The 4th in Prague

What a difference a year makes!  Last 4th of July, we made the ill-advised decision to travel south to Rome, with KKP and JLP.  Temperatures were easily in the 90s every day.  We spent more time wiping sweat out of our faces than seeing the sites.  Rookie mistake.

Eastern Europe= our new favorite travel destination!

June is about the cut-off for our Southern trips.  After that, everything is North.  So for the long weekend, we were headed to Prague. That and Wizz Air- the Hungarian version of RyanAir/Easy Jet- only flies from Venice to Prague on the exact days we needed for this 4-day, so it was a decision we didn't really think twice about.

As we soon realized, there are many reasons you should go to Prague besides the weather and the cheap Wizz Air flight.  Even in peak tourist season, Prague was more tame that some of the other "big" European cities.  It is very American friendly and almost everything was in English.  It feels kind of like Germany, but also a tad more exotic.  The food is amazing.  And, thanks to the Czech Republic's inability to get its act together and get on the Euro, it's cheap if you avoid the major tourist areas.

Touristy, but a Prague must-see!

We were so determined to avoid the heat, we failed to realize that like its neighbor Germany, the Czech Republic can be downright cool and rainy in July.  And it was.  We left sunny Venice in shorts and t-shirts and stepped off the plane in Prague needing jeans and coats. We needed those jeans and coats all weekend.  The weather was a bit damp and raw the entire time, but we didn't let that ruin our stay.

The streets of Prague

Prague is a very walkable city and its public transportation is also very easy and convenient to use.  We used both modes of transportation to get around and see the Old Town Square with its famous Astronomical Clock, the Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, Wenceslas Square and even some of the lesser known areas.

The Charles Bridge

We have been to many Eastern European countries this past year, but none have felt so ex-Soviet as the Czech Republic and Prague have. Once outside the major tourist areas, traces of the city's Communist past were very evident in everything from street names to architecture.  And speaking of architecture, since Prague was largely spared during World War II, the architecture is a beautiful mix of new and old with a lot of authentic charm.

Crazy Prague architecture

On Monday, July 4th, we decided to take a day trip out of Prague to the city of Plzen, better known as Pilsen, the birthplace of Pilsner beer.  After a nice train ride, we arrived just in time for the English tour of the Pilsner Urquell factory.  Now that we've been on several famous brewery tours, I have to say this one was by far the most comprehensive and the cheapest!  Highly recommend it if you are a beer lover and in Southwestern Czech Republic.

Home of Pilsner!

Pilsen is also a city that was liberated by the US Army in WWII, so they have this very nice monument to thank us!  We felt it was a good way to spend the 4th!

This is on Amerika Street!

We enjoyed a nice lunch in Pilsen before taking the train back to Prague...or so we thought.  About 20 minutes into our return journey, we were ordered off the train and onto buses.  Outside Prague, not as much English is spoken, so we followed the crowd, completely unaware of what was going on.  We rode a bus through the Czech countryside and then our bus driver got lost.  There was yelling.  There was confusion.  But we eventually made it to a small train station where a train awaited and took us back to the city.

After that bus ride, time for beer!  Banana beer, coffee beer....

And Gluten Free Food!

The highlight of our Prague experience was the food.  It was delicious.  And hearty.  And cheap.  And GLUTEN-FREE!  We found two places in the city with dedicated GF menus.  One restaurant was 100% GF and I could eat everything on their menu, including the bread, the dessert and the world's only GF draught beer!  Even the non-GF folks in attendance said that this food was some of the best we've had in Europe.  It was so good, we ate here twice.  On both nights, we ordered two entrees, two drinks, dessert....and the bill came to $29 US dollars.  I'm not kidding when I say that I would consider flying back to Prague just to eat at this place.  It made our trip all the more memorable!

BEST RESTAURANT EVER!

TK & MK Do Italy (Again)

You remember that saying ..."The only two certainties in life are death and taxes...", right?  It should probably be amended to include a third- my parents will come visit anywhere, any time and for any reason.  Marathon in another country?  They'll be there.  Obscure holiday?  Why not come visit.  And most recently, I suppose they came because it was a few weeks after my birthday/father's day/the last time they'd seen me....so they traveled to Italy for a few weeks of fun.

Although they began their Italian adventure in Rome, they made their way up north here for the weekend and stayed part of the week exploring while the Hart's went off to work.  It was nice to have some guests at Hotel Hart, as our reservations have not grown as steadily as we'd expected or hoped (hint, hint!).  

Italy is beautiful this time of year...all the more reason for a Kelly visit!

TK & MK arrived on a Friday evening (on time- K & J, are you taking notes?) and we had a lovely BBQ on our back patio.  On Saturday, we began the day with a nice breakfast and then headed to a local winery to fill our own bottles and sample some wine.  MK also decided to buy half the store and was amazed by the great prices and also by the wine bottle coozie (which I'm sure is making its debut in Quincy and other South Shore towns as we speak).

From the winery, we went on an intense walking tour of downtown Vicenza.  I booked the tour thinking it would be a good idea, but failed to realize that it was in Italian (with a recording in English) and that it was the first time BPH had been out and about for a long time walking since his surgery.  Oops.  Not such a good idea.

We visited the Teatro Olympico and other sites in town, including the Duomo and a few Villas and even saw a thorn from Christ's crown.

Outside of Vicenza's Claim to Fame...Teatro Olympico

After the tour, we spent a few agonizing minutes searching for a church that would have a 6 pm mass as we were trying to kill time before dinner.  After a search, we stumbled upon the church we were actually looking for and settled in for an Italian liturgy.  The best part (and the only part most of us understood)- In this beautiful old church, they had a giant electronic scoreboard to display the page numbers for the music selections!  We ended the evening with dinner near the Piazza Signori and some good gelato.

The Castle in Malscine

On Sunday, we headed north to Lake Garda.  While we planned to rent kayaks nearby, we ended up taking the ferry across the lake to a few of the towns and ended up in Malcesine, a picturesque town known for its castle.  We ventured to the cable car, which took us to the top of Monte Baldo for a view of the mountains and the lake.  Our ride up the mountain was on the only revolving cable car, designed so that all have a chance to view the different perspectives as you ascend.  Take that, Chondola!

Views from Lake Garda

The town of Limone on Lake Garda

We returned to Hotel Hart (after a harrowing ride down the A22 autostrada) and had a pizza party.  For the rest of the week, TK & MK explored Florence and Venice and returned a few times for dinners, drinks and gift giving.  We bid them farewell soon after, but we know it won't be for long!

Come back any time!  

Slacker!

I haven't written too much in a while.  It's not because we haven't been busy....it's just...well...I have no excuse!  I'm going to blame it on the heat because we all know that when the temperature is above 70 degrees, I stop functioning and rationalize everything by saying to myself, "It's too hot."  

So hot I could swim in the fountain of Neptune.

Another reason I probably neglected writing is that the activities involve my birthday and getting another year older.  That's not that fun...

For my birthday, Team Hart decided to take a day trip to nearby Bologna.  Somebody...no names...told us Bologna was a nice place, so we decided to check it out.  Plus, we found a gluten-free restaurant and had to go there for my celebratory dinner.  

The combination of the heat, the recent knee surgery and the lack of touristy things in Bologna made it a quick day.  It's a pretty city in some ways (porticos line the streets, nice shops if you're into shopping, etc), but overall, there just wasn't much to see.  It's kind of like a smaller version of Milan without the Duomo...and the fashion...

But Bologna does have some good food and we decided to stick around and experience it.  Unfortunately, we finished our sightseeing in the afternoon and Italian restaurants don't open until at least 7pm.  For a few hours, we took a tide into the hills nearby for some nice views. 

We found a dictionary/atlas in the trunk of the car and played the state capitals of the US game.  I owned. Total domination.  There's a reason I didn't have too many friends in the 3rd grade.

Onto dinner.  We ate at a lovely little bistro (no idea if it was a bistro, but I like that word) where the waiter came and told me all the things that were gluten free.  I ordered a pizza and devoured it.

I also got to have a GF Beer...(from Spain, Australia, GB?  We're still not sure...)

And some birthday cake!

I guess getting older isn't so bad after all!