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2022 Europe Christmas Markets

November - December 2022
I am traveling to Europe (Germany, Czech Republic and Austria) to experience the world-famous Christmas Markets. I will be traveling with four of my sisters, a sister-in-law and a sister's sister-in-law. Seriously good times are on the horizon! Read more
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  • Traveler2022 Europe Christmas Markets
    1

    November 29 - Off to Europe!

    November 6, 2022 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    Finally, after almost two years of planning and a crushing cancellation last November, I am off to experience the world-famous Christmas Markets of Europe in Germany, Czechia and Austria. My traveling companions as we leave Canada are my sisters Sheilagh, Mary Ann and Theresa, along with Sheilagh's sister-in-law, Vicky, and our brother Michael's partner, Sue. We will be joined by our sister Angela who lives near Heidelberg, Germany. This is our first time traveling together. We leave Toronto at 9:35 p.m. and arrive in Frankfurt at 11:10 a.m.

    Angela put on her marketing and communications hat and dubbed this the "Seven Sisters Loud and Crazy Christmas Markets Tour". We will endeavour to have this trip live up to that description!

    We will be visiting Heidelberg, Dresden, Prague, Vienna, Nuremberg and Frankfurt. Christmas Markets open at the beginning of Advent and run through until Christmas. They are a riot of lights, music, delectable treats and unique, hand-crafted wares. We will get in some sightseeing in each location also.

    Our flight took off on time with all six of the Canadian contingent on board. Step one complete. Apologies to Sue for not including her in the pictures in this footprint. She arrived from Ottawa just as we were boarding.

    See you in Germany!    Read more

  • Traveler2022 Europe Christmas Markets
    411

    November 30 - We're in Heidelberg

    November 30, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C

    Our flight was smooth and we landed on time. None of us got much sleep, but we vowed to make it an early night. After passport control and baggage claim, we found our driver, Thomas, who whisked us off down the autobahn to our hotel in Heidelberg. And there, waiting for us, was Angela. Lots of hugs and smiles!

    A bit about the city - Heidelberg is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. About a quarter of its 160,000 inhabitants are students. Heidelberg University, founded in 1386, is Germany's oldest and one of Europe's most reputable universities. Angela’s husband, Peter Krumme, is a professor of history, literature and philosophy at the university. Heidelberg is a scientific hub in Germany and home to several internationally renowned research facilities adjacent to its university, including the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and four Max Planck Institutes. The city has also been a hub for the arts, especially literature, throughout the centuries, and it was designated a "City of Literature" by the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.

    After settling in the hotel, we went for lunch because we were getting peckish. Breakfast on the plane had been a small yogurt and a pathetic stale croissant served in a paper bag. Peter was finished teaching for the day and was able to join us. “Loud” and “crazy” would be the right adjectives to describe the atmosphere. We got three different desserts and passed them around for sampling – I suspect this is going to be standard procedure from here on. After lunch, we found a technology store and several of us got SIM cards put in our phones so we can access internet data without paying exorbitant roaming charges.

    We made a short visit to the Jesuit Church (Catholic) to look at the very evocative display about the effects on women of religion. The lighting was very dim and my pictures didn't properly show the figures. Suffice it to say, that it was very thought provoking.

    Then we visited the Christmas Markets. Food, drink, crafts, music, rides, lights! It’s like a giant outdoor Christmas party. We were all feeling the effects of jet lag, so we didn’t do any buying. We need to be in top form for that activity. But we got our bearings and picked out some stalls to revisit tomorrow. We ducked into a grocery store to do a bit of price comparison. Prices here on things like fruits and vegetables are better than at home.

    We had dinner at a restaurant near the hotel that specializes in schnitzel and spaetzle (a kind of noodle). Thumbs up all around. No need for dessert after the late lunch and besides, the hotel keeps a tray of chocolates by the front door. Back in our rooms by 8:00 p.m. Tomorrow will start with sleeping in, followed by a leisurely breakfast. We figured out our plan for the day over dinner. Stay tuned!    Read more

  • Traveler2022 Europe Christmas Markets
    12

    December 1 - Second day in Heidelberg

    December 1, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 4 °C

    We had made plans to all meet for breakfast at 8:30 a.m. Sheilagh and Vicky made it to the breakfast room at that time. The rest of us woke up after 8:30! The breakfast room was beautifully decorated, and the breakfast spread was fabulous. And the coffee was superb!

    Angela wasn’t joining us for the day as she wanted to get ready for our dinner party tonight. The six of us headed to the funicular. It took us up to Heidelberg Castle. Heidelberg Castle is a ruin in Germany and landmark of Heidelberg. The castle ruins are among the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps.
    The castle has only been partially rebuilt since its demolition in the 17th and 18th centuries. It is located 80 metres (260 ft) up the northern part of the Königstuhl hillside, and thereby dominates the view of the old downtown. The earliest castle structure was built before 1214 and later expanded into two castles circa 1294; however, in 1537, a lightning bolt destroyed the upper castle. The present structures had been expanded by 1650, before damage by later wars and fires. In 1764, another lightning bolt caused a fire which destroyed some rebuilt sections.

    We marveled at the architecture – all built without the use of electricity! The Heidelberg Tun (Great Barrel) is an extremely large wine vat contained within the cellars of Heidelberg Castle. There have been four such barrels in the history of Heidelberg. In 1751, the year of its construction, the present one had a capacity of 221,726 litres. Due to the drying of the wood its current capacity is 219,000 litres. One hundred and thirty oak trees were reputedly used in its construction. It has only rarely been used as a wine barrel, and in fact currently enjoys more use as a tourist attraction, and also as a dance floor since one was constructed on top of the tun.

    We enjoyed the fabulous views over the river (took a team picture minus Angela) from the balcony and then toured the Apothecary Museum. What a fascinating place with fabulous furniture!

    We climbed back on the funicular and went up to Molkenkur. We transferred from the new funicular line to the old funicular line. The train trundled up the mountain with some sections having a 22° slope. The top of the line is 568 meters above the river level. The views were fabulous. We went back down to the castle level. Rather than take the funicular back to town level, we walked and marvelled at the houses perched on the sides of the hill. Some of the houses, we found out from Peter, are frat houses. Pretty fancy digs for students!

    Back at town level, we walked for a bit near the markets, but ultimately opted for a very late afternoon tea/coffee break. Notice that we didn’t stop for lunch during the day – not needed after such a late breakfast!

    Right on time, two taxis that the desk staff at the hotel had ordered for us showed up at 3:45 p.m. We were in Eppelheim by 4:00 p.m. More hugs and exclamations of happiness! After the obligatory house tour and glasses of wine, we had dinner. It was Raclette which is a Swiss dish that uses a heated grill. Each person customized his/her dinner - chorizo, potatoes, cheese, peppers, baby corn, tomatoes, etc. What a spread! We laughed our way through dinner and then made a huge dent in the enormous plate of homemade Christmas baking that Angela's cleaning lady, Milka, had brought that day. Well fed and watered, Peter shuttled us home in two convoys. We have a 7:00 a.m. date with two taxis to go to the train station. Next stop - Dresden. See you there!    Read more

  • Traveler2022 Europe Christmas Markets

    December 2 - Dresden

    December 2, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 0 °C

    It was an early morning – up at 6:15 a.m., in the lobby at 6:45 a.m., taxi at 7:00 a.m., train station at 7:15 a.m. Angela met us there. The train left at 7:46 a.m. with typical German precision. We had paid the extra bit to have assigned seats. Well worth the expense.

    Because we were going to be out of the hotel before the breakfast hours, the hotel graciously packed breakfast to go for us. They presented us with two huge carry bags. Each breakfast bag had a pretzel bun with cream cheese, another bun with ham and cheese, two little cakes (called madeleines), a clementine, an apple, and a banana. That should do us for lunch too!

    The train got into Frankfurt on time. Angela figured out that we could access the lounge because we had first class tickets. There was free coffee/tea, croissants, cookies, mixed nuts, cookies, and giant pretzels. And we could pee for free. (1€ in the train station. 😢) Back to the train platforms. Again – assigned seating. Angela had to kick intruders out of some of our seats. We are now settled in for a couple of hours until we get to Dresden.

    A bit out Dresden – I shamelessly pull information from Wikipedia. Dresden (population 585,000) is one of the most visited cities in Germany with 4.7 million overnight stays per year. Dresden's Striezelmarkt is one of the largest Christmas markets in Germany and is considered the first genuine Christmas market in the world.

    The bombing of Dresden by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) between 13 and 15 February 1945 was controversial. On the night of 13–14 February 1945, 773 RAF Lancaster bombers dropped 1,181.6 tons of incendiary bombs and 1,477.7 tons of high explosive bombs, targeting the rail yards at the centre of the city. The inner city of Dresden was largely destroyed. Casualties numbered between 18,000 and 25,000.

    Since German reunification in 1990, Dresden has again become a cultural, educational and political centre of Germany. The Dresden University of Technology is one of the 10 largest universities in Germany and part of the German Universities Excellence Initiative. The economy of Dresden and its agglomeration is one of the most dynamic in Germany and ranks first in Saxony. It is dominated by high-tech branches, often called "Silicon Saxony".

    Its most prominent building is the Frauenkirche located at the Neumarkt. Built in the 18th century, the church was destroyed during World War II. The remaining ruins were left for 50 years as a war memorial, before being rebuilt between 1994 and 2005. Other famous landmarks include the Zwinger, the Semperoper and the Dresden Castle. Furthermore, the city is home to the renowned Dresden State Art Collections, originating from the collections of the Saxon electors in the 16th century.

    We arrived just a few minutes behind schedule – we saw a lot of snow-covered fields along the way and wondered if we find snow in Dresden. Answer – no. We piled into a van taxi and arrived about 2:30 p.m. at the hotel. It is lovely! A bit of a hiccup – the suites only have one bed, so we arranged to have single beds added. We all agreed that we really only like sleeping with our respective husbands.

    We set out about 3:30 p.m. for the markets. Dresden has the largest number of Christmas markets in the eastern part of the country and is one of the cities that are able to lay claim to the title of being the oldest seasonal event in Germany.
    Certainly it is one of the most traditional, with many of the customs surrounding the main city market stemming from local industries like mining, woodworking and pottery.

    A funny thing happened. A gentleman stopped us while we admiring a huge display in the lobby of the shopping galleria attached to the hotel. He said he liked to do one good deed per day, and for today, he wanted that good deed to be taking a group picture of us! We smiled - showing our teeth - as he instructed us and TA-DA - we had our team photo for the day!

    The Striezelmarkt originally started back in the 15th century. The word 'Striezel' actually refers to a cake made at this time of year called a 'Stollen', which is also found in other parts of Germany, but in this area is reputed to represent the entrance to the mines in the nearby Erzgebirge range.

    Another tradition stemming from the mining history is the Christmas arch - originally a metal but now usually a wooden arch which displays candles and figures. According to local folklore, this stems from the candles that the miners would hang from the entrance to the mine on the last working day before Christmas.

    We found the Striezelmarkt about a 15-minute walk from the hotel. We were in the thick of it immediately. It’s Friday night so the crowds were out in force. We experienced the riot of sights and smells and sounds that I thought we would – gingerbread, sausage, chocolate, mulled wine, music, singing, lights, toy trains, decorated trees, sparkling ornaments, handmade items of every ilk, roasting chestnuts and so much more. We soon got our shopping mojo on and started our buying. No – no hints about what we’re bringing home!

    We huddled a while later and decided we really needed to have dinner since lunch had been the ham and cheese bun on the train. Angela found a restaurant nearby. See the photos for the view we had while we dined - incredible. Most of us dove into big salads as the last few days have been heavy on the carbs. Fed and watered, we headed back out, this time to the market beside the Frauenkirche. (We will try to tour the church tomorrow in daylight.) Now, we really picked up speed on shopping. Now that we’ve got a fairly good handle on selection and prices, we’re more confident in our buying. We are heading back tomorrow morning for round two. Hopefully the crowds will be a little thinner during the early hours.

    We agreed to meet for breakfast at 8:30 a.m. Let’s see if we make it this time!    Read more

  • Traveler2022 Europe Christmas Markets

    December 3 - Day 2 in Dresden

    December 3, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 1 °C

    We woke up to find a sugar dusting of snow had fallen overnight. It has added a lovely touch to the city. We had breakfast at 8:30 and set out for the day shortly after 10:00. First stop was back at the Strieizelmarkt. The crowds were lighter than yesterday, and we found it easier to navigate in the daylight. There was some good, strategic purchasing done.

    From there, we headed back to the Neumarkt that is located by the Frauenkirche. We had hoped to see inside the Frauenkirche, but it had been closed for a noon-time concert and the lineup to get in was quite long, so we moved on. This church is the symbol and soul of the city. When completed in 1793, this was Germany’s tallest Protestant church. It was firebombed on Feb 13, 1945 and smoldered for two days before finally collapsing. The pile of rubble was left on site and was turned into a peace monument. After reunification, the decision was made to rebuild but with very specific guidelines: stay true to the original design; use as much of the original material as possible; avoid using any concrete or rebar; maximize modern technology; and make it a lively venue for 21st-centurey-style worship. The remnants of the destroyed church were fitted together like a giant jigsaw puzzle with about one-third of the original stones placed in their original spots. The project cost $130 million euro, of which over two-thirds was donations from around the world. It reopened to the public in 2005. A heartening story of triumphant.

    Our next stop was the Parade of Nobles (Fürstenzug). It’s a mural painted on 24,000 tiles of Meissen porcelain. Longer than a football field, it illustrates seven centuries of Saxon royalty. It was built to commemorate Saxon history and heritage after Saxony became a part of Germany in 1871. The artist, Wilhelm Walther, studied armour and clothing through the ages, accurately tracing the weaponry and fashions for seven centuries.

    Before going into another market, we climbed up a set of steps to the Brühlsche Terrase. This delightful promenade that overlooks the river was once a defensive rampart overlooking the Elbe River. Later, it was given as a reward to a Saxon minister named Brühl who had been a really dedicated tax collector, so Frederick Augustus II was happy with his efforts. It the early 1800’s, it was turned into a public park with a leafy canopy of linden trees and was given the nickname “The Balcony of Europe”. Dresden claims to have the world’s largest and oldest fleet of historic paddleboat steamers. We could see several of the nine boats from the 19th century. From the terrace, we could also see Augustus Bridge which has connected Dresden’s old and new towns since 1319 when it was the first stone bridge over the river.

    Two street performers (guitar/singer and drummer) were singing in the square. It made our Canadian hearts swell with pride to hear them doing Leonard Cohen's "Alleluia". We sang the chorus loudly and proudly.

    Nearby, we found the Medieval Christmas Market called the Stallhof. This market had a distinctly different air to it. I saw a blacksmith, a glass blower, a brush maker and a rope maker and there were artisans dressed in medieval garb. There was a minstrel playing music and joking with the crowd. I declined the opportunity to take a selfie while wearing armour. It was time for a warm drink and a snack so several of the group had warm wine (elderberry, blueberry) to wash down spiral-cut potato chips. We are hitting all the good food groups on these travels.

    We hiked over to where the Hop On Hop Off Bus starts its route. The tickets were included in our package. The tour was almost two hours long and covered most of the city. It’s hard to get good photos from the aisle seat of a bus, so I didn’t try. It was almost dusk too, so the lighting wasn’t ideal. We learned more about the resiliency of the city and its inhabitants in the rebuilding after the February 1945 raids that destroyed three-quarters of the old city. Stone by stone, the old buildings were rebuilt. It was eerie to see old style buildings on one side of the road and new buildings on the other side. You could almost track where the bombs had fallen on those fateful days.

    We all declared that we were done for the day, so we hiked back to the hotel and hit the grocery store near it. We stocked up on drinks (wine, gin and tonic) and snacks (chips, pretzels, crackers) and met in Sheilagh and Vicky’s suite for predinner socialization because the earliest we could get a table in the restaurant in the hotel was 8:00 p.m. (There are no other restaurants in the area.) But the dining fairy smiled on us, and Angela got a call about 6:30 p.m. that they could accommodate us. It was an Italian restaurant. I had really good salmon, and others had pizza; Angela had a whole fish. We retired back to the party suite for post-dinner drinks with a plan to meet for breakfast at 8:00 a.m. The breakfast buffet gets really busy between 8:00 and 8:30 a.m. so we want to get in before the rush.

    All in all, a very good day. We are off to Prague tomorrow for more adventures and shopping.    Read more

  • Traveler2022 Europe Christmas Markets

    December 3 - More photos Dresden market

    December 3, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 1 °C

    The tops of the huts in the Striezelmarkt are works of art in themselves. Here's a footprint showing the ingenuity and design expertise of the vendors. Can you guess what is for sale in each hut??

  • Traveler2022 Europe Christmas Markets

    December 4 - Arrival in Prague

    December 4, 2022 in Czech Republic ⋅ ☁️ 4 °C

    We gathered for breakfast at 8:00 a.m. The breakfast room staff seemed, for the second day in a row, to be stymied as to how to accommodate a group of seven. They seemed loathe to move tables. So, we got shunted to the restaurant again. No staff in sight, so we just started moving tables ourselves. We didn’t take into account the overlapping tablecloths which led to dishes and sugar bowls crashing to the floor and making a mini-mess. Oooops. If that’s the worst thing that happens on this trip, then we should be fine. Famous last words.

    So, then, I tripped and fell getting through the revolving door as we were going out to the taxi. No harm done except to my dignity. We piled in – seven people and their cases completely fill any taxi vehicle on this continent. The trip to the train station took half the time and half the money that the trip to the hotel had cost. That driver seemed to want to give us the scenic tour.

    The train came and we piled on. But something seemed hinky when most of our assigned seats were already occupied. Checked the train number. Oooops for the second time. Wrong train. Almost went to Hamburg. Our proper train wasn’t due for another 10 minutes. We piled out fast as these trains don’t hang around for very long. Once we were finally on the right train, we settled in – six of us in one cabin and Mary Ann (who was looking for some quiet time) in the next cabin. We spent much of the trip figuring out how to connect us all on WhatsApp so we can communicate when we are out and about. We got to Prague about 1:30 p.m. We found an ATM so a couple of us could take out CZK (Koruna). The Czech Republic is in the European Union but does not use the euro. The travel agent realized after he had booked the tickets that this train went to the station outside of the old city centre where our hotel was located. He had told us about this, and Angela and I said we would just take a taxi. (A train going to the main station would have left Dresden very early in the morning.) Easier said than done to find a taxi at that station. There is no actual taxi stand. Luckily, two taxis came to drop off passengers and we waved them down – Vicky and I went in a car, and the other five went in a mini-van. Vicky and I got to the hotel – the driver couldn’t make change for our CZK big bills and didn’t take credit cards, so we had to resort to paying with euro. I went to reception, only to find out that our reservation was at the Grandium Hotel, not the Grandior Hotel. Both drivers had misunderstood our pronunciation and hadn’t looked at the address we had shown them. Oooops for the third time and it was only 2:00 p.m.! Luckily, the van driver had just arrived. Vicky and I squeezed in and off we went again, this time ending up where we were supposed to be at the Grandium. There were deep breaths all around - we had arrived safely, none the worse for the wear.

    We’ve been using a three-room set up, with two in each of two rooms and three in one room. Paige (Theresa’s daughter) had hoped to join us in Prague for a day or so as she is studying in France, but her schedule changed, but we kept the extra room anyway. So, Theresa is enjoying one night by herself tonight.

    We set off to explore – thankfully, Vicky is far better at navigating than I ever will be and she got us going in the right direction. King Wenceslas Square is nearby. It’s a huge, long boulevard rather than a square. It was lined with trees lit up all in gold. The booths were, we found, 80-90% food. Food of every kind. There was food everywhere with the odd handicraft booth sprinkled in. We checked things out for about an hour. By then we had our bearings and knew how to get to the site of another major market that we want to see tomorrow. Then we headed back to the hotel for a drink before dinner. We took up about half the seats in the hotel bar and Angela cheered during the France-Poland match. Who knew my sister was a football nut??

    Angela had made a dinner reservation at a hotel across the street. By 8:30 we were tucked in for the night, tired and well fed. We have a walking tour tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. so we’re doing an 8:00 a.m. breakfast. So, we got here safely, but it required some fast thinking, lots of energy and determination and a pile of humour!    Read more

  • Traveler2022 Europe Christmas Markets

    December 5 - Exploring Prague

    December 5, 2022 in Czech Republic ⋅ 🌧 4 °C

    Before I begin, I'd like to thank all of you for the kind comments that you have left on FindPenguins. It's so cool to know that our friends and family are following along with our adventures. I only wish that I could include an audio recording of all the laughing that we have been doing! I hope you continue to enjoy these postings.

    We met for breakfast at 8:00 a.m. We gave this breakfast buffet high marks for its waffle bar and omelette station, but we did deduct a few points for not having big pots of coffee to plunk on our table. We had to patiently brew each cup by ourselves at the machine. Such a hardship.

    We set out at 9:30 a.m. First a bit about Prague (from Wikipedia):

    Prague is the largest and capital city in the Czech Republic. It is located on the Vitava River and is home to about 1.3 million people. Prague is a political, cultural, and economic hub of central Europe, with a rich history and Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architectures. In February 1945, Prague suffered several bombing raids by the US Army Air Forces. 701 people were killed, more than 1,000 people were injured and some buildings, factories and historical landmarks were destroyed. Many historic structures in Prague, however, escaped the destruction of the war and the damage was small compared to the total destruction of many other cities in that time. Prague is home to a number of well-known cultural attractions, many of which survived the violence and destruction of 20th-century Europe. Since 1992, the historic center of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

    I made contact with our tour guide, Lyle from Ohio. He visited Prague years ago, went home to Ohio, and then came back because he loves the city and the country so much. He is staying for the duration. I had thought that I had booked a private group tour for the seven of us. The slightly dodgy website didn’t make it clear that I was just booking a group within a big group. Turned out that there were 30 of us altogether. I was not amused and there will be feedback given to the booking site. Nonetheless, we set out with Lyle for a three-hour tour. He was incredibly knowledgeable and guided us through the tumultuous history of the Czech Republic, described the various architectural styles, noted important events and people in politics and literature and science, and took us ably and with great humour from 5500 BC to the present. The country has certainly embraced capitalism and democracy after its many years under communist rule. We retained a few bits of good trivia from his talk: Pilsener beer, contact lenses and blood typing were all invented in the Czech Republic. So was the hockey player Jaromir Jagr.

    With our brains bulging with knowledge and our feet barking a bit and our tummies looking for refueling, we found a nice little café and had lunch while we plotted our strategy for the afternoon. Vicky and Sheilagh and Sue went to find the Church of Our Lady Victorious, also known as the Shrine of the Infant Jesus in Prague. Mary Ann, Angela and Theresa checked out market in the Old Town Square, and puttered around in a vintage store, and then retired to a café down for tea and conversation. I went off by myself to find the Dancing House which was constructed between 1992-1996. It has daring, curvy outlines, which led its architects Vlado Milunic and the American Frank Owen Gehry to initially name it the "Fred and Ginger Building", after the legendary dance duo. The top floor of Dancing House is the only part of the building open to the public, and is home to one of the city's leading restaurants: the Ginger & Fred Restaurant. The walk along the river to the house was stunning – so many different architectural styles and colours.

    Back at the Old Town Square, the location of the largest Christmas Market in Prague, I puttered around for a while, but I was tired, so I sat down near the stage because I was fairly sure that something would happen there at 4:00 p.m. Today was Mikulas – St. Nicholas Day. Traditionally, three figures appear together on this day – St. Nicholas, a Devil and an Angel. St. Nicholas will ask each child (three were many dressed as devils or angels in the square) and every one of them if they have been a good child during the past year. Most children naturally say yes and will be asked to sing a song or recite a short poem, after which they are rewarded with a small present or a sweet.

    But if St. Nicholas suspects they have been naughty, well! Naughty children don't get sweets, they get lumps of coal or hard potatoes. And if they have been really naughty, they will find themselves in the Devil's sack and sent to hell! This is all a little harsh in comparison to the Santa Claus routine. By the way, Santa Claus has been conspicuously absent from these markets. That’s a good thing.

    A show did begin at 4:00 p.m. There was some music and a little skit (all in Czech of course and VERY loud). Then an Ivana Trump lookalike sang some songs. Then the devil came out and did something. 45 minutes into this show, there was still no St. Nicholas. These seven ladies (who had found one another using that WhatsApp messenger service we had set up on the train), pulled the plug. I can’t imagine how parents were surviving this long, drawn-out show with little ones in tow. It really seemed to be misjudging its audience.

    We headed back to the hotel for pre-dinner drinks in the hotel bar. Our waiter, George, admitted to us that it was his first day on the job. He’ll always remember his first day when he got thrown into the pool headfirst with that wild group from Canada! He was delightful and so patient and friendly. Oh yes, the Croatia won the football match over Japan on penalty kicks.

    We went out to Wok In for dinner. We ordered noodle, meat, veggie and topping combos. They were prepared fast and were really good. We cheered on the young people at the next table who took turns dropping to the floor to do push ups. No idea what spawned that activity.

    After a stop at the mini market for chocolate, we hunkered down in our rooms for the evening. Theresa is back in the dormitory with the three beds next door to my/Sue’s room.

    We’re going to meet for breakfast at 8:00 a.m. and then go to yet another market. Then we’ll go to Prague Castle. We have a dinner reservation in the hotel restaurant for 6:30 p.m.    Read more

  • Traveler2022 Europe Christmas Markets

    December 5 - More buildings of Prague

    December 5, 2022 in Czech Republic ⋅ 🌧 3 °C

    More photos of interesting buildings for you to enjoy.

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