Ozziez

Hi Lauren

No we didn't buy one but we saw lots of them and had a good laugh. I have seen a few people wearing them here and you're right - heaps of people misread the text and are then very confused!

gregeva1

Ozziez

Great trip report...hope you haven't floated away with the current weather in Brisbane. Enjoying all of it!!

LaurenKahn1

My favorite t-shirt from OZ was "Toowoomba: Where the hell is it?" In the US they would have cleaned it up and said "Where the heck is it?

By the way I loved Brisbane. It will eventually be the largest city in Australia. Growth is moving your way due to the nice weather. By the way, the first thing that happened to me there in July was 3 days straight of torrential down pours. Since I was down under for 9 weeks, I took the time to do some reading and enjoy the many channels on my home exchangers fancy TV system. By the way, I just put one of those systems in over here but do not have any of those huge TV's.

Australia and NZ were just great, but, alas, so far to go.

Ozziez

Hi Gregeva1 - thanks for the postive response. No, no floating happening in Brisbane at the moment. The floods are in Northern Queensland, far, far away from here. There were terrible bushfires in South Australia over the weekend and over 150 people have already been found dead. I feel lucky to be where I am right now.

Hi Lauren. So pleased to hear you liked Brisbane. We love living here. Yes, it is very far away from the rest of the world so we have to put up with long, expensive flights to get to Europe, the UK and USA. We think it is a small price to pay for living in such a beautiful place.

Ozziez

Sorry, please excuse the typo - the fires are in Southern Australia, in Victoria, not South Australia. I am meant to be working on my thesis, not posting on Fodors, so my fingers are playing tricks on me!

Also meant to thank Aussiefive, Andeesue and Football for the positive feedback on my report so far. I'll try to add the rest as soon as possible - when life and my thesis allows me some time off! By the way Aussiefive, how was your trip - I'd love to know.

irishface

Thesis!? while we are all waiting for more details?!

Please, more, please!

rosetravels

Ozziez - this is fantastic! I'm thinking about a family trip next Christmas to Munich/Salzburg/Vienna so really enjoy reading about your trip.

My husband and I went to Czech in 1996 and drove in from Bavaria. We had the exact same reaction. (Well except there were no hookers at that border crossing. We saw them when we went back in from Poland, very sad.)

I'd been longing to go to Czech for a decade but after leaving Bavaria for Czech we drove in silence for 30 minutes looking at the peeling paint, broken cars in the driveways, neglected looking farms thinking uh oh, this isn't what we'd hoped. Then DH perked up and said 'you know, this looks just like our county!'

And I laughed for about an hour because it did! Broken cars in rural driveways? Check! Peeling paint on the leaning over barns? Check! It's just that Bavaria was so tidy it threw us for a loop. Once we got over that, we felt quite at home.

We liked Czesky Krumlov a lot - it seemed like a perfectly preserved medieval treasure. We also loved the bears. When we saw them they were having a great time with an empty beer keg - throwing it around.

Keep writing!

Ozziez

Okay Irishface, I'll do my best (LOL!)

Yes rosetravels, you've hit the nail on the head. The only reason we were surprised by our introduction to the Czech Republic was because Austria had been so amazingly neat, clean and well-maintained. It was such a contrast, but as you say, no different to what one finds elsewhere, even at home.

And so to continue ....

The drive to Prague was easy and we reached the outskirts at 2pm. We had rented the Spruce apartment which is part of the Castle Steps apartments near the Castle because we wanted to stay in an authentic old Czech building rather than a western hotel. Dealing with reception via e-mails had been a breeze and they had been really efficient and pleasant, so I did not expect to encounter any problems with our accommodation in Prague. Reception booked parking for us which they said would be at a nearby hotel (at 25 euros per night), and asked me to phone them when we were an hour away so we stopped at a garage, used DH’s cell phone to ring reception who said they would be waiting for us at their office, and bought 2 cups of coffee. We later noticed that we had been charged for three. Oh well. The weather was a lot colder than it had been in Cesky Krumlov and the clouds were thick and dark.

Anyway, after a few missed turns (because I was having trouble pronouncing the Czech street names and DH was having even greater trouble understanding me), and a grand tour of the one-way system, we reached reception’s office at Nerudova 7 at 3pm. I rang the bell for reception and was told that someone would be right down. Prague was packed with tourists and I was standing on the pavement in the cold, and in the way of lots of people trying to walk up and down the very steep hill, while DH was parked in what really didn’t look like a parking space. 10 minutes later no-one had appeared so I rang the bell again and was told that someone was on their way. 5 minutes later a young American woman opened the door, hopped into our car and directed us up the street to our apartment at Uvoz 26. When we arrived she said we weren’t allowed to stop outside so we must quickly jump out and grab our suitcases. DH asked her where he should go to park the car and she told him to go to the Savoy hotel. When asked where the Savoy hotel was, she replied that she didn’t know but that she had been told it was just up the street. We watched DH and our enormous car disappear up the street and then followed her into the foyer of the apartments.

She very kindly helped us carry our suitcases up lots and lots and lots of stairs until we reached the top floor. The apartment was beautiful – large, nicely furnished, clean, in a lovely area and with stunning views of Petrin Hill. She asked me to pay her and produced her credit card machine. The payment went through because we both saw the “approved” message on the screen, but there was no paper in the machine so she asked me to pop into their office later on to collect a receipt. She then asked me if there was anything she could help me with. I asked her how to use the washing machine which only had Czech labels on it. She smiled at me beautifully, said she didn’t know, and that I should look it up on the internet. I received the same reply when I asked her how to use the TV, the trams, the metro, what the nearest tram stop was called, and where the nearest metro station was……

She departed and I began to wonder where DH was. I experimented with the washing machine, managed to get a load of washing on, and started to settle the children into their rooms. DD17 and DD12 had a large room with two single beds, DS10 had a bed in the living room, and DH and I had a room under the eaves on the second level of the apartment. I must mention that this bedroom would not suit tall people as I am 170cms tall and had to contort myself to get in and out of bed. In addition there were no curtains in either of the bedrooms and there was no air-conditioning. Neither of these factors were a problem for us, but they probably would be during summer. There was only one bathroom with a very small bath and no shower, but there were two toilets, decent towels, and a pleasant kitchen.

An hour later DH still hadn’t appeared and I was getting worried. I tried to call him on my cell phone, only to find that it had stopped working. He arrived 5 minutes later looking decidedly the worse for wear. It turned out that saying that the Savoy hotel was just up the street was more than a trifle inaccurate, and that to get to it from our apartment was far from simple. He had found himself going in the wrong direction in the one-way system without a navigator and drove round and round quite a few times before he could get there. He was then in such a rush to get back to us that he left his camera in the car.

So off we all went to the Savoy hotel – on foot this time. While DH retrieved his camera and paid for the parking, the Savoy’s receptionist gave the children apples and chatted happily to us. She asked what we wanted to do while we were in Prague and I mentioned that one thing I really wanted to do was to take DD17 (just the two of us) to the Don Giovanni Opera the following night but that I had no idea how to use the public transport system and wasn’t sure how we’d get home afterwards. She waved her magic wand and the concierge appeared, directed me to her desk, and proceeded to call up the online booking system for Don Giovanni on her laptop. There were only 5 seats left, and they were in the 5th row from the front, the most expensive section. I muttered about not knowing how to get home afterwards and she told me that her driver would fetch us and bring us home afterwards. Knowing that such luxury would not come cheap, I asked the price and then swallowed hard. The two tickets came to 3589 CK and the driver was 900 CK. I knew that DD17 really wanted to go to this opera and, as mentioned previously, she’s a huge Mozart fan, so I conferred with DH who told me to go ahead, make the bookings and enjoy. What a sweetie. The concierge was extremely efficient, had everything arranged within 5 minutes, gave me our tickets, introduced me to the driver who would fetch us, and wished us a good evening.

I left with mixed feelings because although I knew this was the only way DD17 would get to go to the opera, I also knew that we had paid a huge premium for the tickets and the driver, and was pretty certain that we had paid “tourist prices” Anyway, we made our way downhill to reception to get our receipt. The door opened when we buzzed and we found ourselves in what looked like the entrance to a shabby college residence. We followed the noise which took us upstairs and through a few rooms cluttered with office equipment, linen, old furniture, office furniture, etc and emerged into the “office”. This looked exactly like a university commons room, equipped with American students in jeans and t-shirts, overflowing desks, pizza boxes, numerous computers, and general chaos. One woman came forward and told me that my credit card payment hadn’t gone through and that I must pay her again. It didn’t matter how many times I told her that the “approved” message had come up on the credit card machine, she insisted that the payment hadn’t gone through. I also queried how she knew this as most banks only update their systems overnight, but she continued to insist that I pay her or leave my passport with her. There was no way I was going to leave my passport with anyone, so in the interests of moving things along I paid for our accommodation again.

Finally, at 6pm, we were free to enjoy the sights of Prague. We walked down the souvenir-shop lined street, past throngs of tourists, and at last reached Charles Bridge. The bridge looked beautiful at night and we strolled along it, admiring the river as we walked. On the other side of the bridge we found ourselves in a huge human traffic jam and forced our way through tourists, beggars, hawkers, spruikers, tatty souvenir shops, smokers galore, and horse carriages with squeaky bicycle horns, to the main square. It was really too crowded to wander around because we kept being separated from one or more of the children, so we found a restaurant (U Minutey) that had an outdoor section heated with braziers so we could avoid the smoke-filled interiors of all the nearby restaurants. We definitely paid “tourist prices” at this restaurant but our pizzas were delicious, and the square was so crowded that we really had very little choice.

We then held tightly onto our children, navigated through the crowds once again, and worked off our pizza dinner on the steep climb back to our apartment.

irishface

Thanks for continuing! I love your descriptions of your lodgings and the tales of your adventures as a family. Your kids sound like wonderful traveling companions and you and your husband must have a strong marriage to withstand some of the events without killing each other. Some of the situations sound funny in the telling but must have been very trying at the time (the sort of trials which, as my brother would say, can bring out the donkey in anyone).

Thanks for sharing!

Ozziez

Thanks for the feedback and kind words, Irishface! I'll try to write some more later today.

Vernejules

Great report so far, Ozziez. I remember you planning this trip in the second half of last year. Please continue - can't wait to read more!

bfrac

Ozziez, I also remember your panic and planning. I'm glad it all worked out for you and looking forward to the rest of your report. I really enjoy your writing style so please keep with all the details. Thanks.
bfrac

Ozziez

Thanks Vernejules and Bfrac. Here's some more:

Sunday 7th December, 2008

I stood on our bed and peered through the skylight to see the view of Petrin Hill. The sky was covered in ominous grey clouds and it was pouring with rain. We had an early breakfast in the cellar of our apartment building. The apartment owner is a strict vegan – so strict that no animal products are served on the premises. Very solid bagels with cherry jam certainly form a lump in your stomach that stop you feeling hungry for at least 12 hours! There were 6 computers with internet connection in the breakfast room (perhaps to accommodate all the guests who are told to look things up on the internet?) so I quickly checked my e-mails. This was just as well because there was an e-mail from EasyJet predicting dire consequences such as not being allowed to fly if we didn’t pay an additional fee for each of us on our Rome to Venice flight because of new Italian taxes that had been introduced for travellers flying out of Italian cities. Sneaky!

It was still early when we put on our rain jackets and walked down very steep Nerudova street to Charles Bridge so we could admire it in daylight. We quickly discovered that it was very, very cold as well as wet. On the bridge we joined masses of tourists from Russia and other Eastern European countries (Russian was the only language we recognised, but many other languages were being spoken as well). DS10 thought that many of the women we saw must be friends with the ladies we had seen when we entered the Czech Republic because they were wearing similar clothes. White ski jackets and very short skirts must be all the fashion in Eastern Europe for ladies this winter! He also admired the purple, red, orange and chicken-yellow streaks in their hair and wondered aloud what DD17 would look like if her beautiful, thick, waist-length chestnut brown hair was coloured in a similar fashion. DD17 gave him a withering look but I don’t think he noticed. Sadly the Eastern European men were dressed conservatively in black and grey, had all their limbs concealed in winter woollies, and had not joined the women in their hair colouring experiments.

DD12 was assigned the task of explaining to us (from my notes) what each statue was and what it represented. We successfully managed to dodge our fellow tourists, as well as the renovations in progress, while we marvelled at each statue. I was surprised to see that each statue was festooned in spiders’ webs. DS10 suggested I dust them but I pointedly ignored him. Every single tourist on the bridge, including us, took it in turns to touch the statue of St John of Nepomuk for good luck. No wonder it is so shiny! I was pleased that we were able to see the Old Town bridge tower at the end of the bridge in daylight and with slightly reduced crowds, because it really is magnificent.

Then it was time to brave the maze that is Karlova street once more on our way to the Old Town Square. Although it was very busy, it wasn’t as crowded as it had been the night before which was a relief. There was a huge Christmas Tree in the middle of the Town Square, festooned with lights that looked like icicles – very effective. Nearby was the Jan Hus Memorial, festooned with real icicles. Gosh it was cold! The temperature seemed to be dropping by the hour.

We bought some Trdlo (pretzel dough shaped around a cyclinder and cooked rotisserie-style on a spit) and roasted chestnuts to warm ourselves up while we looked at the beautiful buildings surrounding the square. DH ate his share of the chestnuts and I just held mine to warm myself up. I was particularly moved by the sight of the 27 white crosses on the ground that commemorate the 27 protestants who were beheaded for rebelling against the Catholic Hapsburgs in 1621.

At 11.45am we made our way to the Astronomical Clock and braved the cold while we waited, with every single tourist we had encountered on the bridge, for it to chime at midday. We thought it was an amazing creation and were very pleased that we managed to see it in action. Our next stop was the Tyn Church where we spent quite some time admiring its interior, especially the John the Baptist altar. We then walked past the statue of St Mary, and into Ungelt courtyard where we found a toyshop that sold wooden toys and puppets and had a huge Pinocchio in the window. We wanted to see St James church so we didn’t tarry, but it was closed when we got there and only reopened at 2pm.

The rain was bucketing down by this stage and we were incredibly cold, so we made a bee-line for a restaurant called U Radnickych in Havelska 508/9. In this haven of warmth we had the most delicious goulash soup served in a bread bowl which can be eaten (if you’re still hungry) once the soup has been consumed. It was very hard to force ourselves to venture out into the cold and wet afterwards, but we soldiered on. We returned to St James church but were disappointed to find that, except for the blue light over the altar that lights the Madonna Pietatis, the church was dark. DD12 eventually found the desiccated arm that is meant to have belonged to a thief who had tried to steal the Madonna. It looked like a piece of black wood hanging near the ceiling at the back of the church.

We had seen a Christmas Market near U Radnickych so we retraced our steps and did some browsing at speed – it was too cold to stroll! Walking briskly through the surrounding area we came upon an outdoor icerink, some brave Czech children singing carols, and then, to our surprise, we were outside the Theatre of the Estates, the very place where DD17 and I were going to see Don Giovanni. DD12 was in good form today and jokingly commented that the Il Commendatore statue by Anna Chromy that is outside the theatre was obviously feeling the cold too and had fled inside leaving its cloak behind. In case you don’t have a clue what this joke means, the statue takes the form of a seated cloaked figure, but there is nothing inside the cloak. It represents the ghost of Il Commendatore who, in the form of a cemetery statue, drags Don Giovanni down into hell. It stands outside the Theatre of the Estates because Don Giovanni premiered in this theatre on 29th October, 1787.

My cell phone rang and it was our apartment reception to tell me that they had charged me twice for our accommodation. What a surprise! I asked them to reverse the second payment, so they reversed the first one instead. This was unfortunate for me as the exchange rate had changed between the first and second payments and our accommodation ended up costing us 5% more.....

We set out for the Jewish Quarter in the incessant rain. Many of the buildings were very striking in this area and, despite being cold and wet, we managed to get a glimpse of many designer shops in this up-market neighbourhood. By the time we got to the museum to buy our tickets it was 3.30pm and, as its buildings closed at 4.30pm, we decided it wasn’t worth pursuing. We did manage to get a very good view of the very crowded cemetery from a grilled gate in the old cemetery wall though.

We walked wistfully past the Rudolfinum (we had missed a marvellous concert because we got to Prague the day after it had taken place) and DD17 vowed to return one day. Crossing Manesuv Most we stopped to admire all the swans, black and white, that were swimming on the river, totally oblivious to the cold.

Walking back up to our apartment, the children had fun popping into the various souvenir shops to buy presents for some of their friends back home. I enjoyed popping into the shops because they were warm.

I hoped that our pathetically thin Brisbane blood would thicken quickly so that we could brave the cold with just as much bravado as the scantily clad female tourists we had encountered during the day. Not that we had any intention of being scantily clad you understand - that would be far too much to ask of us Ozzie wimps!

thursdaysd

Thanks for the details. I was in Paris early December last year and it was freezing there too, so it wasn't just Prague.

I appreciate all the details, especially the info about the crowds in Prague. I thought it was impossibly crowded when I went in August '04, and thought maybe if I went back out of season it would be better. Seems not - I guess I'll stick to Budapest and Vienna instead.

Ozziez

Hi Thursdaysd

Yes, I also thought Prague would be quiet because it was winter, so I was most surprised to find it bulging at the seams. I wonder if there is any time of the year when it is less crowded?

The crowds definitely reduced my enjoyment. A few places weren't crowded at all e.g. the Strahov Monastery, which I'll write about in my next installment, but they were in the minority.

We spent the week of Christmas in Paris and it was still jolly cold, but I think we were a little more used to the sub-zero temperatures by then and it didn't rain at all which helped a lot.

Enjoy planning your next trip!

cookiescompanion

ozziez, i am enjoying your trip report very much. I am a fellow Brisbanite (I think they are rare on fodors!). I am glad you had such a wonderful holiday after your anus horribilis (and the Gapocolypse!).

JulieVikmanis

Great report. You did it all. Particularly enjoyed the part about Cesky Krumlov, one of our favorites. Sad that even in winter Prague tends to be overrun. It's beautiful but you really have to wade through so many others to see it. We loved the Stahov Monastery. Hope you had it mostly to yourselves. Enjoying the report.

Meredith

Great trip report - I want to hear more!

YvonneT

Hi

I had been trying to keep an eye out for your report, after your rocky beginnings! What a wonderful experience for you and your family! I'm keen to read the Italian segment, and I do hope you had an equally good time there. Keep writing quickly, I leave for Rome on Saturday, and NEED to hear your reactions to Italy before I go. Cheers from Sunny, Downtown Atherton.

Ozziez

Thank you everyone for your encouraging feedback. I'll write some more soon - perhaps even tonight - promise!

Cookiescompanion, great to hear that you're from Brisbane too. What a fantantastic storm we've just had. Thankfully we haven't had another landslide - yet!

I envy you, YvonneT - wish I was goimg to Rome on Saturday. I'll do my best to hurry up!