billbauer

First, a word about the weather.  In Prague we anticipated temperatures from the upper 50s to upper 60s.  Instead, it is HOT.  Every day has at least been in the 80s with today reaching the upper 80s and tomorrow expected to push 90.  Unfortunately, I didn't pack for these temperatures.  I brought exactly two short sleeve shirts.  I am scrambling.  And you know how I like the hot weather. This morning we head by mini-bus to Hradcany, the Castle District of Prague, on the west side of the Vltava River.  We have an unusually early start for Road Scholar and depart at 8AM sharp.  We are rewarded by shorter lines and smaller crowds.  May and September are the busy seasons in Prague and it is busy. Before we enter the Castle, which doesn't really look like I would expect a castle to look, we catch our first glimpse of gothic St. Vitus Cathedral. Once inside the castle we pause with our group before going inside the cathedr...

Our lead guide in Prague, Jana, leading us on a walking tour and sporting what must be Prague earrings since we are not in Budapest any longer. Wenceslas Square, which is actually an elongated boulevard, is where some of the demonstrations occurred during the so-called velvet revolution in November of 1989 during the downfall of communism that had controlled Czechoslovakia for forty years.  This is especially meaningful to me because this is history that occurred in my lifetime and which I remember.  I wonder what it would have been like to stand in this location at that time.  This is only a portion of the square.  The building under construction at the end of the square is the National Museum. On the way to the House of the Black Madonna, a cubist structure built in 1912 in the height of the cubism movement, Jana patiently explains the many styles of Prague architecture.  Architecture is Prague is amazing since, except for three bombs in one errant alli...

We say goodbye this morning to our lead Budapest guide, Agnes, who did not disappoint today with her BUDA and PEST earrings.  We have had a great time with Agnes and Peter and while we hate to leave them, we are also excited to begin the next phase of our trip in Prague.  Agnes's earrings: Today we take the Road Scholar bus, a Czech bus, from Budapest to Prague accompanied by assistant Budapest guide, Peter.  We leave around 8:30 AM and won't arrive in Prague until around 5:00 PM.  But it is a leisurely time accompanied by Peter's expert commentary. Along the way we pass many fields with color of the poppy, lavender and rapeseed. On a prior trip to Provence, famous for lavender, we were too early for the lavender bloom so we are especially excited to see it here. Also on the way, we cut through a corner of Slovakia and skirt Bratislava crossing the Danube River again. We stop for lunch just inside the Czech Republic, as locals prefer it to be ...