Riding the Rails...Third Stop - Prague

When we last left you, we were about to embark on the third leg of our journey, bound for Prague. We arrived and headed to our hotel on foot, much to Q's chagrin, for some reason he really loves taking taxis. (You can take the boy out of Abu Dhabi, but you cannot take the Abu Dhabi out of the boy...)

Enjoying the passing scenery...in his dreams

Catching some Zs in anticipation

Upon our arrival, we dropped our things and immediately headed out to Old Town Square where the annual Christmas Market was still going strong. While enjoying the local music, we fortified ourselves against the cold with hot wine and local fare. Let me just say now that the hot wine/hot mead will become a recurring theme during our time in this beautiful city.

The centerpiece of the Christmas Market

Old Town Square at night

A short aside before getting into more about our time in Prague. Since we decided to embark on this journey, all Quintus has been able to focus on is seeing, playing in, and eating snow (emphasis on the eating). As you can see by all of our pictures to date, we have yet to encounter any snow, at any of our destinations. This, too, will feature prevalently during our time here in Prague. Now let's continue.

The next morning, we bundled up against the cold (or so we thought) and headed out to explore. For those who have been to Prague, you will know that there is much to see and for those who have not, just trust us. What we did not realize is that we were nowhere close to being dressed well enough to guard against the frigid temperatures. (To be fair, for those who live in these climes, it was not that cold, but for those of us who have grown soft, it was almost more than we could bear.) So, after an hour of walking through Old Town and making it snow (flurries really) with our wishes, we found a great little spot, La Bottega di Finestra, to stop in for a hot drink and warm our bodies for a few minutes. If you are ever in Prague, check this place out, it was amazing. Let's just say, we lamented the fact that we had already eaten breakfast...

All jokes aside about Prague having the best hot chocolate,
this was seriously the best hot chocolate, complete
with separate bowl of freshly whipped cream.

How good is he making this look?!

Once we were sufficiently warmed, we headed back out to continue exploring. We arrived at the Charles Bridge early enough so that we could enjoy it before it was mobbed with tourists.

The square on the east side of the Charles Bridge

Looking out across to the far side of the Charles Bridge

Love locks on the bridge. Amazing how many people
get custom made locks to place on this fence.

The river was teeming with ducks and swans.

We made it to the other side of the bridge and were greeted by a vendor selling hot wine, so how could we say no? With provisions in hand, we made our way up the hill to the Prague Castle. The Castle, with two guards standing sentry watch, was quite a sight to behold. Since the line to get in circled the square, we opted to behold only its external beauties, as waiting in line, outside, for hours was not really in our plans for the day. The two guards standing watch were the props in countless tourist photos, a reminder of the guards standing watch at Buckingham Palace.

 

Following our tour of the Castle Square and the surrounding area, we made our way back down the hill to find some lunch and John Lennon's wall. We managed to find both. A brief note about our lunch. No, this is not a food blog, but I would be remiss to not at least mention how absolutely delicious the sauerkraut is in Prague. It is nothing, I repeat nothing, like what we get in the United States. It is so fresh and the flavors are light and just delicious. If you ever find yourself here, do yourself a favor and try it, you will not regret it.

The Lennon Wall has a very interesting history that I will not recount here, but if you are interested in learning more, check out the link. Having just been in Berlin and spending time at the East Side Gallery, this site was a unique continuation of this time in history.

 

We eventually made our way back to the hotel for an afternoon nap to gear up for our final evening in Prague, which did not disappoint. We had one last meal at the Christmas Market and then headed out on a horse and carriage ride through Old Town. Now, this is not something Stan and I would normally go for, but Quintus REALLY wanted to go for a horse and carriage ride, so we did. His sheer joy at the experience made it completely worthwhile.

Mid-ride...it is REALLY difficult to take a photo when
in a carriage riding over cobblestone streets.

Post-ride photo-op with the horses.

The next morning, we packed up to head out to our next destination, Budapest. See you there!

Riding the Rails...Second Stop - Berlin

We arrived in Berlin in the early evening after spending a good part of the day on the train. Quintus got to experience his first time riding in a train compartment (just like on the Hogwarts Express) and then promptly fell asleep for the better part of ride. 

Waiting on the platform for the train

Farewell Amsterdam

We stayed in Postdamer Platz, located in the center of Berlin, the former border of West and East Berlin. (Apologies now if this link takes you to a page written in Czech. Writing this blog in Prague and that is the default language. Thank you Google Translate.) In the 90s, the site was completely rebuilt with international headquarters of major corporations, the Mall of Berlin, theatres, restaurants, etc. Pieces of history remain as shown below.

A piece of the wall in Postdamer Platz

Staring off into the distance

We headed out in the early morning hours to explore Berlin. Our first destination was the East Side Gallery. The gallery is a long section of the wall that consists of more than 100 paintings from artists all over the world. Our walk to the gallery primarily followed a cobblestone path on the street that marked where the wall used to stand. It brought us by several other sights along the way, including some amazing art installations as well as Checkpoint Charlie, the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War (1947-1991).

                        

And as a brief aside, for he who loves currywurst, there is the currywurst museum, complete with marketing truck.

You are correct, one of the people in this photo is
NOT entertained by the fact that this photo is being taken.
Can you guess which one?

Checkpoint Charlie
Christmas Tree

From Checkpoint Charlie, we made our way into former East Berlin. It was pretty incredible to walk through a city and see sights that played such a prominent role in modern day history. Remembering not so long ago the images on the news of citizens of West and East Berlin sitting astride the wall as they finally succeeded in taking it down. There is still a significant contrast to the two sides if this magnificent city, which is especially evident in the architecture as well as the prevalent social commentary that still exists within artists colonies that have taken up residence in previously abandoned buildings, among others.

Balancing Act by Stephan Balkenhol

A few of our favorites from the East Side Gallery. Most of the wall is fronted by a six foot high chain link fence, making it a little more difficult to appreciate the art, but also adding an extra challenge to those who want to deface the art with graffiti and other means. Most of the photos below, with the exception of the Brezhnev and Honecker kiss, were taken with a hand stuck through a break in the fence. Given the popularity of that particular painting, the fence was noticeably absent.

It is difficult to see here, but the blue elements of the painting depict patches of sky.

Enough said

The Kiss depicts Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev giving the East Germany President Erich Honecker what appears to be a passionate kiss on the lips. 

From the East Side Gallery, we grabbed an S line train and headed back towards the Reichstag and the Brandenburg Gate. If I did not mention this earlier, the day was cold and wet. The rain was light and at times more of a mist, but by the time we got on the train, we were all pretty wet and definitely cold. The warmth of the train was a welcome reprieve and the addition of pretzels gave us a much needed boost of energy.

  

Q learned two new flags at the Reichstag -
German and European Union

  

Unfortunately, the Brandenburg Gate was really obstructed due to holiday events, making it difficult to fully appreciate its scale and grandeur. But it was still a sight to behold, nonetheless.

We ended our walking tour for the day at the Holocaust Memorial, one of the most visually striking memorials I have ever seen. The photos below do not even begin to capture the vastness of the memorial, but hopefully they provide a sense of its impact.

 

We departed Berlin the next morning, but not before one last walk to the Gendarmenmarket. Full disclosure, we did not make it to the Christmas Market while it was open, but it did motivate us to not miss another market during the rest of our time on this journey.

The photo bomber strikes again

We headed out later that morning en route to Prague. Quintus continues to be impressed by German automobile engineering - they have built in booster seats in most of their cars!! (It is all about the simple pleasures, isn't it?) To be fair, though, the three taxis we have ridden in so far have been a Tesla, a Mercedes, and a Volkswagen.

Farewell for now, we will see you in Prague!