Carly is still trying to wake up after a night of cocktails

Located on the Vltava river, Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Before our visit, all I really knew of Prague was that it is a tourist destination with cheap beer and historic buildings. I had actually mentally categorized it as ‘Eastern Europe’ along with images from the movie Borat – boy was I surprised when we arrived in a beautiful city with a very sophisticated society.

Our trip to Prague was a mini adventure in itself… Here’s our initial plan:

• Walk to the ferry
• Ride the ferry to the train station
• Take the train to the airport
• Take the plane to Prague
• Take a bus (from the airport) to the train station
• Take the train to a stop near our hotel
• Walk to the hotel

That’s a little complicated on it’s own, but add-in two wrong stations, a wrong train, and then some bad walking directions – you’d be as surprised as we were to finally make it to the hotel. Probably the best part was us wandering the streets near our hotel (looking for the hotel) and being asked by three other couples for directions. Ultimately we arrived at the hotel to find that our room had been mistakingly double booked, and were transferred to a sister hotel. This was just the start of the trip!

Tower on the Charles Bridge

Our first full day in Prague was dedicated to exploring the city. We marked out a walking path that would pass near Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, and into the ‘Old Town’. The Lobkowicz Palace (at the Prague Castle) had an audio tour for about $30 per person, and I’d consider it a ‘must-do’ for Prague. The Lobkowicz family presents an endearing tale of their family history – having twice lost and regained their properties, first after confiscation by the Nazi party, and then later by the Communist Regime – ultimately returning to their homeland after more than 40 years of Communist rule. It looks like the museum has only been in place since 2007 (so this in some ways includes current events) and reaches as far back to 16th century. There were rooms with paintings, rifles, musical instruments, and various other artifacts from the intervening years. Apparently the 7th Prince Lobkowicz was a patron of the arts and Beethoven’s most generous benefactor.

The schedule for our second day in Prague was a bit of an unknown until Carly spotted an advertisement for a ‘Communism & Nuclear Bunker Tour’ – yes! We met up with a university student that apparently has done his homework. Since we were the only two in this particular tour group, we got to ask lots of questions and learned a ton about what I probably should have listened to in history class ten years ago (actually, I doubt much of what we learned this weekend is covered in any American history class).

Carly in a 1950's gas mask

Czechoslovakia is a relatively new nation in the 20th century – born in 1918 out of the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (WW1). What happens next I don’t really understand, but through a combination of WW2, the population seeking change, and pressure from the Soviet Union, Prague ultimately ends up under the thumb of the Communist party. By 1968, the population again seeks change (the Communism deal isn’t working out), so the Soviet Union invades Czechoslovakia with tanks and soldiers. The university gets shut down and ‘free thinkers’ are starting to disappear from the streets. There were some pretty horrific demonstrations (university students setting themselves on fire) among other drama that filled the following two decades. Basically Czech wants to go it’s own way, but the Soviets are not going to budge. Finally with the weakening of the Soviet Union and the ‘Velvet Revolution’ (velvet referring to the smooth and peaceful transition to modern Czech), Czechoslovakia is able to go on it’s happy way – peacefully separating into two new nations, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.

Some other interesting tidbits: our tour guide Jan tells us that for much of the 20th century, Czech students were taught Russian as part of their standard curriculum. This was replaced with English in the 90’s and now much of the population speaks English as well as Czech. He also helped us play a bit of ‘connect the dots’ between various Slavic languages.

Best of all, the tour concluded 50 feet underground in a nuclear bunker (stocked with beer). It was pretty intense – corridors and rooms all encased with cold concrete. There were over 300 of these constructed by the Czech government, and it really drives home some emotions of that era (and I suppose a reminder of the danger that all nations face to some degree from this point on).

SAIL Amsterdam sailboat

It’s been a busy few weeks, between a crazy work schedule and our move from Leiden to Amsterdam. However, we found some time this past weekend to take a 3 day sailing lesson here in Holland! And to put this adventure over the top, it’s SAIL 2010 here in the city – a unique event repeated only every 5 years that brings sailors from around the world to Amsterdam for the weekend. Hundreds of ships congregate in and around the IJ harbor, including some amazing historic replicas of massive sailing ships. The river is packed with boats of all sizes – including the locals in their various dinghies, rafts, buckets, and pretty much anything else that floats. We even saw a little boat made out of soda cans and plastic wrap.

Just taking the ferry here was an adventure – the ferry captain dodging between the hundreds of vessels just to make the short trip across the river (it’s probably less than 100 meters wide). Anyway, this weekend was definitely about sailing in a number of ways.

We started out by meeting Jim, our sail instructor from Waypoint Amsterdam, and our classmates (a local couple who were also new to sailing) at the actual boat – it had a name that sounded awfully close to ‘Ship Wreck’, although Jim convinced us that it meant ship’s luck in Dutch.

Isaac the sailor

The evening began with us motoring out into the river chaos that was SAIL 2010, and making our way to the lock that connects the river with the inner bay. Isaac got a crash course on how to steer the boat, and with him at the helm, we were off!

The first night consisted of a lesson in night sailing and navigation. We raised our sails and learned a bunch of new terms for parts of a boat (and then promptly forgot about half of them). We docked and slept under the shadow of Muiderslot Castle (pretty cool huh?) and then woke early the next morning for a long day of sailing.

Day two, we learned all sorts of stuff – how to raise the mainsail and the jib, how to tack and jibe, all the different points of sail, motoring maneuvers, how to make tea on a boat, many more names for parts of a boat, and probably a dozen other things that I can’t remember specifically. Overall, there is a lot to learn and we were just getting started, but it was a lot of fun! We docked in a new town for the evening and had some conversation over beers.

Day three, we ate breakfast on the boat and then started to make our way back towards Amsterdam. Along the way we stopped in Volendam for lunch and really enjoyed our quick walk through the town. Hopefully we will make our way back to Volendam by bike later this month for a bit more of exploration. Ultimately, Jim got us back through the lock and back through SAIL to end our journey.

SAIL chaos

Carly and I are definitely sailing newbies – this was pretty much our first time ever on a sailboat (let alone sailing ourselves), and it was a blast. I didn’t realize how effective sailboats are in pretty much any direction relative to the wind. It seems that some boats and sail configurations are better than others in certain angles to the wind (and also have their own dead zones), but it was neat to be able to sail pretty much into the wind (close to the wind) and be sailing almost at our top speed.

The sleeping accommodations were also quite comfortable – Carly and I slept in the aft berth, which has foam padding along the walls as well as the bottom of the ‘bed’. The toilet had a manual water pump that emptied directly out to the water (which meant there was no bad smell), and there seemed to be a lot of space for storage of personal items and groceries.

In general, this experience has fueled our interest in sailing (and maybe someday living on a sailing cruiser) and we hope to start our own mini sailing blog to cover topics specific to our sailing research. Next up, we’re going to look into sailing in Ohrid or nearby Croatia (while living in Macedonia). In the mean-time, be sure to check out Waypoint Amsterdam if you are looking for sailing lessons in The Netherlands.

The experience was top-notch and I believe they are one of only two RYA courses in the area.
http://www.waypointamsterdam.com/

Isaac in the gardens of De Haar

Located on the outskirts of Utrecht, De Haar is a spectacular castle and definitely worth a visit.

It’s actually not all that old by castle standards – rebuilt during the years 1892-1912 on top of some old castle ruins, it features all of the ‘modern’ amenities that make other castles jealous (electricity, running water, and central heating).

It was the classic love story – boy has castle, girl has money, boy and girl spend a lot of money on a castle. They hired famous architect Pierre Cuypers along with a small army of craftsmen to pretty much build, sculpt, and engrave everything in the castle by hand.

De Haar tower

Carly and I arrived at De Haar by first taking a train to Utrecht and then renting bikes for the short trip out west of the city. The castle is composed of a number of different buildings arranged about on a nicely landscaped plot of land, which contains a moat, gardens, and a little snack shop!

We made sure to show up in time for one of the English tours and really enjoyed the guide’s enthusiasm and entertaining stories. He told us one story about how the castle’s owners had imported over 7000 fully grown trees to landscape their ‘park’.

The line of trees being transported through the city (up to the castle) had some trouble making one of the corners, so the baroness bought up the house on the offending corner just to tear it down for her tree parade. That’s a lot of trees.

Sand Sculptures in Den Haag

Today we took a day trip to Den Haag (’The Hague’).  This is where Queen Beatrix lives, and is also referred to as the judicial capital of the world – due to the many international courts.  After a quick bite to eat, our first destination was the Escher Museum.

I’ve always been an Escher fan so this is definitely a biased perspective when I say that the museum was awesome, but it was awesome.  The museum itself is in a former palace that once housed members of the royal family.  Throughout the museum are tidbits of the palace lifestyle, some whacky chandeliers, and of course a great deal of artwork by M. C. Escher.

Paul's grandpa???

I was a little surprised when I saw photos of Escher in his early days, because he looks a lot like a good friend of mine, Paul Hansen.  Paul is a huge Escher fan, and considering Paul’s personality, I am starting to wonder if this coincidence is somehow not a coincidence….

Our next stops were to visit and take photos of the parliament building and the Peace Palace – some very impressive buildings, but not too much to do once we got there.

We finally ended up at Madurodam – ‘the smallest city in the Netherlands’.  This is a small park filled with tiny buildings, people, cars, boats, trains, airplanes, and more.

Each of the buildings is between 2 and 10 feet tall, and represent various locations throughout the Netherlands.  From a quick scan of the other park patrons, I assume that this park is meant for little kids.

Madurodam

However, despite being over the age of 8 – Carly and I still really enjoyed learning more about each of the cities in Holland.  There were more than 100 ‘info’ spots that were marked in our brochure with some description and background history.  We even saw a bunch of buildings that we already recognize from our short trips to Maastricht and Amsterdam, and the trip today through Den Haag.

They even had the flour mill and university from Leiden represented.  Overall we spent about 2 hours walking among the little buildings and watching small mechanized activities play out – good fun.

Our cute little rental car

We’ve been in Europe for a little over a month now, and so far we haven’t seen any castles.  Thus, last weekend we rented a little car and struck out to visit Luxembourg and Germany.

Our first stop was in Maastricht to grab lunch, and we ended up at Twee Heren which had fabulous sandwiches.  We hit the Belgian border shortly after Maastricht and pretty quickly began to notice a change in landscape.  The countryside became more hilly, and we passed some gorgeous ravines and valley views.

There were a bunch of wind turbines, fields, and cute little towns along the way to Vianden.  It was neat to spot the castle in the distance before even getting into the city.  We snapped a few shots from the side of the road and then went in search of our hotel.

Checking in was a little different.  We kept looking for the entrance, but it turns out that the bar also serves as the front desk (the butcher from the shop next door ended up checking us in).  The hotel was lovely, but be warned – air conditioning or fans are not common in the area.  Isaac ended up spending part of the night sleeping on the tile floor in the bathroom to escape the heat.

Cochem Castle

The next morning we went for a walk in the forest above the city while we waited for the castle to open up for tourists.  The highlight of the castle was the view of the town below, and a room which showcased all of the old books.

Next, we set off towards Germany.   The drive was spectacular!  The rolling fields of wheat and lush countryside was picturesque (literally – we took a picture).  We had a hard time following the Google Map directions, so we just followed the signs to different towns along the way and used those as waypoints.  When looking for directions in Cochem we spotted…  ANOTHER CASTLE!

In a moment of spontaneity, we deviated from our plan in a hunt to find the road to this new castle.  Our little car struggled to climb the steep hillside, but it was worth it.  Cochem’s castle ended up being the highlight of our trip.  The castle is surrounded by vineyards, and has a fabulous view of the river and valley.

Vianden Castle

One we got our second fill of castle visiting, we set off to find our hotel in Ernst.  While the hotel lacked AC and fans like the last, the generous servings of Bitburger beer, and great food made up for it.  We spent about four hours on their patio appreciating the scenery.

On Sunday, we went off to find Burg Eltz (the final castle).  We ended up parking our car in Moselkern and hiking up through the surrounding forest.  The castle itself was under renovation, which detracted a bit from the otherwise epic view, but we still had a great time. The “Treasure Chamber” was full of neat weapons and old items too.

Overall the trip was a success (especially considering what we put our little rental car through) and now we are happily back ‘home’ in Leiden.

Our tips:
- Driving on country roads in Germany & Luxembourg is not for the faint of heart
- If it’s hot bring a travel fan or make sure your hotel has AC
- Explore.  If we had just stuck with advice from travel sites, we wouldn’t have seen the castle in Cochem

Carly in the Green Heart

We can hardly believe that we’ve been in Leiden for over a month, and so far we have been pleasantly surprised.  Although Leiden is much smaller than Amsterdam and The Hague, it’s bustling with activity.

Two days after arriving we purchased our stereotypical Dutch bikes.  They’ve definitely had some use, but they have gears, brakes, and best of all – a cuff lock (it’s a lock attached to the back wheel and immobilizes the bike with one quick lever push).

We’ve taken our new bikes on many adventures.  Holland’s fantastic cycling network is a cyclist’s dream.  Check out this map and you’ll see what we mean.  So far our cycling adventures have taken us through the dunes, to three different beaches, and The Green Heart.

Hooglandse Kirk - across the street from us

The other aspect of Leiden which we love is all the food options.  Dutch multiculturalism flourishes here with fantastic cheap food.  We’re determined to try it all.  So far our favorite joints in Leiden are:

• Jacketz – (baked potatoes with fancy toppings)
• Canteris – (pitas, doner, and fries)
• Maoz – (fantastic falafel – get it with hummus and aubergine)
• Anywhere that serves Turkish Pizza (you must try it if you ever visit Holland)
• Asia 2 Go (Vietnamese and other Asian dishes)
• Eazie (noodle & rice bowls)
• New York Pizza (fast delivery & yummy)

If you visit Leiden, you’ll realize that most items on our list are street food / fast food.  We both feel that this is where you get the best value, and usually the best tasting food anyway.  We usually take advantage of the Saturday market when we want a more elaborate dinner.  The fresh veggies, fish, and cheese are wonderful.  Plus, it’s a great way for us to practice a little Dutch.

Lakenfeest

We have one more month in Leiden, and will try to keep up with the blog.  After that we’re off to Amsterdam which will be a whole new experience.

Our tips:
- There is more to Holland than Amsterdam.  If you like biking, rent a bike from a train station and explore some of the other Dutch cities.
- Trust us… try some Turkish pizza.
- Don’t expect a waiter to check in on you like a restaurant back home.   It’s protocol to give them a polite wave to signal that you’d like something.

It’s been awhile since we’ve posted (busy on this end) but we thought we should start writing a bit about our travels – both for our family and for fun to share with our clients. To summarize a little bit of the gap, we had been living in Silver Plume, CO – this is in the mountains near Loveland ski resort. Carly spent some time at Arapahoe Basin as a ski instructor on the weekends (which got us passes for everything in the area). We also got married!!! The wedding was in Costa Rica, and you can check out the photos here.

As one of our wedding gifts from Carly’s family, we were scheduled for a week long bike trip along the border between France and Germany. Since Carly was going through the immigration process in the U.S. we weren’t sure if we would be able to travel by the time our trip was supposed to start. We actually ended up waiting until about 10 days prior to our flight to learn that everything was approved and we were free to travel – talk about last minute. Luckily, we found a little apartment in Leiden, Holland and plan to stay there for the time between our flight and the bike ride (we pushed the bike reservation back since we weren’t sure that the immigration approval would come in time).

This post is actualy being written while we are on the train from Paris to our new temporary homeland, The Netherlands. After a little chaos when first arriving in Paris, our trip is back on track; and no better time to do a little blogging than on a 3 hour train through the French countryside….

The craziness began last week when we reviewed our flight to Paris and realized that there was an airport change in New York. In the end, getting from one airport to the other was no big deal, although checking in and going through security again was a bit of a pain. It definitely had us a little nervous about missing the international leg of our flight. I am glad that this was all in the evening with less traffic.

Once we arrived in Paris, we called the hotel and arranged for the shuttle to pick us up. We waited and waited until finding out that we were at the wrong airport! It turns out there was another airport closer to the hotel and they were sending the shuttle there. We asked at the airport information desk about the best way to get to Orly (a suburb where our hotel was located). The attendant said that a shuttle would be 40 euros to the Orly airport and a taxi said roughly 60 euros direct to the hotel, so we opted for the taxi. In the end, they both ended up being the wrong choice – more info below.

Isaac is hungry after all that walking

Eventually we made it to our hotel and quickly crashed, but woke up early the next morning and took a train into the city center. The attendant at the ticket office was very friendly and helped explain how things worked.

Our first stop was Notre Dame, where we snapped some typical tourist photos, and grabbed a fantastic breakfast (an omelet & crepe). The omelet that Isaac got had potatoes, cheese, and mushrooms – it was awesome. We happened to leave the restaurant right when it started to rain. Initially we thought we could make it to the Louvre and hide inside there, but then it just dumped on us and we had to find cover. After trying to hide under some trees (and failing), we ducked into the police headquarters, and were greeted by some friendly French police. We hung out there for few minutes before braving the rain again in search of an umbrella. Unfortunately none of the shops were open (not sure if it was because it was Sunday or because it was still pretty early), but we eventually made it to the Louvre and found out it was free since it was the first Sunday of the month! We got there before 8am and there wasn’t any line to get in, but by the time we left there was a line of probably several hundred people (at the rate it was moving I wouldn’t be surprised if it took over an hour to get through).

The Louvre itself was incredible and probably the best part of Paris – we spent close to 5 hours exploring and saw around 2/3 of the exhibits. Carly’s favorite was the Pacific / Americas sculptures. There was one room that we got a kick out of – it was probably the fanciest room as far as how the walls and ceiling were carved and painted. Along the walls were paintings of what we assumed were the architects and painters who worked on the Louvre (including the royalty that lived there) – Carly said something like “the credits are better than the movie.”

It's funny how the room showcasing The Louvre's artists and architects is the most ornate

Lunch consisted of coffee and yummy sandwiches. Isaac is now addicted to baguettes with butter, salami, and pickles. Overall the coffee we have had in France has been really good compared to what we are used to from cafes in the U.S.

We ended up seeing Notre Dame, The Louvre, The Eiffel Tower, The Arc de Triomphe, and more – all in the first day. The next day we had this train to Holland, but spent the morning exploring the area around the main station, and reading in the garden for a nearby Cathedral until our train took off. We ate lunch at something like “Pizza from Mario” which ended up having some great food. Isaac’s cheeseburger came with some unique fries (probably what Americans would consider homestyle) – thick and crunchy on the outside, but cooked puffy on the inside. The guy next to us got a pizza which the waiter set on fire (intentionally) – hadn’t seen that before.

Speaking of pizza, Isaac’s dad claimed that he had sampled pizza throughout Europe and that French pizza was his favorite. We had pizza twice while in France – once at the hotel (overpriced) and once on a main street in central Paris (this pizza was good – but different than what we were used to). Lots of the pizza options came with egg on them, and sometimes tomato sauce on top of the cheese.

So back to our train ride, we’ll arrive in Leiden to look at our potential apartment for the next 2.5 months. We’re incredibly excited.

Our tips:
- The train / metro are a good transport option in Paris. We could have paid 9 euros to take the train instead of the 90 we paid for a taxi (to get from the airport to the station within walking distance to our hotel).
- Skip the Starbucks – French coffee reigns supreme.
- If you’re in Paris at the beginning of the month, check out the Louvre on the first Sunday (but get there early).