PRAHA!

Greetings from Eastern Europe and “The City of a Thousand Spires” – Prague. We left Heidelberg Saturday morning aboard three of the oldest trains in the Deutsche Bahn collection and returned (exhaustedly) on Friday around 2:00am.

Our trip was simply stunning with nearly perfect weather (hardly a cloud in the sky) and a wonderful hostel that resembled more of a Bed and Breakfast than a nomral hostel. There were only four bedrooms in all, which were managed by an old, semi-crazy Czech woman whose English vocabulary consisted mainly of “Tea or Coffee?,” “When you shower, close door,” and “Have a little bit of cake.” We loved her.

There are too many wonderful sites to detail, but we’ll do our best to cover the highlights. One of our favorite, and perhaps most glamorous, sites was the Prague Castle - parts of which dates back to the 9^th Century. The Basilica of St. Vitus, a 325-foot towering cathedral, stands in the middle of the castle with astounding glory. It took almost 600 years to build and was only completed in 1929…just before the start of WWII. Luckily, St. Vitus (unlike most of Prague), was spared during the war.

The castle was only one of a number of our favorite attractions, however. If you could identify Prague by one thing, it would be the cathedrals. It seemed as though every street corner held another enormous cathedral, each different, but just as impressive as the one before. Many of the gigantic cathedrals were inspired by the Baroque era, with copious amounts of gold and awe-inspiring frescoes adorning their interiors, while others were Gothic-inspired structures with towering stained-glass windows along stone walls and adornments that seemed to be painted on because they were so immaculate. Equally impressive in structure were the synagogues found in the Jewish quarter, including the Old-New Synagogue, which is the oldest synagogue in Europe.

Let us not forget, however….the beloved Czech BEER! Though many may consider Germany as “beer country,” the Czech Republic is the true home to many of the most famous beers in the world. The first pils (think Pilsner Urquell) was brewed in Plzeň, Czech Republic in 1842; and accordingly, the Czech Republic has the highest per capita beer consumption in the world, with the average person consuming 157 liters per year (we did our best to contribute to this).

This is getting ridiculously long, so at this point in our tale, we invite a few (or more) pictures to help tell our story:

Upon our arrival in Dresden (one of two stops on the way to Prague), we were surprised with the "29th Annual International Dixieland Festival" across the street from the train station. We're not sure what this meant...but we were happy to partake in the hot bratwurst, beer, and live jazz music for an hour or so.

Our "cozy" train (for lack of a better word) moved at a slow crawl at points...

On the upside, we got a private cabin to ourselves, complete with a pint-sized table, rattling door, and small window that provided little relief from the non-airconditioned cabin.

Our hostel however, was adorable and nicely located in a local, non-touristy neighborhood about 20-30 minutes from the old city by foot.

The classic view of Prague Castle and the Charles Bridge.

Old Town Bridge Tower separating the Charles Bridge and the castle district.

Remember the "City of a Thousand Spires?" Yea, now you know why...

St. Vitus Cathedral inside the castle walls...

Beautiful Gothic architecture.

"The Dancing Building" a.k.a. "Fred and Ginger" (named for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers). This is one of Prague's many attempts to incorporate some modern architecture into the old city districts, but it's still highly debated...

Old Town Square

Inside one of the beautiful cathedrals on the square

The Astronomical clock in Old Town Square. At the top of every hour, statues of the Twelve Apostles come out of the top of the clock (from behind a closed door) and nod their heads. We waited to see this along with about 300 other people, but...(warning, spoiler) in the end it was a bit of a letdown.

"The Devil's Ring," one of several AWESOME dishes at Na Rychtě, a restaurant across the street from the hostel. It's a potato pancake (that we're dying to recreate), topped with pork, bell peppers, onion, lettuce, and the most delicious sauce in the world.

The very modern side of Prague (an edgy, five-storied mall full of designer shops)...

...and the side that reminds you why the Czech Republic is still considered a second-world country. Years of Soviet neglect have left many parts of town in great disrepair.

This was perhaps our favorite, and most unexpected, site in Prague. Please join us for story time: Below an unassuming church, nestled on a side street just outside of the touristy district, we discovered the final resting place of several Czechoslovak resistance parachutists who were responsible for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, a Nazi SS leader and the proposed successor of Adolf Hitler during WWII. After the fall of Czechoslovakia at the start of the war, the exiled Czechoslovak government planned an assassination of Heydrich, who was stationed in Prague and responsible for some of the most atrocious crimes during the war - gaining him the nickname the "Hangman of Prague." Thus, on 27 May 1942, several parachutists were dropped outside of Prague who successfully assassinated Heydrich during his drive home. The aftermath of this assassination however, cost the parachutists their lives. Following the event, they took refuge in this crypt and stayed successfully out of sight for a number of days. Unfortunately, after one of their own betrayed them, their hiding place was revealed and a number of SS police surrounded the church, fought their way through the sanctuary, and then attempted to flood the parachutists out of the crypt. In the end, after hours of fighting, the parachutists all committed suicide before the SS reached them.

Though the church sanctuary since has been renovated, hardly anything in the crypt has changed. You can still see where the parachutists attempted to tunnel through the wall into the sewer system and where the SS police eventually entered and found them through the roof. It is now a chilling place and a solemn memorial...

Back in Heidelberg, we spent one of our lasts nights on a date in Vetter, a local brewery and one of my favorite restaurants.

Beer after dinner at Vater Rhein...my favorite bar in Heidelberg.

And at last, our last entry: a video taken by Ryan of the Old Town Square in Prague.

And with that we will (finally!) end our tale. Ryan leaves tomorrow morning, but Lizzie will update again after returning from Berlin next week.

Love you all,

Ryan and Lizzie

The Day has Finally Come...Ryan is Here!

Greetings! I'm Ryan Davis, who some of you know as Lizzie's boyfriend, and as I'm visiting Germany for 2 weeks, I've been given the job of blogging this week. Really, I think this is all a ploy on Lizzie's part to pin some of the work on me while I'm here, but I'm probably more entertaining anyway, so lets go.

I arrived in Frankfurt early Tuesday morning and caught a train to Heidelberg. I enjoyed my first German train ride in the first class of one of the nicest trains here, apparently because my clerk at the airport gave me a first class ticket for the price of what usually amounts to riding in the cattle cars. Upon my arrival in Heidelberg, I was greeted by torrential rains, a bus full of screaming schoolchildren, and an angry German man trying to break down the doors of the bus when he was not allowed in. He unleashed a few Deutsch vulgarities I didn't understand, but I got the message when he gave the entire bus the international sign of the middle finger. Welcome to Germany, I guess?

Heidelberg is pretty much as Lizzie has previously described it: quaint, cute, precious, etc...so I'll spare repeating some of those details. Everything here is amazingly beautiful. One half of the city is fairly modern, but the Old City has a total 16th century European village feel that's hard to replicate. The architecture, as you've probably seen in pictures already posted, is pretty stunning. Buildings hundreds of years old on each side, with cobblestone paths in between, a beer garden every 50 feet, and a castle constantly in the background....yea, pretty cool stuff.

My first assignment, a mere 4 hours after arriving, was climbing the Philosophenweg (The Philosopher's Path)--a mountain trail on the south side of Heidelberg that overlooks the city. Despite no sleep in 24 hours and severe jet lag, I soldiered through and was treated to stunning views of the city and Lizzie playing on children's playground equipment while giggling like an idiot.

Day 2 was Heidelberg Castle, which sadly involved another long uphill climb (378 steps, I counted). While it's largely in ruins now, the castle still has a lot of interesting German architecture, especially in the statues. German art from that period seems to really accentuate masculine features to a point of hilarity: enormous beards, broad shoulders, and you know...other dude things. The castle was also home to a pharmacy museum and the world's largest beer keg (or perhaps wine...we never cleared that one up. Regardless, it seems to be about 3 stories tall.)

Day 3 was a bit more relaxed as I took in more of the city. I enjoyed my first beer-on-tap, ate at the Schnitzelhaus (101 varieties of schnitzel), ventured into many of the small shops around town, and ended the night trying to find shelter from the 27th rainstorm since I arrived.

Day 4 was a trip to Stuttgart, the capital of Baden-Württemberg. Stuttgart is a fairly stark contrast to Heidelberg. Although we only saw the main area of the city, it's much more modern than the majority of Heidelberg. The city has an enormous shopping district stepping out of the train station that never seems to end, but it all surrounds a collection of really extravagant 19th century Gothic architecture. I was actually fairly surprised to learn the number of companies that have their main offices in Stuttgart: Daimler AG, Porsche, Bosch, Hewlett Packard, and IBM all have homes in Stuttgart.

Speaking of Porsche, Stuttgart is home to Porsche and the Porsche museum, which, through a surprisingly small amount of begging, I talked Lizzie into visiting. See, the thing is, Lizzie doesn't know a lot about cars. Nothing, in fact. Across the street from the museum is a Porsche dealership, which she mistook for the museum and began taking pictures of cars on the lot for sale. But, once we got into the museum (which was a work of art in itself), I educated her on Porsche motors from the early 1900's until today.

Tomorrow morning we leave for Prague, so until then, I leave you with these pictures (taken by Lizzie):

Heidelberg: Picturesque, breathtaking, full of large churches and people on bicycles.

The two of us atop the Philosopher's Path. I am running on no sleep and semi-conscious at this point.

At Heidelberg castle. To our side you see what used to be a large moat. The new stream at the bottom likely does a poor job of keeping the knights at bay.

The largest wine keg in the world and me. I'm very excited!

The mean witch coming to cook Hansel and Gretel.

This is the Porsche I liked, because it had over 600 HP.

The Porsche Lizzie liked, because it was "bright and shiny"...

The Neue Schloss (New Castle) in Stuttgart. Originally the palace for the kings of Württemberg, it was largely destroyed in World War II, reconstructed in the 50's, and now serves as the home of the state parliament.

An enormous church in the center of Stuttgart. Sadly, we arrived just after they closed the doors, so we didn't get to go inside and learn anything about it. But doesn't it look pretty with the storm clouds in the background?

Lizzie found some families of ducks in Stuttgart and took about a dozen pictures. So yeah, here are some ducks.

She's cold, wet, and tired.

Hopefully my guest spot on this blog has given you loads of laughter and entertainment. You'll hear from one of us again sometime next week when we return from the Czech Republic. See you soon!

-Ryan

Mutti and Vati Visit!!!

It's been 11 weeks since I arrived in Germany and, at long last, the 'Rents have visited!!! I blame my recent lack of blogging on them, as this crazy couple has kept me more than busy!

There are too many updates to write, but here's my sad attempt to cover the highlights:

-- Mutti and Vati (Mommy and Daddy, that is) arrived last Sunday and despite their exhaustion, managed to tour the castle on a beautiful day!

-- We ate dinner at the Schnitzelhaus, which serves 101 different types of schnitzel (fried pork), including chocolate schnitzel!

-- We visited 3 cities outside of Heidelberg: Stuttgart, Neckareinstach, and Hohenschwangau (the site of Neuschwanstein Castle)...we were traveling gurus!

1) In Stuttgart, we visited Frühlingsfest (Spring Festival), which is basically the German equivalent of the NC State Fair. It featured some killer rides, great traditional German food (including a chocolate-covered chili pepper that we'd never like to try again), German craft booths, and a few hundred raging, drunken high-schoolers that danced on the tables of the beer tents with some bumpin' techno music. Fortunately, we found a quieter beer tent away from the vomit and beer-covered tables.

2) In Hohenschwangau, we visited Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles (or, if you speak my Dad's version of German, Neustarkklein und Hohscheinstachjfkljids castles). Neuschwanstein and the surrounding countryside were the inspiration of countless fairytales, Walt Disney's Cinderella castle, and Richard Wagner's opera, Swan Lake. This was definitely my favorite part of our vacation, as we rented a car and drove through the breathtaking Bavarian countryside. The day was simply stunning, minus an accidental return from the castle, in which we missed the last carriage ride and had to walk 30-minutes downhill in a torrential hail storm (during which I may have forgotten my Dad's umbrella...I still feel bad about that, Dad). The 'Rents are real troopers!!

3) On our last day in Heidelberg, we also took a river boat cruise up the Neckar River to Neckereinstach, a small town about 1.5 hours north of Heidelberg. We saw several stunning churches and my Dad, at long last, found one of his beloved beer gardens. Fun fact: I tried a banana beer there...sounds gross, but it's really delicious.

My parents are awesome travelers and I thank my Daddy for buying me lots of yummy food. I had my first meal at a restaurant with a waitress! Mom and Dad: the fan you guys bought for my room is also a lifesaver! I don't wake up sweating anymore (too much information? Yea, sorry...)!

Below are a few pictures to help illustrate our journey. As most of the pictures were taken on my parents' camera, however, I only have a few to show right now. I'll post more when they send me a picture CD!

In Heidelberg on Day 1.


Neuschwanstein Castle (stolen from the internet). I'll post our own pictures when I get them.

The Fam outside Neuschwanstein (just before the hail storm).

Traditional German dancing at Neuschwanstein to celebrate the May 1 holiday.

A crooked picture of my parents hotel, The Hotel Ritter. It is the oldest existing building in Heidelberg, built in 1592. This was the perfect place to stay, except for the church across the street, which chimed every 15 minutes through the night (remember this is Germany, which doesn't do A/C, so you have to leave your windows open at night).

Random knight inside the hotel. Like father, like daughter....(sadly).

Luckily for my parents, they also arrived during Weißspargel (white asparagus) season. This is grown throughout the area surrounding Heidelberg and is absolutely delicious! Many restaurants make special asparagus menus just for this season.


Schnitzel, potatoes, and white asparagus with hollandaise sauce.

The streets of Heidelberg. Holy cow, the tourists have arrived in full force!!


River boat cruise to Neckareinstach.


Vati found a beer garden...hooray!


Beautiful beer garden on the river.

Newer stained glass in a church in Neckareinstach.


Older church architecture in Neckareinstach. Unlike many of the large cathedrals in Western Europe, the congregations of these churches are still alive, meaning one can see ongoing church projects and events inside the sanctuaries.

One of the many old fortresses outside Neckareinstach.

Family pic from the castle!

Home sweet Heidelberg.

I guess that's it for me...sorry this is so long again! Ryan comes in a week, so I'll update more then!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MEREDITH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Lizzie