Home Sweet Home! (sort of)

Kristin with a delectable pastry
see all photos »

We finished up our last day in Vienna by visiting the Schonbrunn Palace. It was stunningly large and looked like a painting as we approched it. We took the "Grand Tour", another audio tour. It was lovely.

After that we headed to our hotel to get our bags and went off to the train station. When we arrived at the train station they informed us that we were at the wrong train station! We hadn't purchsed any tickets yet, but we were hoping to get the train to Prague that left in just one hour. We found our way to the south station easily with our knowledge as experienced Metro riders in Vienna. Seriously, we loved how easy it was to get around that city, once we figured it out. I was eager to leave though. Vienna had many cool things to see with a lot of history, but so much of it just seemed like San Francisco to me.

We tried to by-pass the souvenir sweatshirts that say "I love Prague" or "Official member of the Prague Drinking Team"

IMG_2357.JPG
see all photos »

We were both getting on each others nerves at this point, so we decided it would be best to have a break. (you want the truth, don't you) Paul sat on a different car on the train and we spent the next four hours alone. I read Twilight and he coded on his computer. When the ride was over we were ready to unite again. :)

We arrived in Prague at 8:00- my home town! Well, actually, it is my great-grandparents hometown. I had never set foot on this soil, but I couldn't help but feel love for this place because of the genealogical connection, even if there were 5 people looking for a chance to mug us!

The both of us front of the National Museum
see all photos »

We took a deep breath and metally prepared ourselves for a long night trying to find our hotel, with nothing more than a pocket map in hand and oh- directions from google maps- which was like having nothing- let me tell you.

We ran into the missionaries at the train station and they helped us find the the machines to buy tickets for the city bus/tram/metro.(I love how they pop up at the right times.) They showed us how to use it and even a nice beggar guy helped them help us.

We remembered that we hadn't changed our currency from Euros to Koruna yet. The missionaries were in a hurry, so we thanked them and said goodbye. We tried in vain to find an ATM and finally after asking the scary looking guy in the information booth we found it. It seemed like shotty looking people were eyeing us, totally aware of our ignorance, so I made sure to make eye contact and smile, they left alone when we looked confident- or tried to anyway.

Where is Kristin?
see all photos »

We got some cash, but no coins, which was all the bus ticket machines would accept. We looked around for change machines, but couldn't see them. Paul had the brilliant idea to buy something at the small shop so we could get change back to buy the tickets for the metro. Great idea- except we hadn't really done our homework and only partially knew how to mentally convert the koruna into dollars.

The numbers are incredibly high and not as easy to convert in my head as euros were- 396kc= $20, 990.5kc= $50. We bought some snack foods from a man who spoke to us in Czech for a long time even though we said "English only." We went outside to count our change, and found that we didn't have enough. We didn't dare go back into the store with the long-winded Czech man.

You can see the astronomical clock in old town square, but can you see Kristin?
see all photos »

Aha! Burger King was there too. We went into Burger King. Paul bought Onion rings- still not enough change. I bought a Whopper- still not enough change. I didn't want to eat, so Paul ate it as I sat deflated and unsure how we would ever make it out.

We finally went back to the scary looking man in the information booth and asked him if he had any change..... He did, lots of it, in fact, he was the human change machine. If we only knew that before!

We found the Metro and took it as far as we could and prepared for a cold 20 minute walk the rest of the way. Side note- my mother let us borrow these wonderful small suitcases that roll as you pull them. They are, however, not so wonderful being rolled street after street on cobblestone at 9:00 p.m. We carried them. It was a miracle we made it to our hotel, really. We just walked in the direction we thought it was and ended up on the right street. We were grateful. We walked right past Prague Castle in the dark and wondered what it was. :)

Yes, Paul is wearing a scarf
see all photos »

Our hotel is great; the red carpeted, spiraled stair case to the lobby is included in the price. What a steal!

We spent today (Wednesday) walking through Old Town Prague. Prague is beautiful- more beautiful than Salzburg and Vienna in every way.  I wish I could say that we saw historical site after historical site, saw a concert, and took a boat ride in the river today, but I can't.

We intended to go to the castle first thing this morning, and did, except we couldn't handle the cold air to take the tour comfortably. Instead, we went on a hunt for warm clothes. I looked up the 10 day weather forecast for the countries we were to visit before we left, It said that the temperatures would be in the high 40's low 50's. So, we packed accordingly. The weather took a turn for the worse and is hanging out in the mid 30's. Thanks mother nature.

1000Kc's = ~$50 :)
see all photos »

We tried to by-pass the souvenir sweatshirts that say "I love Prague" or "Official member of the Prague Drinking Team", so we took our time, even though Paul does now own a beanie that says "Prague" on it. The locals laugh at him, seriously. (he thought they were laughing at him and not being horribly secure wearing Czech gear he thought it was why they were laughing.)

We each have new jackets/sweaters, hats, and gloves and I have a new scarf. The day ended much warmer than it began.

We did see things, despite our lengthy shopping spree, including some enormous catholic churches. I couldn't help but wonder if my great-grandparents sat on those same benches and looked at the same beautiful paintings or if they walked on the very same cobblestones that I did. If only I knew where their house used to be.

Tomorrow we will be hunting for Halusky, pronounced (haa-loosh-ky). It's a dish my Dad used to make us growing up. I tried to order it today for lunch, but the waiter informed me that Halusky is a Slovak dish, not Czech. He said there are a few Slovak restaurants in town. I can't wait to try the real thing. Dad- if there was a way I could mail it to you, I would!

Miss you all!