June 28, 2015: European Rail Trip: Day 4: Prague

Tanya's Daily Scoop
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN: PRAGUE

Local Livin' in Prague

Hello Again!

And yet another GREETINGS from PRAGUE!

It's only 6:45am and yet my morning has already been full of life! 
I rolled out of bed around 4:15am, with almost 3hrs of sleep to get dressed, not put a stitch of make up on and head to Charles Bridge or as the locals call it Karluv Most.
And that's where the fun had begun!

But we'll get to that in a minute...

So I left off with you yesterday that we were heading to the Opera (my first). 
We were going to the Estates Theatre - the last remaining standing Theatre where Mozart had played! 
How very exciting and historic!

Plus the fact that we were going to see 
Don Giovanni (on it's closing night), which was written for the city of Prague and about the people of Prague - which Mozart loved! 
Come on and tell me that this wasn't cool?!


You should've scene us hustling and manuvering  through the Old Town Square, and the surrounding streets in order to make the show!
 
Passing some odd and definitely unexpected sights (but too rushed to take any photos), there was a shark that wanted a hug from Elisa and then had the nerve to tickle me! HOW DARE HE!!


There was even an Albino Python around a woman's neck. Boy did I get freaked out and I tried to pulled Elisa away from the snake, but since she wasn't wearing her glasses she thought the snake was rubber and didn't even flinch! 

No way Jose could I react so calmly - besides we all know that Albino animals FREAK me out!!

Once the performance was over Elisa was STARVING, so off we went to find a bite to eat.

Finding ourselves back in Old Town Square, we chose a place based more off of it's ambiance rather than it's menu - at this point you can find out more by reading Elisa's column.

Elisa had a Caesar salad and I had fresh squeezed OJ (oh how I miss my fresh juices!)
And when the check from a Czech came, can you believe that my Orange Juice costed almost as much as Elisa's salad! Yeesh.

We then came back to our room and Elisa did the editing that was needed. I was rearing to go take some night shots over the Vtlava River - but Elisa wasn't feeling it, so being that it was late and I would've been going solo, I opted to just go for the sunrise shots this morning...

Elisa THOUGHT that she'd be up to it...

But my sleep lovin' cousin was not budging from her slumber. 
No worries, I was still going! 
And as I was about to make my way out Elisa asked if I would hate her if she stayed behind...
Just between you and me - I kinda figured she wasn't going to rise up to the occasion. Shhh.

Most people I know kinda like and need more sleep than I do - so I'm use to it, and it's probably more my issue than it is their's. 

I just don't need that much sleep - sometimes sleep is like a chore for me. 
I put it off, and put it off, not wanting to hit the hay. But knowing that I should get some rest. 

So eventually I force myself to lay down and zonk out. But if there is fun to be had or places to go see, and things to do, then I'll be ready and rearing to go again just as soon as I need to! 

I just have too much natural energy! 

And so I was off and running this morning to watch the sunrise and get some pictures of the lovely bridge before it becomes over crowded with people.

Well to much of my surprise the town was still somewhat flocked with people - still out from the night before. 
And a number of them were buzzed or as the locals like to say they are "beer experts", and were rather distracting in a number of ways - I'll let you use your imagination on this one...

But after having a lovely and quite eventful time taking and trying to take my pictures...
I was headed back to the hotel and made a wrong turn in getting back. So my dumb butt, wound up wandering the streets and catching a few more unplanned sights.

This is my "I'm a dumb butt" look!

Then upon arriving back at our hotel, I had figured that Elisa would be dressed and ready to start the day, but instead this is what I found (see picture below). 
But did I really thing she'd be awake...? 
She was probably dreaming that she was in Greece or something!

Elisa still asleep!

And so there I was needing something to do, to pass the time until Elisa woke up. 

I managed to keep busy and kept an eye on the clock waiting until Carlos came by to meet us for another day full of local fun, the best views in all of Prague, parks, beer gardens, and much much more...

But since I've already chewed your ear off to last you though the day...
I think I'll save that stuff for tomorrow's Daily SCOOP, which will be coming at you directly from Krakow, Poland!

Can you believe that Prague was only the 1st city in our 5 city European Rail Trip?!

Tonight we'll be saying nashledanou Praha (Good Bye Prague), and catching the train for our next destination! And being that it's a moving vehicle - I think I will probably sleep pretty darn well...We shall see!

And speaking of see -  I'll see ya tomorrow,
-T

xoxo

Elisa's Daily Scoop
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN: PRAGUE

Last Day is a Great Day

GOOD MORNING FROM PRAGUE!! 
This is our 4th and final day here in the "Golden City" till we return from Vienna before heading back to the U.S. next week.

It has been such an amazing time here - Tanya and I have been so energized and haven't missed a beat of seeing all the sights we set out to see!!

In Mala Strana "Little Quarter" yesterday (taken from Charles Bridge)

Ok, before I go on, I need to have a venting session.  Yesterday was just such a perfect day - everything was wonderful -- we walked all around the city; saw exciting sites; took amazing photos, laughed heartily; ate well and even saw one of the best operas of all time - Don Giovanni. 

Well, after such a day, wouldn't you know, something had to go wrong!  When Tanya and I left the opera at the Estates Theatre (look at Tanya's great photos from inside the theatre), we stopped into one of the cafes in the Town Square to relax and have a quick bite.

Realizing that neither of us checked the blog after we had posted since we ran out to the Opera so quickly, we decided to take a gander.  I cannot tell you just how ANNOYED I was at what I saw and how angry I was at our server!!

My entire column was all mixed up and out of order; the photos were messed up .... and my list of 15 Facts About Prague was completely missing much of the text I had written!!! 


Ugh - I was so aggravated and twisted that I just couldn't relax at the cafe! We rushed back to the hotel room where I proceeded to make the necessary edits. Of course, the Daily Scoop had already been emailed to our subscribers!  So annoyed!!

I put a link to yesterday's blog in case it was not corrected when you received our email.
Ok - vent over!

On a positive note - we had a GREAT time at the opera!!  The Estates Theatre is gorgeous and I commented to Tanya just how thrilling it was to be in the only theatre that still exists that Mozart played in!!

...And of course, knowing that he wrote Don Giovanni for the city and people of Prague!!

We arrived a little late (5 minutes) and the show had started.  So we were escorted to box seats for the first Act.  Visibility was tough.

We were allowed to go to our own Center Orchestra seats for Act 2.  Seats were so much better!!

Lounge of the Estates Theatre

Today, we were lucky enough to have our "tour guide" Carlos back with us again for a second day of seeing Prague!!

We visited two districts that are a bit away from the touristy area of the Old Town and the Lesser Town, where we had been concentrating on for the first three days of our trip.

Zizkov or Prague 3 and Letna or Prage 7 were our destinations today.  These areas are both very popular with foreigners and ex-patriates living in the City of 100 Spires.  

Zizkov is populated with more young people, while Letna lends itself to families and pet owners, one reason being is that it is home to many lovely because parks.

What I love about traveling to Europe is that for our blog, the time difference with The States, allows us to blog about the current day.  Unfortunately today is one of those days where we have to be up and out early and will not have much time to blog in between day and night events.  

So, we will catch you up in further detail about our adventures to Zizhov and Letna tomorrow!!

How cute is Gianna! She sent me the sweetest picture of the sunset out in West Hampton this weekend!  We've been doing pretty good staying in contact and communicating through FaceTime and some chat apps.  I miss you guys so much!!!

Sunset in West Hampton - sent to me by Gianna

Okey Dokey folks - I'm gonna say goodbye for now!!

Hasta la Vista BABY!!!

-E
xoxo


PS: WHEN TANYA AND I TRAVEL TOGETHER, IT'S EXTRA IMPORTANT THAT YOU GUYS READ BOTH SIDES TO GET THE FULL IMPACT OF OUR TRIP!!  SEE YA TOMORROW!!