As this trip has progressed, I’ve developed a calendar system based around the start of our cruise. Day zero is the start of our cruise (October 15). Days before departure are known as BC (before cruise). Days after departure are known as AD (after departure). For example, October 5 is 10 [days] BC.
For those who are interested, below is a list of the remainder of our planned travels BC:
Today’s train ride from Praha Hl. N. to Wien Meidling took about five hours. It took us another hour or so to navigate Vienna’s maze of trams, U-Bahns, and S-Bahns to get to our hotel. After we checked in, we took a walk around Vienna, through the gardens at Belvedere Palace and around part of the inner ring to the Opera House. Along the way, we stopped by a very touristy Austrian restaurant and tried some Austrian “favorites”: haunch of ham and goulash.
(From what I’ve read, Praha Hl. N. station used to be named after Woodrow Wilson. There are statues of him and plaques with his name all over the place. After the communists took over, the station was renamed to “main station” or Hl. N.).
I love how relatively inexpensive everything in Prague is compared to the rest of Western and Central Europe. For two nights in a row, we’ve been able to have nice 3-course dinners for two with drinks for under $25 (about the same cost as soup, salad, and breadsticks + a drink at the Olive Garden).
Today, we visited some of the main tourist sights in downtown Prague. We started our day at Old Town Square where we gawked at the famous Astronomical Clock for a while (but always managed to be just out of sight whenever the hour struck). Next, we headed across the Charles Bridge and hiked up the Prague Castle. The castle (despite its name) is not really a castle as much as a collection of buildings within some walls. Valerie has been looking forward to seeing castles all trip and I think she was disappointed by this non-castle castle. Before leaving the castle area, we stopped by the Lobkowicz Museum, which details the long and somewhat tragic history of the House of Lobkowicz. (If you are planning to visit Prague Castle and the Lobkowicz Museum, you can buy a discounted ticket package at the Lobkowicz Museum if you don’t mind going through the castle in the reverse direction as everyone else.)