Norm & Felicity’s Travel Diary

 Hi all Yesterday we made the not so fast rail journey from Prague to Krakow and got to our great apartment at around 5:30pm. So not much to report from yesterday, apart from the view of the Wawel royal castle from our window. Last night we had our first Polish dinner, in a great restaurant just next door, Pod Baranem - herring, then beef tongue with horseradish for Norm and Stroganoff for Felicity, fantastic. We have booked it again for our last night here. Today it was a rainy 10 degrees day, but we headed out to explore the old town of Krakow, with one of the largest town squares in Europe, and more than a few churches per square Km!  We visited a few of the churches, including the cathedral and an 11th century gem, a former nunnery, which is still in great shape. The old church is on the top right below, it was a fortress church which withstood the 13th century tartar invasions and protected the locals. After lunch and a beer we headed up to the Royal Castle (Wawel) which ...

 Hi all, Today was a lazy day, compared to yesterday, we only walked about 5.5 Km around the old town and across the Charles Bridge a couple more times. We are off to Poland tomorrow morning and, sadly, Holly headed back to Hobart, via Helsinki, Singapore and Melbourne this evening. We Ubered out and back to the airport to send her off.  Before she went we went back to Holly’s favourite Czech restaurant- the Pivnice U Glaubicu, for a serving of Goulash in bread, of course. It has been a trip to remember, so far, but Holly heads back to Reuben and Rosie, an a new role at NRE from Monday. A long 6 hour train ride for us tomorrow as we head for Krakow. All our love from the Travellers 🧳 ❤️✈️✈️🚊

 Hi all  Yesterday was a quite eclectic day, our 5th day in Prague. firstly, we ventured south about 32 km to the old town of Karlstejn - home of one of Czechia’s oldest and most authentic castles. It was a pretty impressive sight as we went up the steep 1.9km hill to the castle from the railway station- Ok, confession, a local entrepreneur charges 100 crowns to take you to the top ( $7, and worth every penny). The castle is true 14th century and was established by King Charles V as a repository for the Holy Roman Empire Crown Jewels. Unlike other castles we have been to, there have been minimal renovations, making this castle a medieval marvel, with many original paintings and decorations still intact. We had an excellent tour guide who took us through the many rooms and passages in the castle and provided a fair bit of historic background for the nearly 800 year history of the town and castle. The views from inside the courtyard and of the town below from the battlements are...

 Hi all, Today we had a day trip from Prague to the 800 year old world heritage town of Cesky Krumlov. It was a beautiful, sunny day to be driven through the Czech countryside- very green a productive looking. The town is in a loop of the Vltava River, the same one that flows through Prague and has been in public hands only since 1947, when it was confiscated from the previous royal owners, who were about fifth in a succession of royal families, including the ubiquitous Hapsburgs, who had occupied the town and castle since the 11th century. Views from the elevated walkway to the castle were superb, then we walked through a number of the castle courtyards, with an excellent discussion on the good, bad and ugly history of the castle and its various royal occupants. We had a fairly ordinary lunch in the village, which wasn’t a surprise as most of the buildings, which were sold to locals after communism for a pittance, have been converted into lucrative businesses. Hardly anyone lives ...

 Hi all, Today we explored the Prague Castle and grounds. It has been the centre of Royal life in Prague for over 1000 years, including a number of Holy Roman Emperors, and of course the Hapsburgs who occupied the castle for 400 years until 1918, when the deity ended. We took the 22 tram from our front door right to the top of the hill in front of the castle gates. Our first visit was to the very underrated St Vitivs Cathedral - another stunning gothic masterpiece that presumably was once reserved for Royalty only. After a walk through a limited number of rooms in the huge palace, we encountered an even older church from the 10th century - St George’s. While much more modest, it is nonetheless very impressive and in great shape for a 1000 year old. The next part of our visit was to the Golden lane - a row of medieval small houses perched on the side of the castle grounds - probably so that the Royals could be looked after in the manner they were accustomed. The homes were tiny and ...

 Hi all A day of exploring the old city of Prague, we started out on a “church” crawl, as it is Sunday. There are no shortages of these as we walked up through Wenceslas Square towards the old town. After a short walk we joined the throngs to watch the astronomical clock do its thing on the hour at 10am. Then we headed through the square for the Charles bridge, for the essential walk across this magnificent icon, which has been in use since 1357! Felicity reminded me that the last time we were here, in 2009, she was surprised I didn’t pop the question, as one is supposed to do! Anyway, I dodged that one and eventually made amends a few years later. This is the bridge looking back from our boat cruise later in the day. We had a walk around the streets of the old town before lunch, which we had in the Monk Bar, late brunch was still being served so we caught up on some egg dishes that we had missed on the trip. On the way we accidentally found the John Lennon peace wall - obviously f...

 Hi all, Today we left Vienna behind, after a great visit, and took the regional train to Prague (4 hours). We had a leisurely stroll to our apartment in the “new town” about 20 minutes from the station - I think “ new” means it is only 500 years old! The view from the balcony in our lovely Artdeco apartment is quite good: Before dinner we took a stroll down to the river Vitava, just a short walk away. We passed the Dancing House building which is quite avante garde compared to the generally conservative old buildings around here. After short river side stroll we had our first Czech meal at a traditional restaurant- Czech goulash all round, with bread dumplings and dark beer for Normie. Holly says she might have put on 5 kgs in the past 2 weeks, Norm isn’t saying, however his traditional pre-Christmas diet might start when we get back. We are planning a day of exploring the old town tomorrow- as it is Sunday, there may be a few churches on the agenda! All our love from the Travelle...