Home Sweet Home

Well, we made it back safely. I posted some pictures from the first leg of our trip on Flickr. I will be adding more, so check back!

Prague

S will edit this later and add some photos. After a trying train ride from Bratislava we are in Prague. Our train had "technical difficulties" somewhere in the middle of the Czech Republic and was able to limp into a station. Luckily another train going to Praha was coming through in 10 minutes and we emptied the train we were on and crammed onto this other train. Luckily we met a very nice gentleman who adopted us. His name was Jan and he is a native Slovakian and works in Prague as a mechanical engineer. He translated for us and helped us navigate the stations. We had some great conversations and learned a lot about both Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
We finally arrived in Prague only about an hour and change later than originally planned. Taking the transit was quite easy but it was still a pretty good walk through the snow to our hotel. But it was all worth it. The hotel is unbelievable and very luxe. We are across the street from the US embassy in a very good area, basically right next door to the castle. So the adventure in Prague will begin. Luckily I have been here before so I can guide us a bit.

Now a recap of Bratislava. It was great. A very neat place that I would recommend to anyone. I think it is a jewel of eastern europe. They were doing construction on their main castle so we didnt get to go into it but it didn't stop us from hiking up the hill to go see it anyways. The area around Bratislava has served as a decisive military outpost since even before the Romans set up camps there.

We are in eastern europe

We just got into Bratislava. It's an hour train ride but a world away from the riches of Vienna. It is quite beautiful though. Its snowy and cold but we were expecting that. Luckily we are staying at the "finest hotel in all of Slovakia"(Frommers) and it is pretty posh and in the old town where everything is. (K's first post!)

Sarah at the flea market in Vienna
The view from our fab hotel in Bratislava

Happy New Year

We went down to the lake area about 10:00, after a nice long nap in our hotel. There were hundreds of people there, maybe thousands. We drank some gluewien and stood on the bridge looking over the lake. At midnight there were some awesome fireworks. They dimmed the streetlights and everyone clapped and shouted. It was very fun. I've never seen so many champaign corks fly in the air at once. It was like graduation only with corks. Wonderful!!!

Now we are in Vienna and having a great time. We just went to a flea market and got some fun things. This afternoon we are going to the Imperial Treasury to see all the crown jewels of Austria.

K Update:
S has her number estimating off a bit. She uses the same figuring as she does when she figures out how much something is going to cost. There were not several thousand people at the celebration in Zurich... there were several hundred thousand people there. It was unbelievable. When we had gotten into Zurich that day we got a great meal at a downtown beer hall with excellent food and really great local beer. After that a bit of walking around we went back to the hotel for a rest. When we made it out to the celebration there were bands set up all over town playing everything from rock music to jazz and DJ's playing techno music creating outdoor dance clubs. It had snowed while we took our pre-party nap and all that snow mixed with that many people created quite a slush. We even saw some nut walking barefoot and shirtless wearing a kilt partying in the streets.
It was a lot of fun ringing in the new year in such a unique environment.

onward to Zurich

We are currently on board the TGV heading to Zurich. It has been a wonderful ride so far. Our Eurail passes got us into the first class section, and it is sooo comfortable. I was dreading spending the morning on yet another train, but this has been entirely relaxing. The countryside is beautiful, and now that we are in Switzerland it is even better. I love the Alps! We split a breakfast (13 Euros!!!) but it was plenty for both of us. We had bacon and mini hashbrowns, a baguette with excellent butter and cherry jam, and a chocolat croissant. Mmm. K has been reading a book all morning while I've been staring out the window. We are very excited about the New Year celebration in Zurich. It's supposed to be Switzerland's biggest party complete with massive fireworks. Our hotel is in the center of town, so we should be right in the middle of things. I'll give a full report tomorrow.

London and Paris

We've been having a lot of fun, and we are very busy. Tomorrow we leave for Zurich and the New Year. Today we went shopping in Paris, but we didn't buy anything except S bought a scarf. (hers was not warm enough for all the SNOW!!)
It was very cold. We had Hot Chocolat and Jambon de Paris sandwiches for lunch and gyros for dinner. We tried to go to Les Catacombs, but the line was sooo looong and they told us we would never make it to the front before it closed. K was sorely disappointed, especially since a quick shopping stop by S probably made us arrive to late. Ah well, such is life.

i would walk 500 miles...

K and i walked to Broadway yesterday. It was lovely, but a long walk. By the time we got there, I was determined to find a cab to take us back to Chipping Campden. We ate Shepard's pie at the Horse and Hound. Yummy, I just love English food. We walked all around Broadway until the sun started to set. At this point we began to realize that cabs were a little harder to come by out here in the Cotswolds, especially on Boxing day. Oh horror! we saw that we had no choice but to walk the entire six miles back with the sun quickly setting. There was a small outdoor shop at the edge of town, so I bought a warm hat while K picked up a torch so we could see in the muddy fields. (silly us, itwas warm when we left so KandI didn't bring hats or gloves!)
Our journey back begin with a lovely hike 2 miles uphill (STRAIGHT uphill). Luckily it was still light outside as we had to walk right next to the road. We made it to the top of Fish Hill just as the sun was setting. From this point it was all tromping through fields and meadows. At one point we heard the loudest squawking noise coming from the trees. Suddenly two wild pheasants flew out of the trees. They were beautiful. I sang every Christmas song I could think of to keep us going for the next four miles.
When we finally made it back to the hotel we could barely walk. I guess we should have been excerising a bit more before our trip. The jacuzzi tub was such a blessing. That night the dinner started with the best parsnip soup I've ever had. Ok, it was the first time I'd ever had parsnip soup but it was excellent. Then we had roast beef with a homemade horseradish sauce. Mmm. K and I finally retired with full bellies and a wonderful sense of accomplishment.
Currently we are sitting at the train station in Moreton-in-Marsh waiting for the train back to London. I have a full day of shopping planned. It seems every store in London is having huge post-Christmas sales. K is insisting on at least a few museums...I guess if there's time...
lots of love!!
S & K