Adventures in Bavaria: Prague

(Warning: Photo Heavy Post!) Now..moving onto Prague, the City of 100 Spires. Having earned it's place in my top favorite places in the world, Prague is everything Bubs and I had hoped for: beautiful, affordable, friendly and easy to travel. I would highly recommend a visit to Prague to anyone not afraid of a bit of adventure. Though neither of us speak Czech, it doesn't matter. Nearly everyone under the age of 30 speaks some bit of English and those who don't will help you out enough to get by just fine. One thing to note, however, is the millions of cobblestones that make up every street and walkway throughout Prague. Trust me, your feet and legs will ache, but wear good shoes and you'll be fine.

Chris, our fantastic Program Director from Viking, accompanied us to Prague and showed us some great sights and gave us the run-down on the town (because I really feel like Prague is a big town and less of a booming metropolis, just how I like it...a big town with super-easy mass transit and great shopping, but not intimidatingly ginormous, like, say, London. Even though London is still my fave-o place in the whole world.)
The Czech crown-to USD exchange is pretty good too...17 to 1 at the time of our trip. Grocery stores are your friend, as are the out-of-the-way restaurants down back alleys and across the Charles Bridge to the Old Town (near Infant Jesus of Prague Cathedral, for example.) I highly recommend drinking Pilsner Urquell. It's really, really tasty. And cheap. Did I mention it's cheap? At the grocery, a big bottle was 9 crowns. That's about 50-cents. Cheaper than chocolate! OOh and the bakeries! Just go. Point. Eat. I had chocolate-filled donuts for 6 crowns. 35-cents. Hallelujah! Prague makes my mouth happy. ^-^

The only down-side to Prague in the off-season, besides the obvious chilly weather, was that the beautiful gardens and parks surrounding the castles are closed and the fountains not running. I can't begin to imagine what a sight to behold they are in the summer. I hope one day I get to see them for myself. We both agree...we'd go back in a heartbeat.

Sightseeing was a breeze, as everything is very old and very beautiful. If you like to walk around, see churches, castles and bridges, people-watch, eat and drink and ride mass-transit, check out amazing antiques, go clubbing and/or have a great vacation for not a lot of money, Prague is for you. Everything you could possibly want can be found. The people are really relaxed and friendly; no one and nothing seems to be in a huge hurry. The food is tasty and sticks to your ribs. Everyone warned us a billion times about pick-pockets. Apparently, it's something of an issue in busy areas, like the city markets and subway. Seriously, use your brain everywhere you travel. Keep your wallet in a front-inside pocket. Don't flaunt valuables. Keep your purse closed and near you. I know this sounds rude (and perhaps a bit too honest), but if you don't behave like a stupid tourist and make cardinal rule travel mistakes, you'll be fine. Just relax and enjoy yourself. Be respectful and smart. That's all it takes, really. That and some common sense stuff. No one is lurking in every dark corner to mug you. Get a good city and subway map, take notes and adventure!

Adventures in Bavaria: Passau

This is it, folks. The last days of our Adventures in Bavaria. Today, it's Passau and tomorrow, Prague. Let me just say how completely a-maze-ing Prague is. Not that I didn't like Passau. It was really a great place, but we were only there one quick day and just didn't get to enjoy it as much as we had liked to have done. But Prague. Oh Prague. What a fantastic place you are! Every moment was grand, seriously.

Anyway, back to the trip. Here are some shots of lovely Passau:

Adventures in Bavaria: Regensburg

After a couple of days in Nuremberg, the Viking ship cruised down the river to Regensburg. Wow. It was cold. Really cold. Like -15°C...that's a whopping 5°F! Lord only knows what it was with the wind chill (because there was wind. Cold wind.) And we were outside. Walking. Everywhere. But who cares about the cold? It was really pretty! The best part for me was, after dinner, we met up with my father-in-law's old colleague Michael and his wife, who live in the Regensburg city center for great conversation, a few classes of (really amazing) champagne, wine and paté. Yum. And what's more, they had a very lovely little feline who loved me (but loved Bubs more...I think it was because he ignored her. You know how cats get.)


Very nearly rivaling the top-billing in Regensburg for me were the St. Emmeram's buildings (aka Schloss Thurn und Taxis. shown below.) The monastery was originally founded in 739 by Benedictine monks and had several centuries of development and growth. After the dissolution of the Imperial City of Regensburg, the Bishopric of Regensburg and two other Imperial Abbeys for the newly-formed Principality of Regensburg (learn more here), the treasures of St. Emmeram's Abbey were moved to Munich. In 1812, all of the monastic buildings were then given to the princes of Thurn and Taxis, who are recognized as being a key player in the invention of the European Postal Service in the 16th century (as well as opening breweries and building numerous castles.) The Thurn and Taxis buildings are open to the public for tours and the grounds house countless events throughout the year (including the Regensburg Christmas Market), even though the widowed Princess Gloria still lives there. (She's a really cool lady, btw.) Unfortunately (yet, understandably), we weren't allowed to photograph inside the buildings, but we got a few shots of the buildings from the outside.

And how could I not mention St. Peter's in Regensburg? We were able to warm up (sort of) inside and listen to an organ concert. To say it was beautiful is a gross understatement. The evening sun was coming in and shining down on our pew and I felt the light of God. It was truly amazing. They sure don't make churches like they used to, do they?

That's it for Regensburg...Passau and Prague tomorrow!

Adventures in Bavaria: Nuremberg

Schöner Brunnen Fountain, Nuremberg

Gothic Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady, 1352-61; R.C.)

Top L: Prune Men (good luck charms...real prunes. ew.)
Top R: Glass ornaments shaped like food! I hearted them.
Bottom L: Brightly-colored Christmas booth.
Bottom R: Candied nuts. Yumm.

Oh how good it feels to be home again! To say that the last few weeks have been busy is a gross understatement, but wow did we have a great trip + Christmas. I can't believe it's almost New Year's Eve. Can you? This year went by on warp speed!

This week, I'm going to try to pop in with some great photos and stories from our latest traipse across the globe.

Now. Without further ado, here's some favorites from Nuremberg. It's hard to contain myself sometimes when it comes to photo taking and when we were on vacation, we took almost 400 photos and about a dozen videos with the Flip. I wish I could share them all, but I'm not even going to try. However, I will share my favorites. Hope you like them :)

· My some small miracle, we were on one of the last flights of of Paris to Nuremberg before the airport was shut down for snow! Talk about lucky. There were a handful of folks on the cruise that had to meet up with us a couple of days into the tour (and went a whole week without ever getting their luggage.)

· Nuremberg Christmas markets - They are the BEST! Even though the cold was settling in around us, a little glühwein helped to warm us up from the inside out. The ornaments, decorations, gingerbread, chocolates and sausages were enough to make you forget completely about the very potential frostbite that could be settling in on your toes...

What a view. Frauenkirche in the background.

Glühwein! It was...medicinal.

Sausages and a hat I crocheted. No one on the tours could lose me!

Top L: Cutest. Hedgehog. Ever. I bought one :)
Top R: Most beautiful laser-cut wood decorations.
Middle: Gingerbread as big as your head!
Bottom: Kristkindlmarkt at night, Nuremberg, Germany.

{Negril Favorites} Sunsets

The last sunset of our honeymoon.

It's hard to believe that we've been married a whole month already. It's strange because it feels both like it was just yesterday and so long ago that I was nervously waiting to walk down the aisle. Relaxing, recapping and making new memories in Negril was the perfect way for us to celebrate our togetherness. We're so blessed to have been able to go. I can safely say, for both of us, that it was a trip of a lifetime and we'll remember it always.

These last few photos are of my favorite part of our honeymoon in Negril. There is nothing on earth that I love more than a bright sunset over the water, with salty sea breezes kissing your face, the crunching of the cooling sand between your toes, as you watch the sun's last rays streaking purples, pinks, oranges and golds across the horizon. It reminds me of growing up on Lake Erie and of all the magnificent sunsets I saw as a kid and is a fitting grand finale to our photo tour of my honeymoon favorites. I hope you enjoyed them as much as I loved sharing them!

Honeymoon 2.0

Nuremberg Christmas Market

December is shaping up to be one of the most memorable I've ever known. Just when we thought our honeymoon to Jamaica would be the last of our travels for awhile, my-in-laws, in their seemingly-infinite generosity, have asked us to join them on a trip to Europe for a week!

But this isn't just any trip, mind you. This trip is to Bavarian Germany and Prague, aboard a small cruise ship on the Danube River in the heart of the Advent season. How do I even begin to explain how excited I am? Admittedly, Mr. and I were both a bit sad at first at the idea of not being home to do all of our favorite Christmas season traditions. The crackling fireplace, hanging the stockings with care, A Christmas Story...all will be replaced this year with fresh lebkuchen, Czech glass ornaments, German Christmas trees and some of the world's largest Christmas markets. Now how, my friends, is that a bad plan? Mr. gets to spend his 31st birthday checking out 13th and 14th century churches, 12th century stone bridges, snacking on sausages and drinking warm mulled wine. The romantic European Christmas scenes, chilly air, clear night skies, woolly hats and hand-holding will make for idyllic lasting memories of our first pre-Christmas as a married couple. This trip is now known as Honeymoon 2.0. Amazing, isn't it?

Prague...Looks a bit cold, don't you think?
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Interestingly enough, we fly home on Christmas Eve...maybe we'll spot Santa and his reindeer, too! I'm hoping to sneak into our church to catch the tail end of the Christmas Eve service. It's overwhelmingly powerful. If we can't make it in person, it will be on T.V., however! The choir sounds ethereal, reverent and beautiful, just the way a Christmas Eve service should be. If you're local, I highly recommend it!