Day 5: Prague

 We started out our day today in Prague Castle - the largest compound in all of Europe with an active President's office still !  We did a tour with a tour guide and learned all about the castle and surrounding area.  After the morning tour, our group went up to a nicer restaurant and enjoyed some local flavors and a healthy lunch!

 

The Coronation Hall which was also used for Knight tournaments!  They even had a separate staircase just for the horses with a cut out in the molding for the King's crown!  

St. Vitus Cathedral

The Good King Wenceslas is buried in the cathedral!  Of course, the kids had no clue who that was!

One of the interesting things we saw on the tour was a monument set up by the Prague firefighters in memory of the NYC firefighters who lost their lives in 9/11.  It is always so nice to see how other countries memorialize things that are important to us!

A few of us hung around to see the clock strike 12 this afternoon.  The astronomical clock was built in 1410 and still works with 75% of its original parts!  It rings at the top of every hour, and the blue doors open to see a little "carousel" of the apostles spin while the bells ring.  It is amazing that it can still work after all those years! 

Then, we took a river cruise on the Bitava river. 

 After the river cruise, our group decided to enjoy a little ride around Prague in the "old Prague car".  It was a nice breeze, didn't require walking and allowed us to see more of the city!  

Crossing the street with 45 people is no small feat!  The "walk" sign does not typically stay lit long enough for everyone to get across, and pedestrians are not really a top priority here!

 We all tried the Trdelnik which is a local treat!  Chase and I had one filled with Nutella, but you can get them empty or filled with ice cream, too.  It was a type of toasted cinnamon bread.

I did not get to visit the candy store, but the kids apparently had a blast with all the unique types of candy!  Chase enjoyed a 6 ft gummy worm!

 We also visited Europe's oldest active synagogue which was completed in 1270. 

It was a busy day with lots of information and over 17,000 steps in the book!  We are now back at the hotel and ready to pack our bags to move on to Krakow tomorrow.

 At dinner, we tried a local dumpling that disappointingly tasted like Mrs. Baird's white bread.  It was not what we thought of when we think of dumplings.

Day 6: Spain to France

Bonjour from Arles in the region of Provence, France!  Today was a travel day with a few stops along the way.

Our first stop, other than the restroom, was in Carcassonne, France.  We had a few hours to wander around the old town within the walls and to eat lunch.  It was a very quaint town with many shops and cafes.  There is still a castle within the walls as well.  It was a fun stop for lunch!

Our tour director has been teaching us how to identify the difference between Gothic, Neo-Gothic and Romanseque styles of architecture.  The Romanesque architecture is more rounded while Gothic has a more pointed arch!

We took a quick peek inside the Basilique Saint-Nazaire.  This is the second Basilica we have been to, and we still have at least one.  The name "Basilica" means it has been visited by and blessed by the Pope. Ooh La La!!

After another three hour drive, we stopped in Arles, a town Van Gogh once lived in! He lived here from 1888-1890 when he cut off his ear and was hospitalized in the mental hospital here - Hotel Dieu.  While not a very happy time, he created some beautiful and memorable paintings including 

"The Starry Night" 

and "Le Cafe de Nuit".

So, our wonderful tour guide, Miriam, arranged for us to eat in the same square as the cafe which was the object of his inspiration!!!

So, here we are across the street!  Do you see it?  How fun!! It is amazing how someone (like me) can not really be a huge fan of art but suddenly actually care about an artist and his works after learning about them and their art!  I hope some of your students are coming home with the same thoughts!!

After a little walk to the bus, we drove about 15 minutes to our hotel which we love!!  It is a small hotel owned by locals.  I think we may be eating fresh eggs in the morning because they have their own chickens on the property.  The kids took a dip in the pool.  The adults have enjoyed a few hours of relaxation in the courtyard, and we are all going to bed soon to be ready for a new adventure tomorrow!!

Feel free to leave comments or questions, if you'd like!!

Day 9

It has been a really long 48 hours!  I am so sorry for not emailing last night, but we literally only had a maximum of 4 hours to sleep.  So, I had to go to bed.  Anyhow....I am sending two separate emails tonight....one for Tuesday and one for today!  So here is Day 9....

We were able to sleep in again and start off with a good breakfast at the hotel!  We traveled by bus into town and split up in two different groups.

Some of us went to Harrod's...London's famous, old, and "posh" department store.  It was lovely and completely overpriced, but we can say we've experienced it!

The main part of the group took the Tube over to the River Thames and waited in line for the London Eye.  Unfortunately, the line was so long, they were not able to get on because we had to get to an appointment with a local guide!  The group was very disappointed, but they did get to see the area.

We all had lunch and then met up with our bus driver "just around the corner"!  That is not a literal term here -- or at least not with Satyen, our guide! :)  We have certainly gotten in plenty of steps!


We picked up our local guide and rode up to Windsor Castle.  He was full of all sorts of knowledge which he shared with us on our 45 minute trip to Windsor!  He told us all about the very important year of 1066 in which England was invaded for the last time by a foreign power - William, the Duke of Normandy (aka: William the Conqueror).

To prove his greatness, William the Conqueror began building castles all over England....over a thousand of them in his first 10 years!  One of them was the Tower of London.  The other was Windsor Castle, what the queen calls her actual residence since Buckingham Palace is "the office".  She usually spends the weekends at Windsor. So, to our disappointment she was not home when we arrived!  We missed her at both castles!


The bus dropped us off, and we walked the rest of the way up the "hill" into the city of Windsor - a very quaint town that we all wish we could have spent the day in!  Our guide stopped in a few places to tell us about the castle before releasing us for about an hour.  One impressive fact was that royalty has been living in Windsor since the 1100s!  That's a legacy!


He showed us the beautiful garden where a moat once surrounded the original castle.  It is usually off limits to the public except a few times a year when they open it up to raise money for charity.  It was so beautiful - partly because it was on so many different levels as it continued to rise up the hill to the castle!  He told us the only way they are able to mow the grass is to attach lawnmowers to ropes, lower them down, and then pull them back up as they cut the grass! I suggested goats might work, but I suppose they might also eat the pretty stuff!

Our guided tour of the castle was about 40 minutes, and it was absolutely breathtaking!  We started with Queen Mary's dollhouse which was given to her for her 60th birthday by her granddaughter.  It is on a scale of 1:12, and is extremely detailed...down to working plumbing and electricity!  We moved along through the state rooms and bed chambers.  Much of the castle is still used for dinners, meetings, etc.  It is also a place in which the Queen can host overnight guests from visiting countries!  Be sure to ask your students what their favorite room was just to get them to remember what all they saw and heard!

Once we completed that tour and spent some time in the official gift shops, we were able to spend just a few minutes in St. George's Chapel which is part of the castle.  Ten kings and queens are buried there including Queen Elizabeth's own parents and sister.  This chapel was another beautiful Anglican church to add to our list of ancient churches we have visited on this tour!

We left Windsor around 4:00 so we could get to dinner on time at 5:00, but that did not happen!  We went to the wrong location and had to traipse back to the tube where our tickets did not work!  It took us over 30 minutes just to get that sorted out and back on the tube.  By the time we arrived at the correct location, we were an hour and twenty minutes late!  Somehow, they were able to feed us quickly and get us out in time to make it to the theatre right on time!  The majority of us saw Wicked! and absolutely loved it.

Many of us had already seen (some multiple times) but we were not disappointed! It was a fabulous show.  When the show was over, we were exhausted and ready for bed.  After our 40 minute bus trip back to our hotel, we crawled into bed for just a few hours of sleep because we had to be on the bus at 4:45 this morning!!!!

to be continued.....