In Prague!

Alright, so our hotel has free internet, but only one computer which means that there is almost always someone taking it up. I guess technically this is day three in Prague, which is kind of hard to believe...I feel like we've been here longer.

After a long long LONG trip over here, I finally made it at around 2:30pm. I was probably the most tired I have ever been on a trip, mainly because it took three flights to get there. I went from SFO to JFK to London to Prague - Phew! my flight out of JFK sat on the tarmac for 3 hours! It didn't help that I was sitting next to the world's strangest woman ever. She had two HUGE bags with her, one of which was fillled with all sorts fo bag of chips and food. I think she might have been from Jamaica or somewhere similar because it sounded like she was speaking another language, but every once in a while there was English there too. Who knows...

Yesterday we took a walking tour of the city where we saw all the major sights and took a boat ride on the river. Our tour guide was bizarre. He refused to tell us his name, or any other details that might have given us an indication of his actual life. WEIRD! The river boat cruise guide on the othe hand was named Steve, and generally knowledgeable and funny. Good times.

So there's a quick update for you. Off to the Castle and the ghost walking tour today. Until next time!

Itinerary Thoughts

So I’ve been trying to come up with a good itinerary for the Europe trip. I will be spending about 4 weeks backpacking with my friend around Europe, and I want to come up with a trip that will be fun, interesting, and fairly new. We are both pretty seasoned when it comes to our travel experiences in Europe since Emily lives in Scotland and I have been going to Europe since I was a kid.

The trip officially starts for us when I separate from my parents in Prague. From there I have considered a route that looks something like this:

a couple of nights in Prague (I don’t think Emily has ever been there, so it seems fair to stay extra in a city that, from all accounts is a pretty cool one)
Salzburg
Munich à day trip to Neuschwanstein Castle
Luzern
Gimmelwald
Cannes
Paris
London

The only problem with this itinerary is that it doesn’t account for almost a week of our time on the road. I don’t want to end up with a schedule that is too heavy on one country, like Switzerland, or too heavy on places we’ve already been (which are pretty numerous at this point). I’m actually not sure about this itinerary at all –maybe we should do some of Northern Italy, too? Hmmm….well, any comments or suggestions on great places to see in that general region would be welcome.

Prized Possession

Alright, I'll admit it: I'm a history nerd. It's actually no surprise if you really think about it. I mean I love books, I love traveling and I love a great story. History is putting all those things together and then admitting that it's all real in the end. Amazing. Nothing better. So when I stumbled upon this baby, you know I was flipping out with excitment.

This a 1961 version of Arthur Frommer's Europe on $5 a Day that I found at a hotel in India. Yes, India. During the middle of our trip, the hotel we were staying at (I hesitate to use the word hotel here, since there would probably be some sort of association with an opulence that didn't exist) had a 'take a book, leave a book' shelf that included an inordinate number of German-language books and very few interesting English-language books. But when I found this little gem, I nearly jumped with excitement over it.

Despite the fact that the cover is missing and it is in delicate shape, I'd say this book is a treasure trove of information as a primary source document. After all, Arthur Frommer wrote the book (literally) on accessible travel to Europe. When it comes right down to it, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone as influential as Arthur Frommer in the modern travel industry.

Some highlights from the book:

*Frommer's suggestions of both Berlin and Madrid as destinations.

In the Berlin section he says "You can glimpse first-hand the meaning of tyranny simply by staring across the street into the Soviet zone...the contrast between the bleakness in that area, and the life of West Berlin, is startling" Nearly twenty years after the fall of the Berlin wall leaves young people my age with little to no memory of the Berlin Frommer describes. Berlin today is a testament to growth, change and the possibility to the end of tyranny.

Of Madrid he says, "..the economic backwardness of Spain and the poverty of its people...the amazingly low prices are not the product of progress, but of decline. " He continues, "...it is the fervent wish of this book that the Spanish people will have a better future, and that Spain, in years to come, won't be so darn easy to visit on $5 a day."

It's hard to believe for someone of my generation that these places were so terribly distraught and it is even more incredible to imagine the progess that has been made since 1961 for so many people in Europe. Spain today is on the cutting edge of just about everything and its membership in the EU is the benefactor of its progress.

*The packing list for ladies (by Mrs. Arthur Frommer ;))

Remember Ladies, don't forget your petticoats and travel suits!