Pinch Me..I'm in Prague!

I intended for you read the title of this blog and get VERY curious all about Prague and why I need pinched but I have to go back a bit to the earlier part of the week, well let's say the mid part of the week.  And just for your information, I took over 300 photos this week, so trying to get it narrowed down to only twenty or so for this week's blog has been a painful experience.  I wish I could put them all on here but with it taking about two minutes per photo to load ( once again I'm dealing with Deutschland's amazing internet technological capabilities), this will just have to do.  

Mike has had some days off from from work because the Air Force likes the recently returned to have time to rest and relax after a deployment.  Mike has a hard time with that.  He's always anxious to get back to work and with the world situation right now, he really wants to be working.  However, one day this past week, he said "lets' go to France and have some lunch".  I'm thought, that's nice dear, but I have meetings etc etc etc....oh what the heck!  I called and postponed a thing or two, we grabbed the map and the GPS and were off on a little adventure to WIssembourg, France. 

This little church was obviously built before the road was and I found it pretty odd that they decided the road had to be this close to the church!?

 Wissembourg is a border town a little over an hour away.  It was a pretty drive and we were surprised at what a cute little town it was.  It had a very picturesque old town with a church and a little canal.  Most of the buildings in old town were half timbered and very old.

This door is old.  It says 1740 above it.

A little street sale in front of a cool building

We walked around and then had lunch.

Mike with pastries and REAL french bread!

Our treasures

 After lunch we had some fun in the Patisserie and then drove home with our baguettes and pastries. It was a fun, spur of the moment experience!

On Friday night at 11:00 p.m., my friend Susan and I hopped on a RTT tour bus.  Susan and I had decided to go on a little girl trip to celebrate her birthday!! 


 If you've ever traveled overnight on a tour bus, then I know you "feel my pain".  We were lucky because the bus wasn't too full and we each had a set of two seats to ourselves, but still...can anyone really sleep on a bus!?  I think I did manage to get about three hours worth off and on.  It was actually much better of a trip than I expected it to be.  Maybe I was just so excited I didn't care!?
We drove through the night and arrived just as dawn was breaking over Prague in the Czech Republic.  It was a most breathtaking sight.  Prague is a very, very beautiful capitol city. It has over 500 church spires and the largest castle complex in Europe that sits on the hill overlooking the city with the Vitava river running through it.

We stopped at our four star hotel, freshened up and ate a very nice breakfast buffet. 

The Hotel Lobby

Then we boarded the bus again and drove through Prague and up to the castle complex, where we met our guide for the day.  She took us through the castle complex and explained a lot about it, which I really do enjoy the history part of these places as well as looking at the architecture of which pictures just don't do justice to.
Remember you can click on a picture to make it bigger and better!

The castle complex is dominated by the St. Vitus Cathedral.  It was begun in 1344 and was actually built in three sections over many centuries.  The last to be completed with the twin spires was completed from 1872-1029.

After touring the castle grounds and cathedral we began our trek down the huge staircase and narrow streets to Little Quarter.  


We took a walk through this section of town and then headed to one of the most familiar sights in Prague, the Charles Bridge.

It's now a pedestrian bridge but it was built in 1357 and in 1683  the first of many statues was placed on the bridge.  At each end of the bridge stands the bridge towers.

After walking across the Charles Bridge, we were in Old Town.  This was my favorite part of the city.  Little winding streets with tall ornate buildings and every once in awhile a big square with a beautiful church in it.   At this point, our guide was done and we were on our own until we were to meet as a group for the dinner cruise on the river at 6:00. 

The Astronomical Clock Tower

Susan and I found a great little place for lunch and chose the local goulash and salads. It was very yummy!   Then we did some shopping in all the cute little shops and wound our way back  to the main square where they were having a market with stalls selling local food specialties.  We decided to try these dough spirals that are buttered, twirled on a stick and cooked over hot coals, then sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.  

Dough spirals cooked over coals and sprinkled with sugar.

Susan having a Tjka???  Cooked dough spiral.

We met our group down at the river at 6:00 p.m. to go on our river dinner cruise.  It was pretty tight quarters inside and we didn't have warm enough coats to stay outside long but it was enjoyable and we had good food.  The sights were so pretty all lit up.  
Then we walked back to the bus and went back to the hotel.  I was so tired and we were sound asleep by 9:30!!   

Prague Sunset

The next morning after another delicious breakfast buffet, we got on the bus and headed for the famous spa town of Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad).  It's located high in the hills and is on top of a hot spring that has made the town famous since long, long ago. 

People have been coming here for centuries to drink the hot mineral water that flows out of the  fountains located all throughout the town.  

Exercise pavilion. It's really "old"!

I've discovered a funny fact about the term "old" and "new" when it comes to things in Europe.  It is usually in reference to parts of town or buildings.  The term "old" means really, really old and the term "new" just means really old.  The new town in Prague was built in 1700.  See what I mean!?

The "new"exercise pavilion (also very old)

Getting a drink of the healing waters!

It's a really colorful, pretty town set along a winding river.  Lots of high end shops and hotels.

The famous Hotel Pupp

The buildings both in Prague and Karlovy Vary were very colorful but we were told by the guide on our way home that when this country was communist, all the buildings were gray.  Everything was gray.  Interesting, huh?

My yummy pizza

We ate lunch in a nice Italian restaurant overlooking the city and the river.  They had  really, really good pizza and for dessert, I had creme brulee and Susan celebrated her birthday by having crepes with hot raspberry sauce and ice cream.  It was just a perfect afternoon.  We had so much fun and I'm so glad Susan invited me to her birthday bash in the Czech Republic!!


Life is busy here.  We buzz around like bees outside of a hive.  Always running here or there for church, work, friends and traveling.  We know we are missing out on so much back home, but we do count our blessings for having this opportunity to see and experience the world.  We will be in Boise the rest of our lives, but for now we are loving every minute of this adventure!   


love and miss you all, 
corri