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.