Swissterical: The Great European Road Trip: Days 4 and 5

Well, we're slipping a little. Didn't manage to get an entry in yesterday and I've already received complaints that some are "stuck in LEGOland, so we'll try to make amends. And since we're doing a day and a half in Prague, we'll combine two and count ourselves good!

Crossing the border--don't forget your highway sticker!

Prague is about 4 hours away from Aalen, our stayover. We were awoken by the sound of the church bells peeling at 0700. Which turned out to be a good thing because we needed to get on the road. It's a long drive, but it's on good highways all the way.

More snow showers

We listed to a portion of a commentary I have that includes a bit of Czech history in it--the giving away of the Sedetanland prior to WWII. This area was a mountainous region bordering Germany containing all of Czechoslovakia's defensive fortifications. Hitler coveted the land as well as the Czech's formidable arms manufacturing capabilities, but given the Czech's defensive situation and strong army, he knew he could never take the region by force. So he embarked on a propaganda war. There were 3 million ethnic Germans living in the Sudentenland and Hitler instigated a terror campaign against them from inside Czechoslovakia. He then screamed bloody murder about Germans being mistreated and how he needed to go in and defend them. The Czechs, of course, had nothing to do this with this. But the old maxim--Tell a lie big enough and loud enough and people will eventually believe--was tailor-made for Hitler. The media bought it hook, line and sinker and began proclaiming that it was the Czechs who were a threat. They must give up the land in exchange for peace. They must 'return' the land to Germany (even though it hadn't been theirs!) The British and French threatened to abrogate mutual defense treaties with the Czechs unless they gave up the land 'for their own good.' Finally, the British PM Chamberlain and French PM Daladier begged Hitler to take the Sudetenland to keep the peace and after an 11-hour peace conference, he 'reluctantly' agreed. The Czechs weren't even involved in this conference and the Czech PM Benes said bitterly, "We have been basely betrayed." Six months later, in March 1939, Nazi Germany rolled through the rest of Czechoslovakia and the country, deprived of its defensive fortifications, fell without much of a fight. Note to Washington--appeasement NEVER works.

Our hotel--At the Green Grape

AAB and SwissSis settle into the hotel.

Today, Prague, the Czech capital, is one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in Europe. We're staying at a hotel called "At the Green Grape" in an old part of town. As we got close to the hotel, we were waved over to the side of the road by two policemen. We knew it couldn't be because we hadn't gotten our highway tag (friends had warned us about that). But they used a mirror under the car, had me get out and open the hood and back, and then let us go on our way. We got to the hotel about 2 minutes later (the streets were not built with minivans in mind!) and asked why--apparently, we're the next block over from the American embassy.

In any case, the hotel is a building from the 16th century and it's been modernized, but keeps old world charm. It's a great place to stay--about a five minute walk from the castle (if you go the right way--more on that later) and 10 minutes from the famous St. Charles bridge.

On the St. Charles bridge

SweetSwissTeen's back was bothering her after the drive, so the rest us ventured out and left her to rest. We walked down our hill and out across the St. Charles bridge. AAB, SwissSis and SoulSwisster have decided that CW will no longer be known as CW, but as "Super Tourist," with his special weapon, "the camera of doom." It's not that funny.

Death rings the bell.

We made our way to the old square and stopped by the Astronomical Clock, one of hte most famous landmarks in the city. In fact, SwissSis told us she'd learned about it from one of her "39 Clues" books, an adventure series that the kids love. Every hour, it performs a little show--one observes "the procession of the Twelve Apostles: on the hour, every hour, a small trap door opens and Christ marches out ahead of his disciples, while the skeleton of death tolls the bell to a defiant statue of a Turk."

In front of the clock

Remember we wrote about Christmas markets? Well, here in Prague, they have Easter markets as well and we enjoyed the large one in the town square where they not only sell crafts (some fabulous handpainted Easter eggs), but cook traditional food including sausages and a special sweet bread that's made in the form of a hollow cylinder called "trdelnik"--don't ask us how to pronounce it!

Crossing the bridge

We walked back home and on the way, got the kids dinner. It's hard to imagine that one of the key elements of civilization is the siting of a Subway sandwich shop, yet our quest to find Subway's everywhere in Europe (except Switzerland) continues to be successful. This enabled CW and SoulSwisster to go out for dinner at a Czech restaurant called Besedec, where we had beer-baked ribs and goulash plus some Pilsner Urquell. Fantastic! Afterwards, we strolled the bridge again and took more pictures.

Statue of St. Wenceslas

On Tuesday, we awoke, had a wonderful breakfast, and headed off to the metro to get to a tour of the city. Sadly, this tour was a complete waste of time and cannot be recommended. We did learn a little about the city and the patron St. Wenceslas (from the British carol--the guide said it he wasn't a king and wasn't all that good), and we did to get to ride on a boat on the river, but other than that, it's not how we would have chosen to spend time while SweetSwissTeen's back was feeling well. Yet, we did make it back to the square and SST got to see the clock show and engage in one of her favorite pastimes--shopping for jewelry. This time for amber, which is apparently a good buy here. She found a very pretty cross and SwissSis found a pendant. We had no idea amber came in blue and green in addition to yellow and orange! And AAB sweetly offered to buy SST's necklace for her. A wonderful contrast to when they're at they're at each other's throats! :)

Bridge and castle in the background

SST needed some rest, so we dropped her at the hotel and proceeded up the hill to the Prague castle. There are (apparently) two ways to go. One is a very easy ramp, the other is a set of stairs. CW picked the stairs because he misread a sign (it was in Czech, after all). At the top, we turned left, instead of right (at least he was consistent in following the signs) and we ended up going the wrong direction. Twenty minutes (and much loud abuse) later, we got turned around and headed in the right direction. We didn't make it into the castle because it was too late, but did get into the cathedral which is just fantastic. CW took a large number of gargoyle pictures--they're all different. We also climbed the 287 stairs to the bell tower for some amazing views of the city.

Getting the directions right?

Tonight, we relaxed and went to "Cowboys," which bills itself as Prague's newest and best steakhouse. We don't know if the claims are absolutely true, but the meal was great and the waiter was extremely friendly. CW had a glass of Czech wine (yet another discovery) that was quite good.

Back to the hotel. Everyone is tired from the walking, so looking forward to a good night's sleep!

Oh, and for those keeping track--yes, we saw snow yesterday and a lone snowflake today (SoulSwister claims it was dust, but CW saw it melt), so we're 5 for 5. Winter is still here!