So I've mentioned in a few posts that something not good has happened on this trip, and that is that my last grandparent has passed away. We knew this was a possibility and I spent a good 3 hours with her before I left. She was so excited for me going on this trip and it's unfortunate she won't get to hear about my experiences.
I found out the 2nd night in Prague, which is why I was pretty chill the rest of the time. The day I found out had strange circumstance. I was visiting the bonechurch/ostuarry, and the largest building for miles around was the cathedral Santa Barbara. I had even lit a candle in the bonechurch as a general remembrance. Kinda of spooky to get the news later that night.
(Side note - the day my Mom's mom died was also kinda eerie. I was using Grandma June's UCLA tickets and Deshaun Foster ran for a record 350 yards and 4 TDs vs Washington. It was a fitting day.)
Going to the Prague Cathedral the day after I found out was helpful. I'm not overly
religious, but something felt right about being in the former capital of the Holy Roman Empire and thinking of my Catholic grandma.
Today (Wed, July 18th) she's being laid to rest in San Clemente and I was fortunate to stumble into St. Stephan's which had a number of side areas and a place where I could light a candle and reflect away from the tourists. I think I smiled more than anything. Every minor event in my life was always a big event in hers and the pride she took in her children and grandchildren will stay with us all forever.
Rest in Peace Grandma Bar. You will be missed and always loved.
(Ugh, it's getting all dusty in here.)
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Vienna day 3
Today was mostly just a chill out, get caught up on the blog, and catch a night train -day. It had an added event which I'll post in a minute.
We took the train down to St. Stephan's to take a catacomb tour and the cathedral itself was unreal. Not quite as big as the one in Prague, but equally as grand. Tall, sweeping pillars, large stain glass scenes and a organ that spanned the entire width on an upper level.
The catacomb tour was crazy too. It starts in the rooms where the coffins of the bishops are kept, then moves into the crypt of the Hafburgs (the royal family of Vienna) which has not only their coffins but also rows of copper bins that hold their organs from their embalming. It then goes through a large room of old sculptures and the original pendulum used to ring the bells - a 800kg (1700lb) wooden piece that the guide jokes anyone if free to take (hahahahahha, so funny...not really). From there we move down into the general population crypt where we learned about how int he 1700s the crypt was getting so full that the smell of the dead was actually seeping into the church, driving down attendance. To fix it, the church forced prisoners to clean all the "leftovers off the bones and throw them down into the second level. There was also story about more bones being cast down a deep shaft so the space could be used as a bomb shelter during WWII.
(Side note - this is why I'm getting cremated. Do you want your bones dug up 400yrs later and thrown wherever the hell someone decides? No thanks. Cast me into the ocean and I'll be good.)
For lunch we had bratwurst that fortunately did not ruin my view of Johnsonville Brats. Props to Johnsonville for not making crappy American version of the brat.
Tonight it's off to Venice and then on to Cinque Terre.
We took the train down to St. Stephan's to take a catacomb tour and the cathedral itself was unreal. Not quite as big as the one in Prague, but equally as grand. Tall, sweeping pillars, large stain glass scenes and a organ that spanned the entire width on an upper level.
The catacomb tour was crazy too. It starts in the rooms where the coffins of the bishops are kept, then moves into the crypt of the Hafburgs (the royal family of Vienna) which has not only their coffins but also rows of copper bins that hold their organs from their embalming. It then goes through a large room of old sculptures and the original pendulum used to ring the bells - a 800kg (1700lb) wooden piece that the guide jokes anyone if free to take (hahahahahha, so funny...not really). From there we move down into the general population crypt where we learned about how int he 1700s the crypt was getting so full that the smell of the dead was actually seeping into the church, driving down attendance. To fix it, the church forced prisoners to clean all the "leftovers off the bones and throw them down into the second level. There was also story about more bones being cast down a deep shaft so the space could be used as a bomb shelter during WWII.
(Side note - this is why I'm getting cremated. Do you want your bones dug up 400yrs later and thrown wherever the hell someone decides? No thanks. Cast me into the ocean and I'll be good.)
For lunch we had bratwurst that fortunately did not ruin my view of Johnsonville Brats. Props to Johnsonville for not making crappy American version of the brat.
Tonight it's off to Venice and then on to Cinque Terre.
Vienna day 2
Today we basically roamed from sight to sight in the 9th and 1st district. How much area is that? Vienna is divided into 23 districts. It's friggin huge. All the good stuff is in the 1st though so we focused there.
To get around we took public transit, a system which easily beats NYC in quality. If LA had this system, we could get past all the stuffy NY people for the best city in the US, but for now enjoy the traffic.
We spent the morning touring the Parliament and Imperial palace. then headed for the Danube so we could brag we'd seen it the 2nd longest river in Europe (1700 miles) from multiple sides (I know you're jealous). That afternoon we found a cafe with free Internet if you buy a drink and drowned ourselves in a bottle of pinot grigio. This is going to be an emerging trend as we hit Italy and France. Vienna has sort of been our beer-wine transitions spot.
That might we headed for the Bermuda Triangle, a 3 sided area of killer bars and got loaded on good food, wine and beer. Unfortunately the place kinda died around midnight (don't they know we're on vacation!) which wasn't all bad because we had to be out of our hostel at 9am.
To get around we took public transit, a system which easily beats NYC in quality. If LA had this system, we could get past all the stuffy NY people for the best city in the US, but for now enjoy the traffic.
We spent the morning touring the Parliament and Imperial palace. then headed for the Danube so we could brag we'd seen it the 2nd longest river in Europe (1700 miles) from multiple sides (I know you're jealous). That afternoon we found a cafe with free Internet if you buy a drink and drowned ourselves in a bottle of pinot grigio. This is going to be an emerging trend as we hit Italy and France. Vienna has sort of been our beer-wine transitions spot.
That might we headed for the Bermuda Triangle, a 3 sided area of killer bars and got loaded on good food, wine and beer. Unfortunately the place kinda died around midnight (don't they know we're on vacation!) which wasn't all bad because we had to be out of our hostel at 9am.
Vienna (half) day 1
We make it to Vienna around 2 and instantly we love it - dry heat! After 3 humid days in Prague, it was fantastic to be in some SoCal weather. Little did we know how much this place would end up feeling like home.
We headed to our hostel. It was a cool spot, a converted dorm for the Summer manned by college kids that told us all the spots to hit.
We took off towards the inner ring and found a plaza with some open cafes and sat down for dinner. This town is totally laid back. Have a beer, take 20 mins to order your food. Have another beer afterwards and just hang out. Don't worry about a big tip, our restaurant owners don't treat us like slaves. This lace is easily as laid back as LA, except every building has some kind of historic significance. After dinner we realize we're in an area call Judenplatz (Jewish Plaza). It had some cool sculptures and a monument to the 65,000 (yes, thousand) Austrian Jews that perished from 1938 to 1945. Cool and solemn at the same time.
We took a slightly different way back and ended up at an Irish pub where we tried 3 new kinds of Guinness beer we've never seen in the US and met a bunch of cool Aussie chicks that unfortunately had the token NYC buzzkill chick who had to go to some loser bar where she could play Connect 4 and everyone had to go because it was her last night. NYC wino-bag chick for the loss.
after the 11pm to midnight HH (we REALLY like this town) and some smiles from our smoking-hot Austrian waitress we called it a night.
Fucking bitchy NYC chick.
We headed to our hostel. It was a cool spot, a converted dorm for the Summer manned by college kids that told us all the spots to hit.
We took off towards the inner ring and found a plaza with some open cafes and sat down for dinner. This town is totally laid back. Have a beer, take 20 mins to order your food. Have another beer afterwards and just hang out. Don't worry about a big tip, our restaurant owners don't treat us like slaves. This lace is easily as laid back as LA, except every building has some kind of historic significance. After dinner we realize we're in an area call Judenplatz (Jewish Plaza). It had some cool sculptures and a monument to the 65,000 (yes, thousand) Austrian Jews that perished from 1938 to 1945. Cool and solemn at the same time.
We took a slightly different way back and ended up at an Irish pub where we tried 3 new kinds of Guinness beer we've never seen in the US and met a bunch of cool Aussie chicks that unfortunately had the token NYC buzzkill chick who had to go to some loser bar where she could play Connect 4 and everyone had to go because it was her last night. NYC wino-bag chick for the loss.
after the 11pm to midnight HH (we REALLY like this town) and some smiles from our smoking-hot Austrian waitress we called it a night.
Fucking bitchy NYC chick.
The mad dash
So we were hopping a 10:26 train to Vienna and we get to the station at 10 thinking we're good and early...only we don't see our train...oh crap. A info desk attendant that was very annoyed we had to ask (we don't have this cool train system in America lady!) told us we were at the wrong station and needed to hop the subway to the other one.
We finally figure out the right line at 10:10 and get ot the stop. Greg doesn't like our chances, I'm optimistic.
10:15 - we make it to the right station
10:17 - Crap! we went the wrong way out, amd dash back the other way.
10:21 - We're in the train terminal. Platform 3! GO!!!
10:23 - And we're there. Piece of cake. Knew we'd make it all along.
We had a ticket but not a reservation. It wasn't a big deal (9 euros extra each) and we ended up with a nice asian couple who taught at Clairmont Mackena (sp), a college in SoCal.
All in all, an eventful morning. On to Wien! (Vienna)
We finally figure out the right line at 10:10 and get ot the stop. Greg doesn't like our chances, I'm optimistic.
10:15 - we make it to the right station
10:17 - Crap! we went the wrong way out, amd dash back the other way.
10:21 - We're in the train terminal. Platform 3! GO!!!
10:23 - And we're there. Piece of cake. Knew we'd make it all along.
We had a ticket but not a reservation. It wasn't a big deal (9 euros extra each) and we ended up with a nice asian couple who taught at Clairmont Mackena (sp), a college in SoCal.
All in all, an eventful morning. On to Wien! (Vienna)
Prague day 3
Our final day we wanted to explore the St Charles Bridge and Prague Castle. We crossed the bridge in the morning and headed up the hill to the castle. A big long hill. Really high up. Look, an ice cream shop! Hmmmmm, ice cream. More uphill walking. And we're there!
The castle is amazing and huge. It houses the Prague Cathedral within its walls, plus all the current admin buildings, the Kafka house, and royal gardens. In the Prague Cathedral we were blown away by all the gold and silver statues, the giant stained glass windows and sculpture after sculpture. We decided to climb the 287 steps up winding staircase to of the North tower and were rewarded with incredible views of the castle, the bridges across the Danube and into Old Town Prague. Just incredible (and totally worth the dizzying, 2-way climb).
On the way back we stopped to admire the St. Charles Bridge. It's like a massive open market with people playing music, doing portraits and selling trinkets. the highlights are the 20 statues that line both sides of the bridge. Each is incredible, but the most prominent two are the ones of St. John's and a statue of Jesus with Hebrew letters. The St. John one is famous because supposedly a pious man had been thrown from the bridge at that spot during a Zionist period and if you rub the statue it means you will have good luck and will someday return to Prague (ok, twist my arm :-D). The second statue is supposedly a spot where a Jewish man was condemned for heresy and forced to put the words "Holy Holy Holy lord almighty" around the statue of Jesus as punishment.
That night we were set on having absinthe, and having seen good deals on it at the jazz bar the previous night we headed back to do some shots. We did the classic Fire Absinthe shot which is where they take a spoon full of sugar, dip it in the absinthe, pull it out and light it on fire to caramelize the sugar, then pour it back into the absinthe and shoot it. Holy crap what a shot. One of those and we were flying. We ended up staying at the jazz bar another night because the waitresses were cute and there were lots of travellers swapping stories (and because we probably would have gotten hopelessly lost outside :-p).
Awesome time in Prague. I always wondered how Little was able to stay there for 2 years and ow I wonder how he ever made it back. It has probably shot to the top of the cities so far.
The castle is amazing and huge. It houses the Prague Cathedral within its walls, plus all the current admin buildings, the Kafka house, and royal gardens. In the Prague Cathedral we were blown away by all the gold and silver statues, the giant stained glass windows and sculpture after sculpture. We decided to climb the 287 steps up winding staircase to of the North tower and were rewarded with incredible views of the castle, the bridges across the Danube and into Old Town Prague. Just incredible (and totally worth the dizzying, 2-way climb).
On the way back we stopped to admire the St. Charles Bridge. It's like a massive open market with people playing music, doing portraits and selling trinkets. the highlights are the 20 statues that line both sides of the bridge. Each is incredible, but the most prominent two are the ones of St. John's and a statue of Jesus with Hebrew letters. The St. John one is famous because supposedly a pious man had been thrown from the bridge at that spot during a Zionist period and if you rub the statue it means you will have good luck and will someday return to Prague (ok, twist my arm :-D). The second statue is supposedly a spot where a Jewish man was condemned for heresy and forced to put the words "Holy Holy Holy lord almighty" around the statue of Jesus as punishment.
That night we were set on having absinthe, and having seen good deals on it at the jazz bar the previous night we headed back to do some shots. We did the classic Fire Absinthe shot which is where they take a spoon full of sugar, dip it in the absinthe, pull it out and light it on fire to caramelize the sugar, then pour it back into the absinthe and shoot it. Holy crap what a shot. One of those and we were flying. We ended up staying at the jazz bar another night because the waitresses were cute and there were lots of travellers swapping stories (and because we probably would have gotten hopelessly lost outside :-p).
Awesome time in Prague. I always wondered how Little was able to stay there for 2 years and ow I wonder how he ever made it back. It has probably shot to the top of the cities so far.
Prague day 2
Day two we were on a mission to get to a small town about an outside of Prague called Kutna Hora. Kutna Hora houses a small osstuary where in the late 1700s a half blind monk built a Bonechurch. Apparently this church had been a favorite burial site of a wealthy Czech family and eventually more and more fo the lcoals wanted to be burried there. In the 1500s part of the land of the already overfiled cemetary was sieyed and the bones piled up around the outside of the church. In the 1700s a half-blind monk began takign the bones and building them intothe church. Today you can toru that church and it is awesome ina really creepy way. There's a chandellier that is made of at least one of every bone in the human body, a family crest made entirely of bone, and 4 large pyramids that you could see skulls lying all throughout. Pretty crazy.
That night was kind fo subdued (for reasons I'll get into in a moment), but we found a chill jazz bar with cute bartenders and it was all good.
That night was kind fo subdued (for reasons I'll get into in a moment), but we found a chill jazz bar with cute bartenders and it was all good.
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