We have been to Romania and Poland. In the big cities, people aren't exactly americanized but they are alot more similar than they were 10 years ago. There is nothing wrong with americanization, but when you go overseas you are looking for a less homogenized experience.

Big Russ tell my departed Mom that Czechs were slavs and she'd bite your head off as Czechs are Bohemians - just like Germans and that's why Hitler annexed the Seudentland - the Slovakia partof Czechoslovakia was slavish and the reason they split was simply because the Bohunks (as American kids called my mon and herohemian as an ethnic and geographical term

Wiki and ogthers say: "In its original meaning, "Bohemians" referred to the people of Bohemia, in the Czech Republic, inhabitants of the former Kingdom of Bohemia, located in the modern day Czech Republic. The name derives from the Latin term for the Celtic tribe inhabiting that area, the Boii, who were called Boiohaemum in the early Middle Age siblings in school) and Slavs did not get along.

Celtic is the key for Bohemians who dominated the Czech part of Czechoslovakia - Celts are not Slavs but more Germanic I think.

My Czech grandpa called himself a Bohemian not a Czech BTW.

Um, no.

Czechs are slavs.

From Encyclopedia Brittanica: <i>Slav, member of the most numerous ethnic and linguistic body of peoples in Europe, residing chiefly in eastern and southeastern Europe . . . Customarily, Slavs are subdivided into East Slavs (chiefly Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians), West Slavs (chiefly Poles, <b>Czechs</b>, Slovaks, and Wends, or Sorbs), and South Slavs (chiefly Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Slovenes, Macedonians, and Montenegrins).</i>

From Wikipedia: <i>Czechs, or Czech people [pronunciations snipped] are a <b>West Slavic ethnic group</b> of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. . .
Among the ancestors of the Czechs are ancient Slavic peoples who inhabited the regions of <b>Bohemia</b>, Moravia, and Upper Silesia from the 6th century onwards.</i>

Hitler annexed the Sudentenland due to the prevalence of ethnic Germans, who are Teutons, not Slavs.

"I asked my wife why ahe wanted to see Prague and what she knew about it and she said she knew nothing about it. We are just in the initial planning stages."

Hmmm.... It might be very helpful to get a bit more of a sense of what you want to see and experience before you decide on an itinerary, especially given that trying to see all 4 cities in such a short trip really gives you very little time in any of these cities, each of which is easily worth at least 3 days and preferably 4 or 5 full days. In the past, I found that both Fodor's and Frommer's had good guide books for the region. Investing in one or both (or other books!) or going to your local library would almost certainly be well worth it.

Um, although the reasons to go out on the countrysides are numerous and compelling, the icons of each city are probably easier to remember than the various icon-free countryside>>

not my experience at all. 2 or more cities in a row just merge into a great big conglomerate in my brain. some down time in between makes them easier to experience and to remember.

one nice way to do this might be to start in Berlin [perhaps with a side trip to Potsdam] then spend a few days in Dresden which as well as being lovely and full of art and culture has many possibilities for river trips and outings along the Elbe, and end in Prague.

There are easy train connections along the way.

OK - Russ I admit to having secondhand info from folks who apparently did not really know their ancestry but were sure - repeating over and over that Bohemians - Czech Bohemians were not Slavs - but now I indeed gather they are in fact some kind of Slavs from your info - one question though was the divide between west Slavs and East Slavs so great that Czecho-Slovakia split after the war - why did they split - I though it were due to ethnic differences as well as economic differences.

But it does seem Czechs in general are Slavs as you document.

". . . having secondhand info from folks who apparently did not really know their ancestry . . ."

Happens all the time when the ancestors come from that area - many tribes, many border rearrangements.

BigRuss - now alas I am a slovenly Slav!

Thanks for the clarification.

Thanks for the replies. You are right. We have to do some reading. Last year we got our best price for a flight in March for a September trip. Therefore I will have to figure out our itinerary. I have to look into Prague and Budapest. When I mentioned to my wife that we might be taking on too much with 4 cities, she said she would drop Berlin.

Berlin to me is one of the most fascinating cities in Europe - so many varied things to see and do - If I had to chose between say Budapest and Berlin to me at least Berlin would be it.

Others may say Budapest or Eastern Europe being much different than modern Berlin - but Berlin has history on its side - all the relics on Hitler;s time - world-class museums - remnants of the infamous Berlin Wall and Sans Souci Palace in Potsdam, the Prussian Versailles - and a stunning place in a huge nice park.

"When I mentioned to my wife that we might be taking on too much with 4 cities, she said she would drop Berlin."

Progress! Congrats, James_P. Eleven full days for the other 3 cities is a much more manageable itinerary.

well, dropping any of the cities is indeed progress.

3 cities in 11 days is much more manageable. you can see Berlin on another trip.