Tid Bits

 We packed well and smart for this trip, each only taking a small carry on, as well as a back pack for Dave and a tote bag for me. It may have looked like we lived in the same clothes....yes and no! I had purposely booked airbnbs with washing machines. In Europe a lot of times the washing machines are also a dryer so hard to tell. In London it was a dual machine, in Prague it was only a washer, which I found out trying to find the dyer setting only to restart the washer. I should have been clued in when we found a drying rack in the closet. 

I just packed coordinating colors, black, white, cream, dark turquoise and 1 pair jeans. It is not exciting but it works and good colors for city travel. Love Hawaii Rip Skirt clothes for travel, tops and skirts weigh next to nothing so pack light. The freedom of lugging a little suitcase on trains and buses, down streets and up stairs is so worth it.  And no lost luggage! 

While in London we felt like we were sometimes on the set/cast of "Emily In Paris"! It is a very fashion forward city! Women wore dresses or skirts, men in suits/pants. No one wore athletic wear here so my leggings were never worn, only item I packed that wasn't worn. Big round wire rimed glasses were also a thing there! I was not comfortable taking pictures of some of the ultra over the top fashions of a few people but wish I had! I just love observing the local style and culture! 

We had read that biking was not popular in London. We didn't feel that way. We were staying in the business district and noticed lots and lots of people commuting on bikes. Lime bikes were all over and the bike lines busy. 

Crossing the streets in London was a bit nerve racking for me. Love that they have "look left" or "look right" written at the cross walks but was still a bit unnerving as cars/bikes are coming from other directions when turning. We are used to looking at the driver of the car to see if they notice us before crossing which didn't come naturally for us to look on the other (correct) side for here.

Love the terms the Brits use: rubbish (trash), chuck it in (our host on how to load the soap into the washing machine) mind the gap (subways), loo, chips (fries) crisps (chips), mate. 

Prague- We were surprised to find most restaurants only served traditional fare, such as goulash, braised steak, fried chicken or pork schnitzel, very meat heavy and very brown. Although with talking to our seat compartment mate on the train from Cesky Krumov to Prague he said those traditional foods are usually eaten for get togethers such as family dinners or holidays, or for occasional eating out.  It seems Italian is popular everywhere, so we did eat plenty of Italian, guess it's the universal food! 

Prague seemed to be very popular with the younger population, seemed to have more young people out and about as well as more younger tourists than London. We did hear that Prague is a very popular destination for bachelorette and bachelor parties from other parts of Europe. We did witness a couple bachelor parties.....one man being questioned by a police after he was leaning on a wall along the water walk way relieving himself. We weren't interested enough to watch longer but did notice his buddies continued walking, stopped, and watched from a distance! 

We noticed very little homeless in both cities. Only once did we happen upon someone in London begging, man was walking through the subway holding a cup out for money. 

 Begging in Prague was very different and very non threatening. We did see a fair amount of begging in the tourist areas. All of the people begging assume a crouched down position bent forward with their forehead usually resting on the ground, holding a cup in front of themselves. Many times with a dog laying beside them. We didn't see anyone begging in any other way.

Prague did not feel as crowded as a whole compared to London. It was a perfect way to balance our trip, start off with the crowds and wind down with the slightly more calm areas of Prague and Cesky Krumlov. I do get tired of the crowds, Dave much less so!  

We both said we would do this trip all over again! 

 

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Cesky Krumlov-Prague -Oct 1

 We went out in search of a morning cup of coffee and settled on a sweet little alley place. It was adorable and was ran by an older non English speaking woman, actually she understood but didn't speak much back. This was the first of the trip we experienced it. I am ashamed that we don't speak other languages and the rest of the world does. We said our thank yous to her in Czech. I ordered an Americano and a hot out of the oven cinnamon roll, Dave had her 2 egg breakfast and a cappuccio. I felt bad but asked for a refill of water for my Americano. It was served as a shot of espresso with a thimble (possibly 2 tablespoons) of hot water on the side (so I needed another couple of tablespoons) The lovely lady understood and refilled the little white carafe.

My cinnamon roll and Americano, Dave was waiting for his egg breakfast, which he said was delish!

View from our little table. 

We then checked out of our room and found the breakfast area for our pension where we dropped off our back pack to pick up latter. The lovely lady working reception offered to make us a coffee. We enjoyed our coffees while visiting with a couple of men who were each traveling solo having breakfast. One man was an older man from Germany and had never been here, the other was younger and a photographer from Vienna who travels on bike hauling 120 pounds of gear and only takes 4 pictures a year which he then makes into a big picture and sells only one of! I love all the interesting people and stories to be had during travel. He was very interesting and he gave us his FB page. 

Then we were off to get tickets for the castle. 

We were the first english speaking tour of the day, there were only 7 of us and we had the most charming young guide ever. We commented with another man we have never had a guide who skips up and down stairs! She was just great! The castle complex was built around 1250 for the Witingonen family, whose coat of arms was a 5 petal rose. When they died out it was inherited by the Rosenberg family around 1300. 

Bears have guarded the castle since 1707, and they do not get ride of  them! So there are many bear rugs throughout. Guide told us the live bears names but don't remember. They look like they don't work too hard guarding any more! 

A few of the rugs in the castle....

First off the beautiful little church inside the palace.

The many beautiful rooms.

And the carriage.

The ball room with fun frescos.

After our tour we headed out on a walkabout outside of the walled area. 

Made our way back into the walled area and had lunch at a little bistro with a cute bathroom! We each had a ham and cheese croissant and shared a little dessert. Cute bathroom!

We caught the 2:00 pm train back to Prague spending the 2.5 hour ride chatting with a young local man who had perfect English and no accent. We asked him about that, English is taught in grade school, he has family in US and he studied abroad in US and worked a summer life guarding in New Jersey. He was more well travel in the USA  than us!

Last night on our balcony enjoying the view. We loved Prague and the area. This was an amazing trip!

Sept 30- Cesky Krumlov

 We packed very light into a back pack for our overnight trip, just pjs, clean underwear, and a few toiletries We will wear the same clothes tomorrow! Off we went to catch the train. The main train station in Prague is much like an airport with several clothing shops and even a huge grocery store. I guess its would be useful to people who commute for work, picking up groceries on their way home. 

After a 2.5 hour train ride we arrived in Cesky Krumlov.

We walked to find Pension Blume where we are staying for the night.

Pension Blume is within the walled city area. We were too early to check in so wandered around a bit and found a place for lunch, Papa's.

We had a wonderful lunch, great food, and amazing friendly service. No wonder it is highly rated.

View from the outdoor dining area, too cold for us though, we choose inside! 

We found the check in area for our pension, it was at the next door pension. Our room was very simple but all we needed for 1 night and at 54.00 USD  it was a bargain. The sign said Pension Danny as it was recently purchased and they haven't changed the sign yet.

We walked up to the castle and grounds, what amazing views. We thought Prague was beautiful but Cesky Krumlov is maybe even more so! Tomorrow we will take a tour of the castle so this afternoon we just wanted to explore the grounds.

We then walked around the charming walled in town. 

Peeked into a church

Because we couldn't find anywhere that looked great for dinner we went back to Papa's! They were happy to see us again! We did order different food and sat at a different table. Chicken Caesar salad for me, pasta for Dave. 

We walked around taking in the quiet evening. Most people just come for the day, why I decided we should stay the night. We will get up and head to the castle in the morning to beat the crowds.