The Traveling Scholar

Back to normal London life here. Aside from the blue skies and sunshine today, life feels normal again. After twelve days of family time, it felt a bit strange to wake up by myself in my flat. I think the worst part was perhaps the fact that it just felt normal; like it had always been this way and our twelve days of Falzon family fun was just a long dream. Saddening. It was definitely harder to say goodbye for the second time yesterday but everything feels as it should today: working on papers, doing research and heading to the gym shortly. I suppose you have to get back into the groove of things at some point…

Although it’s all over and my dad and sister are likely fast asleep in their cozy beds in Northern California, it was seriously awesome to have a bit of family time, even just for a couple of weeks. I hadn’t realized quite how much I missed having them around until they were here! I had a gift sent to them when they left (a package of my favorite pictures from our trip [95 of them] courtesy of snapfish.com) and am looking to send another package of memories shortly. We had talked about having four pictures from our trip blown up to 8 x 10s to be framed: one from each leg of the journey. That being said, I’ve been going through some of my photos to find my favorite picture from each trip. Here are some that I’m considering:

England

This is one of my most favorite pictures ever! So cute!

I have a number of other pictures of them in front of St. Paul’s but I like that they’re heading toward the church. Maybe in B&W?

Wicked was their favorite part of the London trip… though I wouldn’t pick this pic normally, it could be a good memory :)

Prague

In the Old Town Square enjoying hot dogs and beer? Quintessential Prague!

Tiff & I in front of the Vlatva River

Tiff & dad in front of Prague Castle!

Paris

Dad & Tiff in front of Sacre-Couer!

Tiff & I at the Eiffel Tower

Dad & Tiff at Notre Dame

Amsterdam

T walking by a canal in Amsterdam.

Dad & Tiff in the Rembrandtplein area.

The view from our room :)

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Alternatively, I’m thinking of doing one quintessential shot from each of the cities that we visited; no people, just something that capture the essence of the country. Here are the four I’m looking at:

England: I could (should?) probably use a picture of Big Ben, the National Gallery or St. Paul’s to capture England, but I absolutely love, love, LOVE this picture of two horseback-riding bobbies down by Buckingham. The colors are gorg!

Loving this picture of Tyn Church with a hint of a market stall in the foreground.

Without a doubt, my favorite picture from France: lunch.

I love this shot of Amsterdam: the buildings, the canals and even a hint of a bike seat!

What do you guys think? Which pictures should make it to 8×10 status for the fam?

Love from London,

We woke up in Prague on Wednesday and fell asleep in France. Since we had the the morning and early afternoon in Prague, we decided to set out for Josefov, the Jewish quarter of Prague and then re-visit our favorite Old Town center once again. Sadly, my camera battery died pre-Jewish quarter and I left my charger at home!! I know what you’re thinking — how is that possible?! I’m not sure what was going through my mind when I didn’t pack it, but clearly I had the largest lapse ever. Fortunately, there was a Canon shop in the middle of the Old Town center that charged my battery back to 100% for 150Kc (about $7). Sadly, my pictures from Josefov are limited to mediocre camera phone shots of toy rabbis, crosses of David and menorahs.

Enjoying a delicious Czech dog for the last time

After enjoying our last few hours in Prague, soaking in the deliciously cheap Czech fare we made our way to the airport and headed off to Paris.  Now, our hotel in Prague (the Golden Tulip Prague Terminus) was a pleasant surprise. The rooms were huge, the bed was massive and the amenities were great. Plus, the staff was beyond friendly! After a pretty hassle free flight to France, we arrived in Paris at Anvers metro station in Montmartre to find a hotel that was not quite as inviting as our Prague-based home. Not bad, mind you, but not exactly the 4 star experience we had before. Our current hotel is actually a hostel (oops… didn’t know when I booked!) and although it wasn’t what we had anticipated, it works.

Family at the Eiffel Tower!

After settling into our temporary abode, we headed to a local brasserie for a quaint dinner and a little exploration of our neighborhood before calling it a night. Check back soon as I recount Day #2 in Paris: the Notre Dame, the Louvre, a quick stop by the Latin Quarter, the Eiffel Tower and dad getting pick-pocketed on the metro (grrr)! A veritable mix of emotions from the start.

Check back soon!

Love from Paris,

Check out photos from all of my adventures here!

The Ossuary in Kutna Hora

We started our day this morning rather lazily with a long breakfast in our hotel lobby and trip to the main train station, Hlavni Nadrazi. Sadly, the weather was nothing like the first days. The skies were overcast and the weather was drizzly and cold. We decided to spend our morning in Kutna Hora, a neighboring town with some creepily astounding architecture.

We hopped on a 12P train to Kutna Hora and spent an hour seeing the Czech Republic from Prague to Bohemia. We also added a fourth person onto our wolf pack: our new friend, Chris, a fellow American living in Spain and traveling in Prague! After an hour of chatting and countryside viewing we arrived. First stop: Kostnice in Kutna Hora.

Chandelier made of bones

Artsy?

The inside of Kostnice in Kutna Hora is ‘decorated’ with the bones of 40,000 people. Creepy, but bizarrely intriguing. Though that had been our only must-see when we planned our day trip, Chris mentioned St. Barbara, a UNESCO heritage site in Kutna Hora with stained glass that was supposed to rival that of St. Vitus.

After a long walk in the rain and slush, we made it up to St. Barbara. For $1.50, we were not disappointed.

Santa Barbara

Inside St. Barbara

The outside of the church was amazingly brilliant — an awesomely magnificent building in the middle of nowhere. If the outside was awesome, though, the inside was beyond brilliant. The stained glass was phenomenal (a common theme in CZ) and the statues and structures were incredible.

After a long day, a long bus ride back we hit up the Old Town once again for dinner and evening drinks. Our new friend, Chris, joined us for the evening and we had quite possibly the most delicious dinner of life at a hotel’s restaurant. The view was awesome, facing the Astronomical Clock and the Old Town Center with a pretty awesome view of Tyn Church. The menu was absolutely insane; it looked like a small bound book with nearly 100 pages of Czech fare. For under 10 euros a piece, we weren’t expecting the most fantastic of dishes, but we were beyond pleasantly surprised! After our dinner and convo, Chris decided to treat dad to an after-dinner treat. Apparently dad didn’t learn his lesson from the night before; he and Chris both ended up with grog to end the night. Delish? Not sure if I mentioned this, but grog is straight rum. It may be watered down ever-so-slightly, but it’s nearly entirely spiced rum. A good 5 – 6 shots of hot spiced rum.

Dad & Chris with their grog!

After our rendezvous, we headed back home to end our fun-filled day and prepare for day #3 in Prague and our flight to the City of Lights. Sad to say goodbye to Prague, but excited to say hello to Paris!

Ciao for now,

After a 3A wake-up call, we were off to a rather groggy but excited start. Having packed beforehand, we got dressed quickly and set out of the flat by 350A to catch the N38 bus near Holborn to Victoria station. As luck would have it, we made it in the nick of time… this would be a fortunate pattern for the day ahead. After making it to Victoria Station, we jumped on the Gatwick Express and rode to Gatwick Airport to make our 610A flight. Eek. I can confidently say that my choice in booking a flight that early in the morning did not make me the most popular person.

Running through Gatwick Airport

Despite the lines, the incompetent people and the overall stress of early morning airport runs, we made it aboard the plane and landed in Prague by 930A (Czech time). We snagged a ride to our hotel in Central Prague for 15 pounds and were hitting the streets shortly after.

Poor tired Tiffany, big ballin!

We all thought we were ballers with hundreds and hundreds of Czech koruna in our pockets… with the exchange though it really only equated to roughly $75 – 100. By the time we wandered into Old Town, we were enthralled with the architecture and the palpable differences between Western and Eastern Europe. Such a difference, and definitely a good change for our mini Euro trip.

The Astronomical Clock in Old Town

Tyn Church in Old Town Prague

Dad & Tiff in Old Town

We stumbled upon a fun German-style market in the middle of Old Town Square near Tyn Church while wandering. After seeing the Astronomical Clock at Town Hall and a number of other sites,  we perused the market. I grabbed an oh-so-delicious crepe while Tiff had snacked on some Czech goodies and dad downed a couple of beers from a stand. Though I’m not a beer drinker, his five beers from the afternoon would lead me to believe that Prague is home to some good beer!

Beer #3?

We decided to head to Prague Castle by way of Charles Bridge next to get a glimpse of St. Vitus Cathedral and enjoy the stellar view from the top.

St. Vitus' Cathedral

The castle and St. Vitus’ are spectacular! The structures are ridiculously huge and ornate. The sculptures in the cathedral were remarkable and the stained glass was unparalleled. Even after all of the gorgeous stained glass in British churches, this bad boy took the cake!

EVERYWHERE!

Gorgeous Views!

Tiffany enjoying the views from the top!

After viewing the cathedral and glimpsing the views from the castle, we headed back down through the market so Tiff & dad could enjoy some Czech beer before we had dinner in the Prague sunshine. Glorious!

When in Prague...

We meandered the streets for a while and found our way home fairly early after a long, long day. We relaxed for a few hours before heading out for late night drinks at a local eatery.

Get this: four drinks, a coffee and two delicious desserts: $20. Can you say ’steal’?!

Now it’s nearly 11P and I’ve been up for entirely too long. Hopefully this is semi-coherent when I re-read it tomorrow. In the AM we’re off to Kutna Hora to check out the ossuary (a church made of bones) before coming back to Prague. Catch up with you soon!

Love from Prague,

To see the rest of the photos from Prague, click here!

So excited to see this drunken face again!

After booking our Spring trip to Prague, Paris & Amsterdam, I took some time yesterday to actually book our hotels for our stay! I have never been to any of these places, so I had to do a little reconnaissance work to figure out which area would be the best for our little family fiesta. My dad and sister both put a lot of faith in me to make these kind of decisions (not sure if that’s the wisest, but we’ll soon find out), so I took the liberty of picking areas that I thought provided the best bang for our buck… err.. euro. Typically, when I’m booking a hotel, I try to find a place that’s relatively close to public transport (preferably the Metro, but bus & tram can suffice). It’s usually much more expensive to stay in the touristy spots, plus the restaurants in those areas are pretty hit or miss… I’m sure a lot of them realize that they’re getting one-time tourist customers and can charge ridiculous prices and not deliver. So, for all of the places that I booked, I chose accommodations within 5 minutes walking from the town’s subway system — thank God for public transportation (America, listen up)!

Old Town Square, Prague

So, in Prague, we (read: I) decided to stay in this awesome hotel near the Old Town Square. And– get this– two nights in this four-star hotel, free Wi-fi and breakfast for a mere £98. For both nights. For all three of us! Needless to say, we were pretty stoked (perhaps it was an error on expedia’s part?) and are all really pumped to explore.

Sacre Coeur, Paris

In Paris, there were so many areas, I had to really investigate. Luckily, with the help of the internet and with my handy Let’s Go Europe! book, I managed to find a pretty great hotel that was reasonably priced (which seems to be a feat in the City of Lights). Though we looked at places in 1eme/2eme (near the Louvre) and 5eme/6eme (the Latin Quarter), we actually settled on a place that borders 9eme (L’Opera) and 18eme (Montmartre). The place is darling and it’s down the street from the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur. Plus it’s well connected by transport links (metro & train station are nearby). Considering it was about £200 pounds (total) cheaper than staying near the Louvre or Eiffel Tower, I think we’re happy with our decision.

Jordaan Area, Amsterdam

Amsterdam… ugggh… Amsterdam was rough. I’ve never been there before and I haven’t really investigated it because it’s not much of my scene. When I was looking, however, I was surprised at how expensive the majority of the hotels are! I thought Amsterdam was going to be the least of my worries, but it ended up being the most challenging. After reading a few helpful hints on Expedia, we decided to stay in the Jordaan area (pronounced yor-darn). It’s supposed to be a pretty area – lots of canals, art and markets nearby.

Now that everything’s booked, I’m so excited to get some sightseeing in and explore! I’m actually very happy with our (much-debated) itinerary. My dad and sister will both get a pretty good taste of Western Europe (London + Paris), a bit of Eastern Europe (Prague) and then a touch of something unique in Amsterdam!

53 days and counting! Now, off to the Tate Modern to soak in some art on my day off!

Amsterdam!

Like I mentioned last week, my dad and sister are popping over to Europe for a visit during late March/early April and we’ve decided to make a family Eurotrip out of their two-week stint! During round one of discussions, we decided that Paris and Amsterdam were two cities that were definitely on our agenda. After looking at our timeline, however, we decided that we could easily squeeze in another country and maximize our travels! We threw a number of ideas around: Rome, Barcelona, Madrid, Edinburgh (the list goes on and on). We initially settled on Rome as a way of capturing as much culture as possible, but after looking at pricing and our time frame, we finally decided on the unexpected during our second round of discussion: Prague.

Prague

Now, I have always wanted to hop over to Prague for a visit; it seems to have a bit of an old world Eastern European charm that differs from a lot of Western European countries, but I didn’t think that it would actually be the most cost-effective plan of action. Our total transport costs (London to Prague, Prague to Paris, Paris to Amsterdam and Amsterdam to London) definitely proved otherwise! All flights and trains came out to about $265. Total. That’s pretty impressive. Needless to say, after getting all of this handled, I am so incredibly excited for our upcoming excursions!

My sister has never been to Europe and my dad hasn’t seen much more than London and Malta, so this is going to be an amazing experience for all of us! I have a pretty good idea of how to maximize our three-and-a-half days in London, but we’re still working out what sights to see and how to allocate our time in Prague (2-1/2 days), Paris (4 days) and Amsterdam (2-1/2 days).

From anyone that’s been to any of these cities — any suggestions? Any must-sees?

Lots of love,