**This is the first in a series of posts.
Off we go into the wild blue yonder. Where? Specifically Europe, but with a great many stops. I will be in 11 countries over the month (the hubby 10) — seven of them for the first time.
How does one create the itinerary? Romania & Bulgaria fell by the wayside courtesy of Covid back in 2020. So those two were automatic. We have long wanted to revisit Prague and Vienna, so those are stops 1 & 2. The stops basically go geographically from north to south with some criss-crossing. None of the destinations are more than five hours of driving in a single day. We will see a lot!
Yes, the country count is correct! Not shown here is a stop in London plus an extra week for me at a Tuscan cooking school. More about that later.
The group of countries are “Central Europe” (more or less) for the sake of brevity.
But back to Prague. After a non-stop to London with a plane/terminal change, we arrive in Prague at night but still take in the glorious beauty of this city. Soon after, the first “challenge” of the trip (every trip has them) upon receipt of an email from our Vienna hotel, the next stop. More about that later.
We are on the “Castle side” of the river — as opposed to the “new town/old town” side. Prague is definitely a walking city with most people traversing the area via the iconic Charles Bridge. The bridge and towers date back 1,000 years, and obviously are the best place to capture images of the city.
The town center, below, looks exactly the same as it did in 2007, our previous visit here
The Jewish area in the older part of Prague
We intentionally did not plan any specific tours, but rather look to get acclimated and meander through the town — altogether an excellent plan. There’s something to be said for simply being here with no particular agenda. The only impediment is the weather in Prague — low 40’s with rain, not exactly conducive to comfortable meandering.
Separately, note to self: Make sure to set cellphone and watch on local time. The first morning I woke up and saw it was 9:45 and panicked that we might miss breakfast! (God forbid). Jump in the shower, wake the hubby — get up! I need coffee in my travel haze! As we are about to dash out the door, I realize my phone is still on LA time (9:45pm) so locally it is just 7:45 AM. Oh, well. More hours to explore.
Above, Czech wines from our dinner at Restaurant Mlynec along with excellent food below: Salad with buttermilk, burrata, macademia nuts; veal steak “schnitzel” and Peanut Butter/Chocolate ganache.
As to the aforementioned challenge, our plan to drive from Prague to Vienna was shelved. The Vienna hotel emailed that no vehicles may enter the main “ring” area surrounding the city due to the annual marathon. So we left our transportation dilemma in the capable hands of the two concierges (Prague & Vienna) to sort it on our behalf. A hired driver will get us to the Vienna hotel (with a fair amount of luggage) without a couple of seniors hauling the bags via public transportation. We will drive ourselves from Vienna onward. But with opera tickets the first night in Vienna, time is of the essence for a timely arrival!
Prague at night, beautifully lit
