September 17, 2009
Wake slowly and gently to the low sky and creatures milling in the field next door. We enjoyed our breakfast today as we did yesterday. One of the fellows staying here on holiday was from Prague. He said he worked at the botanical gardens there and was quite proud of his job. He and Tom shared a few drinks outside when we were "home".

Today our plan was to go to the Bohemian Switzerland National Park and walk to the Pravicicka brana land bridge. It was still quite overcast, a little chilly and beginning to sprinkle. We vacillated on whether to go or to perhaps find something inside to do. In the end we decided to head out to the park and are very glad we did.

By the time we got to the park all of the rain had subsided. We had a hot chocolate at the hotel next to one of the little TI kiosks and then headed out.

What a walk! Lucky for us there really only was one way! We did the 4 miles to the land bridge and the restaurant there. It did seem like it was up, up, up... We quickly shed some of the outer clothing we had on. The scenery was awesome. We found the trail in pretty decent shape.

Once we got to the restaurant we had a drink and a snack. This would be the half way point and we would have to go back the way we came. As we left this place we saw the "lift" that obviously hauled goods up and down for the restaurant. One of the servers was leaving as we were and she did the walk too. Imagine, 4 miles up and 4 miles down...

Another winding ride, we stopped in Kamenicky Senov at a place called Restaurace U Tumu (this was also a pension I think). It was a nice place, we sat in the first dining room and there were a few other locals there. No English or German on the menu. We navigated pretty well and ended up with two huge dishes of some really delicious pasta. We waited for this, it wasn't a speedy meal, but when it came it was apparently fresh and made to order pasta, perfectly al dente'. A couple of old guys in the corner playing chess, with their oil cloth board and real chess pieces, they yelled for the girl to turn up the lights! Don't need ambiance when playing such a serious game with another old man I guess. All American music here heavy on the 80's rock n'roll. One of the gals in the place was about 8 months pregnant and drinking down a huge beer, a big no-no at home here for pregnant women. A truck driver that spoke no English came in looking for the owners of a blue Peugeot...

We were ready to depart anyway so we got out of his way and headed on home. Another perfect day under our belt. Tomorrow, Nymbrurk and then to the Wine Festival in Melnik. Fat and sassy we hit the hay and had a great nights sleep.

Thanks for posting! I love, love Prague and Cesky Krumlov.

>> All American music here heavy on the 80's rock n'roll.


lol...Yep. Keen observation. Glad you noticed. That's the Czech Republic.


>> One of the gals in the place was about 8 months pregnant and drinking down a huge beer, a big no-no at home here for pregnant women.


And if you have ever been in a fitness gym in Prague...you'll notice that some of the staff / fitness trainers smoke (esp. the ladies!), a big no-no at home here for fitness buffs and healthy people who exercise. I was shocked at such a dichotomy. Oh, but hey, this is Europe...

Our rule is we can go to a spa but absolutely, positively no fitness gyms while on vacation

Seriously though we expected smoking everywhere we went, based on our research and unfortunately that did keep us out of a very few places that just were too smoke laden. Overall it wasn't a problem and luckily the places we stayed didn't allow smoking on the inside, all had outdoor areas with ashtrays. Didn't note any pregnant smokers, just the beer drinker. Oh well.

And American music....the universal language. Not to dis the Masters, also universal or the British or Irish, but overall, even when the lyrics were in CZ, the music was American rock or country.

· Friday September 18, 2009
Another pleasant morning, gentle wake-up, beautiful surroundings and breakfast already prepared for us. Oh once we return home this is the harshest reality of all-clock radio waking you, commutes and no one in the kitchen with coffee and breakfast all set for our enjoyment. We are savoring every moment of it.

The plan today is to go to Nymburk and then to the Melnik Wine Festival. The weather looks like it is going to be quite nice and as it turned out we had perfect weather in to the night. Naturally when you have a car you can have the "cold weather back up" clothing along, just in case. My best friend when traveling is my black Pashmina and I can have that with me at all times, simply tie it on to my bag.

We found Nymburk with little trouble and also parked with ease, right on the square. Parking has not been a problem at all on this trip. We walked around the square and stopped for a drink at Plzensky restaurant. After watching these great plates arrive at all the tables around us we decided to have a lunch here (it has after all been almost 4 hours since breakfast!). Mmmm, schnitzel, we do not eat like this at home and boy, what a guilty pleasure. And while we were here we enjoyed another wedding down the way at the city hall.

We strolled around the town and found there were all sorts of places tucked in the back streets. We walked over to the medieval walls and did a little people watching there. There is Internet access at the library-a satellite information center and we did manage to find that, rather tucked inside and upstairs off the street (have to keep vigilant in the search for the i) so I was able to check in (for free) and drop a quick note home.

After a few hours here we headed out to Melnik. We arrived just as they were closing off entrances and charging for entry so we did have to pay to get in. Parking once again was no problem and actually we parked right where we entered. In retrospect we would have gone on the second day, not the set up day. They were still in the setting up mode to a certain degree although the rides portion of the festival was going great guns.

There were 3 music stages and many, many wine booths and food stands. We milled around, stopped at the main stage and enjoyed the Gaelic rock band Navostro (we did buy one of their CD's and we really have enjoyed it). We then went over to the country stage but they were still setting up. There were lots of trinket stands, etc., your typical festival fare. Here in Wisconsin there are festivals from May to September so we have really seen most of this stuff if you know what I mean.

Even though we were stuffed it was hard to resist the smell of the food on the open grills or spits. Or the huge crepes being made. Here too, when you ordered a wine, a baboomba glass! We also had some great cheese and naturally a nice hot pretzel.

We did sit for a while and listen to the second band at the main stage and they were pretty good. It was more like folk music and easy to listen to. For the most part all was in CZ and I swear they did Hotel California. One of our all time favorites and the very first time we ever heard it in another language! We walked around some more and when we returned to the main stage the crowd was decidedly much younger and the music pure rock. Time for us to move on.

We staked out a spot at the Country stage. One lone guy doing all the set up, made me think of my brother, who many, many years ago was a roadie for a band and did this very thing. The band that played here was pretty good. Again, music that was familiar but in CZ. Wow, Alabama in CZ. This is why we love to travel.

The ride home was a pleasant one. The GPS has been utterly indispensable and we are thoroughly convinced we would still be driving around in circles somewhere still looking for our farm B&B without it. Tomorrow it would be bones and a mine, Oh My!

Saturday, September 19, 2009
Mornings are just heaven here. Anything more I say about this place or the rest of our stay in the Czech Republic in regards to the mornings would simply be redundant.

The plan today is to head over to Sedlec and visit the Ossuary and then possibly a mine tour.

When we got to the bone church the tour buses had just arrived. We went across the street and sat and enjoyed a wine and beer (it surely is after noon somewhere in the world) and simply waited for them to depart. That happened quite quickly and then we went in and got to look at all those bones with just a few others in the small area that is the ossuary. What can one say about bones that are stacked, made in to art and designed as a chandelier? We walked through the cemetery there as well. Think I would worry about being buried there....

After that we went over to Chram Sv. Barbory (St. Barbara's) and walked the grounds, which were lovely. We couldn't go in the church because a wedding was going on. Then we went over to the mine museum to make arrangements for the tour. We hung out and waited for the tour to begin. There were two guides and one spoke English however since he was at the back there wasn't a lot of English going on during the tour. On the inside they gave you a laminated sheet to explain what she was going through but once down in the mine there wasn't any reading going on.

One thing that was clear were the warnings before entering the mine, we laughingly took a picture of the big warning sign. So after all this, getting our gear (a coat, hardhat and flashlight) off we trekked to the mine entrance. As we neared where we would enter one of the fellows just dropped like a rock! Not a faint, not a fall, just splat and he was down. How this guy didn't crack open his head is beyond me but the sound when he hit the ground was sickening. The young guide called out for a doctor or nurse in the crowd and everyone took a step back (no medical personnel here). Everyone got out a cell phone though and the CZ version of 911 was called. They really arrived quickly and did what paramedics do. Scary though. Off he went with his terrified wife. And onward we went after a delay of about a half hour or so. Clearly the guide was shook up. Additionally now she was worried about the time as this was the last tour of the day and I think she had transportation home to worry about.

Once through the door it was down, down, down, etc. to the mine. Truly this mine was not for the faint of heart or for a fatty! I am barely five feet tall and I had to duck in many spots. I am not very big but the walls even closed in on me. Sincerely, if that poor man would have gone down in here I am simply clueless as to how we would have gotten him safely and swiftly out of here. I had sandals on and had asked at the desk when we bought tickets if it would be a problem, no she said. Well, it was wet in there so I would rather have had regular shoes on. Unbelievable though that folks actually worked in here, day in and day out. I felt like the cowardly lion, "I love my job, I love my job...". The persistence of humans is amazing!

We decided we would have our supper at the restaurant that was associated with our B&B. Made the winding ride back to the area hoping it would not stop serving early. We had not checked the hours of operation. It was still open so we sat outside on the patio for a bit. By now it was nighttime and the night chill was in the air. We moved inside and had a lovely supper. We were among the last in here though and even though it was only 9pm we could hear the cook yelling at our server.... back to my roots in the restaurant biz, these cooks are darn prima-donnas and apparently no manager was on duty. Oh well. The meal was good and the server certainly didn't rush us out. The other couple in the place sure didn't let it bother them, they continued to order drinks.

While here we made another observation. Lights flicker and dim on a regular basis and we found this to be true everywhere we were, throughout the trip. Don't know if it is a problem with the internal wiring or the grid. A little disarming, normally that is a recipe for fire if it goes on for a long time.

Finished our dessert listening to "These boots are made for Walking" in CZ. I love it here.

A hop across the street home and another good one under the belt. Tomorrow we say goodbye to wine country and are off for fairy tale town. We will stop at a fairy tale castle on the way.

One of the fellows staying here on holiday was from Prague. He said he worked at the botanical gardens there and was quite proud of his job. >>

we visited the Botanical gardens [they are near a very good micro-brewery and the church where the german bullet holes can been seen in the wall] when we visited Prague a few years ago. unfortunately as it was between Christmas and New Year there wasn't much to see but we did meet a very pretty red squirrel and the tropical house was nice and warm! My poor DH gets dragged to the botanical garden in every city we visit - i quite like them in off seasons. we even got chased out of the one in Krakow!

loving the report, Luvtoroam. we've had the idea of doing a tour based on the czech republic since we went to Prague - so you're giving me lots of good ideas - thanks.

Sunday, September 20, 2009
A slower breakfast this morning as today is our last day here. We organized our luggage and packed up. Good-byes to our morning gal and we were on our way. The plan was to stop in Tabor, catch Hluboka and then on to Cesky Krumlov.

We stopped in Tabor and while it was a little overcast and chilly we did enjoy this town. We walked around the square, found the TI, did some emailing and then decided to climb the bell tower. Up, up, up and under three different bells (bend down to get under the big bell) up to the reward, the chance to see for miles. Too bad it wasn't a clearer day. Even at that the views were wonderful. You paid when you got to the top, a little shop/museum sort of place. For me going up wasn't near as bad as the first several flights down...rickety wooden stairs with open backs. I held on to my hubbies back and that helped steady me and block that vertigo view going down .

Ummm, for some reason I thought this little bell tower tour was a tourist attraction only and didn't think for one minute that bells here were rung. Imagine my surprise when after we departed the building the bells promptly tolled the hour? Yikes!

We had lunch at a place on the Square, Skochuv Dum, a Harley-Davidson cafe, going right after our little ol' Wisconsin hearts! Now we were in Budvar country for sure as those were the only beer signs we were seeing. Our meals here were wonderful, today was another pasta day I guess. Every glass of beer or wine we had on this trip looked like a picture for an advertisement-very appetizing and of course they tasted as good as they looked.

The town center here had a great deal of charm. We have also been amazed by some of the truly ugly buildings left over from the communist era; sometimes sadly smack in the middle of some of the most beautiful buildings we have ever seen. We really haven't run in to any Americans yet, English speakers but no Americans. I had my Green Bay Packer hat on in the hopes of attracting other Americans, but no takers.

And the music plays on as we enjoy a yummy ice cream dessert. Meatloaf, Bon Jovi...appropriately at the Harley place Small Town by John Mellencamp serenaded us as we readied to depart.

Our ride along the highway was pretty uneventful, more observational. Lady Bird must have made it over here too since the major roadways were devoid of hoards of signs (unlike some of the smaller cities and towns-bridges, etc.). The same person that has been commissioned here in the US must also have been commissioned there to create the "sound barriers" as they are as stone cold ugly here as they are at home. We were driving along green, green country and then there, smack in the middle of it all, four huge nuclear towers.

We stopped at the Chateau Hluboka and unfortunately there wasn't a tour happening that we could go with. We walked the grounds, took some pictures and lamented not being aware of the schedule here. The gardens are worth the stop though.

Onward to Cesky Krumlov.

Our little missy got us right in to town and to our B&B, Pension Pod Skalkou, with no trouble at all. We were greeted by a terrific young man who was very helpful to us. He gave us several good tips for some day trips. Our room here was exceptional! Clean and very spacious, we had a tiny little patio and the outdoor covered pool was right outside our room. We sort of settled in, enjoyed a glass of wine on our patio and then changed and headed for Old Town, a mere few blocks from our place.

Wow, wow and did I say Wow is exactly (even now) how we remember feeling when walking on down and looking at the town from a slight distance as we crossed over the river. Dusk was upon us so the lights certainly added to that fairy tale aspect. We found a set of stairs nearby, climbed them and then over another bridge, through a little tunnel and there we were, in wonderland! Cobbled streets, interesting building signs, boisterous laughter and chatter from the hostel, we just drank it all in as we strolled under the streetlights.

We walked around a bit, did locate U dwau Maryi, but planned on eating there a different day. We ended up at Nonna Gina's pizzeria. It was slightly chilly but we were dressed for it and did eat outside. Another wonderful little server, a great pizza, good wine & beer and a fancy huge banana split to share.

When I say we were fat and sassy when we headed back you can believe it! Tomorrow we would explore during the day, find the TI, perhaps do a brewery tour and see if we felt like the night tour.

Thanks Annhig for the kind words! The joy of writing the report is reliving the trip, remembering what we have already forgotten and sharing with those that may be interested. We only saw a small portion of the country and will most assuredly return to the Czech Republic soon. We saw many beautiful gardens and met so many truly wonderful folks on this trip. And honestly, based on previous trips to other areas, our money went much further here.

>money went much further here.
Food is cheap, electronics are expensive.
For a tourist traveling in a country with an avereage income of below $9000 per year is heaven. Rather safe and full of history not only in the capital. Krumnau is a gem.

Enjoy the food and don't let them rip you off ;-).

Monday, September 21, 2009
Awoke to another beautiful day. Up the hill was the sound of a rooster in the morning; it just doesn't get any better than this. Oh wait, breakfast is yet to come

Breakfast here does not disappoint. I should weigh 100 pounds more after this trip. The bread in the morning was just too good. Normally I eat my bread without butter (or at home I would weigh 100 pounds more!) but here I splurged and slathered the butter on. I can still taste those wonderful rolls from this place. Here we had two kinds of meat, several kinds of cheese, rolls and bread, yogurt, a sweet, jams, juice (well the juice was more like Tang so I had to pass on that), the other usual drinks, fresh tomatoes and cucumbers and a basket of fresh crisp apples. Another of the boys took care of this each morning. Nice young men.

We walked in to town to the TI. I did the Internet and we purchased tickets for the Eggenburg Brewery tour. We found the tour interesting. This brewery filed bankruptcy some time back, was shut down a few days and reopened, supposedly some foreign money kept them alive. The problem, as the guide told it, was being a Unessco site, the brewery cannot do some of the things that would be more efficient (such as paint that would last longer) because they must comply with the standards set forth by Unessco. Additionally since there are so many really good brews around it is hard for this one beer to be offered in all the pubs.

Our guide was a nice young woman but clearly she had a great disdain for beer drinking. She wasn't a teetotaler, just must have been jaded by seeing too many drunks or something with the "beer culture" here. She was informative and certainly did know the brewery.

After the tour naturally you get a beer, so the tour ended outside the door of the pub, a few doors away from the brewery, and got our free beer. There was a single man from Canada and a couple from Sweden on this tour with us. He was well traveled and this trip was his first alone since losing his wife awhile back. His travel was all on public transportation and he was leaving the Czech in the morning. The couple had come from Sweden on a motorcycle! In addition to that they just go, don't pre-book, didn't have a GPS...we were feeling just a bit wimpy. You meet such interesting folks when traveling.

We walked around town a bit more and then headed back to our place. Tom enjoyed the pool and we relaxed on our patio-had a few drinks and did a little reading. We can smell that someone is obviously smoking some meat or something up the hill. Pleasant, not a bad smell at all, sort of apple wood.

As evening approached we got ready to once again enjoy the city center at night. It was a little chilly now but we wanted to eat at U dwau Maryi and sit outside alongside the river. We went down the stairs and there at a table was the fellow from the tour. He was already enjoying his dessert.

Night was coming on quickly and it was pretty dark. Our waiter brought us several candles from other tables and also brought a blanket for me. We had a good meal here and nice service. He did forget to bring Toms soup but we had so much other food it didn’t matter. As he prepared out bill and realized his error he offered us some plum pie to make up. Oh, okay.

A nice walk home and we settled in with our books. Tomorrow would be a few more tours and then maybe Katakomby for supper.

Forgive any errors. It is 3:15 and the Pack is playing Minnesota, gotta stop! Go Pack!

The little cranberries you liked so well in prague may well have been lingonberries. In Germany I was told they come from Scandinavia. They're a little sweeter than cranberries, altho sugar might have been the catalyst.

I will have to research those. There is a lot of sugar in cranberries too. Thanks.

Well, the Packers sucked and Brett shone....
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
We wake to another simply beautiful day after another really good night of peaceful, restful sleep. It is just heavenly here. Breakfast didn't disappoint. We lingered this morning (read that went back for more bread, I'm telling you it was to die for).

Our plan for today is several tours. We started with the City Tour, which we caught at the TI on the square at 10:30. Our guide was another lovely young woman. She was very engaged and quite knowledgeable. Here we had another American couple on the tour. They had been here just after 89 and found the changes in this city as well as the country overall amazingly improved. Make no mistake, especially here in Cesky (the beautiful jewel) there are buildings that really need attention, right alongside lovely renovated buildings. A work in progress and one can only imagine what it must cost to bring these building back to life.

Our guide had been (and still appeared to be) very politically engaged. It is a struggle here. No doubt the elderly that counted on the government for their retirements, etc. truly got the shaft. Now with the "global crisis" (which she mentioned many times) everyone is pointing fingers and really, much like here at home, the free market is becoming the villain. Hopefully it will work itself out here. We've been through it at home and so we know we emerge.

After the walking tour we stopped and had a drink at a little place on the river in the area we ended up. We strolled through town and then over to the Baroque Theater for a 2pm tour. We also planned a Castle Tour for 3:30p.

As it turned out, Rose, our lovely talented and animated guide, did both tours. Starting with the Theater she gave some history, then sang an aria so we could appreciate the acoustics and then took us below to see the workings. Very well preserved. At 3:30 we caught up with her for the castle tour. She was very knowledgeable and informative. The royals lived in their own little world! In the "party hall" she once again sang. She had a powerful voice and the sound was awesome. As we toured she also talked about the "spooky" past of Cesky, many ghost roam here!

So we are back at a river cafe, enjoying a drink when the trumpet sounds and out goes our candle.... spooky indeed.

We planned on dinner at Katacomby and so that is what we did. It was wonderful. Amazing, inside this "cave" with them cooking right there and it wasn't greasy or smoky at all. As has been the case, our meals were wonderful, service superb and we enjoyed everything.

A slow stroll home and fat and sassy we fall in to our comfortable bed.

Wednesday September 23, 2009
Well, ditto, ditto, ditto for our mornings here. Sadly this is our last full day in Cesky. Tomorrow we will begin our journey home.

The plans for today are to hit the road. We are going to Rozmberk nad Vltavou and tour the castle and then to the picturesque village of Holasovice.

We headed out of town and really sort of paralleled the river (or some body of water) most of the way to Rozmberk. A perfect day for driving, bright and slightly cool.

We found a place to park in the sleepy town. Construction was going on in one sector and the hotel across the way appeared to have some kind of seminar group in attendance. We stopped for a coffee, oh, excuse me, a cappuccino. My man is so continental now. He actually can tell, see and taste the difference between a jar spice and fresh ground nutmeg in his cup. They are pieces of art and quite scrumptious. On this morning the nice warm drink takes that morning chill off. We walked around a bit and then headed up the hill (no castles are down) to the castle.

Naturally the English tour is a book for us to read as we go along while the gal speaks Czech. The castle was in very good shape and the tour quite nice. A nice clear day the views were spectacular.

We meandered back down the hill and then headed for Holasovice. We found the sleepy little town with no trouble.

It is like a post card. The town was very quiet the day we were here. We did walk over to the TI but there was no Internet access here and not much real information. We walked over to the circle drive that is lined with little story book houses and stopped at the restaurant sandwiched in between the houses there and grabbed an outside table. A very Czech menu we just winged it and each ended up with a delightful lunch. No one spoke English here.

We enjoyed a very pleasant ride back to Cesky. There we enjoyed our little patio one last time. We planned on walking in to town to have supper and enjoy the old town at night.

It was chilly, as nightfall arrived, but not awful. We strolled around and then decided we would just enjoy a pizza at Nonna Gina's again.

There was only one outdoor table that was empty when we arrived. We had the same friendly gal as the other night and she remembered us. Once again we enjoyed a pizza along with our drinks and the finale, our big banana split to share. A warm cappuccino and we were able to stroll around in the evening for one last time.

A beautiful night sky with a castle, what a view! We truly lingered for one last nighttime view. Wow, wow, wow, we have not been disappointed here. This is just the loveliest little town we have ever seen.

Arm and arm we head on back. Tomorrow we will pack up and begin the convoluted journey home.

Thursday, September 24, 2009
Today we have to prepare for our journey home. Our plan is to drive towards Prague and find a place to stay near the airport. Our flight to Frankfurt leaves very early in the morning. At Frankfurt we will grab a train to Wiesbaden, spend Friday there, stay overnight at Hotel Kemm and depart on Saturday for the airport at about 5 or so. Our flight out of Frankfurt to Chicago is scheduled to depart at 8:50am.

We enjoyed one last breakfast at this lovely B&B. We decided to walk in to town to get a few gift items to bring back home. It was only fitting to walk through the town and snap a few more pictures and stop for one more cappuccino. All of these places are tiny from the front side and open in the back, whether to the river or to an inside/outside patio. Very quaint, very relaxing.

Reluctantly we said our good-byes to this little jewel of a town. One last stop at the TI to send off our getting ready to go email and back to finalize the packing. Car loaded we headed out with Missy, our GPS, at the ready.

We planned on stopping at Pisek on the way back to Prague. Initially we had several grand plans for the ride back; stop at the Wellness Hotel and get a beer bath and massage, or tour castle Krivoklat or Karlstein.... Sounds good on paper but after lollygagging the morning away and not really getting on the road until well after noon this didn't seem like a good idea any longer. We didn't have a place reserved so did want to end up near the airport while it was still light outside.

It was a pleasant ride to Pisek. We parked and then meandered around the town. It really was in wonderful condition (the areas we saw) compared to the flood pictures we saw. The bridge there was under water in 2002! One of the two oldest bridges in Central Europe, certainly it took center stage in their rebuilding efforts. We had a sandwich at one of the outdoor cafes and then hit the road again.

Naturally we ran in to road construction once near the airport. I'm pretty sure we got off the main road because we noted a sign for Otto Plus and figured we would try that. It was in Prague 6. We drove around a bit and did finally find it and they did have rooms available. It was dusk now, we were glad to have found this place before nightfall.

We had a few drinks in the back outdoor area and then moved inside to have dinner. We enjoyed our meal here. There was only one other fellow eating and then a large group came in and took over the backside of the place, looked like they were going to have some kind of awards ceremony.

The place was old but it was serviceable. Tiny bathroom, two people couldn't be in here at the same time. But it was only for a night. At least it was clean. And the woman that manned the desk there, actually slept right there at the desk!

We managed to get to the airport, drop off the car-there was actually an attendant on duty that early in the morning-not just a drop box (5:30am or so). Then we went to check in...

I don't know why we were so surprised to see the long lines when we arrived. We heard the planes in to the night arriving what seemed like every 10 minutes. This is a hopping little airport. They had windows for Czech Air in several different spots. Folks were in queue and man, they really had lots and lots of luggage. In the first line we noted as we waited that the staff was very combative with those trying to check in. When we were finally the next in line they smacked down their closed signs and said go to another window. Ok, pretty annoying, we went around the corner and once again waited in another long line. Unbelievably after another long wait they did the same thing at this window. Hubby had to gag me because he didn't want to have the authorities drag his wife out of there. By now time is ticking away pretty good and we are beyond the first boarding call. Our luggage isn't even checked in yet!

Well, the third window was the charm, we got checked in and then ran for our plane. The flight itself and the staff aboard the flight were very nice. It just was a stressful way to start the morning.

Our plan for the suitcases was to pack them up and leave them at the left luggage in Frankfurt. We would just carry our small carry on bags, drop them at Hotel Klemm and then be off. And that is what we did.

We had no trouble getting our train tickets and hopped on the train to Wiesbaden. We did take a cab from the train station to the Hotel Klemm and that worked out nicely. She let us drop our bags in the room as it was empty and we had her arrange for an early morning taxi. That done we were off to enjoy the old town.

This was a pleasant area. We hopped on the THermine (a little tour-train vehicle) and it took us on a little tour of the area. We stopped at a few places and enjoyed a few drinks here and there. They were setting up for an evening festival but we knew we wouldn't be hanging around in to the night as we would be up around 4 or so. Always nice to start that journey over the ocean fresh and refreshed.

We had our supper at a cute little Italian place. The restaurant itself opened to the front patio area and there is where they had set up their "booth". We sat on the inside and it was fun to watch them work the crowd, getting people to come on over and try what they were selling. We really lingered here.

We walked around town a bit more and then headed back to our place. Our room was huge, a suite really with a very nice bathroom. We were on the top floor (I think there were 4?) but the place had a lift, not a big deal. We peeked in the breakfast room and were very sorry we would not be around for the morning breakfast, place looked nice.

In the morning we got up and out with no trouble at all. Our cab arrived on time and got us to the train station. There we grabbed a coffee and then caught the train to the airport. Once there we retrieved our bags from the left luggage and then proceeded to check in.

If we thought the lines were long at the airport in Prague, Oh My! These lines snaked down the aisle, at least a block or two away for the counters. Luckily there was AI staff walking around and calling out for NY and Chicago travelers. Boom, just like that, we are at the front counter checking in. That was service.

The flight home was okay but there was a lot of turbulence.
Food was okay, again nice staff and both Tom and I had decent seat partners. I read two books, he slept.

Finally, once in Chicago we retrieved our bags and walked out to the area we would catch our bus. In about, oh 5 minutes, there is the bus. Sincerely, this entire trip that is how many things fell in to place. An easy ride to Goerkes Corners, a pick up by a friend at the park and ride and we were home.

Now we can start (Tom has already been at it) planning for Poland next year..... Thanks to all those that wrote trip reports, those whetted our appetite and gave us many good tips and ideas. Hopefully anyone reading this one will get an idea or two or a confirmation of what they might be planning. Happy Travels

Thanks for the great report! We are planning a trip to Czech Republic for 2010. Your report was most interesting and helpful - bookmarking!

Thanks for sharing a wonderful report. Are you posting your pictures for us to see?

Thanks for the thanks I'm pretty challenged when it comes to the picture posting....but I'm working on it. Any tips on user-friendly sites? I was trying to use Photobucket but it is very clunky and I'm having difficulty getting them now in to some kind of order. As I said, it is probably me. blh you will love Czech Republic, it is just a wonderful country to visit.

I use picassa and find it manageable to post photos. I notice that a lot of people here use flickr. I just love looking at other people''s photos!