I didn’t know how to condense the next part, so I’ll just break it up by days and if the post gets too long (which it totally will), you can stop on a given day and come back and read it later. I know it’s an overwhelming amount of text, but I’d never been to the Czech Republic so I had more than my fair share of observations.
Day 0.5 – Transit Day… Are We There Yet?
The next part of our journey was a great deal of fun. We took the TGV (le train de grand vitesse – train of great speed) from Paris to Frankfurt. This is by far the most comfortable way to travel long distances. At some points reaching speeds of nearly 300 km/hour, the train made it to Frankfurt in less than four hours. We had an electrical outlet for our computer (no internet though), big comfortable seats, and a big center table to use for eating the free meal (chevre, ham, a roll, coffee, etc.) or a game of cards. We loved the whole experience of the rail travel. In Frankfurt we rented a van to get to Prague. Andy and I both hate road trips, so this was not our favorite part of the trip, but after about six hours in the car (with stops) we made it to Prague without incident.
Day 1 – Prague- For Real This Time
Since we arrived in the evening, we didn’t have time to see any of Prague that evening, so we ordered room service (goulash and svickova) and watched really awful British television and a movie on our laptop. The next morning we headed out for a walking tour of the city which gave me an introduction to most of the city, despite the somewhat miserable rainy, cold weather. We walked through St. Wenceslas Square, through the New Town, to Old Town Square and the Jewish Quarter, across the Charles Bridge to the Lesser Quarter and the Prague Castle (it was a long walk, but totally worth it). We saw everything and our guide was really good. My favorite parts were Old Town Square, St. Vitus Cathedral in the Prague Castle, and the cute shops and restaurants of the Lesser Quarter. St. Vitus was absolutely massive and we were lucky enough to see the tomb of St. Wenceslas, though he wasn’t in it, as his body has been dispersed throughout the country in various churches and cathedrals as relics (his skull is at St. Vitus, though). St. Vitus was really spectacular, both inside and out, but it would almost have to be considering it took 600 years to build. I have to admit I was a little disappointed with the Charles Bridge – half of it was under construction, it was raining, and it was teeming with Asian tourists, so you really couldn’t get a feel for the spectacle of the bridge. It was still very impressive, though, I was just hoping for fewer 21st century intrusions on the medieval bridge. After our walking tour, we met some of George’s family at a well-known restaurant (the chef was Vaclav Havel’s personal chef); more svickova followed. Thankfully, the children of George’s cousin spoke English well, so it was much less awkward than it could have been and we got along well with them. We returned to the hotel and watched more dreadful British TV (some sort of horror show with one of the guys from Love Actually… it was laughably bad).
Day 2 – Prague
The next day brought equally miserable weather, but Andy and I didn’t go to Europe to sit in a hotel all day, so we went back to the Charles Bridge with George with jackets and umbrellas to see it at a slower pace than the frenzied hike of our walking tour. We dodged the rain by spending time in the beautiful St. Nicholas Cathedral, a baroque style church in the Lesser Quarter. It was a very different church from the gothic and neo-gothic St. Vitus, with sculpture and painting covering nearly every surface of the church. We took our time examining the statuary, the ornate ceiling, and the various altars. Finally, we ventured back into the rain, crossing the Charles Bridge once more in search of food. We found a nearly empty restaurant that served Budvar (a necessity for Andy) and had more goulash and svickova. After lunch, George headed back to the hotel and Andy and I did a little shopping, finding some cute little toys for our nephew and comparison shopping for crystal and garnet earrings for me (the two main items that are uniquely Czech). At 5:00, we went to Old Town Square to watch the Astronomical Clock change time with the apostles in procession and death ringing a bell. It was very cute, albeit short. Then we met more family members for dinner and had even more svickova. After dinner, we had tickets to a marionette performance of Don Giovanni (which Mozart wrote specifically to be performed in Prague). Despite being a little touristy, I loved it and thought it was really cute. Marionette theatre is a big deal in the Czech Republic and the people manipulating the dolls were immensely skilled.
Day 3 – Our Last Day in Prague (Is That a Castle or Are You Just Happy to See Me?)
With our last day in Prague, we decided to explore the castle in more detail, seeing the throne room, the various churches, the dungeon, the towers, and some of the museums on the property. At this point in our trip, Andy was so over art museums, so we practically ran through St. George’s Convent, which now holds a massive collection of 18th and 19th century Bohemian art. We explored the history of the Prague Castle as it changed hands over the centuries. Andy and I went off on our own to explore the Golden Lane, the castle goldsmiths once lived and briefly housed Franz Kafka as well, the courtyards, and one of the towers which shows the history of the castle guards. We had a late lunch just outside the castle walls (more goulash, more svickova) before heading to St. George’s Basilica, the best preserved Romanesque church, where St. Ludmila was buried in 973, for a classical music concert. More svickova followed the concert and then it was back to the hotel to pack for our next stop.
Day 4 – Family Day in Ceske Budejovice
The next morning we drove to Ceske Budejovice, George’s home town. It took about two hours to get there, so by the time we arrived it was lunch time. We had lunch with Andy’s great aunt and cousins, only one of whom spoke English, so this was a painfully awkward encounter. After lunch, we went to Lhenice (which is so not pronounced how it’s spelled), where George spent his summers as a child. We visited the cemetery where his grandmother and other relatives are buried and visited some more cousins (none of whom spoke English). The house we visited in Lhenice is considered the family “castle.” Andy calls it his castle. The house was built in 1610 (not a typo) and has walls that look like fortifications, an upper and lower garden, and a great big sundial emblazoned with the date it was built. It’s also adjacent to the very old town church. It was very much what you’d expect of a 400-year-old house in rural Bohemia. One of my favorite things in that area were these little chapels scattered throughout the fields. The chapels were built for the farmers and agricultural laborers to pray in while they worked. Under communist rule, the chapels were abandoned and fell into disrepair. Some of them are still quite beautiful with paintings of the Virgin Mary, crucifixes, and small statues. I thought they were very cute. We returned to Ceske Budejovice to visit the town square, which is a very large square filled with shops and restaurants and old facades; unfortunately, nothing was open because it was Sunday, so we decided to return the next morning. I was really sick of all the svickova at this point, so I switched to pork schnitzel just for diversity.
Day 5 -Ceske Krumlov – the Coolest Movie Set Ever
The next morning we packed up the car and visited the town square so Andy and I could buy the crystal we’d had our eyes on. We spent about 45 minutes in the crystal shop, picking patterns, looking at hand-cut pieces, and figuring out how much we could buy given the budget we had set. Since we hadn’t spent any of our “Europe money” we spent quite a bit on the crystal, but it’s so worth it – Bohemian crystal is the best. We hopped back into the car and went to Cesky Krumlov, one of the sights I was most looking forward to on the trip. It’s a fantastically well-preserved medieval town, complete with the requisite castle. When we arrived, I was not disappointed. The best word I can think of for it is picturesque, because everything looked make-believe. If Christopher had been with us, he would have sworn up and down that it was a movie set and the cameras would be rolling by at any moment. We walked to the top of one of the castle towers for an amazing view of the town, and wandered the cobblestone streets (where I finally found a good price on the garnet earrings I had been checking out since we arrived in the Czech Republic). We saw the bear that still lives in the moat (yes, bears protected the castle) and had lunch at an outdoor café as the sun FINALLY came out; it was the first time in about 3.5 days that we weren’t cold and wet.
Final Thoughts:
From there we began our very long journey home. Suffice it to say, Andy and I would rather have flown out of Prague instead of out of Paris to avoid the very long trip back to France. We were not fans of Frankfurt and would probably discourage people from visiting it. We would also discourage people who want to drive across Europe. Trains are much better, much more comfortable, and a million times more efficient. So that was the end of our European vacation. Andy and I have a lot of thoughts of what we would do and where we would go next time we go to Europe. Maybe Paris again and Vienna and Salzburg? Maybe the Greek Islands? Maybe the Mediterranean coast with the French Riviera, Monaco, and the Italian Riviera? Maybe Rome, Vatican City, and Florence? Only time (and our budgets) will tell. For now, we have about 800 pictures and videos to go through and edit and countless memories of our first European vacation together.
The Charles Bridge actually looked better during the communist era.
Very few tourists and no vendors. That’s the cost of freedom.
High speed train travel is the way to go between large European cities.
Compared to air travel, it is more efficient due to the lack of security checks. The train stations are also coveniently located in the center of the cities, close to major hotels and attractions. Cars are a liability in Paris and Prague. Parking is very expensive and hard to find.
My father was a Bohemian named Herda. He was born in North Dakota as I was. I had an uncle by the name of George Herda. I presently live in Texas. I guess there are several Herdas living in the states. It was good to read your trip report. Thanks.