Trip Report - Prague, Krakow, Budapest - May 2007
Jun 9th, 2007, 06:16 AM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 122
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Trip Report - Prague, Krakow, Budapest - May 2007
Just got back from a trip to Prague, Krakow, Budapest!!! Had a great time – weather was hot & sunny, people were very nice, food was good, beer was great!!!
If you’ve posted on the Czech, Poland, and Hungary forums in the past three years, I want to thank you for your help in planning this trip. Although I only posted a few questions, you can bet I read your post or trip report! It will take me awhile to get this trip report posted …but I promise to stick with it and get it done. I know I tend to be long-winded…hope you’ll stick with me and find something helpful or of interest somewhere in here…I’ll check back regularly for comments and questions.
We’re an active fifty-something couple – love to experience new places, absorb history, talk to locals and other travelers, drink beer and wine, etc… For the last 10 years, we’ve taken a trip to Europe every other year. I do all of the trip research & planning and have really gotten hooked on independent travel. I’m pretty meticulous about planning the transportation & lodging (like to know where we’ll be staying and how we’ll get there), but like to stay flexible re day-to-day plans.
Ron contributes frequent flyer miles and Hilton points and periodically voices an opinion regarding something in the trip plan. Frequent flyer miles are great since he has enough to get business class seats for the overseas flights – what a treat! But, the Hilton points cause a bit of an issue… I prefer smaller, local hotels while Ron finds it hard to pass up free nights. So, we compromise, picking a Hilton in one city. On this trip, it was the Hilton Budapest.
This was our first trip to Eastern Europe (or Middle Europe, as some call it). We wanted to go to Prague and at least 2 other cities, hopefully with an open-jaw ticket so we wouldn’t have to backtrack. We had some trouble getting frequent flyer business class seats this time (without paying double miles), although we started trying 331 days out. Initially, the best we could do was an open-jaw – Atlanta to Düsseldorf to Prague, with a return Budapest-JFK-Atlanta which allowed for a total of 11 nights in Europe. We had hoped to stay a few days longer, but couldn’t get the seats. Then, several months later, Delta added a new direct flight from Atlanta to Prague. We called to see if we could change and were told yes, if we could expand our trip a few days!! So it all worked out - We ended up with Delta Flight 62 - Sat May 12 – Atlanta to Prague, returning on Sat May 26 – Czech Air 787 Budapest to Prague, Delta 63 Prague to Atlanta, with a total of 13 nights in Europe.
After the flights were in place, we settled on the following itinerary and booked rooms and interim transportation. I’ll include more details as I get to each part of the trip report:
- Prague – 5 nights
- Day train to Krakow
- Krakow – 4 nights
- Malev Airline flight to Budapest
- Budapest – 4 nights
After reading so many reports about the Prague’s weekend crowds and stag parties, we were happy to be arriving in Prague on Sunday. This turned out great - Prague was relatively calm Sun -Tues, got progressively more crowded as the week went on.
I like to take enough currency with us for a day or two, so we won’t have to search for an ATM as soon as we enter a country. This time, I needed three different currencies. I usually order from my own bank, but they said they could not furnish Polish currency. I set about looking for a better source…and discovered that Bank of America customers with an open account can order without paying a processing/delivery fee. Luckily, my dad banks there, so I put money in his account, and went online to order. The order process was very easy, exchange rate was comparable to other pre-order sites, currency was delivered to his local bank a few days later. I requested a mix of small and large bills and received a good mix. You can order from Bank of America even if you don’t have an account, but it’s much less advantageous because you have to use a credit card, which leads to foreign transaction and cash advance fees.
As May 12 approached, we struggled with what to pack. Weather forecasts were all over the place…anywhere from mid 50’s to mid 80’s….would it be cold?….would it be hot?....would there be much rain? We were also trying to pack light enough to meet the stricter requirements for the Malev flight from Krakow to Budapest - one 44 lb checked bag and one 20 lb (small dimension) carryon per person. Seemed like my travel books and research materials weighed 5 lbs on their own! We finally took out most of the cold-weather clothes, kept a few items to layer and a good rain jacket, and figured we’d buy something if it was cold. Turned out to be a good decision – it was incredibly hot during our trip – only had 2 cool days, the rest were mid to high 80’s.
Saturday – May 12 – Rough Start
As always, the week leading up to the trip was stressful…all sorts of problems at home, work, etc….I was so happy when May 12 arrived. Our flight was scheduled for 7:10PM. We got to the Atlanta airport 3 hours early, as it’s a very busy and unpredictable airport. No problems that day –got checked in, made it through security, and were soon sitting in the International Business Class Lounge (since we had business class freq flyer seats), enjoying free drinks & appetizers.
Seemed like a good start until we looked out the windows and saw a huge thunderstorm coming. Atlanta has had a terrible drought all spring and of all days, on May 12, at about 6 pm, one of the only spring thunderstorms we’ve had decided to bear down on the Atlanta airport. Thunder, lightning, wind, rain….all of the boards started to light up with delays and cancellations. At first, they said our plane was already there, so it would just be a matter of waiting until the storm passed. But, that turned out not to be the case. Our plane was enroute from Moscow. It flew around for awhile, then had to be diverted to Nashville to get more fuel. To make a long story short … the storm passed, the hours drug on, the plane finally arrived, and at 11pm we finally took off - 4 hours late. They served us wine & dinner around midnight. The only good thing was that we were so exhausted, we slept better than usual on the plane.
If you’ve posted on the Czech, Poland, and Hungary forums in the past three years, I want to thank you for your help in planning this trip. Although I only posted a few questions, you can bet I read your post or trip report! It will take me awhile to get this trip report posted …but I promise to stick with it and get it done. I know I tend to be long-winded…hope you’ll stick with me and find something helpful or of interest somewhere in here…I’ll check back regularly for comments and questions.
We’re an active fifty-something couple – love to experience new places, absorb history, talk to locals and other travelers, drink beer and wine, etc… For the last 10 years, we’ve taken a trip to Europe every other year. I do all of the trip research & planning and have really gotten hooked on independent travel. I’m pretty meticulous about planning the transportation & lodging (like to know where we’ll be staying and how we’ll get there), but like to stay flexible re day-to-day plans.
Ron contributes frequent flyer miles and Hilton points and periodically voices an opinion regarding something in the trip plan. Frequent flyer miles are great since he has enough to get business class seats for the overseas flights – what a treat! But, the Hilton points cause a bit of an issue… I prefer smaller, local hotels while Ron finds it hard to pass up free nights. So, we compromise, picking a Hilton in one city. On this trip, it was the Hilton Budapest.
This was our first trip to Eastern Europe (or Middle Europe, as some call it). We wanted to go to Prague and at least 2 other cities, hopefully with an open-jaw ticket so we wouldn’t have to backtrack. We had some trouble getting frequent flyer business class seats this time (without paying double miles), although we started trying 331 days out. Initially, the best we could do was an open-jaw – Atlanta to Düsseldorf to Prague, with a return Budapest-JFK-Atlanta which allowed for a total of 11 nights in Europe. We had hoped to stay a few days longer, but couldn’t get the seats. Then, several months later, Delta added a new direct flight from Atlanta to Prague. We called to see if we could change and were told yes, if we could expand our trip a few days!! So it all worked out - We ended up with Delta Flight 62 - Sat May 12 – Atlanta to Prague, returning on Sat May 26 – Czech Air 787 Budapest to Prague, Delta 63 Prague to Atlanta, with a total of 13 nights in Europe.
After the flights were in place, we settled on the following itinerary and booked rooms and interim transportation. I’ll include more details as I get to each part of the trip report:
- Prague – 5 nights
- Day train to Krakow
- Krakow – 4 nights
- Malev Airline flight to Budapest
- Budapest – 4 nights
After reading so many reports about the Prague’s weekend crowds and stag parties, we were happy to be arriving in Prague on Sunday. This turned out great - Prague was relatively calm Sun -Tues, got progressively more crowded as the week went on.
I like to take enough currency with us for a day or two, so we won’t have to search for an ATM as soon as we enter a country. This time, I needed three different currencies. I usually order from my own bank, but they said they could not furnish Polish currency. I set about looking for a better source…and discovered that Bank of America customers with an open account can order without paying a processing/delivery fee. Luckily, my dad banks there, so I put money in his account, and went online to order. The order process was very easy, exchange rate was comparable to other pre-order sites, currency was delivered to his local bank a few days later. I requested a mix of small and large bills and received a good mix. You can order from Bank of America even if you don’t have an account, but it’s much less advantageous because you have to use a credit card, which leads to foreign transaction and cash advance fees.
As May 12 approached, we struggled with what to pack. Weather forecasts were all over the place…anywhere from mid 50’s to mid 80’s….would it be cold?….would it be hot?....would there be much rain? We were also trying to pack light enough to meet the stricter requirements for the Malev flight from Krakow to Budapest - one 44 lb checked bag and one 20 lb (small dimension) carryon per person. Seemed like my travel books and research materials weighed 5 lbs on their own! We finally took out most of the cold-weather clothes, kept a few items to layer and a good rain jacket, and figured we’d buy something if it was cold. Turned out to be a good decision – it was incredibly hot during our trip – only had 2 cool days, the rest were mid to high 80’s.
Saturday – May 12 – Rough Start
As always, the week leading up to the trip was stressful…all sorts of problems at home, work, etc….I was so happy when May 12 arrived. Our flight was scheduled for 7:10PM. We got to the Atlanta airport 3 hours early, as it’s a very busy and unpredictable airport. No problems that day –got checked in, made it through security, and were soon sitting in the International Business Class Lounge (since we had business class freq flyer seats), enjoying free drinks & appetizers.
Seemed like a good start until we looked out the windows and saw a huge thunderstorm coming. Atlanta has had a terrible drought all spring and of all days, on May 12, at about 6 pm, one of the only spring thunderstorms we’ve had decided to bear down on the Atlanta airport. Thunder, lightning, wind, rain….all of the boards started to light up with delays and cancellations. At first, they said our plane was already there, so it would just be a matter of waiting until the storm passed. But, that turned out not to be the case. Our plane was enroute from Moscow. It flew around for awhile, then had to be diverted to Nashville to get more fuel. To make a long story short … the storm passed, the hours drug on, the plane finally arrived, and at 11pm we finally took off - 4 hours late. They served us wine & dinner around midnight. The only good thing was that we were so exhausted, we slept better than usual on the plane.
Jun 9th, 2007, 06:17 AM
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 122
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sunday – May 13 – Finally in Prague
As we approached Prague, the sun was shining, the landscape was gorgeous! We landed around 2 pm, passed through customs quickly, and had our bags within 20 minutes. Maybe it was to our advantage that we were so late . It was mid-afternoon and there didn’t seem to be any other planes landing.
I had arranged for our hotel to send a driver to pick us up (600 CZK Cash to Driver). I know there are cheaper types of transportation, but I consider a private driver a worthwhile splurge after an all-night flight. We had called the hotel from the Atlanta airport (at 4am their time). The desk clerk seemed to understand that we would be significantly delayed, but we wondered if the driver would be there. As soon as we exited, we saw the sign with my name on it. The driver smiled, took our bags, whisked us to his car, and we were off. He was friendly, but spoke very little English, drove very calmly, pointed out a few sites along the way, all-in-all it was a pleasant Sunday drive.
We stayed at Hotel Pod Vezi (which means “Under Tower”), located close to the St. Charles Bridge, on the Mala Strana side….website www.podvezi.com . I had researched tons of hotels and contacted about 8 of them. I try to deal directly with hotels via email or phone (rather than internet booking systems) and always ask if they can give us a discount for multiple nights, cash payment, or anything else. I picked Hotel Pod Vezi for several reasons - it seemed to be in a great location, the staff was responsive & friendly, and they offered us a double-deluxe room for 5000 CZK per night, incl tax & breakfast (signif less than the rack rate on their website).
This turned out to be a great choice. It’s a small hotel – only 12 rooms. The location is perfect – close to everything, but quiet at night. The staff is very nice, the hotel has AC and an elevator. Our double-deluxe room (#21) was more like a suite – king bed, tall ceilings, windows that opened, electronic safe, modern bathroom, hair dryer, towel warmer…plus a gargoyle hanging from the tower outside our window…what more could we ask for!! Breakfast was in the hotel restaurant, which was attached - nice buffet of cold items, plus an optional menu (no addit cost) with eggs, omelets, etc.. We would definitely stay there again.
So – we were finally in Prague!! It was late afternoon, so most major sites were closing. We walked around Mala Strana & visited the Church of St. Nicholas. The church is huge & over-the-top baroque – gilded everything! Had a casual dinner in a café close to the church –goulash in a bread bowl, and the first of many Czech beers (Pilsner Urquell for starters!) We walked down several side streets and found a cute café that served pancakes (sweet or salty concoctions with various toppings), coffee, and wine – Cukrkavalimoade Café at Lazenska 7. Several locals were inside enjoying Sunday treats…looked too good to pass up, so we had two lattes and shared a banana–caramel pancake …we were now officially on vacation!
We had considered going to the Metro station to get a 3 day transportation pass, but our hotel had advised against it. Since we were so centrally located, they thought we’d spend far less using individual transportation tickets. The hotel had a supply of individual tickets, so we were able to buy them whenever we needed them, for 14 KC each, charged to the room.
Later that evening, we wandered through Kampa Park. This area was flooded during the Aug 2002 floods. Nice, quiet area - several nice restaurants and a few hotels. Further down the road is a park that runs alongside the Vltava River …seemed like everyone was out for a Sunday evening walk … great views of Prague. After dark, we started looking for the John Lennon Wall – the graffiti wall that served as a point of expression for freedom-seekers prior to 1989 independence. It took us awhile to find it – had to ask directions a few times. - finally found it on the far side of a church! I know some people find the wall disappointing, but standing there in the dark, with the street-lights glowing and very few people out and about, looking at the bronze face of John Lennon and all of the graffiti painted around it, I felt a connection to the people who stood in this square in the 80’s, painting messages of peace and independence over and over again, only to have the Soviets follow behind and paint over them.
As we approached Prague, the sun was shining, the landscape was gorgeous! We landed around 2 pm, passed through customs quickly, and had our bags within 20 minutes. Maybe it was to our advantage that we were so late . It was mid-afternoon and there didn’t seem to be any other planes landing.
I had arranged for our hotel to send a driver to pick us up (600 CZK Cash to Driver). I know there are cheaper types of transportation, but I consider a private driver a worthwhile splurge after an all-night flight. We had called the hotel from the Atlanta airport (at 4am their time). The desk clerk seemed to understand that we would be significantly delayed, but we wondered if the driver would be there. As soon as we exited, we saw the sign with my name on it. The driver smiled, took our bags, whisked us to his car, and we were off. He was friendly, but spoke very little English, drove very calmly, pointed out a few sites along the way, all-in-all it was a pleasant Sunday drive.
We stayed at Hotel Pod Vezi (which means “Under Tower”), located close to the St. Charles Bridge, on the Mala Strana side….website www.podvezi.com . I had researched tons of hotels and contacted about 8 of them. I try to deal directly with hotels via email or phone (rather than internet booking systems) and always ask if they can give us a discount for multiple nights, cash payment, or anything else. I picked Hotel Pod Vezi for several reasons - it seemed to be in a great location, the staff was responsive & friendly, and they offered us a double-deluxe room for 5000 CZK per night, incl tax & breakfast (signif less than the rack rate on their website).
This turned out to be a great choice. It’s a small hotel – only 12 rooms. The location is perfect – close to everything, but quiet at night. The staff is very nice, the hotel has AC and an elevator. Our double-deluxe room (#21) was more like a suite – king bed, tall ceilings, windows that opened, electronic safe, modern bathroom, hair dryer, towel warmer…plus a gargoyle hanging from the tower outside our window…what more could we ask for!! Breakfast was in the hotel restaurant, which was attached - nice buffet of cold items, plus an optional menu (no addit cost) with eggs, omelets, etc.. We would definitely stay there again.
So – we were finally in Prague!! It was late afternoon, so most major sites were closing. We walked around Mala Strana & visited the Church of St. Nicholas. The church is huge & over-the-top baroque – gilded everything! Had a casual dinner in a café close to the church –goulash in a bread bowl, and the first of many Czech beers (Pilsner Urquell for starters!) We walked down several side streets and found a cute café that served pancakes (sweet or salty concoctions with various toppings), coffee, and wine – Cukrkavalimoade Café at Lazenska 7. Several locals were inside enjoying Sunday treats…looked too good to pass up, so we had two lattes and shared a banana–caramel pancake …we were now officially on vacation!
We had considered going to the Metro station to get a 3 day transportation pass, but our hotel had advised against it. Since we were so centrally located, they thought we’d spend far less using individual transportation tickets. The hotel had a supply of individual tickets, so we were able to buy them whenever we needed them, for 14 KC each, charged to the room.
Later that evening, we wandered through Kampa Park. This area was flooded during the Aug 2002 floods. Nice, quiet area - several nice restaurants and a few hotels. Further down the road is a park that runs alongside the Vltava River …seemed like everyone was out for a Sunday evening walk … great views of Prague. After dark, we started looking for the John Lennon Wall – the graffiti wall that served as a point of expression for freedom-seekers prior to 1989 independence. It took us awhile to find it – had to ask directions a few times. - finally found it on the far side of a church! I know some people find the wall disappointing, but standing there in the dark, with the street-lights glowing and very few people out and about, looking at the bronze face of John Lennon and all of the graffiti painted around it, I felt a connection to the people who stood in this square in the 80’s, painting messages of peace and independence over and over again, only to have the Soviets follow behind and paint over them.
Jun 9th, 2007, 06:18 AM
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 122
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Monday – May 14 – Private Day Tour
I had contacted Jay Pesta of www.prague-walks.com based on Fodorite recommendations, to try to schedule his Best of Prague tour for today. He was already booked, but referred me to his associate Stepanka who sent me an enthusiastic email, offering to take us on the same walking tour for 1100 CZK (about $55) per person. I booked with Stepanka (email: [email protected] ) and asked her to meet us in the hotel lobby at 9:30. She was right on time and we set out for a 6 hour day tour of Prague.
Our walking tour was extensive and a lot of fun – We started out by riding Tram #22 to the Castle District, walked around the castle grounds, toured the inside of St. Vitus Cathedral, walked all the way back down to St. Nicholas Square, crossed the St. Charles Bridge, visited several churches in Old Town, took a boat trip on the Vltava River … The boat trip was fun - great picture taking opportunities, the driver passed around some interesting old pictures, including a picture of the huge statute of Stalin that was erected along the river during his era (subsequently blown up by the Khrushchev regime) and several pictures of the August 2002 flood. Next we visited the old town square and watched the astronomical clock. The clock is fascinating in it’s own right, and the hourly show is quite interesting – Death (skeleton) turns the hourglass and pulls the cord, the window opens, the apostles march by, the rooster crows and the bell tolls. We watched it several times over the next few days. Each time, we noticed something we’d missed before.
Had a traditional Czech lunch with Stepanka at a local restaurant down a side street (meat in a sauce with potatoes and jam topping with berries in it….and beer of course, this time Krusovice!), saw the Parliament House, Powder House, walked down Celetna Street & Na Priokope where Stepanka pointed out the locations of the Mucha Museum and the Museum of Communism, walked all around St. Wenceslas Square, visited the Hvelska Market. Along the way, Stepanka shared Prague’s history and stories, made recommendations re sites, restaurants, shops, shows, other walking tours, etc… When she found out I liked Art Nouveau, she took us into several old banks (yes, I said banks). The best was Zivnosnska Bank at Na Prikope 858/20 – it has lion panels on the front door – inside, you walk upstairs to a beautiful, old-fashioned art nouveau bank. We took advantage of the opportunity to withdraw cash from the indoor ATM – of course the machine spit out a single 10,000 KC bill. Luckily, we were in a bank, so we were able to get smaller bills right there.
After the tour, we made our way back across St. Charles Bridge, enjoying the statutes, local art, and views of the castle district. As Stepanka had instructed, we stopped to touch the statute of John of Nepomuk (with the 5 star halo) and make a wish. We touched the dog, which had obviously been touched many times because the finish was shiny…later, we were reading one of our tour books, and discovered touching the dog is supposed to be bad luck!! Oh no - had to go back the next day and try again, this time, avoiding the dog!!
That evening, checked out the restaurants on Nerudova Street in Mala Strana – decided on Restaurace U Certa (which must mean “the devil” as there were devilish characters and pictures throughout). Had a great dinner…also, walked up to the castle area to see how everything looked in the dark…located a local pub called U Cerneho Vola that had been mentioned in some of our guidebooks (tiny sign on the door, address - Loretanske namesti 1). We suspected the bar would be too smoky for us, but wanted to see it nonetheless. Tried the door, but it was locked – maybe it’s not open on Monday evenings – or maybe it was just closed on that Monday evening. Oh well, guess we’d had enough for today anyway! Made it back to the hotel just as it started to rain.
More to follow soon…
I had contacted Jay Pesta of www.prague-walks.com based on Fodorite recommendations, to try to schedule his Best of Prague tour for today. He was already booked, but referred me to his associate Stepanka who sent me an enthusiastic email, offering to take us on the same walking tour for 1100 CZK (about $55) per person. I booked with Stepanka (email: [email protected] ) and asked her to meet us in the hotel lobby at 9:30. She was right on time and we set out for a 6 hour day tour of Prague.
Our walking tour was extensive and a lot of fun – We started out by riding Tram #22 to the Castle District, walked around the castle grounds, toured the inside of St. Vitus Cathedral, walked all the way back down to St. Nicholas Square, crossed the St. Charles Bridge, visited several churches in Old Town, took a boat trip on the Vltava River … The boat trip was fun - great picture taking opportunities, the driver passed around some interesting old pictures, including a picture of the huge statute of Stalin that was erected along the river during his era (subsequently blown up by the Khrushchev regime) and several pictures of the August 2002 flood. Next we visited the old town square and watched the astronomical clock. The clock is fascinating in it’s own right, and the hourly show is quite interesting – Death (skeleton) turns the hourglass and pulls the cord, the window opens, the apostles march by, the rooster crows and the bell tolls. We watched it several times over the next few days. Each time, we noticed something we’d missed before.
Had a traditional Czech lunch with Stepanka at a local restaurant down a side street (meat in a sauce with potatoes and jam topping with berries in it….and beer of course, this time Krusovice!), saw the Parliament House, Powder House, walked down Celetna Street & Na Priokope where Stepanka pointed out the locations of the Mucha Museum and the Museum of Communism, walked all around St. Wenceslas Square, visited the Hvelska Market. Along the way, Stepanka shared Prague’s history and stories, made recommendations re sites, restaurants, shops, shows, other walking tours, etc… When she found out I liked Art Nouveau, she took us into several old banks (yes, I said banks). The best was Zivnosnska Bank at Na Prikope 858/20 – it has lion panels on the front door – inside, you walk upstairs to a beautiful, old-fashioned art nouveau bank. We took advantage of the opportunity to withdraw cash from the indoor ATM – of course the machine spit out a single 10,000 KC bill. Luckily, we were in a bank, so we were able to get smaller bills right there.
After the tour, we made our way back across St. Charles Bridge, enjoying the statutes, local art, and views of the castle district. As Stepanka had instructed, we stopped to touch the statute of John of Nepomuk (with the 5 star halo) and make a wish. We touched the dog, which had obviously been touched many times because the finish was shiny…later, we were reading one of our tour books, and discovered touching the dog is supposed to be bad luck!! Oh no - had to go back the next day and try again, this time, avoiding the dog!!
That evening, checked out the restaurants on Nerudova Street in Mala Strana – decided on Restaurace U Certa (which must mean “the devil” as there were devilish characters and pictures throughout). Had a great dinner…also, walked up to the castle area to see how everything looked in the dark…located a local pub called U Cerneho Vola that had been mentioned in some of our guidebooks (tiny sign on the door, address - Loretanske namesti 1). We suspected the bar would be too smoky for us, but wanted to see it nonetheless. Tried the door, but it was locked – maybe it’s not open on Monday evenings – or maybe it was just closed on that Monday evening. Oh well, guess we’d had enough for today anyway! Made it back to the hotel just as it started to rain.
More to follow soon…
Jun 10th, 2007, 01:09 PM
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 122
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Tuesday – May 15 – Prague
We decided to check out the Jewish Ghetto Walking Tour today. Stepanka had recommended the Prague Guided Walks – Jewish Quarter-Interiors Tour – English only, leaves from the front of Town Hall at 11AM or 2:30PM, guide has a white umbrella & Jewish Ghetto sign. We got there early, so we rode the elevator up to the top of the Town Hall Tower and took pictures – great view from there. About 10:40, we located the tour guide, Roman Bily, talked to him a few minutes, and decided to take the tour. It was a great tour – 2 ½ hours for 550 CZK each (included entry for several bldgs). Small group – only 7 of us. Roman was an excellent guide – very personable and very knowledgeable about Jewish history and sites. Neither of us is Jewish, yet we both thought this tour was one of the highlights of our time in Prague. We walked all around the ghetto, visited the Old Jewish Cemetery, the Maisel Synagogue which now houses the Jewish Museum (how ironic that numerous religious treasures survived because the Nazi’s saved them, intending to use them in a “Museum of the Extinct Jewish Race” ), the Pinkas Synagogue which is a very touching memorial, inscribed with the names of 77,000+ Czech Jews who were sent to Auschwitz and other camps, and the display of pictures drawn by the children confined at the Terezin concentration camp. I recommend this tour and highly recommend the guide, Roman Bily. His card indicates he also does private tours. His email is [email protected]
Late leisurely lunch at Mediterranee Il Primo on Elisky Krasnohorske, recommended by Roman. Excellent lunch – wild mushroom soup, mixed grill platter consisting of 4 grilled meats, 2 glasses of wine, dessert. Next, headed to the Mucha Museum - great little museum featuring the Art Nouveau work of Alfons Mucha (1860-1939). At the back of the museum, they show a documentary style movie on Mucha’s life & works that really added a lot to the exhibit - check on the time for the English version when you get there.
It was about 5pm when we left the museum …time for a beer …so we headed to the rooftop terrace at the Hotel U Prince, across from the Town Hall Tower/Astron Clock. You walk through the restaurant and catch an elevator up to the terrace. Great views of the city, great place for an afternoon drink, tried another Czech beer – this time Staropramen!
When we left the Hotel U Prince, we got turned around somehow (which is not hard to do!), and while we were trying to find our way back to the bridge, spotted another one of the local pubs we’d read about – U Zlateho Tigra ( large golden tiger above the door). We went inside to check it out – and as we expected, it was much too smoky for us – the whole place was hazy & there were no windows. But, it was fascinating to see – the place was packed, long wooden tables with benches, fellow at the front filling mugs from a cask as fast as he could. He just kept filling, without worrying about orders, and someone kept picking them up. The place doesn’t cater to tourists…no one glared at us, but they didn’t speak to us either….not really caring if we stayed. If we could have handled the smoke, we would have spoken up and figured out how to get a beer, but it was just too thick!
That evening it rained and rained….this was the only time we had hard rain during the whole trip. We decided not to stray far from the hotel, ate dinner at a place in the Kampa Park area that has a sign out front that says Pub I. Good, casual Czech dishes, friendly waiters, lots of pictures from the August 2002 flood. They had a garden out back, would’ve been great on a nicer evening. Got to try a new “half-dark” beer called Master polotmavý 13°– from Pilsner Urquell – .served in a tall goblet – love the way Europeans always serve beers in their own special glasses!!
Wow – only the end of the second day! That’s all for now….more to follow, including a day-trip to Karlstejn….
We decided to check out the Jewish Ghetto Walking Tour today. Stepanka had recommended the Prague Guided Walks – Jewish Quarter-Interiors Tour – English only, leaves from the front of Town Hall at 11AM or 2:30PM, guide has a white umbrella & Jewish Ghetto sign. We got there early, so we rode the elevator up to the top of the Town Hall Tower and took pictures – great view from there. About 10:40, we located the tour guide, Roman Bily, talked to him a few minutes, and decided to take the tour. It was a great tour – 2 ½ hours for 550 CZK each (included entry for several bldgs). Small group – only 7 of us. Roman was an excellent guide – very personable and very knowledgeable about Jewish history and sites. Neither of us is Jewish, yet we both thought this tour was one of the highlights of our time in Prague. We walked all around the ghetto, visited the Old Jewish Cemetery, the Maisel Synagogue which now houses the Jewish Museum (how ironic that numerous religious treasures survived because the Nazi’s saved them, intending to use them in a “Museum of the Extinct Jewish Race” ), the Pinkas Synagogue which is a very touching memorial, inscribed with the names of 77,000+ Czech Jews who were sent to Auschwitz and other camps, and the display of pictures drawn by the children confined at the Terezin concentration camp. I recommend this tour and highly recommend the guide, Roman Bily. His card indicates he also does private tours. His email is [email protected]
Late leisurely lunch at Mediterranee Il Primo on Elisky Krasnohorske, recommended by Roman. Excellent lunch – wild mushroom soup, mixed grill platter consisting of 4 grilled meats, 2 glasses of wine, dessert. Next, headed to the Mucha Museum - great little museum featuring the Art Nouveau work of Alfons Mucha (1860-1939). At the back of the museum, they show a documentary style movie on Mucha’s life & works that really added a lot to the exhibit - check on the time for the English version when you get there.
It was about 5pm when we left the museum …time for a beer …so we headed to the rooftop terrace at the Hotel U Prince, across from the Town Hall Tower/Astron Clock. You walk through the restaurant and catch an elevator up to the terrace. Great views of the city, great place for an afternoon drink, tried another Czech beer – this time Staropramen!
When we left the Hotel U Prince, we got turned around somehow (which is not hard to do!), and while we were trying to find our way back to the bridge, spotted another one of the local pubs we’d read about – U Zlateho Tigra ( large golden tiger above the door). We went inside to check it out – and as we expected, it was much too smoky for us – the whole place was hazy & there were no windows. But, it was fascinating to see – the place was packed, long wooden tables with benches, fellow at the front filling mugs from a cask as fast as he could. He just kept filling, without worrying about orders, and someone kept picking them up. The place doesn’t cater to tourists…no one glared at us, but they didn’t speak to us either….not really caring if we stayed. If we could have handled the smoke, we would have spoken up and figured out how to get a beer, but it was just too thick!
That evening it rained and rained….this was the only time we had hard rain during the whole trip. We decided not to stray far from the hotel, ate dinner at a place in the Kampa Park area that has a sign out front that says Pub I. Good, casual Czech dishes, friendly waiters, lots of pictures from the August 2002 flood. They had a garden out back, would’ve been great on a nicer evening. Got to try a new “half-dark” beer called Master polotmavý 13°– from Pilsner Urquell – .served in a tall goblet – love the way Europeans always serve beers in their own special glasses!!
Wow – only the end of the second day! That’s all for now….more to follow, including a day-trip to Karlstejn….
Jun 10th, 2007, 02:17 PM
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 122
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Wednesday – May 16 – Day-Trip to Karlstejn / Evening Concert
We were interested in two day-trips from Prague – Karlstejn & Kutna Hora. One of the staff members at our hotel spoke excellent English and was very good on the computer. She was working Tues night, so we asked her for advice re day-trips. She was wonderful - printed the train/bus schedules and went over the options with us. It was obvious that a day-trip to Karlstejn would be much easier, so opted to do that today. Originally, we were hoping to try Kutna Hora on Thurs, but we changed our minds…and never made it there (maybe next time).
The woman at the hotel (I wish I’d gotten her name) suggested we pick up the train to Karlstejn at the Smichov station, rather than the Hlavni station. She felt it would be less hectic and easier to figure out. There were fewer options from Smichov, but we looked them over and decided to take her advice and take the 10:34am train from Smichov to Karlstejn. Rode Tram 20 (could also have taken 12) to Smichov, found the ticket window, and asked if the woman spoke English. No…so I said “Karlstejn”, circled the info on the schedule the hotel clerk had given me, and made a “there and back” motion with my hands. She made a circle motion with her finger..which I interpreted as meaning she understood we wanted round-trip tickets. I said yes and she printed off a single slip of paper, that represented a ticket for 2 – total cost 106 CZK. We found a sign with the train # & platform #, wrote down the names of the two stops before Karlstejn, so we’d have some idea of when to get off, and went to the platform to wait for the train. Couldn’t read anything on the ticket except the names of the train stations and started to wonder if it was really a round trip ticket for 2 since it was so cheap…106 CZK was roughly $5. Found someone on the platform that spoke English and they confirmed it was right…Wow – had no idea it would be that cheap!!
The train wasn’t fancy, but wasn’t crowded either. Got window seats across from each other…pleasant trip….enjoyed the scenery…arrived at a small train depot in Karlstejn 35 minutes later. Exited the train and started talking with a pleasant couple from England….walked up to the castle together. It’s a long gradual uphill walk, past a lot of shops, restaurants, and a few hotels. At the castle, checked into English tours. The one that was about to leave was full, but there would be another in about 40 minutes. Bought tickets (220 CZK each) and bottled water and waited for the tour. Our tickets were for Tour 1 which lasts 50 minutes. There’s a longer tour that goes into the chapel, but it requires an advance reservation. The tour was okay – the castle structure is striking and the history is fascinating, but there’s not much in the way of interior décor …a few interesting art and furniture pieces. It’s certainly worth doing if you’ve made the trip – but we had some difficulty understanding the guide - young man, spoke good English, but had a strong accent that made it difficult to catch everything he said.
After the tour, we joined the English couple for a leisurely lunch and beer (this time Gambrinus!) at an outdoor café halfway down the hill. Visited for an hour or so, then they decided to go back up to the castle to look at the grounds. We headed on down, stopping in shops and an art gallery. I had spotted Cukrarna Kavarna, a café that had been recommended in a trip report posted by Christina, on the way up the hill and wanted to try the apple strudel she recommended. Alas, when we stopped on the way down, they were out of strudel! Had to pick something else, so we had a chocolate cream roulade, with two lattes – very good, but I’d had strudel on my mind. (Christina, if you read this, I recognized it right away from your blog…also saw the guy with the huge owl….he was raising money to help injured birds of prey).
The walk back to the train station seemed longer, since we were by ourselves. We didn’t see many signs, so we stopped and asked the way. Trains to Prague come by every 30 minutes, caught one with no problem, got off at Smichov, picked up Tram 12 back to the area of our hotel….got back around 6pm. The day trip was fun …would do it again, but would probably make an advance reservation for the longer castle tour.
That evening, we made a last minute decision to attend one of the one-hour concerts that are held every evening in Prague. Everywhere you go, people hand out flyers for nightly performances…many are classical, or musical only…many are in churches or historical buildings…most last an hour. They’re not all that cheap – generally running $30 or so per person. We’re not really into classical music, so we picked a show called “The Best of World Musicals” with three performers – a soprano, a pianist, and a person who played saxophone/clarinet. The flyer said it would be held in the “Former St. Michael Monastery, Baroque Library Hall”. It had several attractive pictures of the venue and the words “air condition”.
We left the hotel at 7:00, hoping to make the 7:30 show. Earlier that day, the tourist office had told us there were 2 prices for tickets – 520 CZK and 720 CZK. As we were looking for the venue, a fellow came up to us holding the same flyer we were carrying, saying he was selling tickets. He showed us a map of the hall and said there were actually 3 prices - 520, 620, and 720 CZK. I was concerned that he might be a fraud, so I insisted on taking the tickets up to the hall and making sure they were good, before Ron gave him the money. The woman at the door didn’t speak English, but seemed willing to take the tickets, so I signaled to Ron to pay him. We went with the mid price tickets - 620 CZK. Well, in addition to making sure the tickets were good, I should have looked in the room…it had an attractively painted ceiling, but was really nothing special…and it was open seating…we could have paid the cheapest price and sat anywhere. Also, it was quite warm…the word “air condition” must have been a reference to the open window in the back. For a few minutes, we felt a bit annoyed & taken, but there were about 120 other people there and once the show started, we enjoyed ourselves. All three performers were good, they performed songs from My Fair Lady, West Side Story, Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats, Cabaret, etc… And, although the room wasn’t as fancy as it looked in the pictures, the acoustics were excellent. My only suggestion - If you’re planning on attending a show, you might want to make your decision a little earlier than we did…and take a look at the venue ahead of time.
Late dinner – opted for Italian food at a restaurant in Kampa Park – can’t remember the name, but it was very close to the steps at the far end of St. Charles Bridge. The place looked neat and had been crowded every time we walked by, but our meal was disappointing…pretty expensive and not that good…decided we wouldn’t do Italian again on this trip.
More to follow…
We were interested in two day-trips from Prague – Karlstejn & Kutna Hora. One of the staff members at our hotel spoke excellent English and was very good on the computer. She was working Tues night, so we asked her for advice re day-trips. She was wonderful - printed the train/bus schedules and went over the options with us. It was obvious that a day-trip to Karlstejn would be much easier, so opted to do that today. Originally, we were hoping to try Kutna Hora on Thurs, but we changed our minds…and never made it there (maybe next time).
The woman at the hotel (I wish I’d gotten her name) suggested we pick up the train to Karlstejn at the Smichov station, rather than the Hlavni station. She felt it would be less hectic and easier to figure out. There were fewer options from Smichov, but we looked them over and decided to take her advice and take the 10:34am train from Smichov to Karlstejn. Rode Tram 20 (could also have taken 12) to Smichov, found the ticket window, and asked if the woman spoke English. No…so I said “Karlstejn”, circled the info on the schedule the hotel clerk had given me, and made a “there and back” motion with my hands. She made a circle motion with her finger..which I interpreted as meaning she understood we wanted round-trip tickets. I said yes and she printed off a single slip of paper, that represented a ticket for 2 – total cost 106 CZK. We found a sign with the train # & platform #, wrote down the names of the two stops before Karlstejn, so we’d have some idea of when to get off, and went to the platform to wait for the train. Couldn’t read anything on the ticket except the names of the train stations and started to wonder if it was really a round trip ticket for 2 since it was so cheap…106 CZK was roughly $5. Found someone on the platform that spoke English and they confirmed it was right…Wow – had no idea it would be that cheap!!
The train wasn’t fancy, but wasn’t crowded either. Got window seats across from each other…pleasant trip….enjoyed the scenery…arrived at a small train depot in Karlstejn 35 minutes later. Exited the train and started talking with a pleasant couple from England….walked up to the castle together. It’s a long gradual uphill walk, past a lot of shops, restaurants, and a few hotels. At the castle, checked into English tours. The one that was about to leave was full, but there would be another in about 40 minutes. Bought tickets (220 CZK each) and bottled water and waited for the tour. Our tickets were for Tour 1 which lasts 50 minutes. There’s a longer tour that goes into the chapel, but it requires an advance reservation. The tour was okay – the castle structure is striking and the history is fascinating, but there’s not much in the way of interior décor …a few interesting art and furniture pieces. It’s certainly worth doing if you’ve made the trip – but we had some difficulty understanding the guide - young man, spoke good English, but had a strong accent that made it difficult to catch everything he said.
After the tour, we joined the English couple for a leisurely lunch and beer (this time Gambrinus!) at an outdoor café halfway down the hill. Visited for an hour or so, then they decided to go back up to the castle to look at the grounds. We headed on down, stopping in shops and an art gallery. I had spotted Cukrarna Kavarna, a café that had been recommended in a trip report posted by Christina, on the way up the hill and wanted to try the apple strudel she recommended. Alas, when we stopped on the way down, they were out of strudel! Had to pick something else, so we had a chocolate cream roulade, with two lattes – very good, but I’d had strudel on my mind. (Christina, if you read this, I recognized it right away from your blog…also saw the guy with the huge owl….he was raising money to help injured birds of prey).
The walk back to the train station seemed longer, since we were by ourselves. We didn’t see many signs, so we stopped and asked the way. Trains to Prague come by every 30 minutes, caught one with no problem, got off at Smichov, picked up Tram 12 back to the area of our hotel….got back around 6pm. The day trip was fun …would do it again, but would probably make an advance reservation for the longer castle tour.
That evening, we made a last minute decision to attend one of the one-hour concerts that are held every evening in Prague. Everywhere you go, people hand out flyers for nightly performances…many are classical, or musical only…many are in churches or historical buildings…most last an hour. They’re not all that cheap – generally running $30 or so per person. We’re not really into classical music, so we picked a show called “The Best of World Musicals” with three performers – a soprano, a pianist, and a person who played saxophone/clarinet. The flyer said it would be held in the “Former St. Michael Monastery, Baroque Library Hall”. It had several attractive pictures of the venue and the words “air condition”.
We left the hotel at 7:00, hoping to make the 7:30 show. Earlier that day, the tourist office had told us there were 2 prices for tickets – 520 CZK and 720 CZK. As we were looking for the venue, a fellow came up to us holding the same flyer we were carrying, saying he was selling tickets. He showed us a map of the hall and said there were actually 3 prices - 520, 620, and 720 CZK. I was concerned that he might be a fraud, so I insisted on taking the tickets up to the hall and making sure they were good, before Ron gave him the money. The woman at the door didn’t speak English, but seemed willing to take the tickets, so I signaled to Ron to pay him. We went with the mid price tickets - 620 CZK. Well, in addition to making sure the tickets were good, I should have looked in the room…it had an attractively painted ceiling, but was really nothing special…and it was open seating…we could have paid the cheapest price and sat anywhere. Also, it was quite warm…the word “air condition” must have been a reference to the open window in the back. For a few minutes, we felt a bit annoyed & taken, but there were about 120 other people there and once the show started, we enjoyed ourselves. All three performers were good, they performed songs from My Fair Lady, West Side Story, Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats, Cabaret, etc… And, although the room wasn’t as fancy as it looked in the pictures, the acoustics were excellent. My only suggestion - If you’re planning on attending a show, you might want to make your decision a little earlier than we did…and take a look at the venue ahead of time.
Late dinner – opted for Italian food at a restaurant in Kampa Park – can’t remember the name, but it was very close to the steps at the far end of St. Charles Bridge. The place looked neat and had been crowded every time we walked by, but our meal was disappointing…pretty expensive and not that good…decided we wouldn’t do Italian again on this trip.
More to follow…
Jun 10th, 2007, 03:07 PM
#10
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 1,003
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Enjoying your report Somewhere OutThere.
We had intended to go to one of the churches etc for a night of classical musical but with one thing or another never got there and was quite disappointed about it. I have really enjoyed it when I have done it on previous trips to Paris Glad that you did quite enjoy it in the end even if the venue was not as good as you had hoped for. A lesson for us all to check out the venue as well.
Catching the train out to Karlsteijn sounds as though it would have been quite a bit less stressful than our driving out to it (we had borrowed a car for the day) so well done. We never did get around to doing the tour because we arrived fairly late. I wasn't upset about it at the time because I had gathered the interior was nothing special which you have just confirmed.
I look forward to your next instalment.
We had intended to go to one of the churches etc for a night of classical musical but with one thing or another never got there and was quite disappointed about it. I have really enjoyed it when I have done it on previous trips to Paris Glad that you did quite enjoy it in the end even if the venue was not as good as you had hoped for. A lesson for us all to check out the venue as well.
Catching the train out to Karlsteijn sounds as though it would have been quite a bit less stressful than our driving out to it (we had borrowed a car for the day) so well done. We never did get around to doing the tour because we arrived fairly late. I wasn't upset about it at the time because I had gathered the interior was nothing special which you have just confirmed.
I look forward to your next instalment.
Jun 13th, 2007, 04:02 PM
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 122
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks for the comments...keep encouraging me to get this finished!
Thursday - May 17 – Last Day in Prague
We talked about going to Kutna Hora today, but decided against it. Day-trips, buses, trains, etc… make for a hectic day and I figured tomorrow’s train trip to Krakow might be stressful …so I wanted to relax and spend a leisurely last day in Prague.
Headed out with a few guidebooks and no particular plan….Visited the Church of St. Mary the Victorious & saw the Infant of Prague, walked to the Petrin Hill area, saw the “Monument to Victims of Communism Who Survived” & the 14th Century Hungry Wall, rode the funicular, and climbed the Petrin Tower. We had not really planned to climb the 400 step tower, but it was a pretty day and we were there, so we climbed up, view was great from the top. The stairs go up in a circular motion, but aren’t too steep – and you go up one set of stairs, down a different set…so there are no traffic jams enroute!
Went thru the labyrinth….it’s a small building containing a mirror maze…nothing fancy…but good for a few laughs…also houses a large picture of the Battle of Prague that took place on St. Charles Bridge at the end of the Thirty Years War. From there, we walked through the parks/gardens to the back side of the Castle District. Most of the guide books fail to suggest this route, but it’s great…you stay up high, it’s not steep, the paths are nice, and there are some great views of Prague!
When we got to the Castle District, it was time for lunch – decided to look for Restaurace Nad Uvozem, which was recommended in our Rick Steves guide (located in the middle of a staircase connecting Loretanska & Uvoz streets). The guide said to look for kitchen utensils hanging over the opening…spotted them, walked down the steps, and lucked into a nice table by the window…had chicken soup, a skewer of fried mushrooms & cheese, and beer…friendly staff, reasonably priced lunch.
After lunch, visited the Loreta – we were able to listen in on part of a private English tour – and realized there was more to see than was mentioned in our guidebooks…Should have checked to see if they had an audioguide…enjoyed the chapel and the jeweled religious artifacts….but the bearded female saint hanging on a cross was really strange! Next, headed toward the castle…as we approached, we heard music, turned the corner and saw the 4-man band that’s featured in Rick Steve’s TV episode on Prague….easy to recognize the fellow with the large moustache!
Decided to go back through St. Vitus Cathedral. I don’t think I mentioned that it’s now free (they used to charge for the main cathedral). Of course, that makes for longer lines…but it was late-afternoon and the line wasn’t too bad…we got in quickly and took our time, reading the descriptions in our guidebook as we walked through the church…located the stained glass window by Alfons Mucha, the silver tomb of St. John of Nepomuk, the tomb of St. Wenceslas, etc… We were planning to go downstairs to see the crypt that houses the tomb of Charles IV (King of Bohemia 1346-1378) and his 4 wives, but for some reason, it was closed.
Headed back toward our hotel…down the many steps to Nerudova Street. There were still a few Czech beers we hadn’t tried…one of which was Budvar (the original Budweiser)…we were running out of time…spotted an unusual little restaurant on Nerudova, decorated like a farm inside…had a Budvar sign, so we went inside…ordered two Budvars and apple strudel! I know beer & strudel don’t go together all that well, but I’d been hungry for strudel since yesterday….this one was great…plenty for two - served on a plate, covered with a sweet sauce!
Spent the early evening packing and making arrangements for our trip to Krakow… Got a copy of our bill at Hotel Pod Vezi, 5 nights + some laundry & tram tickets…everything looked right…Asked about transportation to the Hlvani train station in the morning…hotel clerk offered two options – a private driver for 350 CZK or AAA Taxi for 100 to 200 CZK. Seemed odd that they couldn’t give us a more accurate estimate than that for a trip to the main train station…but we went with AAA since I’d read many reports that they were a reputable taxi company…arranged for pickup at 8:30AM…Stopped by the mini-mart across the street, picked up a bottle of wine and some snacks for the train trip. I’d read comments about the Czech wine not being all that great, but we’d enjoyed the Valticke Zamecki Franovka from Moravia during the past week…nothing fancy, but fine for a casual glass of wine…and very reasonably priced at the mini-mart!
Headed out around 7PM….crossed the St. Charles Bridge and walked thru Old Town for the last time….we were considering the 7:30 Black Light Theater show…several people had told us the best one was “Aspects of Alice” at the theater at Karlova 8. Got there around 7:15, but they had cancelled the 7:30 show due to slow sales and were only selling tickets for the 9:30 show. Decided that wouldn’t work for us, so we headed the Parliament House to check out the Art Nouveau “American Bar” on the lower level….sat at the bar and talked to the bartender…he only spoke a little English, but did his best to carry on a bar conversation with us. (By the way, when we entered the Parliament House, people were entering for an evening show…some had tickets to the main auditorium…others were being turned away and sent to a small room in the basement for a different performance…some of them seemed quite surprised that their tickets weren’t for the main room…reinforced my previous suggestion that you check out the venue before you buy tickets!)
Headed back to Mala Strana for dinner….wanted to try the U Tri Housilek (which either means House of Three Violins or House of Three Fiddles) at Nerudova 12. Got there around 9pm…without reservations. The waiter originally told us the restaurant was full, but as we stood outside, trying to decide where to go, he came back out and said he thought there would be a table available in 10 minutes if we were willing to wait….no problem….waited and got seated. Dinner was very good.
Last stop on the way back to the hotel … the ATM. Our ATM covers all fees at home and abroad, but our credit cards add a 3% finance charge to all foreign transactions…so we usually pay hotel bills in cash (had been accumulating it in the safe in our room). We made our last CZK withdrawal to cover the bill + 200 CZK for cab fare.
Our visit to Prague had come to an end…..hated to leave…had a great time…it’s a beautiful city…so historic and scenic, and very easy to navigate…saw most of the things we wanted to see…would have liked to have taken the Municipal House Tour…maybe next time….
Tomorrow, we’re on our way to Krakow.
Thursday - May 17 – Last Day in Prague
We talked about going to Kutna Hora today, but decided against it. Day-trips, buses, trains, etc… make for a hectic day and I figured tomorrow’s train trip to Krakow might be stressful …so I wanted to relax and spend a leisurely last day in Prague.
Headed out with a few guidebooks and no particular plan….Visited the Church of St. Mary the Victorious & saw the Infant of Prague, walked to the Petrin Hill area, saw the “Monument to Victims of Communism Who Survived” & the 14th Century Hungry Wall, rode the funicular, and climbed the Petrin Tower. We had not really planned to climb the 400 step tower, but it was a pretty day and we were there, so we climbed up, view was great from the top. The stairs go up in a circular motion, but aren’t too steep – and you go up one set of stairs, down a different set…so there are no traffic jams enroute!
Went thru the labyrinth….it’s a small building containing a mirror maze…nothing fancy…but good for a few laughs…also houses a large picture of the Battle of Prague that took place on St. Charles Bridge at the end of the Thirty Years War. From there, we walked through the parks/gardens to the back side of the Castle District. Most of the guide books fail to suggest this route, but it’s great…you stay up high, it’s not steep, the paths are nice, and there are some great views of Prague!
When we got to the Castle District, it was time for lunch – decided to look for Restaurace Nad Uvozem, which was recommended in our Rick Steves guide (located in the middle of a staircase connecting Loretanska & Uvoz streets). The guide said to look for kitchen utensils hanging over the opening…spotted them, walked down the steps, and lucked into a nice table by the window…had chicken soup, a skewer of fried mushrooms & cheese, and beer…friendly staff, reasonably priced lunch.
After lunch, visited the Loreta – we were able to listen in on part of a private English tour – and realized there was more to see than was mentioned in our guidebooks…Should have checked to see if they had an audioguide…enjoyed the chapel and the jeweled religious artifacts….but the bearded female saint hanging on a cross was really strange! Next, headed toward the castle…as we approached, we heard music, turned the corner and saw the 4-man band that’s featured in Rick Steve’s TV episode on Prague….easy to recognize the fellow with the large moustache!
Decided to go back through St. Vitus Cathedral. I don’t think I mentioned that it’s now free (they used to charge for the main cathedral). Of course, that makes for longer lines…but it was late-afternoon and the line wasn’t too bad…we got in quickly and took our time, reading the descriptions in our guidebook as we walked through the church…located the stained glass window by Alfons Mucha, the silver tomb of St. John of Nepomuk, the tomb of St. Wenceslas, etc… We were planning to go downstairs to see the crypt that houses the tomb of Charles IV (King of Bohemia 1346-1378) and his 4 wives, but for some reason, it was closed.
Headed back toward our hotel…down the many steps to Nerudova Street. There were still a few Czech beers we hadn’t tried…one of which was Budvar (the original Budweiser)…we were running out of time…spotted an unusual little restaurant on Nerudova, decorated like a farm inside…had a Budvar sign, so we went inside…ordered two Budvars and apple strudel! I know beer & strudel don’t go together all that well, but I’d been hungry for strudel since yesterday….this one was great…plenty for two - served on a plate, covered with a sweet sauce!
Spent the early evening packing and making arrangements for our trip to Krakow… Got a copy of our bill at Hotel Pod Vezi, 5 nights + some laundry & tram tickets…everything looked right…Asked about transportation to the Hlvani train station in the morning…hotel clerk offered two options – a private driver for 350 CZK or AAA Taxi for 100 to 200 CZK. Seemed odd that they couldn’t give us a more accurate estimate than that for a trip to the main train station…but we went with AAA since I’d read many reports that they were a reputable taxi company…arranged for pickup at 8:30AM…Stopped by the mini-mart across the street, picked up a bottle of wine and some snacks for the train trip. I’d read comments about the Czech wine not being all that great, but we’d enjoyed the Valticke Zamecki Franovka from Moravia during the past week…nothing fancy, but fine for a casual glass of wine…and very reasonably priced at the mini-mart!
Headed out around 7PM….crossed the St. Charles Bridge and walked thru Old Town for the last time….we were considering the 7:30 Black Light Theater show…several people had told us the best one was “Aspects of Alice” at the theater at Karlova 8. Got there around 7:15, but they had cancelled the 7:30 show due to slow sales and were only selling tickets for the 9:30 show. Decided that wouldn’t work for us, so we headed the Parliament House to check out the Art Nouveau “American Bar” on the lower level….sat at the bar and talked to the bartender…he only spoke a little English, but did his best to carry on a bar conversation with us. (By the way, when we entered the Parliament House, people were entering for an evening show…some had tickets to the main auditorium…others were being turned away and sent to a small room in the basement for a different performance…some of them seemed quite surprised that their tickets weren’t for the main room…reinforced my previous suggestion that you check out the venue before you buy tickets!)
Headed back to Mala Strana for dinner….wanted to try the U Tri Housilek (which either means House of Three Violins or House of Three Fiddles) at Nerudova 12. Got there around 9pm…without reservations. The waiter originally told us the restaurant was full, but as we stood outside, trying to decide where to go, he came back out and said he thought there would be a table available in 10 minutes if we were willing to wait….no problem….waited and got seated. Dinner was very good.
Last stop on the way back to the hotel … the ATM. Our ATM covers all fees at home and abroad, but our credit cards add a 3% finance charge to all foreign transactions…so we usually pay hotel bills in cash (had been accumulating it in the safe in our room). We made our last CZK withdrawal to cover the bill + 200 CZK for cab fare.
Our visit to Prague had come to an end…..hated to leave…had a great time…it’s a beautiful city…so historic and scenic, and very easy to navigate…saw most of the things we wanted to see…would have liked to have taken the Municipal House Tour…maybe next time….
Tomorrow, we’re on our way to Krakow.
Jun 13th, 2007, 10:02 PM
#12
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 9
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks for all of the great descriptive info! My family and I are going to Vienna, Prague, Krakow, and then Budapest starting on the 25th, so we will be hot on your trail it sounds like. I greedily anticipate the conclusion to your report.
Jun 17th, 2007, 03:56 PM
#14
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 122
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks for the comments lizarduva & ozetraveller...hope you both have a great time. Here's the info on our train trip.
Friday – May 18 – Day Train to Krakow
When we planned this trip, we weighed all of the options for getting from Prague to Krakow and decided to travel by train. We ruled out the night train (tried it once in Germany and didn’t sleep at all) and eventually chose the 10:07AM train, with 1 change in Katowicz.
I wanted to buy tickets and reservations ahead of time – even if it cost a little more – because I didn’t want to spend any of our vacation time in Prague working out transportation options. I was fairly confused, even with everything that had been posted – and finally decided to follow advice posted by a number of Fodorites & contact Budget Europe Travel Service (BETS) – www.budgeteuropetravel.com . I called them at 1-800-441-2387 and had a long conversation with Byron. As posted by others, he was extremely patient and answered all of my questions.
I purchased tickets and seat reservations through BETS. We had the option of buying 1st or 2nd class for each train, but went with first class all the way, hoping it would make it easier to get seats and stay close to our luggage. BETS sent the tickets via Insured US Mail – Signature Required. Total cost was $118 x 2 tickets + $15 processing fee. This is more than you would pay in Europe, but it came with a lot of personal service and we were able to pay via credit card in US dollars (no exchange rate issues or foreign transaction fees).
So, we ended up with 1st Class tickets & seat reservations for Eurocity Train EC 107 - Prague to Katowicz 10:07AM – 3:50PM ( 1st class Open Ticket - $89/each, 1st Class NonSmoker Seat Reservations - $11 each) and 1st Class Open Tickets for Katowicz to Krakow ($18/each). The plan was to catch the 4:20PM – 5:48PM train from Katowicz to Krakow. If by chance we missed it, we could use the open ticket to take any train from Katowicz to Krakow. Byron had sent me a list of all of the options.
Friday morning came and I was a bit anxious about the train trip. I’d read a number of negative reports about train experiences in Eastern Europe…and a number of reports about pickpockets/theft on trains from Prague to Krakow. We were all packed up and ready to go…had our money and critical documents stuffed in our moneybelts. AAA Taxi showed up on time at 8:30. The hotel clerk told him to take us to the Hlvani station and talked to him about the price. He used a meter, only charged us 116 CZK - very reasonable – gave him a nice tip.
Several people in Prague had told us the area and characters outside the train station were a bit rough, so we were surprised when the cab driver pulled up at a curb to let us out and the area was totally calm and quiet. Apparently, there are two levels at the train station. He let us out at the upper level, where the platforms are located…we walked inside and were confused by the lack of activity….finally figured out we needed to go downstairs to find out what platform our train would leave from. Couldn’t find an escalator, so we had to bounce our bags down the steps.
Downstairs had all of the hustle-bustle of a main train station. We were early, our train # was posted on the board, but the platform wasn’t posted yet. There was only one info line for English speaking people. I waited in the line and asked the attendant if she could tell me the platform # - and of course, she told me to watch the board! While we watched the board, we started talking to a family from Pennsylvania that were planning to take the same train. They had been in Europe for several months, doing church work…two adults and 3 young children…one in a stroller. They were very friendly and very calm…I have enough trouble getting around with 1 suitcase & 1 carryon…can’t imagine keeping track of 3 kids and a stroller!!
They finally posted our platform and everyone headed toward it…pretty much a mad rush…but hooray, the escalator up to the platform was working!! The train was already there…couldn’t find car #s on most of the cars, so I couldn’t figure out which one was 352, where our reserved seats were supposed to be. There was one woman on the platform to answer questions….everyone was crowded around her…it was pretty confusing. When I made it to the front and showed her our tickets, she just pointed to a car on her left. We were still unsure, but got on….ran into the PA family – the husband had upgraded their tickets to first class at the last minute and had been told they could take any first class seat. If we were in car #352, someone was already in our reserved seats, so we took two seats behind the family. (About halfway through the trip, we found a small sign near the restroom that said “352”, so I guess we were in the right car after all!)
The car was only 2/3 full when it pulled out of the station, so seat #s never became an issue. The conductor came through to check tickets…she was much friendlier than most…stamped our tickets, and told us the train would split at one point, some people would have to get off, we were supposed to stay on.
So – we were on our way. I had printed a detailed list of all of the stops at www.bahn.de and had brought it along…enjoyed knowing where we were along the way. The Eurocity train was much nicer than we had expected. BETS had told me they could not pull up diagrams, but from the seat numbers, they though it would be a 2seat/aisle/1seat configuration, rather than compartments. They were right. The seats were nice…in fact the whole car seemed to be new or recently renovated. There was plenty of space for our carryons at our feet, a luggage rack near the door, and large luggage racks overhead. We originally had our main suitcases in the rack by the door…but our seats were facing the other way and I couldn’t see them…so I had Ron put them on the overhead rack across the aisle from us.
The train had a nice dining car, but we couldn’t go together, because someone had to stay with the bags. Ron was able to spend our remaining CZK – on a Coke light (their version of Diet Coke) and a large bottle of Kozel (black beer). Later, we shared the bottle of wine & cheese & crackers we’d brought along. The Czech countryside was attractive…we moved along at a nice pace….made all of our stops on time. People gradually got off of the train…very few people got on. After Olomouc, there were only three of us left in our car….the two of us and a young businessman from Warsaw.
There was a quick passport check at the Polish border…no problem. We arrived in Katowicz on platform 3, had 30 minutes to figure out where to catch our train to Krakow. No escalator…had to bounce the luggage down the stairs…found a pre-printed board with train times/ #s/ platforms. The list said our train would leave from Platform 4. I asked two policemen which way to go for Platform 4 – they didn’t speak English…so I said “Krakow?”…they smiled and corrected my pronunciation to Kra-Koof (I knew that, but had forgotten to say it correctly)…looked at the board…and pointed us toward Platform 4.
Had to pull our luggage up the stairs this time. The train was already there. We boarded a first class car. It wasn’t as nice as the Eurocity, but was just fine…a bit warm….but clean. I sat in the front seat, next to the luggage, Ron sat behind me. The car was only ½ full when we pulled out. The ride was a bit bumpier, passed through a more industrial area. Again, I was glad I’d printed out a list of stops…followed along, and in no time, we pulled into the Krakow train station. I had arranged for the hotel to send a driver. We didn’t spot him at first, but as the crowd cleared away, we found him. Pleasant drive to our hotel - 30 PLN.
Summary – our train trip was great! But, I need to mention that we spoke to several couples during the next week that had taken other trains and were not nearly as pleased. Everyone we spoke to who took a night train (either between Prague & Krakow or between Krakow & Budapest) said they would not do it again. One couple took a mid-afternoon train from Prague to Krakow on the same Friday as our trip and said it was so crowded they couldn’t get close to their reserved seats for the first 2 hours….and had a terrible time manipulating their luggage through the crowd. I guess we were just lucky!
Krakow Hotel - We had booked 4 nights at Hotel Grodek. It’s one of the Donimirski Group of hotels…their website is www.donimirski.com . When I contacted them via email, they quoted a regular rate of 740 PLN, which they discounted down to 629 PLN for having the Rick Steves Eastern Europe guidebook. The location was very good…on the edge of the old town, down a quiet street. We had to pay a one night deposit ahead of time. Originally, they wanted me to pay through a system called AllPay…which appears to be similar to PayPal. I didn’t really want to sign up for a new payment system, so they had allowed me to FAX my credit card number. They held the credit card info until mid-April, at which time they ran the one night deposit. At that point, the reservation was guaranteed (an I believe the deposit was non-refundable).
The hotel has twenty + rooms, all are decorated differently. We had Room 309…which has a Chinese motif…not my favorite décor….but it was a nice room. Large bed, triple window, safe, robes, stall shower, hair dryer, towel warmer. We had easy access to the top floor deck with two outdoor tables. The staff was young and polite…friendly, but very professional. Breakfast was good…cold buffet, plus option to order eggs and meat.
It was getting close to 8pm by the time we got settled in. We were tired and just wanted to walk around the square and have a casual Polish dinner. We stopped at the front desk and asked for a recommendation….the girl at the desk gave us a copy of “Krakow In Your Pocket” and a booklet of restaurant info. She made several suggestions, but they were all fancier than we were up to tonight. So, we decided to go with a Rick Steves recommendation – Chlopski Jadlo at ulica Grodzka 9. First, we headed to the Old Town Square…it was beautiful, very lively… music playing, people eating at cafes and strolling about. We walked around a bit, then found the restaurant. Tables are in the cellar…wooden tables and benches. The menu is huge…asked for recommendations and ended up trying a sampler of sausage appetizers…followed by a sampler of 4 different soups….followed by a sampler of 3 types of pierogi. Service was a bit slow, but the food was good.
While we were eating, a group from Paris sat down at the table next to us…about 10 people…having a great time. They were friendly…had us take pictures of their group…then reciprocated. The head of the group had Polish parents and was able to speak some Polish with the waiter. He told us tonight was “free museum” night and suggested a few museums we might want to see. We headed toward one of them after dinner….and saw a long, long line waiting to get in. Waiting in line was obviously a social event…lots of young people, dressed up on dates, having a good time. We decided we’d have to go another time. Wandered back through the square, listened to some music…then headed to the hotel to get some rest…so we’d be ready for a walking tour the next morning.
We knew we were going to enjoy Krakow….more to come soon…comments & questions welcome…
Friday – May 18 – Day Train to Krakow
When we planned this trip, we weighed all of the options for getting from Prague to Krakow and decided to travel by train. We ruled out the night train (tried it once in Germany and didn’t sleep at all) and eventually chose the 10:07AM train, with 1 change in Katowicz.
I wanted to buy tickets and reservations ahead of time – even if it cost a little more – because I didn’t want to spend any of our vacation time in Prague working out transportation options. I was fairly confused, even with everything that had been posted – and finally decided to follow advice posted by a number of Fodorites & contact Budget Europe Travel Service (BETS) – www.budgeteuropetravel.com . I called them at 1-800-441-2387 and had a long conversation with Byron. As posted by others, he was extremely patient and answered all of my questions.
I purchased tickets and seat reservations through BETS. We had the option of buying 1st or 2nd class for each train, but went with first class all the way, hoping it would make it easier to get seats and stay close to our luggage. BETS sent the tickets via Insured US Mail – Signature Required. Total cost was $118 x 2 tickets + $15 processing fee. This is more than you would pay in Europe, but it came with a lot of personal service and we were able to pay via credit card in US dollars (no exchange rate issues or foreign transaction fees).
So, we ended up with 1st Class tickets & seat reservations for Eurocity Train EC 107 - Prague to Katowicz 10:07AM – 3:50PM ( 1st class Open Ticket - $89/each, 1st Class NonSmoker Seat Reservations - $11 each) and 1st Class Open Tickets for Katowicz to Krakow ($18/each). The plan was to catch the 4:20PM – 5:48PM train from Katowicz to Krakow. If by chance we missed it, we could use the open ticket to take any train from Katowicz to Krakow. Byron had sent me a list of all of the options.
Friday morning came and I was a bit anxious about the train trip. I’d read a number of negative reports about train experiences in Eastern Europe…and a number of reports about pickpockets/theft on trains from Prague to Krakow. We were all packed up and ready to go…had our money and critical documents stuffed in our moneybelts. AAA Taxi showed up on time at 8:30. The hotel clerk told him to take us to the Hlvani station and talked to him about the price. He used a meter, only charged us 116 CZK - very reasonable – gave him a nice tip.
Several people in Prague had told us the area and characters outside the train station were a bit rough, so we were surprised when the cab driver pulled up at a curb to let us out and the area was totally calm and quiet. Apparently, there are two levels at the train station. He let us out at the upper level, where the platforms are located…we walked inside and were confused by the lack of activity….finally figured out we needed to go downstairs to find out what platform our train would leave from. Couldn’t find an escalator, so we had to bounce our bags down the steps.
Downstairs had all of the hustle-bustle of a main train station. We were early, our train # was posted on the board, but the platform wasn’t posted yet. There was only one info line for English speaking people. I waited in the line and asked the attendant if she could tell me the platform # - and of course, she told me to watch the board! While we watched the board, we started talking to a family from Pennsylvania that were planning to take the same train. They had been in Europe for several months, doing church work…two adults and 3 young children…one in a stroller. They were very friendly and very calm…I have enough trouble getting around with 1 suitcase & 1 carryon…can’t imagine keeping track of 3 kids and a stroller!!
They finally posted our platform and everyone headed toward it…pretty much a mad rush…but hooray, the escalator up to the platform was working!! The train was already there…couldn’t find car #s on most of the cars, so I couldn’t figure out which one was 352, where our reserved seats were supposed to be. There was one woman on the platform to answer questions….everyone was crowded around her…it was pretty confusing. When I made it to the front and showed her our tickets, she just pointed to a car on her left. We were still unsure, but got on….ran into the PA family – the husband had upgraded their tickets to first class at the last minute and had been told they could take any first class seat. If we were in car #352, someone was already in our reserved seats, so we took two seats behind the family. (About halfway through the trip, we found a small sign near the restroom that said “352”, so I guess we were in the right car after all!)
The car was only 2/3 full when it pulled out of the station, so seat #s never became an issue. The conductor came through to check tickets…she was much friendlier than most…stamped our tickets, and told us the train would split at one point, some people would have to get off, we were supposed to stay on.
So – we were on our way. I had printed a detailed list of all of the stops at www.bahn.de and had brought it along…enjoyed knowing where we were along the way. The Eurocity train was much nicer than we had expected. BETS had told me they could not pull up diagrams, but from the seat numbers, they though it would be a 2seat/aisle/1seat configuration, rather than compartments. They were right. The seats were nice…in fact the whole car seemed to be new or recently renovated. There was plenty of space for our carryons at our feet, a luggage rack near the door, and large luggage racks overhead. We originally had our main suitcases in the rack by the door…but our seats were facing the other way and I couldn’t see them…so I had Ron put them on the overhead rack across the aisle from us.
The train had a nice dining car, but we couldn’t go together, because someone had to stay with the bags. Ron was able to spend our remaining CZK – on a Coke light (their version of Diet Coke) and a large bottle of Kozel (black beer). Later, we shared the bottle of wine & cheese & crackers we’d brought along. The Czech countryside was attractive…we moved along at a nice pace….made all of our stops on time. People gradually got off of the train…very few people got on. After Olomouc, there were only three of us left in our car….the two of us and a young businessman from Warsaw.
There was a quick passport check at the Polish border…no problem. We arrived in Katowicz on platform 3, had 30 minutes to figure out where to catch our train to Krakow. No escalator…had to bounce the luggage down the stairs…found a pre-printed board with train times/ #s/ platforms. The list said our train would leave from Platform 4. I asked two policemen which way to go for Platform 4 – they didn’t speak English…so I said “Krakow?”…they smiled and corrected my pronunciation to Kra-Koof (I knew that, but had forgotten to say it correctly)…looked at the board…and pointed us toward Platform 4.
Had to pull our luggage up the stairs this time. The train was already there. We boarded a first class car. It wasn’t as nice as the Eurocity, but was just fine…a bit warm….but clean. I sat in the front seat, next to the luggage, Ron sat behind me. The car was only ½ full when we pulled out. The ride was a bit bumpier, passed through a more industrial area. Again, I was glad I’d printed out a list of stops…followed along, and in no time, we pulled into the Krakow train station. I had arranged for the hotel to send a driver. We didn’t spot him at first, but as the crowd cleared away, we found him. Pleasant drive to our hotel - 30 PLN.
Summary – our train trip was great! But, I need to mention that we spoke to several couples during the next week that had taken other trains and were not nearly as pleased. Everyone we spoke to who took a night train (either between Prague & Krakow or between Krakow & Budapest) said they would not do it again. One couple took a mid-afternoon train from Prague to Krakow on the same Friday as our trip and said it was so crowded they couldn’t get close to their reserved seats for the first 2 hours….and had a terrible time manipulating their luggage through the crowd. I guess we were just lucky!
Krakow Hotel - We had booked 4 nights at Hotel Grodek. It’s one of the Donimirski Group of hotels…their website is www.donimirski.com . When I contacted them via email, they quoted a regular rate of 740 PLN, which they discounted down to 629 PLN for having the Rick Steves Eastern Europe guidebook. The location was very good…on the edge of the old town, down a quiet street. We had to pay a one night deposit ahead of time. Originally, they wanted me to pay through a system called AllPay…which appears to be similar to PayPal. I didn’t really want to sign up for a new payment system, so they had allowed me to FAX my credit card number. They held the credit card info until mid-April, at which time they ran the one night deposit. At that point, the reservation was guaranteed (an I believe the deposit was non-refundable).
The hotel has twenty + rooms, all are decorated differently. We had Room 309…which has a Chinese motif…not my favorite décor….but it was a nice room. Large bed, triple window, safe, robes, stall shower, hair dryer, towel warmer. We had easy access to the top floor deck with two outdoor tables. The staff was young and polite…friendly, but very professional. Breakfast was good…cold buffet, plus option to order eggs and meat.
It was getting close to 8pm by the time we got settled in. We were tired and just wanted to walk around the square and have a casual Polish dinner. We stopped at the front desk and asked for a recommendation….the girl at the desk gave us a copy of “Krakow In Your Pocket” and a booklet of restaurant info. She made several suggestions, but they were all fancier than we were up to tonight. So, we decided to go with a Rick Steves recommendation – Chlopski Jadlo at ulica Grodzka 9. First, we headed to the Old Town Square…it was beautiful, very lively… music playing, people eating at cafes and strolling about. We walked around a bit, then found the restaurant. Tables are in the cellar…wooden tables and benches. The menu is huge…asked for recommendations and ended up trying a sampler of sausage appetizers…followed by a sampler of 4 different soups….followed by a sampler of 3 types of pierogi. Service was a bit slow, but the food was good.
While we were eating, a group from Paris sat down at the table next to us…about 10 people…having a great time. They were friendly…had us take pictures of their group…then reciprocated. The head of the group had Polish parents and was able to speak some Polish with the waiter. He told us tonight was “free museum” night and suggested a few museums we might want to see. We headed toward one of them after dinner….and saw a long, long line waiting to get in. Waiting in line was obviously a social event…lots of young people, dressed up on dates, having a good time. We decided we’d have to go another time. Wandered back through the square, listened to some music…then headed to the hotel to get some rest…so we’d be ready for a walking tour the next morning.
We knew we were going to enjoy Krakow….more to come soon…comments & questions welcome…
Jun 20th, 2007, 07:04 PM
#16
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 2,472
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks for this report, Somewhere. I've been to Prague twice (both in winter) and loved it. Just skimmed the Prague parts, and am really looking forward to reading about Krakow. Would love your comparisons of the two cities; what you liked and didn't like about each. I'm probably going to visit Krakow in Sept. on my own for 4 nights, after my husband and I (also 50-somethings) share a week in Berlin.
I'm reading all the Krakow trip reports I can!
Are you from Atlanta? That's my home and we wrestle with the Delta award tickets also.
I'm reading all the Krakow trip reports I can!
Are you from Atlanta? That's my home and we wrestle with the Delta award tickets also.
Jun 21st, 2007, 12:24 AM
#17
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 641
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
<< I had spotted Cukrarna Kavarna, a café that had been recommended in a trip report posted by Christina, on the way up the hill and wanted to try the apple strudel she recommended. >>
Lovely report. It brought back fond memories of our week in Prague last month.
We too enjoyed Christina's recommendations.
Woody
Lovely report. It brought back fond memories of our week in Prague last month.
We too enjoyed Christina's recommendations.
Woody
Jun 21st, 2007, 01:07 AM
#18
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 9,642
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Excellent report! Looking forward to the rest. When we were in Krakow in March '06, we checked out the Hotel Grodek (we stayed at the Batory) and decided we'd stay there on a future visit. (Our weather was the exact opposite as yours...frigidly cold with snow every day.)
Jun 21st, 2007, 09:19 AM
#19
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 754
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
What a wonderful report.
I will be in Poland for 3 weeks in September and will be staying at the Hotel Grodek while in Krakow. It's supposed to be a fine place and I look forward to being there.
We will be driving on our own and are eagerly awaiting our adventure! We fly into Warsaw, then go to Lublin, Krakow, Wroclaw, Poznan, Gdansk and Sopot.
I will be in Poland for 3 weeks in September and will be staying at the Hotel Grodek while in Krakow. It's supposed to be a fine place and I look forward to being there.
We will be driving on our own and are eagerly awaiting our adventure! We fly into Warsaw, then go to Lublin, Krakow, Wroclaw, Poznan, Gdansk and Sopot.
Jun 22nd, 2007, 12:58 PM
#20
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 122
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks for all of the comments. I'm working on Krakow - will get some of it posted this weekend. I envy those of you with a trip coming up soon!
noe847 - Yes we're from Atlanta...as you know, the best part of that is the number of places we can fly direct...the worst part is the size of the airport and all the delays that go along with being so big!
noe847 - Yes we're from Atlanta...as you know, the best part of that is the number of places we can fly direct...the worst part is the size of the airport and all the delays that go along with being so big!
