tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6044327.post-25645646223314464392007-06-11T18:15:00.000-04:002007-06-25T23:40:04.581-04:00Europe Wrapup 2 - mid May - Czech weekend WOW. What a fucking awesome city. Mary and I were quite impressed. In fact, we were totally unprepared for and blown away by the beauty of Praha. And the liveliness of the city. And the food. Okay, you get the point. It was a really special weekend. And after a week of dreary weather in Belgium, Mary finally got to see some blue skies! <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_FnwhjJNwANs/Rl3wh7uSK6I/AAAAAAAAAGs/KGmjm9nojbM/s1600-h/prag1.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_FnwhjJNwANs/Rl3wh7uSK6I/AAAAAAAAAGs/KGmjm9nojbM/s400/prag1.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5070473221247216546" /></a> Prague Castle & St. Vitus's Cathedral towering above the Vltava river We stayed in a perfectly located hostel -- between Wenceslas Square and the Old Town Square, a bit closer to the Old Town Square. I correctly guessed beforehand that it would be a very noisy location and we wisely brought ear plugs which came in handy! A rainstorm hit just as we left the hostel Saturday morning, but then it quickly cleared and we had perfect weather the rest of the weekend. Most everything we saw had a top notch quality or draw to it:   The Old Town Square and the Old Town Hall with its famous Astronomical Clock. The Church of Our Lady before Tyn. The Jewish Quarter and Old Jewish Cemetery. Wenceslas Square. The Charles Bridge. The Lesser Quarter. The Church of St. Nicholas. Prague Castle and St. Vitus's Cathedral. Wallenstein Palace and Garden. Letna Park.   "It's all good." <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_FnwhjJNwANs/Rl3wiLuSK7I/AAAAAAAAAG0/WUbBFKzQ-9w/s1600-h/prag2.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_FnwhjJNwANs/Rl3wiLuSK7I/AAAAAAAAAG0/WUbBFKzQ-9w/s400/prag2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5070473225542183858" /></a> standing on the Charles Bridge One noteworthy thing we did not see that weekend -- museums and galleries. Neither of us were in the mood, especially with the beautiful weather. However, we did catch a wonderful traditional Bohemian music and dance show at the Wallenstein Gardens. We also managed to be the first two people to go up the bell tower in St. Vitus cathedral (which affords a fantastic view of the city) when it opened that Sunday morning. Overall, St. Vitus and the Charles Bridge really were supreme highlights. The view from Letna Park was also outstanding, which surprised us since it got very little mention in our Prague guide book. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_FnwhjJNwANs/Rl3wiruSK8I/AAAAAAAAAG8/VADwgcwoc-I/s1600-h/prag3.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_FnwhjJNwANs/Rl3wiruSK8I/AAAAAAAAAG8/VADwgcwoc-I/s400/prag3.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5070473234132118466" /></a> money shot of the Vltava river taken from Letna Park And to continue the race theme of my time in Europe, we got to see the running of the Praha marathon that Sunday. This comes after I caught the finish of the Tour of Flanders in April and then a race in Brugge a few weeks later. I felt bad for the runners in Praha since it was a late-starting race and the weather was so warm. But I felt worse for Mary who was really suffering from a cold and bad ear infection by Sunday. Unfortunately, our flight from Praha back to Bruxelles was delayed over three hours that night due to technical problems making for my third travel nightmare in only a couple months. Following a four hour weather delay in March leaving Dulles which turned into a missed connection in Frankfurt and then an airport worker strike in April which turned into a 24 hour delay getting home, a three+ hour delay because of an airplane radar failure seemed like too much! <div class="blogger-post-footer">[commenting available at regular blog site] </div>Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704185546981396877noreply@blogger.com