Day 11: Luxembourg and Paris

American Cemetery at Luxembourg

Disembarkation from our ship–time to say goodbye to our friendly crew. We found out yesterday that we are leaving the ship at 8:15, but not getting into Paris until 6:00 p.m. We are all disappointed in that–it’s true the itinerary says 2 nights in Paris, but I think we all assumed that we would have a half-day in Paris.

Our first stop on the bus was to the American Cemetery in Luxembourg, then on to a walking tour and an “on your own” lunch in Luxembourg. The American Cemetery was given to the US by Luxembourg and is the final resting place of over 5,000 soldiers that fought in this area in WWII. Many were soldiers who served under Gen. George Patton. The crosses and Jewish stars are aligned so that no marker is hidden by another. Some families requested bodies of soldiers be sent home after the war, but these are those who remained buried here. My father was killed in the Battle of the Bulge but he was buried in Foy Cemetery in Belgium and eventually his body was sent home to be buried in Roselawn Cemetery in San Antonio where his parents are buried.


Our guide did more talking than walking, and our group seemed restless. We stopped at one overlook while he talked about the history, then at Queen Charlotte’s statue where he spent time talking about the Queen(s) and then a final stop in front of Luxembourg’s version of a town hall, and that was about it. He talked about Luxembourg becoming neutral after many wars over their history. They tore down all the walls and fortifications that they used to keep them safe in previous times. Of course, being neutral didn’t keep them from being occupied by Germany in WWII and Queen Charlotte having to flee the country.

Then 4 hours on the bus to Paris. The hotel was a big disappointment. Nothing like the hotel in Prague. The lobby (where you have to go if you want to use free wi-fi) only has about 20 chairs in it, and certainly not very comfortable ones. The rooms are small (which is fairly standard for Paris) and the “king size beds” are actually twin beds made up separately, although they are pushed together. The bathroom has a nice big tub, but there was a lot of mold in the grout and when I went to bed, I discovered this steel “thing” sticking out from the edge of the bed (which I hit twice when getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.) So the next day we did ask for another room, which they gave us and it is somewhat better. We paid “big bucks” (at least to us) for the extra two days and were very disappointed. Wish we had just booked our own hotel.

Paulette and Michael wanted to take a night cruise along the Seine and invited me and Charlie along as well as another couple, Nanette and Mario. We got to the boat dock area too late to have a real meal, so I had to settle for a grilled cheese sandwich (a croquet monsieur) and Charlie had a hot dog (a hot dog). Couldn’t get my shutter speed high enough to take good night shots, but I have a couple that I will add here just so you can get an idea. They are pretty noisy but maybe not too obvious on the web. One other thing we wanted to see was the “sparkle lights” on the Eiffel Tower that come on once every hour. So we had to wait, drinking wine at a little bar, until 11:00 p.m. to see them. We suffered through the inconvenience by enjoying a French wine and a little snack, and it was worthwhile.


Tomorrow the Viking tour of the City.

Day 10: Bernkastel and Along the Moselle River

A View of Bernkastel from the Ship

The Bernkastel tour started early enough that the streets were mostly deserted. Charlie changed his mind and decided not to go on this tour. He is having trouble with his hip and legs. The stores didn’t open until 10:00 a.m. and only deliveries were allowed, so the only people who got in the frame of my pix were the people on my tour–how lovely.

The Oldest House in Bernkastel

I was beginning to get tired of the timbered houses and town halls, but evidently, without the addition of lots and lots of people, they were much more (cozy, lovely, cute???) I enjoyed walking through this 700-year old town with our guide who told us all about the wine making in this area. The wines here are mostly Reislings but each with a different taste depending on the soil, the sunshine, etc. Did I mention that there is a machine that goes thru the rows trimming the grapevines so that more sun gets to the grapes? Do they do that in our vineyards in the US? It seems to be a good idea when they explain it.

Our tour ended at the vaulted cellars of St Nikolaus’ Hospital. There, many of the wines from the Moselle Valley are stored, said valley producing more than 130 types of wine. Tasting in the cellars works this way–we go down to the cellars where the different wines are divided into different rooms–the dry, semi-dry, dry, a few reds since this is mostly white wine producing vines. You find a bottle that you would like to try and it has a number on it. You go over to the barrel where the wines being tasted are in cold water, pick out the wine with the number, pour yourself a glass or a taste. If you want to taste more, just repeat. If you want to buy a bottle, just pick out the one you want, take it to the clerk/owner and pay for it. Most of the bottles of wine are @9,90 € and very good. However, we were told when we turn in our wine glass, he would give us a taste of an excellent, very expensive, relatively rare (they only produce so many bottles), wine. I had my taste and it was good but to me, not any better than the one I bought, and I asked how much it was–18,00 €. Their idea of an expensive wine is actually reasonable to us, it seems.

Along the Moselle River

Our last city tour from the ship was in Trier, Germany’s oldest city. However, Charlie seemed to feel neglected since he hadn’t been going on many of the tours with me, so I stayed aboard the ship this time. We cruised down the Moselle River for 5 hours, going through the last of the 40 something locks we have traveled through before getting to Trier. Most of the passengers boarded buses for the Trier trip in Wintrich and then they were picked up in Trier. I think there were only 6 people on the ship with us.

Our last evening’s entertainment was an “oompah band.” They were really good and it was quite an original act. They had costume changes and everything. I didn’t bring my camera so I can’t show the band, I’m sorry to say.

Day 9 (Part II): Cochem

As I said in the previous post, I decided to do this in two parts so I could post pix of both types of scenes.

After lunch, we took a trip up to Reichsburg Castle in Cochem. More than 1000 years old, it’s the only real castle we got to see up close and was quite interesting. The walls and ceilings were all handpainted. And the rooms were furnished in the style of the era. I took lots of pix inside and out, but of course, can’t put them all here. I was glad Charlie decided to go on this trip; he seemed to enjoy it but the cobblestones are hard on his legs.

Detail of one of the Ceilings in the Castle

We ended with a city tour of a town founded by the Celts, hence the un-German-like name. The towns are all beginning to blend together–lots and lots of pix of the timber frame houses and the small churches and government buildings. We didn’t stay too long which cuts into photo time (and shopping). It’s a good thing I’m keeping my pix organized by date and name of town. LOL

Windows in the church

Back to the ship for the Captain’s farewell dinner–a 5-course meal in which the chef has outdone himself. However, most of us are Americans and are not used to eating so much food, and lots of it was sent back uneaten. I know, for myself, I could only take a few bites of each course. It truly is too much food, although it was delicious.

Cochem

Such a nice day! I like the cruising as much as the touring.

Day 9: Cruising on the Rhine River

Up early this morning to have a quick continental breakfast and go up on the sun deck. The sun deck is great for us photographers because no one can get in front of us. Today dawned kind of gray and looked like it could rain, but I was the first one out there. Pretty soon, Michael, an early riser, came out in his shorts and short sleeved shirt. He said the maitre ‘d rousted him from his warm spot and told him that he should get on the deck–I was already there–so he wasn’t going to let me get that first photo without him getting it too. LOL. Charlie decided to sleep in since he didn’t care much about the castles and figured he could see them from the dining room at breakfast. (Did I mention that the windows on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the ship are floor-to-ceiling?)

Today was the only day we’ve had gray weather since the rainy day in Bamburg, and this time, it was pretty chilly too! It had rained overnight so I had asked the maitre ‘d when I first came up if he could find someone to wipe the tables and chairs. Since the maintenance crew was busy, he did it himself. It’s amazing how attentive the crew is about every little detail. It seemed to get colder for a while and the maitre ‘d showed up with blankets and hot cocoa or coffee. We were all very grateful. By that time there were probably about 7 of us up there taking pix. This area is a UNESCO World Heritage site and our program director pointed out all the different towns, castles and ruins as we sailed along the Rhine. By 10:30 a.m. we had left the 10 km stretch of the river and I decided it was okay to end my watch on the Rhine, so I went downstairs and took a little nap before lunch. It’s too bad that the weather was so gray–with the low lighting and the ship cruising, I couldn’t get my shutter speed up enough to do a great job hand-holding the camera.

I’m dividing Day 9 into 2 parts since we spent the morning cruising and this afternoon we will make a stop at Cochem to see the Reichsburg Castle. Even though I’m only showing some of the castle/ruins that we saw, there’s a lot more to the Rhine River than that. It is a major shipping channel with barges loaded with all sorts of commerce; for instance, coal, trucks, some kind of construction equipment that I don’t know what it is, as well as other things. We often see kayakers and rowing sculls (I think that’s the term) with 2-4 people rowing too.

Day 8: Mainz and Rudesheim

We stopped in 2 small towns today–Mainz and Rudesheim. All of these towns are quite old–for instance, Mainz is over 2000 years old! A guide told the joke–“Do you know the difference between a European and an American? An American thinks that something that’s 250 years old is really old and a European thinks that 250 miles is a long way to drive.” I thought it to be funny and probably very true.

The main reason for the stop in Mainz is the Gutenberg Museum which covers the history of printing and has on display many beautiful books and fascinating printing technologies. It also contained a replica of Gutenberg’s workshop. I enjoyed strolling around the town square, visiting the church, and photographing the lovely buildings and landscaping. After lunch back on the ship, we set sail for Rudesheim.

St. Stephen’s Church

Window by Marc Chagall

Fresco in church

Viking was offering an optional wine tour this afternoon in Rudesheim. I thought Charlie and I had agreed that we wanted to do that, but when the time came, he said he didn’t want to go. I went into the town by alone since he didn’t feel like walking that far. It’s very, very touristy and very crowded. It’s major draw is that it’s the beginning of that part of the Rhine where many of the castles are (about a 10 mile stretch.) August is vacation time for people in school as well as many businesses, so there are traveling and taking in the sights too, one of which is this stretch of the river. The only thing to say about this town is that it has a cable car that goes up for about 15 minutes to a stop where there is a really giant monument, so the view is quite nice. The ship is docking overnight so that we can get an early start on cruising in our search for castles in the morning.

Docking at Rudesheim

Traffic Jam

While we’ve been cruising on the river, we’ve had many photo ops–pastoral scenes, small town picturesque scenes. There are several photographers along. Michael and I have had fun talking about the pix we are taking. In fact, Paulette tells me that even if he’s tired, he doesn’t feel like he can skip a “cruising session” because I might get one more photo than he does! LOL. He’s a birder too and he tells me he’s found 12 “life birds” on this trip. I’m going to have to go home and try to find a book on European birds and see if I can name the ones I’ve seen.

Well, the castle hunt starts at 7:30 a.m so I’m off to bed. Got to get up early to get a head start on Michael.

Day 7: Heidelberg

View of the Castle from the Town[/caption]
We are now sailing on the Rhine River. The sun deck has been closed until now because, since our ship is 3 decks high, it was too high for people to stand on the sun deck when we went under the low bridges (danger of decapitation.) But now we are on a river that they can open the sun deck, so of course, we all flocked there, enjoying our cruise with a 360 degree view. Lots of tables and chairs, reclining type chairs, a larger than life chess board, a shuffleboard.

Our first stop on the Rhine was to visit Heidelberg, another of Germany’s ancient cities. We docked in Wertheim and from there drove 1-1/2 hrs to Heidelberg for what was described as a full-day tour. A lot of that time was on the bus. This drive took us through a more “mountainous” area (nothing high, just hilly). There are fewer fields of crops, but beginning to get into the wine country. We can see field after field of vines, sitting in terraced rows along the river.

But one of the main reasons tourists go to this town is because of ruins of Heidelberg Castle (Schloss), which are considered among the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps. Construction was started in the 12th century and expanded in the 13th century. However, it was reduced to ruins because of fire and 2 wars. There has been hardly any reconstruction, just maintneance of the ruins. The guides give us a lot of history about the areas we visit and we get to listen them on little audio boxes, so that we can hear the talk even if we not close (like when I’m taking photographs.)

After our visit to the “castle,” we stopped in the center of Old Town for a short tour and then lunch in the oldest hotel/restaurant in Heidelberg. It was an excellent meal–a beef roulade with a brown gravy with vegetables and mashed potatoes and a really memorable dessert of a type of cheesecake (not dense like ours) with a berry topping. Besides the food, we had another treat–there was a student from Heidelberg University at each table for us to talk to–hopefully, we would learn new things from each other. Next, a little free time for those who like to shop and for those of us who like to take photos. Then hop on a bus to meet the ship in Miltenberg.

Towers of the Town Gate

Heidelberg University Library

Church of the Holy Spirit

Inside the Church

Inside the Church built of Red Sandstone

One of Many Statues in the Streets

As usual, we had entertainment after dinner (an international menu tonight). The program was excellent and well received by most people on the trip. It was an hour of opera arias, french horn and piano solos (classical). The three young people were all quite talented. The pianist (who was only 20 years old) got a standing ovation.

Tomorrow we will be sailing on the part of the Rhine that has many castles. The captain expects a lot of company on the river since everyone, it seems wants to see the castles.

Day 6: Rothenberg and Wurzburg

View from the Wall Surrounding the Town

Today’s excursion was a tour of the Bishop’s Residenz and time on your own in Wurzburg or an optional trip to Rothenburg. Rothenburg is supposedly a highlight of the cruise because it is the best preserved walled town in Germany; it’s also known as the Christmas town. I had thoughts of buying my grandchildren a genuine nutcracker from Germany while I was here so I thought I would like to take this tour. The one thing they didn’t tell us is that it would take us 2-1/2 hours on a bus to get there. I might have reconsidered since this was a long time on the bus. Charlie chose not to go because he was concerned about walking over the cobblestones, so he just took the tour of the Bishop’s Residenz.

This part of Germany is known as Franconia. It’s a lovely agricultural area and is indicative of how the Germans here grow their crops. Instead of huge fields of wheat, barley, etc., these farmer have smaller patches of a crop interspersed with fallow fields and other crops. It was something I had learned in school–to protect the soil, crops should be rotated and left fallow over a period of time. We don’t seem to do that in the USA, so possibly with fertilizers, it’s not necessary to do it any longer. I tried to take some photos of it to show what it looks like, but since we were on the bus, I couldn’t seem to get a good enough perspective to show what I was seeing.

Rothenberg is the most preserved walled town in Germany, and our guide gave us the quick city tour with historical background. Because of the long bus ride, we really didn’t have much time to shop and to sightsee so I tried to do a little of both. They have a truly amazing Christmas shop but the nutcrackers were also amazingly expensive. I would have bought a Christmas ornament but we haven’t been putting up a tree at Christmas in recent years. There was the major church (St. Jakob’s which was begun in 1311) with a lot of interesting art work, a couple of pieces I believe I’ve seen in books but didn’t have time to find out about them. The altarpiece is a hand carved wooden piece that is just beautiful. I took some quick photos before it was time for the included lunch. I am giving a link here in case you would like to see more about Rothenberg. It was interesting and I didn’t have nearly enough time to see all I would like to see and certainly don’t have enough room to really describe what we saw today. I don’t know if these links work the way I have done them here, but maybe you can copy and paste to get to the websites. https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/germanys-fairytale-dream-town-rothenburg

Lunch was in a small café and was advertised as a typical German lunch. We had sausage (milder than in the US so I liked it), mashed potatoes, sauerkraut (not vinegary like ours so I liked it) and a fabulous apple strudel with vanilla creme sauce.

St. Jakcob’s

Altarpiece at St. Jakob’s

Tower of the Town Gate

Part of the Town Wall

When we left Rothenberg, we ended up again in Wurzburg where we visited the Bishop’s Residenz. It is truly an amazing place. We weren’t allowed to take pictures so a link here might give you an idea of what it looks like. There are giant frescoes, 3-D plaster paintings. One room is very rococo, mirrored art throughout another room–all very unique. It is worth seeing, for sure. If the link doesn’t work, you can google Wurzburg Bishops Residenz to see some images of the rooms. A lot of it was destroyed during WWII but it has been restored since then.
http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/t/tiepolo/gianbatt/5wurzbur/index.html
http://www.germanplaces.com/germany/wurzburg-residence-pictures.html

Back Side of Bishop’s Residenz

This evening we had a glass blowing demonstration. The glass blower (is that a title?) was very personable and lively and put on a good show. His family had been making scientific equipment for all these years–then he, the rebel and an artist, came along and wanted to do more. They now make decorative items for houses and his wife makes jewelry. The business has been booming ever since. I bought some jewelry from him. And stayed to dance after the demonstration. LOL

Dinner that Night

Glass Blowing Demonstration

Day 5: Bamberg

Red roofs and Baroque Buildings

This morning we went on a tour of Bamberg but the weather started out cloudy and finally got rainy. Luckily I had my umbrella but Charlie who was in a different group (a more leisurely tour) didn’t bring his rain jacket.) We stood around under awnings for a little while but finally those who didn’t have anything to keep them dry went back to the ship. It did stop after about 20 minutes but, as you can imagine, those without rain gear of some kind were already drenched.

This is the Unicorn House

Street in Bamberg

This time our guide was a girl from the same institute as the man was from yesterday. Their stated goal seems to be educating all people about all of German history without trying to whitewash it. Besides the medieval history of the town, she also talked about the Jews’ problems in being citizens of Bamberg from medieval times through current times. According to her, after WWII, a camp for displaced person was set up in Bamberg, so quite a few Jews settled in Bamberg and there seems to be a thriving community there today.

Bamberg wasn’t bombed during WWII so most of the buildings from old Bamburg are still standing, many in the baroque style. Because it has the largest number of baroque buildings in than any other town, it has been named a UNESCO World Heritage site. Many unique buildings are in this old section of Bamberg (population 17,000). Many unique buildings throughout small town (pop 17,000). Instead of addresses, in the medieval days, houses were known by the signs on their houses. (For instance, the Unicorn House.) We were told of the history of the town, saw it’s cathedral (couldn’t go in because of services) and the Queen’s home and garden. (Built in the half-timbered style.)

Rose from the Royal Garden

The Town Hall

When we returned to the ship, we set sail immediately and did the safety drill, life jackets and all. We laughed because it looks as if a person can swim, it wouldn’t be hard to swim to one side of the river or the other. But it looks like the current is quite swift. After lunch, a lot of us spent the afternoon sitting on deck on the bow watching small towns pass by and taking photos as we passed through about 10 locks. We are on the Main (pronounced “mine”) River, and the river is used for moving goods as well as river cruising. Some of the barges are quite large and it looks like there is little room to spare, but the two captains don’t slow down, so I imagine they are used to it.

Scenes from the Main River

One of the Locks we Passed Through

Terri had asked if I thought they might enjoy a cruise like this but I’m not sure. It’s very leisurely. We spent the afternoon and evening cruising, and while some stayed in their rooms and slept or watched movies on TV, most of us stay in the lounge or deck and just watched the scenery go by. A lot of the experience is getting to know your fellow passengers and that has been fun. There were a number of photographers, so we had a good time comparing notes.

Since there aren’t many passengers, we are beginning to know each other a little at a time and with no reserve seating for eating, we might eat with different people each day. There’s a cocktail hour every day, a couple of talks about different subjects (tonight was about the locks system), and dancing to our “one man orchestra” after that. There’s a group that enjoys dancing and drinking, and they’re fun to be with, but I think several of them came together. I can understand why our friends recommended it–it’s totally different from an ocean cruise and I’m really enjoying it. Tonight’s meal was all German specialties served buffet style in different parts of the ship. An interesting way to do it–it got people to move around the ship and sit different places. Some people didn’t particularly like it because of having to stand in line.

Another Scene on the Main

Day 4: A Trip to Nuremberg (Nurmberg)

View of town from Castle

This morning got up early to have a big breakfast and take a bus to Nurmberg–a 4 hour trip from Prague. After getting there, we stopped at the Old Town Square to find our own lunch and then back on the bus with a local guide to do a City Tour. Charlie, of course, had a bratwurst and I tried a langor–a German dish where a circular piece of thin dough is dumped into a vat of hot oil where it puffs up really big. Then a tomato based sauce is put on it, cheese and a sour cream on top of that. It was just okay, but why not give something new a try. I could have had Old El Paso mexican food or Chinese food–LOL. I took the extra 45 minutes to wander the Square and take photos.

Known as The Beautiful Fountain

Gargoyle on The Beautiful Fountain

The bus tour was quite interesting. The guide was quite knowledgeable about the medieval history and we visited the old Nurmberg castle which was 50% destroyed in WWII (the city was 90% demolished.) He also talked about the Nazis. I didn’t realize how much Nurmberg was used by the Nazis to produce the propaganda, both thru written word and by pictures. The idea was to create psychological images. (For instance, the giant buildings, flags, trappings and masses of people made the people feel small so that they would feel that there was only strength in sticking together.) We saw remnants of the grounds that were seen in old newsreels with the masses of people and brownshirts, etc. when Hitler was addressing the people–also, the giant buildings that Speer designed to achieve these effects–many of which were never finished. The guide also talked about what they believe are the reasons for the German people going along with Hitler, and the current efforts made to teach the younger generation about the mistakes and the history so that it can never happen again in Germany.

A View of Nuremberg Castle

Another View of Castle

Nuremberg Street

At the Castle[/caption]

After the city tour, it was on to Bamberg where we boarded our ship. It’s a whole different experience and the inside is very nice. I was worried about the size of our cabin since when we booked, we got the last cabin available. However, not to worry–it was bigger than we thought and had enough room for a kingsized bed, a closet for our clothes, 4 drawers for storage and shelves. Perfectly fine for us and we were told that all the cabins on that level were the same. Did I mention that our deck is below the water line with just a small window above the water line to let in light.)

As soon as we got on, we went to the patio for a “light” repast (2 salads, 2 types of sandwiches, won ton soup and desserts. First margaritas, then wine of our choice.) Next we had mimosas or similar type drinks to receive a toast from the captain and hear from our Program Director.

Then dinner! I had chateaubriand, soup and a cheese plate for dessert. Very good. They treat us very well. We’re spending the night in port tonight, doing a City Tour of Bamburg tomorrow morning and then taking off tomorrow at noon for our sail down the Main (pronounced “mine”) River where we can sit out on the sun deck and watch the scenery go by. There’s no reserve seating which encourages everyone to mingle. Seems like a varied group of people from 2 couples who are honeymooners, at least one couple in their 20’s, several in the 30-something category, several of the 40-something age group, then the rest are divided between the pre-old, the old, and the ones older than that. LOL

After dinner, we had dancing and a there were couple of young women who were having a very good time! The “piano player” is actually using a karoake machine and he plays a litle bit of piano along with it. He has a good selection of music which encourages people to dance. The staff is very friendly and obviously they all know each other and are having a good time with the passengers. Seems like a good start to our trip.

Walking Around Prague

Day 3: All day in Prague (Praha)

Lesser Town from Charles Bridge

Wi-Fi is spotty on our ship, so I will get these out as I can. Here goes. May have to wait until I get to Paris to post the others. Not all the photos and/or narrative is showing up on this post.

I met our local city guide at 8:15 but Charlie was concerned that he may not be able to do all the walking that the tour was going to do. Instead, he took an optional tour to the Leibowitz Palace where he would have lunch, look at the artwork and the compositions which had original annotations by Beethovan and Mozart, and attend a chamber concert.

Our group went first to Prague Castle and visited (along with about 10 other large groups) the castle grounds and St. Vitus Cathedral. This particular tour reminded me of why I don’t particularly cruise tours. The problem is we only get to the see outside of the sights and don;t get to see any of the insides. And, disappointingly, we didn’t get to see the royal gardens. It’s a good reason to spend more time in these big cities. One of the people that I have talked with was there for 4 days and still didn’t feel like she saw everything she wanted to!

Gargoyle from St Vitus Cathedral

Charles Bridge

After the visit to the castle, we went back to Lesser Town to cross the Charles Bridge and go into Old Town. It was very crowded so I decided to go my own way. Charles Bridge has many statutes and vendors/artists. Supposedly, before they can get a permit, they have to submit samples of their work and it goes to committee before being approved. There were some really nice things there and some interesting music groups.

A Birds Eye View of Old Town Square

I had lunch in the Jewish quarter and went into the Powder Tower for a bird’s eye view of the Old Town Square. Then back across the Charles Bridge to Lesser Town. There were several things I wanted to see over there plus I wanted to try to see the Stravhy Monstary and its theological library–it’s supposed to be gorgeous. However, I will have to admit that the metro system stumped me. I was told to take the 22 tram, but no one told me there are about 6 different 22 trams, all headed in different directions. The tram stops have a schedule of stops but none of them sounded familiar. I actually got on one–I thought I might be able to ask the driver, but he is boxed in behind plexiglass and I could find a way to talk to him. So I gave up on that.

Tyn Church

By then, it was too late to do anything else, so I decided to go back to the hotel. I couldn’t find a cab (I had been warned only to use AAA cab company) so after checking with person at the tourist info desk, I was told it was about a 25 minute walk, so after walking along the river for about 20 minutes, I stopped at a hotel and asked them how much farther and they said another 20 minutes at least!

Finally, I could see it about a block away, but when I got to the block, it was a major freeway. I finally found an underground passage when I noticed a bicyclist use it. So after taking this way of doing it, on the other side was another major street without a place to cross. Then I found some stairs to take me up to the major freeway, where I walked on the sidewalk to the Allianze building where I found someone smoking outside that should be an elevated walkway across the second freeway. Finally–I got into the hotel, headed right to the bar and enjoyed a nice glass of wine.

I didn’t get to see all I had wanted to but Prague is a really nice city. People are very nice and I enjoyed the things I got to do there.