Skip to main content

2011 Day 1 - Prague



We have arrived - and with all our luggage, too!

Got to Logan airport to learn of a 3 hour delay, which would have resulted in a missed connection in Paris. BUT, a terrific team for Air France moved all 30 of us to a Luftansa flight with a connection through Frankfurt and we arrived in Prague just 10 minutes later than scheduled - thanks to their staff!!!

We were met by our tour director Robert and local guide Alex. They got us settled on the bus and provided a brief introduction of this wonderful city. We then headed to the Palace - nine times larger than Buckingham, it is the largest in all of Europe! And what splendid views of the city it provided from its balconies. We also toured the St. Vitus Cathedral. Even though the crowds were tough to navigate, we got to enjoy the beauty.

Then on to the hotel - which is terrific and perfectly situated near Old Town. Some grabbed a light lunch, some napped, and others began exploring. It was a beautiful day - sunny and about 75 degrees!

Fr. Kevin offered Mass in the outdoor veranda. After which we had our welcome meeting and headed to dinner.

Dinner was TERRIFIC! Great food (obviously, great company!) and some entertainment as well. The folklore show even got some of us singing, dancing or playing instruments! The food and drink were good too.

Tomorrow we will take a walking tour of Old Town and the Jewish Quarter. Then enjoy an afternoon of free time after which many of us will board a ship for an evening dinner cruise.

Everyone says hello to loved ones at home.

PS - we all sang happy Birthday to Barbara - and got all the other dinner guests involved too!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hi to Amanda, Alissa, and Percy. Glad to see you arrived safely. It rained all day in NH. All is well with Zippy, Zaney, Zeus, Zachari, and Zowie. Get a good nights sleep.
October 2, 2011 at 5:50 PM
Anonymous said…
Hi Peter, Please say hi to all the Greece travelers. I enjoyed your first blog. It sounds like Prague is a fascinating city. Looking forwarding to traveling with all of you through the email postings. enjoy , laugh and just have fun! mary obrien
October 3, 2011 at 10:19 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Barcelona - Dos

Day two in Barcelona has been fantastic! Jose gave us lots of information on the artist Gaudi - not born here but arrived in 1852 to attend the university.  His artistic style and influence can be seen across the city. We stopped at Park Guell which was an amazing outdoor area Gaudi designed near the home he lived in.  Inspired by nature, fairy tales and classical legends the park is beautiful.  With its kissing benches, 'candy house', salamander and plaza with the longest bench in the world it is a work of art in itself. Some of us made the walk up to the top where the three crosses are - and found even more breathtaking views of the city. From there we headed back downtown for a short walk to La Sagrada Familia cathedral.  Design by Gaudi and still not yet finished, it is very unique and ornate.  Just walking around the outside, Jose had enough informatiion to share about its intricacies that it took some time.  The line for entrance was nearly wrapped around the ch
437 comments
Read more

Cordoba

First our morning started with an alarm - or a lack of one; as Mary Jane and Pat's room never received a wakeup call.  So everyone else was on the bus ready to go when they finally got a knock on the door.  What troopers they were, though!  In 15 minutes they were on the bus with everyone and not long after they were able to laugh at the 'chaos' of it all. Our local guide Isabel was just delightful - and clearly has a love for her city.  She tells us that filmmaker Pedro Almodovar is from here as we begin our walk. First we go through the old Jewish center.  Nearly all of the city's buildings are white-washed (originally by the women we hear). We stop at an old Jewish synagogue and learn some history of the area.  Then we stop at the statue of a famous rabbi ( can you name him ?) which legend is that by rubbing his foot and then touching your own head you will get taller and wiser.  most of us did that - some hoping for extra height, others for a bit of wisdom!
231 comments
Read more

2011: Day 4 - Vienna

Another great day! We had a 6am wake up call - but it paid off! Our tour director, Robert, secured the first reservations of the day at Shronbrunn Palace - which meant we were the only guests in the Palace for the most part. We went room to room with our own local guide, Gabi, for a nearly private tour! A one-of-a-kind experience for sure. The Palace and Gardens were beautiful. 1,441 rooms and acres and acres of grounds. We learned about Mary Theresa (and all of her 16 children). This was the summer palace for the Hapsburg dynasty. We then switched gears and went to see modern art at KunstHausWien - what a creative artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser was. And a man who epitomized eco-friendly living and work. A very different experience after our tour of the Palace. Next was a driving tour of some of the city's monuments, etc. with a stop for lunch along the way. We ended with a walking tour to additional historic spots and a tour of the downtown palace - the winter residence of the
132 comments
Read more