Château de Versailles

Versailles, everyone hears about it, we've seen it in movies, read about it in books and think of it as another one of those make believe places that doesn't really seem real. Well it is real, and beautiful, and tranquil, and magical, and I cannot believe we didn't take Rick's advice as the ONE must see Palace in Europe prior to being here for two years! It is the foundational Palace for so many palaces around Europe. Many of which we've already seen including: The Peterhof in Saint Petersburg, and Crazy King Ludwig's castles. 

We stayed just around the corner from the Palace at the Hôtel d'Angleterre and arrived around 11:00 pm on Friday after taking the TGV direct from KL to Paris Gare de'Lest, Metro 4 to Notre Dame and the RER C right to Versailles. It was a pretty good trip. We settled into the hotel and prepared for an entire next day at Versailles.

In order to make the most of the visit it was crucial to be there before opening because even though we purchased Le Passport online it enabled us to skip the line but we really didn't have any issues at all. After chatting with a nice couple from Canada we were inside just after 9:00. The Le Passport was €25 a person and that enabled us to explore the Palace, Gardens, Trianon Estates as well as Marie-Antoinette's Hamlet. Definitely buy your tickets online prior to visiting!

Now, I could go in major detail describing the day and the history of the palace and the rooms, gardens, fountains, etc....but since I've captioned the pictures I will let them do the talking. Plus it took me a while to get them down to a manageable 200 to view. I will reference you to the main Versailles website though. It is FULL of great information and certainly worth a click if you are interested in any of the history or stories.

As you'll see in the pictures there is a stark contrast between the palace and grounds. As we made our way through the Palace, the Gardens to the Grand Trianon and to the Marie-Antionette Estate, we couldn't even believe we were in the same place. Enjoy the pictures, take a look at the videos and go to the website, or better yet plan your trip there!

This is a cool 3D video that we watched on the tour that talks a bit about the history (3 min).

Link to Video of the Gardens to the Trianon Estates including the Hamlet



  Link to Video of Versailles after the French Revolution

 

And of course our pictures!

We absolutely loved Versailles.  

It exceeded our expectations.

It is now one of my Top 5 Fave places!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Versailles, France

Two days in Prague and the end of J's awesome Euro Vaca!

JJ and I schlepped our bags to the train station in Dresden for the 2.5 hour ride to Prague.  We missed the earlier train because, well, Mr. Time wasn't with us anymore and we are Flynn's, but still managed to leave at a decent hour.  We had a 6-seat compartment on the train shared with 2 girls from Brooklyn who were on their way to Prague as well.  It was fun chatting with them and enjoying the Eastern European countryside.

A little castle perched on the hillside in the Czech Republic

At Prague's main station we purchased dirt cheap metro tickets to get us into the Old Town-Staroměstská, where we were staying at The Charles Bridge Palace which is the former home of a Count and it was very "palace like" inside.  It was great that I had some familiarity with the city but really any city with a river flowing through is tough to get lost in!  It was an easy walk to the hotel (minus the rolled luggage on the cobblestones) but I was a little weary when I saw the sign on the building of our hotel:

I didn't see this on the reviews of the hotel!

No worries, it was no bother to us!  Our entrance was around the corner on a completely separate part of the building.  It was a fine part of the Old Town, places like this are everywhere in Europe not just the sketchy streets by train stations. 

This is a much better view of our hotel location on the River Vltava and we had a river view!

The yellow building to the right of the clock tower is The Charles Bridge Palace

It was perfect timing as we could check in, drop our bags and head over to the Old Town Square for the free tour that I found online. The Prague Extravaganza Free Tour is a volunteer initiative organized by people who are passionate about their city and work for tips only.  Needless to say, our guide Vitek did a great job taking us through all of the major sightseeing spots on the 3.5 hour walking tour.  Even though I'd done a similar tour before I learned some new things and saw some new places and of course it was all new and exciting for J!

The Prague Extravaganza Free Tour at the Kafka Statue

One of the highlights was being able to get a sneak peek into the Church of St. James because Vitek had just told us a story of a 400 year old mummified forearm that hung to the right of the entrance.  The arm belonged to a thief who tried to steal some jewels from the Madonna on the high altar one night. But the Madonna gripped onto his hand and didn’t let it go. The thief had to wait there until the next morning. The next day, when the people came to the Church, they tried to separate the thief from the Madonna, but with no luck. They had to cut his arm. Then the Madonna let the hand go. The monks hung the arm to remember this event and as a warning for other thieves.
 

The mummified forearm - creepy but cool!

The church was closed but Vitek talked a Priest into letting us in for a minute to take a look because it is considered Prague's most beautiful and valuable Church.

Inside the Church of St. James

We walked into the Jewish Quarter, around to the Charles Bridge and made a little pit stop for snacks and Gluhwein before climbing up to the Castle to where the tour was ending.  Vitek was a fun guide and I think (and hope) we all paid him appropriately.  It was nearly 7pm so mostly everything at the Castle was closed but we planned to go back the next day.  We made our way back down the hill since it was getting colder and darker, in search of someplace for dinner but of course making a few photo stops along the way.

Charles Bridge view from the river

One thing we learned in Prague is that the bars and restaurants display the beer they serve on a sign hanging above their entrance (as most places do - BUT - they ONLY serve that beer) so choosing a place to eat basically came down to what they were serving to drink.  We were on the lookout for a place other than the typical and popular Pilsner Urquell.  I have no idea of the name of the place we found but J was happy with his "throne like" seat and Czech specialty food and I was happy with the Kozel beer - not so happy with my bowl of goulash.

"Please, come to my table."

Vitek had told us about a bar that his friend works at and we set out in search of the "hobbit door" that it was located behind but for anyone who has been to Prague, there are a lot of "hobbit doors" and even more crazy little cobblestone streets to get lost in.  Plus we were also in search of a place that served Krušovice Beer.  We went into a Freemason bar that ended up being another great find!  It was a really nice place, only 2 others there (young Germans), and an English speaking bartender that we could practice our new Czech words on.

And Krušovice Beer:

Thanks goodness my dear cousin and I have the same interests :) because this place had not only the delicious Krušovice but another draft...wait, what?  Yes two draft beers.  We stayed until close.   Back at the hotel this old lady went to sleep but the young kid went across the street for one more beer - not at the Night Gym.

Pictures from our first day in Prague:

 

Tuesday, April 2nd

Setting out on our second day to explore Prague!

We went back across the Charles Bridge and up to the Castle grounds in the morning.  We purchased the Castle Pass that allowed us into the St. Vitus Cathedral, The Old Royal Palace, the Basilica of St. George and the Golden Lane, all of which we visited the night before but could see inside the places today.   It was a really great visit for JJ as he could follow right along with Rick's explanation of everything and great for me as well since I had only visited the Cathedral on our prior visit.  We caught another changing of the guard, this time it was quite the production with many guards, trumpets blaring and pushing tourists trying to be in the front!

The midday changing of the guard

Before we ventured back down the hill to the other side of the river J had to try the infamous Trdelník that I claimed made me so viciously sick last time but thankfully he survived! :)

Fingers crossed that he didn't experience the same reaction as me!

The sights in the Jewish Quarter were still closed for the Holiday and I so badly had wanted to visit them and see inside the Old Cemetery that has 12,000 stones and over 100,000 layered graves. All I was able to see from climbing the bottom two steps of the Ceremonial Hall and standing on the iron gate was this:

My free shot of the Old Jewish Cemetery

Time for lunch and we found ourselves at a nice Czech place, Kolkovna, for a good bowl of goulash, pretzel and a beer.  Wandering back through the Old Town Square and checking out the Easter Market we were waiting for "the top of the hour" so J could see the big Astronomical Clock in action.  Then  we followed Rick's walk up Wenceslas Square where J read all about The Good King Wenceslas and told me how he had previously learned about him from the Christmas Carol....oh my cousin is so smart, I had no idea.  And funny thing is, I saw the episode of Big Bang Theory last week where Sheldon sang it!

It had a been a long day of cobblestone walking so we went back to the hotel to rest up before dinner.  I wanted to find a place that was away from the tourist areas and found the most awesome place ever! U Medvídků is a hotel, restaurant and brewery and we both said it was our favourite stop.  Great ambiance, a secret third floor of the brewery where we ate and a bar downstairs that we stayed at pretty late! On the  walk along the river back to the hotel we enjoyed the beautiful castle and bridge all lit up.

Prague at night

We dodged a gigantic rat, that ran out in front of us and JJ got a good long laugh at my close encounter with it.  Luckily we made it safe back to the hotel! 

I usually add a lot more "city" detail into the blogs but since this was a return trip you can feel free to reference my previous post on Prague if you want additional info on the sights.

Pictures from our second day in Prague:

 

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel before catching the hotel taxi to the airport.  We chose to fly using some of DH's mileage because it ended up being cheaper for both of us than one train ticket....plus the time factor!   

 

At FRA we bought a regional train ticket to the city's main station only after running back and forth between tracks 10 times trying to catch a train.  It was my first experience with the Bahnhof in FRA and it's huge.  I understand how it works now  - for next time. At the Main Hauptbahnhof in Frankfurt we checked train times to get us back home and there wasn't anything convenient for our timeline to meet DH back in KL AND to get to see Frankfurt.  I wanted to show J the modern city with skyscrapers so instead we took a quick stroll to the front of the station, looked down at the city, and now he can say he saw it! 

 

This is why I plan, I'm not a good fly-by-the-moment traveler and get super frustrated when there is no plan.  Since the train tix were inconvenient and super $$$ I remembered a bus that goes from Frankfurt to KL to Trier to Luxembourg.  We picked up some sandwiches and walked out to it's location and luckily were able to pay on the spot and head home.  Frugal Fern was a bit frustrated again because if she had planned ahead and booked the tickets online she wouldn't have had to pay full price.  Or maybe figuring out how to use her smart phone would be a solution???? I think we were both glad to be getting home.  J had been on the go since the minute he landed in FRA 5 days prior and now I was getting a stupid sinus cold.  DH picked us up in KL, we went home and I cooked my favourite Nürnberger Rostbratwurst, Kraut and Speck for J and we had a nice night back at the house. 

 

Thursday we took the train to Heidelberg because it's an awesome castle, not too far, and a great river town to walk around in.  We enjoyed a nice lunch and climbed up to the castle.

 

J on the Old Bridge in Heidelberg



Sundial at Heidelberg Castle



The Powder Tower at Heidelberg

Heidelberg and the River Neckar

JJ and Heidelberg Castle

Thursday night we took J to our gal Stella's for a scrumptious dinner but due to his sampling of German culinary delights during the day he wasn't able to finish his dinner and boy oh boy was Stella upset!  You must go hungry to Stellas!!  We took it home and pawed through it for the next few days.  Friday morning I let J sleep in....after all it was his vacation and we had been quite busy.  We had a very low key day around the house and when DH got home we went the Barbarossahof Restaurant (and hotel where lived when we first got to Germany) for a farewell dinner of tasty German cuisine.

It was such a fun time with my little cousin and I'm so glad he was able to visit and we had the opportunity to show him around here.  I'm quite confident that he had a fabulous time and probably would have stayed longer if he could have.  Our door is open as long as we are here!

Dresden, Saxony, and our first 2013 visitor!

We were so excited for the arrival of our first family member and guest of 2013 - cousin JJ.  We picked J up from FRA on the morning of March 29th after his overnight flight from O'Hare and got right on the road for our 4 hour trip to Eastern Germany.   We stopped at a pretty nice Autohof for breakfast and then pulled into Dresden early afternoon.  To J's surprise we travelled on more than one Autobahn :) We found parking in the city, close to our Aparthotel, Am Schloss but set out on foot for a little sight seeing since we couldn't check in till 3:00.
Immediately, we were impressed with the grand architecture and beauty of Dresden on the cold and dreary day!

The Hofkirche and Royal Palace Buildings

Augustus Bridge over the River Elbe to the New Town

It was definitely a little colder than we thought it would be for the end of March so we found some heat lamps outside on the busy little restaurant line street, Münzgasse and warmed up with some Glühwein.  It was J's first experience with hot mulled wine and he said it took him a while to process it.  It was actually some of the better Glühwein I had ever had so he lucked out on the first try!

We gathered our belongings from the vehicle and headed up to our apartment which was in an excellent location in the Old Town next to everything in walking distance.  We all thawed out and our weary traveller put his feet up for a little rest before we headed out for dinner.

J gets warm and comfy after his long flight!

We went to the Altmarkt Keller for dinner that evening. It is a Sächsisch-Böhmisch Bierhaus and offered a great mix of Saxon and Bohemian food in the perfect atmosphere for our guest. I think J and I both had the first of many goulash dishes that we'd be eating for the next few days. Something we can never really go wrong with. Plus, we all enjoyed the Czech beers.

In the Altmarkt Keller describing the friendship between Dresden and Prague - "The sunshine of life is drinking and being happy"

We were all tired but couldn't possibly pass up the opportunity to visit the Irish Bar right around the corner from the apartment.  A few Guinness's later we headed back to the apartment to rest up for a full day 2 in Dresden.  As usual I've captioned all of the PICTURES from Day 1 but put the slide show up too because it's fun!



Saturday, March 30

The sun was out but it was deceiving.  It was cold, our guest had a bit of a cold so what better way to explore a new city than the HoHo!   We boarded the double decker at the Main Bridge and spent a good chunk of time going by many of the sights we'd walked by but hearing the commentary in the warmth of the bus.  It was great, plus, this HoHo took us into more residential parts of the city, Blasewitz and Loschwitz, as we made our way across the Elbe River and into the New Town.  Look through the PICTURES to see the Transparent Volkswagen Factory and 3 beautiful little castles along the Elbe. 



Augustus the Strong in Neustadt

We hopped off the HoHo in the Neustadt to do a little sight seeing and find a place for lunch.  I love when we stumble into a place and I later on realize it was a recommended place from Rick's book.  The Wenzel Prager Bierstuben was another excellent choice for local cuisine and beers and we all walked away from there happy.  In the Neustadt there really aren't any famous sights but it's the only part of Dresden that predates WWII.  We walked into the main square where a small Easter market was happening and a petting zoo was set up.
 

We all loved these strange ducks:

 



 

I mainly wanted to walk across the Augustus Bridge for a view of the Old Town Panoramic view. 







Back in the Old Town we visited The Zwinger - a palace complex of Baroque masterpiece once the pride and joy of the Wettin dynasty (the Wettins ruled Saxony for over 800 years) but now it is filled with museums.  In the 18th century, the larger than life Augustus the Strong (the prince elector of Saxony and king of Poland) used the Zwinger for celebrations of Saxon royalty.

 

 



Museums of the Zwinger and courtyard

We didn't do any of the museums, the one that we wanted to do the Mathematics-Physics Salon, for our Math Teacher guest was closed for renovation.  Instead we walked the grounds and terraces on the upper levels.

 



Upper level terrace adorned with tons of statues



I'm sure these grounds are much more beautiful in the summer!

We found a cafe to warm up in and then made our way back to the apartment.  Our tired traveller fell asleep and we let him sleep while we ventured out into the lovely night in search for dinner.  



Buildings and the Frauenkirche on the Neumarkt Square

It was busy in Dresden during the Easter Holiday weekend and we took our chances finding a place without a reservation.  Luckily we didn't have to venture too far as Dave popped into the Freiberger Schankhaus to see if they had an open table the bartender said it was all full but one open table at the bar.  Perfect!  It was an awesome atmosphere inside the old Apotheke from 1756, wooden decor and their own special brews on tap. 

 

Dave was excited to finally sample the pork knuckle - or Schweinshaxe as it's called in our neck of the woods.



We stopped at trusty ole McD's and picked up a few treats for J before heading back to the hotel.  Sure, that's not original but he ate German McNuggets and a Flurry with Milka...can't have that in the USA!

Sunday, March 31st - Happy Easter!

The day's agenda was to travel outside of Dresden, about a 45 minute train ride southwest to the area known as the Sächsische Schweiz or Saxon Switzerland.

J was not feeling too great so he stayed in and slept it off while Dave and I braved the cold and took a ton of pictures for him. Our first stop along the River Elbe was Bad Schandau and the Saxon Switzerland National Park.  Saxon Switzerland alone has some 1,000 climbing peaks, as well as several hollows.  We walked from the train to the river where a ferry took us across to the icy sandstone hillside that we'd soon be climbing.

Saxon Switzerland NP on the River Elbe

It was a pretty trail up, with all sorts of interesting rock formations. Some spots were complete ice so we were careful and held onto railings when there was one!  We met a nice couple from Düsseldorf half way up and chatted with them after taking each others pictures.

Nationalpark Sächsische Schweiz overlooking the Elba Valley

We made it almost to the top where there is a Hotel and a number of hiking trails, just above the Bastei Bridge.

Bastei Bridge

We slid back down the mountainside, took the ferry across the river and boarded the train for one more stop, Königstein to see the massive Fortress above the Elbe.  It is one of the largest hilltop fortifications in Europe and thanks to this stolen pic from google, this is an aerial shot of Königstein Fortress. 

 

 

The town of Königstein itself is quite charming.  We walked to the center where we boarded the Festung Express that took us halfway up the mountain where we boarded another "Express"(I use express lightly as we probably could have walked it faster!) that took us to the base of the Fortress.  Wow - it looked big from below but standing at the bottom of the plateau and looking up at the 9.5 hectare rock really makes one feel tiny!
 

The Express Train at the base of the Fortress

From there we took an elevator up and took a perimeter walk around the wall fortress and didn't explore any of the 50 or so buildings within it.  We could have easily spend a day inside Königstein Fortress but it was really starting to get cold and snowy!  So we got some great photos, made the decent back to the river and took the train to Dresden to meet up with JJ.
 



Back in Dresden we walked from the train station directly to the Old Town down Prager Strasse which was basically a communist-built pedestrian mall in ruins till the 1960's.  Today it is a much more colorful and very large outdoor mall.  We met J back at the apartment where he was rested and feeling much better.  We had an Easter Dinner reservation at The Gasthaus am Neumarkt nearby which was really great, on a side street, quiet and quaint.  After dinner we had to check out the #1 rated place on Trip Advisor, The Karl May Bar that was located in the 5 Star Hotel Taschenbergpalais.  Dark, fine oak, red leather and ridiculously priced mediocre cocktails, this was certainly nice but not our cup of tea.  I completely forgot to take a picture of the martini glass concoction that was supposed to be my White Russian but I did get a shot of this guy behind me:

Around the corner was a Paulaner Bar that we decided to end our last day in Dresden.  It was a cold but great long weekend and hopefully a great introduction to Germany for our visitor.   Monday morning Dave headed back home with the car and JJ and I caught a train to Prague.  I was excited about the return visit to the great city and looked forward to J's reaction as well.  Stay tuned!

Würzburg

Just a mere two hour drive from home is a charming Baroque town, Würzburg.  It was recommended by a native, a chapter left unexplored in Rick's book and after a little more research I found out that Würzburg maintains cultural, economic and educational ties with it's Sister City, Rochester, NY!  Therefore it was a good reason for an overnight stay for my friend Christie and I since our men were out of town. 

We set out the morning of March 23rd and were able to check right into The Novotel, just a quick walk into the historic Old Town on the River Main.  We set out in search of lunch and then spent the afternoon exploring the city until our fingers and toes were too numb to do any more.  We visited the 500 year old Tavern in the Ratskeller (the city hall cellar restaurant) with it's vaulted ceilings and exposed stone walls that gave a very medieval feel!  We warmed up with some wine and headed back into the cold. 

Würzburg's Old Main Bridge (Alte Mainbrücke) was built 1473–1543 to replace the destroyed Romanesque bridge that had dated from 1133. In two phases, beginning in 1730, the bridge was adorned with statues of saints and historically relevant figures. The bridge shows similarities to the Charles Bridge in Prague - probably why I liked it so much!

The Alte Mainbrücke and the city of Würzburg

There are many notable churches in Würzburg and surely we could have spent a day visiting them all.  The Käppele, perched on a hill facing the fortress, and the Dom (Würzburg Cathedral). The Baroque Schönborn Chapel, a side-chapel of the cathedral, has interior decoration made of (artificial) human bones and skulls - darn it we missed this!   Marienkapelle (on the market square), the Neumünster is a Romanesque minster church and the Baroque churches in center of the city are Stift Haug, St. Michael, St. Stephan and St. Peter.

The Stift Haug was built in the years 1670–1691 as the first Baroque church in Franconia. It is the most important building of the Italian architect Antonio Petrini.

The Stift Haug

Back at the Novotel we were like two excited 5 year old kids to go swim in the hotel pool.  It was really nice!  It was warm, decorated in an "island" theme, equipped with the most powerful jetted hot tub I'd ever sat in - wait - no sitting - we had to hold the sides of the tub as well as our suits because those jets were so crazy!  And we even did like the German's and sweated it out in the sauna.  There were quite a few people with the same idea, warming up out of the cold but left shortly after one of the women in the pool said to her daughter, "it's time to go because there are some people making some not-so-good-decisions in this pool."  It was a little R-rated for a pool with children in it.  We had dinner at the hotel and were so excited to find Daniel Craig in Casino Royale playing (in German) when we got back to the room.  Party animals we are!

Fortress Marianberg

Sunday we headed up to the Marienberg Fortress which is a prominent landmark on the Main River in Würzburg. The mighty Fortress Marienberg is the symbol of Würzburg and served as a home of the prince-bishops for nearly five centuries. It has been a fort since ancient times. After Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden conquered the area in 1631, the castle was reconstructed in the Baroque style. Today, it is a park and museum and we braved the wind and cold to capture some beautiful views and pictures before heading back home.   It was a nice city but definitely worth a visit in spring/summertime when gardens are blooming and weather was a bit warmer.

A perfect way to end our weekend was being able to stop into an outlet mall on a Sunday and actually shop!  As we drove by it the day before we googled Wertheim Village and with our luck was open from 1-6 on Sunday.  Even though there is a huge resistance to Sunday shopping from churches and politicians, local governments allow certain stores a fixed number of Sundays a year to be opened.  Like the 1 million other people that were just as excited, we popped in and out of a few of our favourite shops and did not leave empty handed.

Wertheim Village Outlet Mall

We could really only manage an hour or so with all of the people so we went back to the car where people were anxiously waiting for our spot. I'm still waiting to hear from our car rental company but as Christie is my witness, I DID NOT hit the parked car next to us! As I was backing out of the tiny space, attempting a 12 point turn, in the tiny lot with my not so tiny vehicle it was close but luckily we have sensors in the vehicle that beep BEFORE I am about to hit something. I was pulling out and a woman was frantically waving at me from her car so I put down the window and she was yelling at me in German that I hit the car - it wasn't her car. She insisted on my name and plate number and I'm not really sure why I was arguing with her since I didn't hit the car. I finally pulled away and she may or may not have gotten all of my lisence plate number.

Lesson learned - don't almost hit a car!

Next up: Easter in Dresden with JJ and Prague take 2!

Pictures from Würzburg:

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Location:Würzburg, Germany