-
Prague Day 9: Carry Ons and the Metic System
So here we are in our room on our last night in Prague and we have got to figure out how we are going to get our doll and other souvenirs home! It’s late…..we packed carry on only……we still packed too much stuff and now we have souvenirs to content with. Sam and I start trying to figure out what we can leave behind if it comes to that….do we leave our PJs? Our extra socks? What?? For me there is no leaving anything behind! So we start re-packing…..thankfully I am able to pack all the contents of my entire ‘small purse’ carry on into my suitcase carry on so I…
-
Prague Day 8: Germany and Sprechen Sie Englisch
Well it’s finally here, our last official day abroad and we are heading to Germany. Sam and I really debated between Vienna and Dresden Germany for our one long day trip. We went with Germany simply because it was a closer drive and I am glad that we did that because Dresden was only about an 1.50 drive one way while Vienna was more like 3 hours one way. I really wanted to go to Bratislava, Slovakia but that too would have been about a 3.5 hour drive and I really wanted to have time to enjoy the city we visited. So in the end Germany won out. Our tour company was supposed…
-
Prague Day 7: Communism and The Castle
So after yesterday’s tourist meltdown, we had yet another day free to do whatever we pleased in this wondrous city. Many of our tour guides had told us that we needed at least 3 hours at the main Prague Castle to go through it all, so we figured that today would be our Castle day. The Castle itself, is more the fortress like buildings surrounding the massive St Vitus Cathedral. The Castle is actually listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the largest ancient castle in the world.
-
Prague Day 6: Holy Relics and the Huddled Masses
Today, shit got real….real quick. Today was the day for beautiful places of worship and annoying ass European students on holiday. I should have known when I couldn’t sleep last night that today was going to be challenging. For some reason I’ve had the hardest time adjusting to the time change, normally when I travel to Europe, I have no issues as long as I get one solid 12 hour night of sleep which usually happens the first day I’m here so then I’m good to go for the rest of vacation. Well this time I’ve slept about 4-6 hours a night in intervals. Tuesday night I slept a straight 7…
-
Prague Day 5: Kutna Hora and Mother Russia
One of the things that I like most about Prague is that it’s like this weird time capsule/melting pot. Every morning when I get up it’s like time has literally stood still. I look out the window and it could be 1348 or 2015…..but this morning it is 2015 and I know that because once again I’ve not been able to sleep a complete night and I’ve watched the minutes tick by on my iPhone. This morning we plan on touring Kutna Hora, a mining town to the south east of Prague. There we plan on seeing the Bone Chapel and St Barbara’s Cathedral as well as the Italian Court. As…
-
Prague Day 4: Terezin and that One Jew Kid
Hands down visiting Terezin concentration camp was the coolest thing we did while we were there. If we are going to the Czech Republic this is a must do! It was probably one of the most impactful experiences I’ve had in my life. Sam and I had the morning free before we got picked up by our tour company at 12:30. So like any good tourists we were up with the sun (more or less) and headed out to look at the Castle. So even though we knew our hotel was ‘500 meters’ from the castle, we still weren’t exactly sure how to get there……well let’s just say…..we are f-ing stupid.…
-
Prague Day 3: Karlstjen Castle and 28,000 steps later
Today was a big day for us….we got a lot in, not to mention we walked 28,000 steps (over 5 miles). So prepare yourself people, this post is going to be epic in length! This morning we were up early for a trip to Karlštejn Castle. I would like to know in what countries do people actually eat hot dogs and baked beans for breakfast? I love that our hotel has a free breakfast included in our stay and all, but I found it a little strange that hot dogs and baked beans were even an option for the morning meal….but others didn’t because a lot of other guests were eating them.…
-
Prague Day 1 and 2: Soul Plane and the Missing Deodorant
I should have known that things weren’t going to go well for us when I realized I forgot to pack deodorant. Sam and I share deodorant and each thought that the other packed it. So here were are, sitting in our Portland hotel the night before we leave for Prague when we realize…..shit, we don’t have deodorant. We get up Friday morning early (4:30 am) and depart for Portland airport and check into Virgin Airlines for the PDX to LAX by way of San Francisco Airport (SF) flight that we have been dreading….cause really, 4 plane changes is just excessive even if we are flying across the Atlantic. No thanks…
-
Locked up abroad & our return home–Aruba Vacation (Days VII/VIII)
I suppose comparing our VERY short detention at immigration to the National Geographic Chanel show Locked-Up Abroad is a GROSS OVER exaggeration. However after watching that show I am paranoid and when the US Customs agents stopped Sam and I at the airport all I could think of was ‘OMG it’s like that show….I’m never going home’!!! Though I was obviously not carrying drugs, firearms, or explosives….my thoughts drifted to the suitcase carrying the seashells that Sam had teased me about the night before…’I’m going to die laughing when they stop you, search your bag and then the shells and you get deported’. After waking up early and eating a large…
-
The lure of nuclear radiation & heat exhaustion–Aruba Vacation (Day VI)
The soft warm trade winds wake me gingerly from sleep…a quiet whisper calling me back to reality. I hear the soothing waves breaking slowly, calmly on the white beaches not too far off. It’s may favorite time of morning, the sun has just risen but people are not quite awake yet, the day is new and fresh….anything is possible. As I lay in our hotel room with the window open I try to commit this last moment to memory….and every memory from our vacation, the sights, the smells, the sounds….everything about our adventures and experiences so I can recall them later, remembering every little detail. I lick my lips….they taste…