nikidi

leely, it was the room facing the street ..a lovely airy one ..and yeas no a/c..but we were accustomed to it by then, as all of our other hotels before CK except the one in luzern, didnt have ac.

Gosh summer in europe is hot!! being our first time we were really surprised ..especially in the swiss..so hot!!

p.s. - some thing i forgot to mention that we did have a stroller with us..and our 4 year old was on it where ever possible and on the longer walks the older 6 year one hopped in as well..but the really yummy ice creams found everywhere was a treat readily available which helped them to forget all about the walking they were doing

nikidi

30th Jul – Prague castle, Charles bridge and the Ballet

This morning we walked to the old town square , enjoyed watching the street performers and then went further along where we caught a tram upto the prague castle.

It was quite gloomy.with a bit of drizzle coming down now and then. We bought tkts for the castle with an audio guide and then went to the changing of the guards ceremony at 12pm which was quite entertaining for the kids especially. We then continued on to see the St Vitius Cathedral, the old prague castle, had to take a break inside the st George basilica to sit out a bit of rain then continued on to the golden lane. Finally we back tracked to the castle gate and by then the clouds had cleared and sun had come through. After enjoying the beautiful view of the prague city red roofs, we walked down the Nerudova, trying to spot the unusual buildings on the way..

Quick look at st nicholas church and then strolled along to Charles bridge. We spent quite a bit of time here looking at the statues either side and the street performers and artists.. enjoying the atmosphere.

After crossing over to the other side we had a early dinner at the restaurant. after enjoying some rolled bread with cinnamon sugar (I’ve forgotten its name)

we headed back to the hotel for a change before the ballet, swan lake. A 2 minute walk to the hybernia, the ballet was superb..we all enjoyed it very much!. Some coffee and dessert at the municipal council café before walking back to the hotel.

nikidi

31st July – Jewish quarter tour, Clock tower and astronomical clock and concert at the municipal council building..

The next day, we took the JEWISH QTR tour with Wittman tours which started at the inter continental hotel. We prebooked it online the day we arrived in prague.. We were to meet the guide near the hotel at 10 am and after getting directions from the hotel we walked there. The tour guide was very informative..it was a great tour covering the old new synagogue, spanish synagogue, the museum etc.. Terezin ‘s children’s drawing collection were very touching..

After the tour we headed back to the old town square and had lunch at restaurant just near the Church of Our Lady before the Tyn I think. Great lunch finished off with some yummy cake! We then decided to finally watch the astronomical clock on the hourand after watching the spectacle which lasts not even a minute, we bought tkts to go upto the clock tower.

There was a short wait to go up, so ice creams whilst we waited and then we took the elevators to the top. The view of the city and the old town square was fabulous. Some great photos and we came back down. The girls wanted to go on a horse carriage and we took a ride around the old town..quite an enjoyable way to spend some time..kids had a ball!!

We explored the streets nearby and headed back to the hotel for a change before walking to the municipal council for the concert. It was a lovely concert.. as it was not full we were able to get better seats than what we paid for..quite an enjoyable concert with a full orchestra playing and a few dance acts and a few opera acts..

After the show we decided to walk to the Charles bridge to see it after being lit up..it started drizzling so after a quick look we found a restaurant for dinner and headed back to the hotel.

This was our last day in Prague..we really enjoyed our time there..great atmosphere..would have a loved another extra day to explore a bit more..but we are really glad we did stop a night in CK rather than doing it as a day trip.

next day, morning train to Vienna for the last stop in our trip!

nikidi

01st August – Morning train to Vienna;belverdere and prater.

We arrived in Vienna around 12 pm..took a taxi to the hotel.Best Western Plus Hotel Das Tigra . It was a small business hotel but very nice and perfectly located!!. Just a few minutes away from the Spanish riding school and a short walk from st Stephen's Cathedral.close to the tram lines as well. recommended.

We took a short rest and then took the tram 1 to Belverdere. Explored the grounds and then went into see artwork. As advised in the forum we bought 24-hour transport cards from the hotel reception. The gardens were beautiful . Gustav Klimts the kiss and other work was seen here.

Thereafter we exited the castle and saw the restaurant adjoin the premises..I remembered seeing this place being highly recommended in the forum or in a book so decided to have dinner here. The service was a bit slow as there were large Japanese and Chinese tour groups..but the food was tasty..however, I think I’m the only who had a bit of the cold potetoe salad which came with the meat…which could have been the reason for me being sick the night!!...

Next stop was Prater..we took the train there and kids got a burst of energy after realizing it was an amusement park..We went on dodge em cars..decided that the slow giant ferris wheel looked too boring, so the girls and hubby tried the smaller ferris wheel…we walked around the park and saw some amazing thrill rides..wasnt brave enough to try any of those..and at last at the 6 year olds insistence decided to do one of the water rides. We heard a few screamers near the ride..but looking at the bits we could see it seemed a innocent ride of people sitting on a giant rubber tube spinning in the water channel..However, at the ticket counter, I asked the lady whether our 4 year old can go on the ride but she just kept insisting that we all needed to pay 4 euro each for the ride….we got on the tube , the first bit of the ride was quite calm and then it started spinning and hitting the sides of the channel..there were no seat belts..I hung on to the child closer to me for dear life not wanting her to get thrown out(I cant quite remember which DD was next to me..)and my insides were churning by the time we got out of the short ride….It was definitely not suitable for a 4 year old..so mis-communication at the counter for sure…

I am not quite sure whether this ride was reason for me being sick and right through the night and most part of the next day..

We had planned for Schonbrunn the next morning together with some walking around in stehanplatz area..However as I was feeling really bad, we headed out of the hotel a bit late around 10 am, ..I was still feeling pretty bad ..so hubby volunteered to take the girls to see the zoo and we bought tkts for the tour around 2pm ..SO I had some coffee at the café while the others went to the zoo..The details of Vienna are bit hazy due to me not being a 100% and I suppose I didn’t really enjoy it as much as the other cities due to this..

We did the tour and then explored the gardens, kids and hubby went to check the maze out..we skipped the glorriette..headed back into town a bit after 4 pm….decided to rest for the remainder of the day…hoping the next day would be better..

nikidi

that was 2 days details in one post - 02nd august being the day of the trip to Schonbrunn and the zoo...

nikidi

03rd August – Central Vienna and a lot of walking

woke up feeling somewhat betterhad an early started and walked to the Spanish riding school..Micheal church..walked through to Hofburg..and continue on to Albertina. I was feeling much better by then…enjoyed the paintings by Monet and the 6 year chose Venice the pink cloud by Paul Signac as her favorite painting!

We walked pass hotel Sacher and did a walk around the Staatsoper…Then we walked across to stephanplatz ..The beautiful old buildings and the Hass haus..When into St Stephans cathedral..rested our legs a while people watching nearby…Here we came across people selling tickets for various concerts and one person was offering the tickets for a concert at the Musikverein which we just couldn’t pass up..bought tickets for that nights show..

then headed to Café demel for lunch. Lovely food and divine cakes for dessert…
and then we took the train to the Naschmarkt ..and caught the tail end of it…most of the stalls were closing up but we did a quick walk around the food stall area had some lovely fresh orange juice and headed back to central vienna..stopped at St Charles cathedral with the little pond in front..
It was time for an snack break and the girls walked in the pond …when they got a bit too cheeky in the water we decided to move on ..
we took the tram car for a ride around and decided to hop off when we passed the parliament buildings..A couple of photos of the beautiful building and we took a tram back to the zanoni & zanoni icecream place I had spotted just a bit before the parliament building opposite the park.. After buying icecreams for everyone we decided to go into the park to enjoy the them..While we were eating there under the trees..we saw lots of people gathering on one side of the park… Lippizanner horses were in the park..the girls enjoyed watching the horses running around and a little while later they were walked back to the Spanish riding school...

It was a long day, we headed back to the hotel for a change and then walked to Musikverein for the concert. It was a great concert..after that we walked of to café Sscher to try out the sacher torte and also had the most delicious cold chocolate…to make it a perfect ending to our stay in Veinna…

Next day morning was our flight back to SL.