Happy Holidays!

It's Christmas Day, for those who celebrate. It's our second holiday season away from the States, and boy how time flies. It seems like just yesterday that we were spending a quiet (and cold) Christmas in Cork, Ireland's other capital.

But looking back, so much has happened since that little holiday away. We've checked off a number of other travel destinations, like Belgium, Derry, Munich, Prague, and Scotland. If it counts as a travel destination, we visited our families back in Iowa and New York.

Family has come from America to see us in Galway, Mayo, and County Clare (writings of those trips coming soon).

I've accomplished a number of personal goals, finally pushing "publish" on my free eBook, and it's been very successful so far. The downloads creep up slowly each day, and as it becomes available on more platforms, I know it will grow. I hope to continue promoting and updating the book as the new year begins.

I'm well into writing my second book, pumping out my daily writing quota without much trouble. Instead of spending those hours every day on new blog content, I feel like I'm getting a better product with longform, pictureless, personal essays. Hopefully the new year will see another book on my e-bookshelf.

We hope you are kickin' it with someone you love this holiday season, whichever holidays you celebrate. If you are away from your close family and friends like we are, we feel you. Try to spend some time connecting with them with this amazing world wide web through which you're reading my words now.

Best wishes for a safe and happy holiday season and new year to all!

Cory and Sara

Cong, Co. Mayo
(Photo: Keri Hanson)

Last Day in Prague

We only had the morning free on our last day in Prague. There wasn't time, energy, or money left for anything big, so we headed for a corner of Old Town Prague that we had yet to visit.

The Jewish Quarter as it's known today was Prague's Jewish Ghetto. As in many European cities, Jews in Prague were culturally and legally forced into segregated neighborhoods. The Jewish Quarter today is a highly-rated collection of synagogues, museums, and Jewish cultural centers covered by one ticket.

We didn't have enough time to justify buying the big museum ticket, but we did get a sneaky peek at the most famous of Jewish Quarter landmarks: The Old Jewish Cemetery.

Old Jewish Cemetery

      

Gravestones   

This small cemetery was the only legal burial ground for Prague's Jews for more than 300 years. When they ran out of new plots, they had no choice but to begin layering new burials atop older ones. This small graveyard holds more than 12,000 burials, several layers deep and dating back to the 15th century.

It is not free to visit and most of the views of it are blocked off, but one should never underestimate what a tall, motivated tightwad traveler can do with a camera.

Across the river from the Jewish Quarter and up the steep hill is Prague's large metronome sculpture. We first saw this swinging piece at an oblique angle from Charles Bridge, but we had a much better look from the Jewish Quarter.

The metronome was built in 1991 to celebrate the proud musical tradition of Prague- and to replace a huge statue of Josef Stalin. Good call.

Prague's Metronome Sculpture

Obligatory Cory-Looking-at-the-Water Shot

After the Jewish Quarter, we headed back to Old Town for one last look at some of our favorite Prague knockouts. The sun came out, but it was still winter coat weather. I couldn't resist one more sausage with sauerkraut. After all, who knows when I'll be back to sausage-loving Central Europe again?

One More Sausage

We made our way from Old Town back across the river to the train station to catch our ride to the airport. We walked along the river and took one last series of Castle Quarter and Charles Bridge shots. I also spotted a carp swimming lazily in the garbage and litter of the river. Aren't carp wonderful fish?

Prague Castle (top left) and Charles Bridge (right)

Prague Castle and Red Roofs

A Scarred Carp Enjoying the Finer Things

At the airport, I spent some of the last of our Czech money on a couple of Central European favorites, beer and gummi candy. Sadly, the beer was a bit disappointing out of a can and paired with Haribo candy, but the Krusovice brand was the last label on the Prague beer checklist, so it couldn't be helped.

Gummi Candy and Krusovice Beer

We had a great time in Prague- and it wasn't just the beer and sausage. Prague is a beautiful old city, and I can't wait to go back to the Czech Republic. Next trip, we'll get out of Prague and visit the brewery in Pilsen and the Medieval red roofs of Cesky-Krumlov!

Second Night in Prague

After climbing the long stairs to Prague Castle, we enjoyed dinner and drinks down at river level until night fell. In the evenings, Prague Castle empties out, but doesn't fully close. We made our way back up the steps to see what we could see.

Prague Castle Steps at Night

At the top of the steps, we were once again in possession of the beautiful views of Prague below. Old Town in the near distance, the Little Quarter just at the bottom of the hill, and the suburbs where people probably actually live and work farther on.

Tyn Church from Prague Castle

Within the castle compound, the museums and interpretive activities are closed, but everything outdoors is still open, including the curious Golden Lane. This little back alley lined with homes and shop fronts used to be the home of gilders, jewelers, and other high-class crafters and merchants. The author Franz Kafka lived here.

During the day, there is a fee (!?) to get access to this street, which is now apparently packed with touristy shops. When we had been by earlier, it was jammed with people, all of whom had paid admission. After the sun goes down, they open the turnstiles and send the guards home. Curious, but we took advantage and had the glowing lane all to ourselves.

The Golden Lane

At the top of the lane, we found a display of cannons and siege weapons. I couldn't help but get a photo of this (working?) ballista. I remember learning about ballistae when I was playing the real time tactical strategy war game Warcraft II in 1999. Ah, video games...

Ballista

There was a teaser shot of the beautifully-lit St. Vitus Cathedral in the last Prague post. This flat-fronted, round-backed church was artfully lit on all sides. I love the way knockout European buildings like this are lit at night. The lighting designers have a way of hiding lights in strategic places to make every facet, corner, and point of these buildings pop.

St. Vitus Cathedral

After the long, hard stroll at the top of the castle, it was time for more Czech beer. As mentioned before, each pub or restaurant serves one brand of beer, and each brand makes light, regular, and dark beers. We hadn't yet tried a Budweiser (not to be confused with the Anheuser-Busch brew in America), and made it our business to find it. One restaurant near Charles Bridge was still open and serving tourists. We happily paid tourist prices for a glass of Czech Budweiser each.

The name can be confusing. Czech Budweiser is brewed in a Czech city, Budejovicky, whose name in English is spelled Budweis. BudweisER means from Budweis. A legal battle between this local Czech beer and international juggernaut Anheuser-Busch led to the compromise that this beer can be sold as Budweiser in certain countries, and as Budejovicky-Budvar or Czechvar in others. In any country, it's great.

One Last Drink

Another Czech staple we hadn't yet tried was something Sara remembered from her trip to Prague years ago, Slivovice. This clear tonic is a brandy made from plum wine. We went back to the basement bar near our hostel and ordered a round of slivo. It was served in these small shot glasses, but sipped slowly. The plum taste was interesting and unlike anything we'd tried before.

Slivovice- Plum Brandy

Still later, we weren't tired and wanted to see some of our favorite Prague sights without the midday crowds. Luckily, Prague is compact and easy to navigate if you've been through the streets before. We kept a sharp eye out for trouble, but only saw the late night dance club crowd in the streets. 

Tyn Church at Night

Near Old Town Square, we found a little bakery that was still open and selling snacks to drunk partiers. We weren't really either, but got a snack anyway. A sweet pastry for Sara, and a bread-wrapped spicy sausage for Cory. If it was mealtime in Prague, I was going for sausage!

Czech Pastry and Wrapped Sausage

Before we turned in for the night, we got some night photos of the Castle Quarter from the other side of the river. Our evening walk had started up on top of that hill and had ended here at the base of Charles Bridge. 

The bridge itself is beautifully lit at night to discourage crime and to show off the near miracle of middle age engineering that it is.

Prague Castle from the River at Night

Charles Bridge's Illuminated Arches

Finally at the end of the bridge, with our hostel just around the corner, we took one last photo of the end of the bridge, the tower, and the castle glowing on top of the hill. The next day would be our last in Prague, but it wouldn't be wasted...

Charles Bridge and Prague Castle (Distant Right)

Prague Castle and St. Vitus' Cathedral

After climbing all those steps for our high view of Prague, why not check out Prague Castle?

The castle itself is really a large complex of buildings, much like (largely disappointing) Dublin Castle. This fortified center of power was and is the center of Czech politics. The current government has offices here, and the ancient kings and bishops are buried here in the off-the-chain St. Vitus' Cathedral, standing tall in the castle grounds.

But first, enter the castle through the battling giants at the gate. See the Czech (red, white, and blue) and European Union (blue with yellow stars) flags flying, designating this as the official capital.

Prague Castle Gate

Just inside the gate, beyond the newer office buildings, is the old castle courtyard, absolutely dominated by the impressive fourteenth-century cathedral.

St. Vitus' Cathedral

This church, like many in its day, took a number of years centuries to complete. The church as it stands now was started in 1344 and finished in 1929 (!) but it was functional as a half-built but still very impressive cathedral for most of that time.

Its features are too detailed and too numerous to fully list here, but suffice it to say that it was an incredible sight to behold... And we didn't pay the entrance fee to see the whole church. Admission in the front door is free, but most of the church is behind a paid ticket line. After we saw the photo below...

St. Vitus' Cathedral Interior

...We didn't think it could be topped by anything that we could pay for. The tour includes some closeup looks at the unique works of art in the windows, wall carvings, and the tombs of ancient kings, emperors, and religious leaders.

The exterior of the church is free and equally awe-inspiring. The two halves of the church are divided front and back. The rear (altar) side of the church is the original Gothic design, with its architecturally-necessary buttresses holding up the central tower. The huge original entry door on this side of the church is now closed, as visitors and worshippers enter through the newer front entrance.

St. Vitus' Cathedral Buttresses

After exploring every free inch of the church, we explored more of the non-paid sights of Prague Castle. Because the complex is so large, we only had time to see a few more exteriors before we were hungry- and thirsty- again.

Kozel Beers

But after our afternoon repast, we would be back to Prague Castle after sunset to take the full Prague Castle self-guided tour- with no crowds and all the outdoor sights free to explore. That will be another post, but here's a teaser photo to give you a taste of our romantic nighttime stroll...

St. Vitus' Cathedral Buttresses at Night

Prague from Above

So, we've written before that we always try to get a bird's-eye view of any city we visit. Our preference is to get the high view after doing some ground level sightseeing. If we've already seen or visited the museums, churches, and squares, they are easier to identify when seen from above.

In Prague, the best view of the city happens to be from one of the best sights: Prague Castle. Built defensively high up on a hill overlooking the old town, this huge castle complex was the center of Prague's power, and is thus proportionately impressive.

We were heading high, high above the city, to the big, shiny landmark seen clearly from anywhere in the Old Town.

Prague Castle from the River

...It proved to be high above the city, and the only way to get there was via one of the streets-turned-stairways leading from the Little Quarter (where we were staying) to the Castle Quarter.

Cory Climbing the Steps

Making the climb was well worth the effort, not just for the visit to spectacular Prague Castle (another post), but for the great views of lower Prague. Misty as it was, we could still see many of the places we had visited just that morning on our Prague self-guided walking tour.

Charles Bridge and Red Roofs

We love the red roof look of these continental cities. The high view lets us see the endless stretch of these iconic and pleasing roof tiles. Looking into the far distance, we can see the suburbs with more modern architecture and building materials. We don't mind this look, people have to actually live somewhere, right?

Tyn Church and More Red Roofs

We liked the view so much that we even returned at night for some grand views of Prague's dreamily-lit skyline. It is much more difficult to capture the look of a city at night with a camera. Let these photos be a start for your imagination until you can make your own trip to Prague.

Tyn Church at Night

Wide View of Prague at Night

...Trust us, it's amazing. Cameras of any quality can do it no justice.

If in Prague, a visit to Prague Castle will certainly be on any self-or-agent-planned itinerary. To get views like this, just turn around at the top of the steps and enjoy! We walked as much of the castle walls as we could to find the best angles of different sights in town. Our schedule allowed it, and we were glad it did. More and more reasons to fall in love with Prague.

An Irish Year in Tourism

Before moving to Ireland, Cory and I were not completely inexperienced in navigating new places. I wouldn't say that we are worldly or seasoned travelers, but we had some shared domestic and international travel experiences under our belts (including our Farewell to America Road Trip in the weeks before our departure). To quote Rick Steves, our favorite travel writer, "travel is intensified living". For better or worse, you learn a lot about yourself and your travel companions in the course of an extended trip far from home.

I have learned a couple things about myself in traveling, the primary lesson being that it brings my type A personality to the forefront. I am a planner. A spreadsheet-making, travel-book-reading, list-writing, budget-generating planner. I try really hard to roll with the punches while traveling, but for me an hour spent lost in a train station is an hour I won't spend walking through the gardens of Versailles or drinking beer while listening to live polka music or eating gelato while watching gondolas wind through canals. It's an almost unbearable loss for me and it drives me to ambitiously fill our schedule to the brim. Traveling this way is exhausting, but I fear retrospective trip regret far too much to risk missing out on a must-see sight. 

All of that preamble is merely meant to explain why one of my most difficult transitions upon moving to Ireland was actually living in Ireland. For at least a month (maybe longer) I was unable to just be at home on an evening or weekend. We were in a foreign country! There are new and exciting places to see! Museums to visit! Shouldn't we be drinking Guinness or walking up a grassy hill spotted with sheep? Listening to trad music? Touring a castle? We couldn't just relax at home! We were wasting time! 

It's fortunate for me that I brought a patient companion who was able to tolerate my manic bursts of travel-hunger. Someone to talk me down and convince me that since we would be here for awhile we had plenty of time. There was no need to spend every available moment sightseeing, and we should take breaks from the spreadsheets every now and then. It took some time for that mindset to sink in, but fortunately for both of us it finally did. 

Traveling abroad is constantly exciting and exhilarating. Living abroad is not. It can't be. At some point, the surroundings and local colloquialisms become familiar...and thank goodness they do. Don't get me wrong, life in Ireland is interesting. We continue to learn new things about Irish history, culture, and politics while we are slowly crossing off items on our list of Irish places to visit, but I definitely feel like we have settled in. Work, chores, and weekly errands all have to be done. The mundane aspects of life exist here just as they do in the U.S., and sometimes I can spend a weekend at home binging on Orange is the New Black without feeling like I'm losing out on travel experiences. 

"Intensified living" cannot be a permanent state of being. We strive to keep a balance between accomplishing all of the tasks required of us as functioning adults and taking advantage of our location and situation as much as we can. Since moving to Ireland, we have always had at least one trip planned for our near future, and think that if we continue at our pace we will be able to look back on our time spent here without regret. 

For anyone interested in our last year of Irish travels, check out the blog posts about sights around Dublin, Northern Ireland, Cork, Trim Castle, Howth, and Newgrange. For our trips around Europe, see posts about Munich and Prague (and stay tuned for Belgium).

Astronomical Clock Prague

One of Prague's most impressive-sounding sites is the Astronomical Clock in Old Town Square. In our routes through Prague, we couldn't help but pass by it several times each day. It invariably drew a crowd of onlookers, especially near the top of each hour, when its famous show began.

The clock was installed in the 15th century and was a technological, mechanical, and engineering marvel at the time. It simultaneously keeps several kinds of time- fairly accurately. The movement of its several hands over its complex series of numbers, rings, and arcs, give modern 24-hour time, old Bohemian time (counted in hours between sunrise and sunset), and track the phases of the sun and moon.

Astronomical Clock Face

Astronomical Clock Crowd By Day

By the time we left Prague, the clock itself was old hat for us, but we enjoyed watching the gathering crowds with craned necks every time we walked past the clock after the first day. We must have looked like that when we first arrived.

Of course, the highlight of the clock is the hourly show at the top of each hour. The crowd gathers, a hushed silence falls over all, and a sea of smartphone cameras begin recording...

Hard to see, hard to hear, and not the big dog and pony show that everyone expects. Most people leave disappointed and angry at those long-ago clockmakers. Why couldn't they make a better show six hundred years ago?

It is a marvel and a must-see in Prague, but it's probably a once-see. It does have location on its side, sitting just around the corner from the fabulous Old Town Square...

Astronomical Clock and Old Town Square

If you make it to Prague, the clock will almost certainly be on your itinerary. Enjoy it for what it is, don't expect it to be a contemporary feat of entertainment. Imagine yourself as a Medieval peasant when you watch it. Or just count yourself lucky to be in such a great city.

Rip-Offs in Prague

Of all the great things Prague has to see and do, it isn't without its share of inconveniences. The most annoying of these for western visitors like us is the rampant-but-accepted petty theft by unscrupulous shopkeepers, bartenders, and cons of all colors.

With an attempt to remain somewhat culturally sensitive, it seems that countries with growing economies and long traditions of harmless traveling pickpockets seem to accept these tourist scammers. And what would be their incentive to stop these crooks? The scammers are careful to target mostly foreign tourists, and the extra money they filch will almost certainly be spent in the home country, feeding the economy. Turning a blind eye to this kind of petty crime is just a hidden way to soak a little bit more out of tourists before they return to their own more wealthy countries.

We were lucky not to have had any run-ins with serious con artists on the street (or did we?), but we dealt with our share of casual incorrect change ripoffs from vendors. In order to enjoy some of the scrumptious street sausages (and in every other cash transaction), we had to be very careful about these seemingly innocent change shorts.

Count Your Change!

These change miscounts are the easiest way for dishonest vendors to pocket a little extra from visitors. It is also next to impossible to actually prove and prosecute. If they get caught, it's just an honest mistake that they quickly correct. If not, they keep the difference.

The Czech Republic, despite having been an official Euro-currency country for more than a decade, still uses their old currency, the Czech Koruna (Crown). This inflated currency uses unfamiliar paper notes and strangely-shaped and colored coins which can be counted at sight by Czechs (just like your own currency, wherever you are) but tourist have to examine and count each coin individually.

Crooks looking to pocket something extra will take a paper note from a tourist and confidently drop a little stack of foreign coins into the mark's waiting hand- short some small but not insignificant amount. Most people probably thank them, dump the coins in a pocket, and leave.

When the vendor tried this with me at the above pictured sausage stand, I stepped back from the window and began to count the coins in my hand carefully. When she saw me counting, she opened the register (her pocket) and had the correct difference ready and waiting when I stepped back up to the counter to politely inform her of her miscounting of my change.

At a sit-down restaurant one night, we received our check in the usual black leather binding. We put in a 1000 Crown (not all that much) note and sent it for our change. The binding came back with some change... but no receipt. Again, most tourists would take the strange mix of paper notes and coins without thinking, but we had made a careful note of how much our bill was and what the correct change should be. Because he sent it back without the receipt showing the actual amount and change, we might not have been able to remember the correct amounts had we not done so before paying.

When I approached the counter, I was hoping he didn't try to argue the point with me. After all, maybe he gave me the correct change before I pocketed some and tried to scam him. See how airtight these schemes are? Luckily, he didn't argue, but retrieved my receipt- crumpled up in the trash bin- and gave me the correct difference.

When traveling anywhere, take precautions for people like this. I'm sure this isn't just a Prague (or even an Eastern European) issue. A number of sources recommend never handing a credit card over to a vendor or waiter- but to make all payments in cash with an understanding of the proper amounts and change beforehand. We even made mental estimates of what our final checks should be at restaurants based on the menu prices in case the waiter overcharged for our meals.

One last admission, we did get hit twice with additional charges for bread at restaurants. We learned that the basket of bread plopped down on the table doesn't come free with the meal. To avoid this charge, maybe tourists have to decline bread directly... or just not be tourists. Know what I mean?

Travel, get out there, but please do so safely and carefully.

Prague Walking Tour

Our first morning in Prague was a rainy one, but it seemed to fit the sometimes dreary feeling one can get when touring monuments and historic sites, many of which have dark and bloody histories. Prague has of course seen her share of triumphs and tragedies, and we had a Rick Steves audio tour to show us the way.

But first, let's see where Michael Hutchence walked for the music video of the INXS classic Never Tear Us Apart...

Yep, filmed exclusively in Prague. Wish we had seen that before we went, we could have done a recreation.

The first stop is the monument to the Czech hero, St. Wenceslas of Good King Wenceslas fame. We had been by this statue on our first wild scramble to our hostel, but now we were able to appreciate the square at our own pace.

St. Wenceslas Statue Prague

Wenceslas organized, Christianized, and cultured the early Bohemian kingdom in the tenth century. After he was killed, he was made a saint by the Catholic church. Since then, he has become not just a political and religious hero to the Czechs, but their national mascot and identity. His monument looks proudly down the hill over most of the city today.

Prague has a variety of art and architecture styles in its many neighborhoods. The Communist Soviets built many of those functional but terribly ugly gray concrete slabs as they tried to develop Prague as a western stronghold. Other decidedly non-communist buildings like the Art Nouveau Grand Hotel Europa seem to glow among the concrete and steel.

Grand Hotel Europa

In the square, a number of small monuments and memorials are dedicated to the mostly peaceful Czech independence movement. Nonviolent students gathered here to demand, and ultimately receive, freedom from the Soviets in the late twentieth century. When the communists left, the Czech nation was free to grow and prosper with a more western economy. Interestingly, the communists left behind them a fantastic public transport system of buses, trams, and subways- something a small city like Prague could never afford to build with its own resources.

Dublin in its best financial times couldn't even get a sensible public transport system working, decided instead to build The Spire of Dublin.

"A [country] with money is like a mule with a spinning wheel, no one knows how he got it, and danged if he knows how to use it!" -Lyle Lanley, The Simpsons

Also on the tour is this great modern sculpture of King Wenceslas riding and upside down horse handing in a shopping center.

Wenceslas Riding an Upside Down Horse

Farther along, we visited one of the old gates from Prague's old security wall. This is the Powder Tower, build to store the city's supply of gunpowder in the fifteenth century. Today it is nothing more than possibly the most beautiful traffic bottleneck in the world.

Powder Tower

We arrived later at the Old Town Square, home of many of Prague's famous buildings and monuments. This includes a dedication to Jan Hus (Yahn Hoose), a Czech religious reformer who questioned the Catholic church and was killed for his trouble a century before Martin Luther.

Jan Hus Memorial Prague

Behind the memorial is the old center of Hus' teachings, the Tyn Church. It was the center of the Hussite church until the German Catholics conquered Prague in the seventeenth century and made the church Catholic.

...Much like the Anglicans seizing St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, making it a Protestant Cathedral named after Ireland's most Catholic of Catholic heroes. Huh. The Prague/Dublin similarities continue...

Tyn Church Prague

At the end of the tour, we ended up back at the Charles Bridge, center of our Prague operations.

Prague's Charles Bridge

After the walk, it was time for lunch and more Eastern European adventures!

Prague's Charles Bridge

To start off our first full day in Prague, we had to have breakfast. Sara had a delightful little hot sandwich with a nice, frothy coffee at a cafe. I had... a garlic-flavored sausage with sauerkraut and cheap instant coffee in a paper cup. You decide who got the better of it.

Cory's Breakfast

Sara's Breakfast

Sadly, it was raining, and would be raining for the rest of the day. We didn't mind too much because...

1. We were in Prague, one of the most beautiful cities on Earth
2. We got to take postcard pictures people with umbrellas in the rain.

On Lots of Postcards

Our hostel was right at the base of the Charles Bridge, one of the distinguishing features of Prague. It has stood here on the Vltava River since the fourteenth century. Today, it is a murderer's row of statues depicting Czech religious and political heroes. Below are some highlights...

Charles Bridge Figures

Whoa

Gray Skies

One of Prague's religious heroes is St. John of Nepomuk. During his fourteenth-century lifetime, he was the priest to whom the Queen confessed her weekly sins. The King wanted him to share the inside scoop of his wife's misdeeds, but he refused. As Kings tend to do, he ordered a political hit on the priest, and he was thrown off this bridge into the river below. It is said that when he hit the water, five stars appeared on the surface.

Today, he is shows with a ring of five stars around his head. At the base of his statue and in another spot on the bridge where the throw actually occurred are little bronze depictions of the scene. People line up to make wishes as touch the Saint. Notice how the bronze is rubbed clean and shiny by the repeated touching.

St. John of Nepomuk

Rubbed Clean

Emily Making a Wish

The bridge is particularly beautiful at night, when carefully-placed lights illuminate the statues and structures and the crowds have cleared out.

Bridge Gate

We would cross this bridge many times during our stay in Prague. It was our shortest route to the Old Town just across the river, so we were back and forth on the bridge several times each day. No complaints here!