Hello Prague

It is not our first time meeting, but it was a time worth mentioning.

An evening arrival lead to a well deserved nap after an already long, and very eventful day, touring Dresden with a stopover to see Bastei (from previous post). Our Prague Apartment was lavish with 12 ft ceilings, crown moulding, a kitchen, and a full living area with a sectional, a balcony with river view... and in a central location. Let's just say your money goes a long way in Prague, and we had found a great deal on this hidden gem. Content and somewhat rested, we headed out to dinner to meet up with my cousin Vanja. We decided to call it an 'early' night (around midnight) in preparation for touring the city the following day.

Morning view from Charles Bridge

I was thrilled, waking up to a foggy morning with the sun rays fighting to break through. Dreary enough to set the mood, but warm enough to walk the city. Not wanting to miss the foggy Prague experience we headed our quick to start our day. We barely made it to the Old Town square, when we decided it was time for a coffee, followed by a beer, and some people watching.

Jazz on Charles Bridge

People watching proves quite successful in Prague. During our two days there we witnessed several 'just' wed couples, gown and suit on, posing in only the most touristy spots, followed by a minimum of five photographers. We also witnessed a street fight between a homeless couple which got rather uncomfortable as it went on as no one knew what exactly to make of it, and the Police not seeming overly concerned. Of course, we also saw more pleasant people playing music in bands on washboards and trumpets, and lonely violinists.

Charle's Bridge

And then there is the 'Old Prague Ham', delicious as it is pricey, but who could resist the smell of the juices dripping down as it is roasting over an open fire? Let's be clear on this... a tourist trap for sure...but a delicious tourist trap I would gladly fall into again.

Old Prague Ham

The last time I visited Prague it was short and sweet, with icey winds dusting the bridges, my feet frozen, and hence most of my time there spent indoors with family. This time we made it up to Prague Castle, and were able to enjoy breathtaking views of the city below. 

One of the many views from Prague Castle

After a successful day touring the city we relaxed by taking a boat trip down the Vltava river, taking in some of the city's history from our friendly guide. It is always nice to learn something from your travels, especially when visiting such historically rich places. Once we decided the day was a success, we treated ourselves to a fantastic Czech meal, some good Czech beer (of course), and a spontaneous night out to remember....all in great company. 

Prague from Charles Bridge

Dresden & Bastei

Hello European road trip!

We welcomed Jay to Berlin with a night out on the town, and an authentic sunday flea market experience at Mauerpark. Jay is our first visitor from Calgary, bringing along like always his sarcastic jokes and good humour. After two days in Berlin; going through more than a few bottles of white wine, german beer, and some open air karaoke, we were ready for our road trip. Out on the open road - but this time in a slightly better vehicle than the itty bitty Citroen we took to München -the guys were quite content to find themselves with the keys of a new Mercedes in hand at the car rental office, free to roam the Autobahn as they please. Stop #1 Dresden.

Dresden Frauenkirche

Dresden was known as the Jewel box, due to its rococo and baroque architecture. However, at the end of WWII the centre was completely destroyed during an allied bombing killing over 25,000 civilians. Some restoration work has been done to help reconstruct the historic city centre, and we were definitely impressed with the beauty of Dresden even more so now knowing its history.

Dresden Zwinger

After a stroll around the city, a beer in the main square, and some postcards sent out to family and friends we took off to our next destination. This was thanks to a late night of Lukasz and I on pinterest, daydreaming about all the places in the world we would like to see...and we came upon Bastei.

A winding drive through small towns of Saxen, up and down hill, then finally a passenger ferry across the Elbe river.... now just to hike up. We did feel a little out of place, as everyone else visiting the spa town Rathen on the foot of the hills was geared up for a hike, and in contrast we were dressed for our final destination of that day - Prague (I may or may not have had little booties on). 

Jay & Lu on the ferry

Nevertheless, we made our way up to Bastei Brücke as we knew what was waiting for us at the top, and we were looking forward to it. The Bastei rock formation towers above the Elbe river, and became one of the first tourist attractions in Saxen traced back to 1798 (over 200 years). Interestingly enough, seeing the rocks I swore that I have seen them before...and I was right. The vistas and rock formations inspired numerous well known artists, among them Caspar David Friedrich whose art I studied in Uni extensively (who knew that would happen?!). 

Bastei Bridge

It really is a breathtaking sight. The Bastei rock formation are just a part of an extensive climbing and hiking area that extends into the Czech Republic and Bohemian Switzerland. I must say that I was very happy to come across this place, as nature for me is still the most breathtaking of sights. 

Couples photo

Bastei

After a long first day, we arrived in Prague come nightfall and were ready for a new adventure... more on Prague next post. 

Bis dann! 

Prosit for Oktoberfest

Dirndl & Lederhosen in tow, we made our way to Oktoberfest. We decided to drive to München, since apparently Oktoberfest gives everyone the right to raise their prices for travel/accommodation to insane heights. So we picked up our tiny two door Citroen DS3 (details for later story telling purpose), hopped in, and drove off.

The beauty about driving is that you can stop anytime you like, anywhere you like, and for as long as you like. So we had already decided that we would make a stop over in Nürnberg. It was only by chance that the week of our trip, Lukasz found out that not only is his favourite soccer team playing there, but it is both the date and time that we would be passing through, and we got two of the last tickets before the game sold out. What are the chances?!

The old part of Nürnberg was charming, people dancing & singing on the streets, a market selling fresh produce, sausages, cheese, and yes....truffles... yum.  Actually they had a stand dedicated just to mushrooms, any kind you could ever imagine. I just wish I had a photo of Lukasz, happy as a boy on Christmas morning, sitting in the stands watching Borussia Dortmund play FC Nürnberg.

Arrived in München without much trouble around 7pm, found parking around 8:30pm. Took us over an hour to park the vehicle, and we weren't even in the centre but a residential area. At this point in the day Ludwig (Lukasz) and I (Heidi), met with Hans (Marko), Wolfgang (Colin), and Greta (Nina) for some drinks in the heart of the city. Yes... we all had German names for the festivities. Rakija led to beer, which led to more beer, and then another. Truth be told, it was better this way as we had to sleep in our car (aha use above detail about car size here) due to our accommodation not being booked until the next day (we were convinced by Nina to come out a day earlier). 

Marienplatz

At least now we can say that we got a parking ticket, while parked on a sidewalk, and still sleeping in the car. Oktoberfest was .... WUNDERBAR... good people, 1L jugs of beer, sausages, more sausages, more beer.. .well that about sums it up - wait did I mention sausages?! 

Ludwig grasping for a handful of Strudel

Camera Crew

All that sausage eating, beer drinking, and pretzel eating had to be worked off somehow. So we did a nice long tour of the city. Parks, beautiful architecture, gardens, more beer gardens, oh and city river surfing.

River surfing at Eisbach

About the tents - though you can't really call them tents as elaborate as they were. After long discussions of whether these gigantic wood constructions get taken down or not; we were impressed to find out that each year they re build them just for Oktoberfest. Each one of the 14 tents runs upward of 1mil. euros! They have kitchens with the newest equipment, nice bathrooms, windows, terraces, lights, decorations, stages, speakers, tables, and of course and endless supply of beer...phew. 

'Hacker - Pschorr Heaven of Bavaria'

Wine tent

The beauty of Oktoberfest is really in the traditional costume. You look around to see everyone is dressed up, and immediately feel like part of something bigger. Thousands of colourful Dirndl each as pretty as the next, and I can honestly say I didn't see two alike. The dresses did their part being tight in all the right places for maximum cleavage (not that I needed it), and the men strutting their stuff in lederhosen, ogling the bosoms of servers. I can't say that I blame them. Oktoberfest attracts over 7 million of visitors each year from all over the world. At almost €10 a mass (1L Beer), that is a whole lot of cash guzzled down, and spilled. 

Karl

View from Ferris wheel of part of the Wiesn grounds 

Oktoberfest München 2013

Dirndl & Lederhosen for four days straight, seriously, not even sure why I packed anything else...although the wool socks did come in handy for sleeping in the cold car. On the bright side; we did not have to do much laundry after the trip. In the spirit of this post, a little goodbye in bayrisch...

Pfiat di! 

Oktoberfest postcard; Karl, Katja, Heidi, Ludwig, Wolfgang, & Greta.