Day 12 - The Big Apple!

Our day in New York City was fabulous!  Due to the jet lag, we only got a little over 4 hours sleep and awoke pretty early so I worked on the prior days blog and then went for a workout at the hotel fitness center while Carol contacted the tour people and we purchased tickets and we hopped on a double- decker open air bus tour about 8:30AM. The tour covered so many famous sites and landmarks and the tour guide provided so much interesting information as we drove along. The city was bustling and traffic was notoriously very bad so we were able to take many photos along the way. Our tour went through the many ethnic areas like Greenwich Village, Chinatown, Little Italy, and sections such as Mid-town, Uptown, Financial District, Fashion District, Madison Avenue, Wall Street, Theatre District, East Side, West Side, Lower East Side, etc. The tour guide gave the names of all the celebrities that have lived and do live at each building and in hotels like the Waldorf Astoria, Ritz Carlton, etc. Landmarks along the way  included the Flatiron Building, Empire State Building, Central Park, Rockefeller Center, Carnegie Hall, Trump Tower, the United Nations buildings, Radio City Music Hall, Woolworth Building, Grand Central Station, Madison Square Garden, and on and on. The only thing we didn't have time to do was take the Staten Island Ferry or go out to Ellis Island and The Statue of Liberty. It was still under repair from hurricane Sandy and won't open until July 4th. Oh well, another reason to plan a trip back to NYC some time.

One of the things that struck us both was the price of living in Manhattan. Even in the rent control and subsidized rent area, a renewed lease today for a one bedroom 500 sq. ft. apartment would be $3,200 per month. One comparison given is that if one lived in Houston, TX making $70K annually you would need $180K annually to maintain the same standard of living. Likewise, the cost of a couple thousand square foot dwelling to purchase is in the $2.2 million range, and that's in addition to $2,400 in monthly homeowners association and maintenance fees, etc.  

The tour lasted three and one-half hours and we were then ready for lunch. We went to a place named Juniors that was right next to our hotel. Carol ordered a pastrami and I ordered a combo pastrami and corned beef sandwich on onion rolls. The meal came with coleslaw and pickled beets. We were pretty full but couldn't resist ordering some famous New York Cheesecake. We agreed to split a slice of Red Velvet Cheesecake. Wow, it was incredible, and more that the two of us could eat.

After lunch we collected our bags at the hotel and then walked a short distance to the nearest metro subway and rode the subway to the airport, connecting to the AirTrain at the Jamaica station and then on to JFK. 

After a just over three hour flight we were back in Dallas and it was in the upper 80's and very warm. Our son Bruce was there to pick us up at the airport.  We have a lifetime of memories and pictures from this trip and can't wait to plan and go on the next one!

Day 11 - Heading Home PRG - LHR - JFK

After a nice breakfast and morning finishing up souvenir shopping around on the Castle side of the river in Prague, we tried three ATM's before we actually got some extra Czech money for tram fare to the PRG airport. Carol had the misfortune yesterday morning of having an older male store clerk be rude to her, saying "your English is not good", "I don't like your English".  We found communication to be difficult with a few older people we met in Prague. Prague was definitely a mix of people from all over the world as you heard a lot of Russian being spoken in addition to many other languages. There was an amazing number of Japanese and Chinese visitors too, mainly traveling in tour groups.

It was a short walk downhill from our hotel to the tram that took us to the bus that took us right to the airport. We couldn't get the ticket machine to work so had to just hop aboard the right tram. It took about an hour to get to the airport and we were way early for our flight. We tried checking into taking an earlier flight to London, but that didn't work out.

The weather was nice as it's been all week in Prague with sun and temps in the 70's.  You can see aerial pics of the large fields of the yellow Rape that they raise throughout Europe for bio-fuel, as well as some shots of downtown Prague as we departed.

The weather was nice in Heathrow as we arrived and I saw from the air what looked like a pond where teams would practice their team rowing. I thought Bruce Andrew would find this interesting.

After much walking through the airport we arrived with time to spare for our NYC departure. The plane left right on time at 7PM and we had a strong tailwind "across the pond", getting us into JFK about 45 minutes early. We needed this extra time as we then made it fairly quickly through Customs and Border Control and claimed our bags.  We hopped on the AirTrain to the Jamaica stop where we then jumped on the E Subway line and after a pretty long ride made it to the Broadway, 42nd Street and Times Square area. It only cost about $8.75 per person to get to the hotel. We had to do a lot of unnecessary walking it seemed to get oriented and find our hotel above ground and we immediately began snapping pics.

Even though it was after 11PM at night, with all the lighted video sign and billboards, it was like mid-day and people were swarming everywhere. We were happy to get to our room and then go out for a few minutes walking and taking in all things happening in and around Times Square then close to 1AM on Friday.

View from our hotel just above......

Of course I found fascinating that the Naked Cowboy, now a Times Square landmark, was out performing and promoting himself at near midnight too.

We got up at 5AM and decided to get going for the day. We could see the people crowding up already for the taping of what I guess is the Today Show in Times Square right from our hotel window.

Things are a bit pricey at the hotel. An order of pancakes for instance is $21, a bowl of hot oatmeal is $10 and a fruit plate is $18. So NY is living up to it's high cost billing.

Day 10 - Last Day in Prague then headed towards home!

Today was our last full day in Prague. It was a beautiful cloudless day and definitely t-shirt weather. We began with a nice typical European breakfast across from our hotel, at a sister hotel affiliated with ours. It was the first proper breakfast that we've had since we arrived in Europe. It included yogurt, cold cuts, scrambled eggs, fruits, cheeses, etc. As I write this blog I heard a small brass ensemble playing and looked out our window this evening and some form of procession of several hundred people going down our street to the Cathedral just down the hill from us. Honestly, we've reached the point of "Cathedral saturation". Some people we met agreed with us when she stated, "ABC", Another Big Cathedral. Having seen hundreds of them in Europe, the all begin to look the same. The opulence is overboard in many cases. On the Prague Palace grounds today we saw St. Vitus Cathedral, which was 600 years in construction. The Prague Palace has the largest surface area of any palace in the world and we saw many parts of it. We started in the National Gallery and that was very nice. Then we went to the St. Vitus Cathedral. We saw the Golden Lane which is a series of small houses along the castle wall that used to house military personnel guarding the palace over the years. These small cottages were later lived in by women who used them for abodes where they were seamstresses, and many other crafts. Also there was a small goldsmith shop and a typical bar that included the kitchen, complete with rabbits and birds hanging from the ceiling, wine barrels, and a wooden table set with metal plates & utensils. Above these small cottages was a display of hundreds of knight armour ensembles. At the far end of the Castle wall was another torture chamber with implements still in place as well as a dungeon.

We also stopped to see the Rosenberg Palace, also on the Prague Palace grounds. A nice fresco was in the entrance area and many 18th century furnishings of the elite were on display. We found a portable toilet interesting.

As we were exiting the Castle we were treated to a brass band playing some recognizable music, including the theme from "The Magnificent Seven" as eight motorcycle police did some precision riding to the music. This was very entertaining. 

After three hours touring the Castle we were ready for some lunch so we freshened up a bit at our hotel, which was 3 minutes from the Castle, and then went to a recommended restaurant named Cowbowys, right next to our hotel. They have a western theme and a nice rooftop patio with a panoramic view of the city, which we enjoyed. We both ordered Hickory BBQ Hamburgers and they came to us extremely rare. We could not eat them and had to send them both back for further cooking.

We continued to souvenir shop near our hotel and discovered that both the Romanian and Italian Embassy offices were on the same street as our hotel. Both were flying the EU flag as well as there respective country flags.

In the afternoon we walked down to the river and decided to walk across the Charles Bridge from our hotel side and there were many vendors set up and even a Dixieland Jazz band set up playing music that everyone seemed to enjoy.

As we were getting back to our hotel we stopped at a small grocery store to stock up on our favorite drink, Coca Cola Light. We will never get used to drinking lukewarm Diet Coke however and the default is no ice offered at any restaurant. As I was checking out at the grocery store I was suprised to see a chocolate bar that was embedded with Cannibas. Very interesting in light of the current debate in the US, and I didn't know how I was going to get it past TSA.

Wednesday evening we may take one more stroll in the evening to see how things look at night all lit up along the river and at the Charles Bridge vicinty. There was a small Classical music group of 30 or more chairs that was setting up on a barge on the river that will probably be playing this evening too.

As of mentioned on Facebook, Prague is the marionette capital of the world and we saw all types of famous figures made into puppets. Saw one of Barak Obama, but didn't know how I would use it if I had it.

On Thursday we will need to leave for the airport just after lunch time and then will layover for a couple hours at London Heathrow before we begin an overnight trip to New York City where we will spend a night at the Times Square Marriot before heading home to Dallas on Friday. It has been a wonderful trip that we have packed so much into. It's hard to believe all we've experienced and seen over the last 10 days. This international travel is not for the weak or easily weary and is somewhat pricey, and we walked so much every day, but it is so rewarding in terms of cultural awareness and understanding. I developed some kind of hip problem that I will need to have looked at when I get back and Carol had sore feet almost everyday, but we are thankful for all that we experienced and for the beautiful weather and good health we did have. Can't wait for the next opportunity to travel and experience other cultures and places next time. Carol worked so hard in the research and trip preparation and got us into some of the nicest hotels at so modest prices it was unbelievable. She is a great wife and travel companion and we look forward to many years together, if the Lord allows it.  

Day 9 - - Second Day in Prague / New Hotel / Communism Museum / Torture Museum

Today we lounged around enjoying the time in our spacious suite, checking out at the last minute and storing our luggage so we could easier sightsee.  We headed to the Jewish Quarter, where a number of Synagogue's exist (Europe's oldest synagogue, Spanish Synagogue, etc.), where there is a Jewish cemetery, etc. We also found a small Jewish cafe were we decided to try a corned beef and pastrami sandwich quick before we went to see the astronomical clock to view it, where various things happen on the hour, with the most being 12 noon. We then wandered around the old town and actually got lost and amazingly ended up at our hotel by accident. The streets are so curvy and winding here.

We saw King Wencaslas square where so many historic things have taken place in the Czech Republic's history. It was in that New Town area we saw Starbucks, Burger King, KFC, McDonald', TGI Fridays, etc. I was interested in the Communism Museum so we found it, next to the Casino, and enjoyed looking at various artifacts and a movie on Czechoslovakia's 40 year oppression as a Russian satellite state. George Bush visited the Czech Republic on the 1 year anniversary of their Velvet Revolution that occurred in 1989. One of the events that led up to the social unrest and eventual overthrow of Communism in CZ was a college student that set himself on fire to protest the continued occupation.

Our sightseeing then took a macabre turn as I convinced Carol to go see the Medieval Torture Museum that was on the way back to our hotel. It is amazing to see the various kinds of torture implemented during the Medieval times right up to the not too distant past (waterboarding, etc.). Fortunately neither of us had bad dreams as a result of this experience.

We then relocated across the river to another hotel Carol had reserved for two nights and it is just a stones throw from the Castle and Parliament buildings. The hotel name is The Green Lobster and it had a wood beam ceiling much like the Palace Suite, but it was painted. The Green Lobster room also was a four room suite and is very old.

Marionette's are very popular here and they have a National Marionette Theatre.

For dinner this night I looked up a Chinese Buffet on my phone and talked Carol into checking it out. It turned out to be the worst dining experience we've ever had. So my advice is don't ever go to Prague and try the Chinese buffets. We were both so glad food poisoning did not set in and we are experiencing no ill effects.

Today we will spend much time exploring the Castle and all surrounding areas.

Day 8 - Traveling to Prague (Praha)

On our last morning in Vienna we still wanted to stop by the Nasch market we had been told about, so after packing everything up and storing it with the hotel we walked a short distance to a huge open air market area.  There must have been hundreds of vendors for several city blocks displaying their wares in the form of fresh vegetables, spices, candy and sweets, fresh fish, meats, pastries and baked goods, souvenirs, restaurants, ethnic specialties like Turkish or Russian food, etc. We had some Russian Pirogki's for breakfast, I had mushroom and Carol had potato & bacon filled. A Pirogki is simply a small baked good with a flaky crust with the desired filling. One man was selling regular and organic sauerkraut right out of wooden barrels. Carol found some nice Cashmere scarves that were selling for 5 Euros and bought one.

We then went back to the hotel to retrieve our luggage and catch the #62 tram to the Wien Meidling train station, just as we had done the morning earlier. We arrived at the train station in plenty of time and this time had first class tickets. To pass the time, I pulled out my guitar and harmonica rack and posed for a picture as if I was busking (street musician playing for money).  I seeded my guitar case with all the loose change I've collected all week and got a lot of nice head nods and eye contact from the people as they got off the arriving trains when I started playing from my repertoire and 12-bar blues, etc. Carol was so embarrassed and eventually picked up my case....I had not made any extra money on my own anyway.

The train was a little late, but we eventually departed and found some open seats in the first class car. I was wearing my Aggie jacket for warmth as it was cooler yesterday AM, I got comments from two sets of couples that were on the train in our section from the US and knew of the Aggies. One group were K-State fans and I talked with them a while. Another couple had been in Europe for a couple weeks and live in San Antonio, TX. Had good visits with each of them and it was good to be able to speak to anyone in English.  The train ride across the Austrian and then Czech countryside was beautiful. Everything was very lush and green, so they must not have a drought here. Saw a lot of fields planted with wheat and this yellow plant called Rape, that they use for Bio-fuel production extensively in this part of Central Europe.  Also, there are quite a few wind turbines, just as we'd seen in Hungary, Austria and now Czech Republic. The train wound through some small hills and rockhewn tunnels with diverse forests and small creeks and rivers alongside. We stopped at the Czech border for a few minutes as new conductors and waitstaff got on the train at each border. Our tickets and passports are always checked too. I almost finished up the leftovers from that huge pork hock I had ordered the night before and had refrigerated. It was delicious the second day as well. Breclav below is the town where we crossed the border into the Czech Republic. It was about a 5 hour train ride from Vienna to Prague.

We were kind of lost when we got to the train station in Prague and it usually takes a few minutes to find ticket machines with an English button, view a subway map, and get some smaller currency to buy tickets, etc. Plus it was right at rush hour and it was crowded and people were going in everywhich direction. After a few connections, and getting off a standing room only subway car that had to be placed out of service, we found our stop and emerged from the subway system and tried to get our bearings.  Fortunately Prague sits on the Vltava River so we were able to track along the river and we stumbled upon our hotel after a few blocks. Carol had booked us on Priceline into this place that had been a former palace of an Earl that was a close friend of Mozart in the day. The reception people surprised us by upgrading our room to a suite that was two stories, about 2,000 square feet and they said is where Mozart stayed when he visited his friend in Prague. The ceilings are about 12 feet and are made of exposed dark wooden beams, all eight inch square, and they are held together with wooden or steel 1 inch pegs. In this suite which looks directly into a beautiful courtyard, there are two bedrooms, an entry and sitting foyer, living room with two chandeliers,  a kitchen, two bathrooms, and antique furnishings and decor throughout. Carol said the rack rate for this room is $850 a night, fortunately she only paid $150 on Priceline, but we are only staying here one night and moving across the river to another historical hotel named The Green Lobster for the next two nights. It was built in the 14th century Carol says.

When checked into our hotel we freshened up a bit and then took off to explore part of the Jewish Quarter, explored the Charles Bridge, and ate a nice meal of Goulash and Beef Stroganoff and then retired for the night. It's interesting that almost none of the streets are paved here. They are all cobblestone and very rough and the sidewalks are made in decorative patterns using rock pieces as well. Today we will explore the castle, look closer at the famous Astronomical clock/calendar/horoscope (see pic below) and things to see in the Jewish Quarter. Prague is where Antonin Dvorak died in 1904 and they had this statue in front of a concert hall in town.