolen. It was about 5 ft long and 2 ft. tall and shaped sort of like a house. It was covered in gold and all sorts of engravings and jewels and various gems. Right now to see it, you are taken on a special tour and each door of the castle is opened just before you enter and locked as you leave as they explain all about it. The last door is more like a Brinks truck which is locked and with a long list of things not to do: No cameras, no video, cell phones must be turned off ( maybe no breathing). Therefore we don't have any photos.




We then went onto Karlovy Vary for a walking tour of this lovely spa town. They have all sorts of hot/warm mineral streams. The mineral water is considered to be healing whether ingesting it from their special cup or soaking in it. This spa town is where Casino Royale with James Bond was filmed. It has some famous scenes from the Grand Pupp Hotel. Now we will have to look at it again.






Fancy resort in the Karlovy Vary spa area



Mineral water that you can put in the special cup and drink


Here the mineral water springs up and makes this large room very warm


If the water is not to your liking you can try Becherovka which can be drunk straight or with tonic water and a lime or lemon. It might be better than the spa water.


There were all kinds of shops with Bohemian crystal and garnets which are noted from this area. Lots of neat little shops and the prices of things are not too terribly expensive.




Lovely views down in the valley of this spa area


We then drove our 2 hours back to Prague for dinner and then went to the opera Don Giovanni. This time the surtitles were in English so we had a better idea of the plot. There was someone on the bus that said he felt he was cultured out. We totally agree at this point. We have seen enough cold, damp castles and enough operas to satisfy us for awhile.


This is called the Dancing House-Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. This is modern architecture.



We saw how hops are grown in the area. They are on tall stakes similar to vineyards. They actually grow quite tall. The Czech Republic has an excellent crop of hops and therefore does a terrific job of brewing beer.

The hops grow quite tall on these stakes.




A few kegs


We are sitting in the lobby and it seems someone from our group is missing a passport and credit cards. Not sure if pickpockets were the problem or what. The couple is in their 80s so not good. That is the reason to travel overseas while you are young enough to do it. Not good at all.

Here is a photo from the opera.




Sorry that my photos are a little out of order but I am getting tired and want to get this out from yesterday.