The First Update
Hello everyone! Mr. Seamon here. Sorry about the lack of an update thus far -- we have been kept very busy! Our busride down to NYC was very smooth. There was very little traffic even when we got close to the city. Getting throughthe ticket line and security was also incredibly smooth -- we ended up at our gate 2 hours before boarding time. The flight took a total of 7 hours 10 mins and was also wonderful. Lufthansa is great! We landed in Frantfurt, had a 2 hour layover then took an 1hour 15min flight into Prague. We landed in light fog and managed to get through customs and findour bags quickly. We then found Jurgen, our tour director, who has proven to be wonderful. We took our coach businto Prague. (Our drivers name is Sondor) The bus is very comfortable. On the way into the city all the kids were really starting to get excited. We then checked into our hotel, Merlin, (nice dorm style rooms) then headed out fora tour of the Jewish Quarter. We saw three synagogues, all of which were stunning, especially that had its walls covered in the names of all the Prague Holocaust vistims. We also saw lots of down town Prague including the Old TownSquare, astronomical clock, and surrounding areas. We had lunch in the city then that evening attended a performance of the Czech Philharmonic Choir... which was in the gorgeous Rudolfinum. The kids were very tired at this point but the show was stellar none the less. We got back to our hotel at around 9 and the kids crashed immediately.
Day 2 began with a very nice breakfast of cereal, cheese, meats, and toast at the hotel. We then had a guided tour ofthe city from the Prague Castle all the way down to the old town square. Our guide had 20 years of experience andneedless to say the tour was educational. Jurgen then took us to a traditional Czech restaurant were lots of the kidsgot to try Goulash, something they will indeed try in Budapest once we get there. After lunch we broke up into 2 groups.I took one group to the very very large Jewish Cemetary on the outskirts of the city, and Jurgen took the other halfback to the city center. The Cemetary was very a unique experience. We saw Kafkas grave as well as thousands of others.We then met up with the other half of the group at Vyesgrad, a large fortefied monestary. We walked the very high wall, saw the church cemetary. (Oh, we took the metro around the city in the afternoon... great metro!). We then had an hour offree time in Wensleslas square, then another solid dinner.
On Day 3 we left early for Terezin, the concentration camp. This was not originally planned but Jurgen suggested it. Took aboutan hour by bus to get there. We first saw the prison of Terezin. We had a guided tour and saw the cell blocks, showers, andother living facilities. (Terezin was used a holding facility. No gas chambers but many thousands were sent off todeath camps. Over 100,000 people died at Terezin during and after the war when Typhiod ripped through the Ghetto)The entire experience was very intense. We then headed to the town that was the Terezin Ghetto where we got to seetwo Ghetto museums which showed artwork and drawings done by people held in the prison and Ghetto. We were all totallzfloored. After Terezin we headed back to the city where the kids had 3 hours to explore and shop. We had dinner wayup on the Prague Castle hill at a wonderful place called Maly Budha, and got to see Prague at night from high up.
This morning (Day 4), we left for Vienna at 8am. We stopped a couple times on the way for various breaks (gas stations in the Czech Republic proved to be vastly entertaining to the kids) and crossed the boarder into Austria smoothly. All the kidseven got to have their passports stamped. We got into Vienna and had a bus tour of the city wall road and an excellent lunch at an impressive buffet.Everywhere you turn there is something else to marvel at. Jurgen started our walking tour behind the Opera and we saw the Hofburg,the HUGE Habsburg Castle, as well as down town Vienna and the Stephendom, the HUGE Cathedral. Everyone got a chanceto go inside the cathedral. Gorgeous. Vienna is amazing! We then walked down to the Fine Arts Museum, one of the largest collections of art in Europe. We spent 2 hours at the Museum seeing many Rubens, Carravagios, Titians, and lots more.We also saw the Egypt exhibit which was down right staggering. We could have spent DAYS there exploring. After the MuseumJurgen took us to dinner, and then to our hotel, the NH. The Prague hotel was a nice dorm style facility. This one is a 4 star hotel! Needless to saw everyone loves it.
Overall everything has been fantastic. Jurgen is very professional, interacts well with the kids, and loved what he does.Sondor, the bus driver, has been VERY helpful picking us up in the city and dealing with all the unloading and loading.Oh, we have already celebrated two birthdays... Russells and Zachs. They both had cakes and a good round of happy birthday.And we even have one left for tomorrow!
Tomorrow we take off at 8 for Budapest where we will have more touring, exploring, lunch at Gundel (the fancies trestaurant in the country), a trip to the Opera, and many other fun activities. 3 nights there and then we head over to the Julian Alps of Slovenia for 3 days of skiing, hiking, swimming, and sledding.
Hope all is well back in the States!
ps. Sorry about the poor grammar and spelling. This German keyboard is killing me!
Day 2 began with a very nice breakfast of cereal, cheese, meats, and toast at the hotel. We then had a guided tour ofthe city from the Prague Castle all the way down to the old town square. Our guide had 20 years of experience andneedless to say the tour was educational. Jurgen then took us to a traditional Czech restaurant were lots of the kidsgot to try Goulash, something they will indeed try in Budapest once we get there. After lunch we broke up into 2 groups.I took one group to the very very large Jewish Cemetary on the outskirts of the city, and Jurgen took the other halfback to the city center. The Cemetary was very a unique experience. We saw Kafkas grave as well as thousands of others.We then met up with the other half of the group at Vyesgrad, a large fortefied monestary. We walked the very high wall, saw the church cemetary. (Oh, we took the metro around the city in the afternoon... great metro!). We then had an hour offree time in Wensleslas square, then another solid dinner.
On Day 3 we left early for Terezin, the concentration camp. This was not originally planned but Jurgen suggested it. Took aboutan hour by bus to get there. We first saw the prison of Terezin. We had a guided tour and saw the cell blocks, showers, andother living facilities. (Terezin was used a holding facility. No gas chambers but many thousands were sent off todeath camps. Over 100,000 people died at Terezin during and after the war when Typhiod ripped through the Ghetto)The entire experience was very intense. We then headed to the town that was the Terezin Ghetto where we got to seetwo Ghetto museums which showed artwork and drawings done by people held in the prison and Ghetto. We were all totallzfloored. After Terezin we headed back to the city where the kids had 3 hours to explore and shop. We had dinner wayup on the Prague Castle hill at a wonderful place called Maly Budha, and got to see Prague at night from high up.
This morning (Day 4), we left for Vienna at 8am. We stopped a couple times on the way for various breaks (gas stations in the Czech Republic proved to be vastly entertaining to the kids) and crossed the boarder into Austria smoothly. All the kidseven got to have their passports stamped. We got into Vienna and had a bus tour of the city wall road and an excellent lunch at an impressive buffet.Everywhere you turn there is something else to marvel at. Jurgen started our walking tour behind the Opera and we saw the Hofburg,the HUGE Habsburg Castle, as well as down town Vienna and the Stephendom, the HUGE Cathedral. Everyone got a chanceto go inside the cathedral. Gorgeous. Vienna is amazing! We then walked down to the Fine Arts Museum, one of the largest collections of art in Europe. We spent 2 hours at the Museum seeing many Rubens, Carravagios, Titians, and lots more.We also saw the Egypt exhibit which was down right staggering. We could have spent DAYS there exploring. After the MuseumJurgen took us to dinner, and then to our hotel, the NH. The Prague hotel was a nice dorm style facility. This one is a 4 star hotel! Needless to saw everyone loves it.
Overall everything has been fantastic. Jurgen is very professional, interacts well with the kids, and loved what he does.Sondor, the bus driver, has been VERY helpful picking us up in the city and dealing with all the unloading and loading.Oh, we have already celebrated two birthdays... Russells and Zachs. They both had cakes and a good round of happy birthday.And we even have one left for tomorrow!
Tomorrow we take off at 8 for Budapest where we will have more touring, exploring, lunch at Gundel (the fancies trestaurant in the country), a trip to the Opera, and many other fun activities. 3 nights there and then we head over to the Julian Alps of Slovenia for 3 days of skiing, hiking, swimming, and sledding.
Hope all is well back in the States!
ps. Sorry about the poor grammar and spelling. This German keyboard is killing me!
posted by Eastern Europe 2005 at 2:09 PM
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