Prague day 3

Started off a bit slow again, as Abigail and I are not 100%. But, we push on. Today we go back across the river, but decided to try the public transit. We walked to the tram stop… hey, what do you know, a cute Christmas market.

We browse a bit, then grab a tram to St. Nicholas church. We get off the tram at our stop… into another cute market!

While the girls looked around, I walked to a close by pharmacy for medicine. Then on to the church. St. Nicholas is baroque style, so the architecture is totally different than St. Vitus.

Then we walked to Lennon’s Wall…

Then to Vojanovy Sady park… and then to the narrowest street in the world.

You can see that they have lights to control the flow since it’s too narrow for people to pass each other!

Then we split up, with the girls walking back, and me finding a tram stop.

We all eventually get back to the apartment. Current mood…

Madison and I got out for a short walk to Billa grocery story for a few things. Then we split again, they going to an absinthe bar and me going to the apartment.

Day 3 in the books.

Prague day 2

Ok, time change pain still hitting us hard. Regardless, we got up and out when we needed to to make some scheduled events. Up and out about 9 on a long walk to the Prague Castle. We grabbed coffee and breakfast along the way.

Then up and up…

But we made it, and early to boot.

So the castle… the largest in the world. Multiple rulers added sections over time. The crown jewel, no pun intended, was the St. Vitus Cathedral. Much too big to get a really good picture, so you’ll have to believe how incredible it was.

The inside was crazier than the outside…

The palace was so large, there was a room where they held coronations and medival jousting.

After the castle, we walked through Letna Park.

Then we had lunch at a lookout, near a Biergarten. So close…

Then a relatively short hike to the river.

Now own to a boat tour on the Vltava River and down the Devil’s Channel.

After a short rest, Abigail and Madison went back out to look at tattoos. Once Bailley got up, I left for a bit too. I meandered to the market and got a hot wine.

Then waited for Madison and Abigail. The timing was right, so got to watch the astronomical clock strike 7 and do it’s thing. Then we grabbed food and made our way back… to eat, and most importantly, watch the dancing with the stars finale.

6.68 miles today… so back to normal vacation pace.

Prague day 1

After a long night sleep, maybe 12 hours for me, I got up and went to grab breakfast. First to Espesso for coffee. I guess the peacoat and no smile threw them… I was greeted with a flurry of Czech. The blank stares were quickly followed with ‘hello’… good… then by ‘cash only’… less good. Luckily they took euros as we haven’t gotten cash yet. While she made my coffee, I asked about the greeting and then she helped me work on my ‘dobry den!’ or good morning. Then to buy kolaches in their natural habitat. I got savory (ham and pizza) as well as sweet.

Madison gets up once I’m back and eats too. Then we leave letting Abigail and Bailley sleep a bit longer… thinking they’ll catch up to us. We walk through the square toward the river… our first sight of the St. Charles bridge and the Prague Castle.

We walked across the bridge, admiring everything we could take in. Ok, no texts and it’s approaching lunch time. So we head back to the apartment… where we wake up Abigail and Bailley after 16 ish hours in bed.

Once everyone was ready, we head back out to start hitting some art we wanted to see. First, the rotating Franz Kafka head…

Then we hit a grocery store for a few things and pushed on to Man Hanging Out.

After that, we had planned on going to the beer museum, but I was not feeling standing extra long. So, we called an audible and headed to the St. Charles bridge so everyone could see it.

We even climbed one of the towers to the top.

After that, we headed back to the apartment to rest a bit. Last push for dinner. No one was super hungry, so we decided to grab food in the little Christmas market area. Prague ham and some potato dish with ham and sauerkraut… all really good.

Then dessert… a chimney cake was a must… and we made it happen.

OK, walk back… stopping to get a few things at a grocery. Then… do we have it in us for one more thing? Evidently, we do or at least think we do. Madison and I got to check a box for ‘had absinthe’. The bar was… ummm, interesting…

Well, 7.86 miles walked… so a power packed first full day!

Prague travel day

Hoobooii, long day. Either the flights are getting longer or I’m getting older. It didn’t help that it was three flights, but it did help that the we were all together for the last one.

It begins! You can tell because we have energy are not punch drunk yet.

And finally all together at Heathrow.

Finally made it! Punch drunkenness is full affect. We are riding the bus from the airport to the main train station.

… and now the hike through the old town center to find the apartment. At this point I’m physically and mentally gone… glad I’ve got three great travelers to do the heavy lifting.

Made it to the apartment!

OK… last push… dinner before collapsing.

I had low expectations for the food (no offense Czech Republic), but I found the first sampling very good. Cabbage soup and beef goulash were the winners in my book.

Lastly, a bit of exploring then the big collapse.

Banff and Canmore Day 4

   Another pretty early start... up and out by 8:30 to go on our last hike. Multiple people mentioned the Grassi Lakes hike in Canmore, so that's where we head. The 'easy' section was closed, so we got to experience the 'challenging' route. We all got to the lookout at the waterfall which was so so pretty.

  At the point, Madison waited there and Bailley, Abigail, and I pushed on upward. It took a while, but we made it to the Grassi Lakes. I've never seen water that clear, just spectacular.

  We turn around and head back down, collect Madison, and get back to the car. Now a quick drive to Banff to take our scheduled gondola ride to the top of Sulphur Mountain. 

  The views were great, probably the highest we've been. But wait, there's higher! We walk across the boardwalk to the even higher point to the old Comic Ray Observatory.  I ain't gonna lie, it was a really small area with quite the drop offs, so I wasn't very comfortable... but... we did it, all the way to the tippy top.

   Then a smooth gondola ride down, then a bus ride into downtown to get to Madison's tattoo appointment.  We hit a brewery for a bite and drinks, then Abigail and Bailley souvenir shopped while we waited on Madison to get done.

  Quite the physically active vacation... I think we got our moneys worth out of the Canadian Rockies on this trip. Spending time all together with the cool temperatures, beautiful streams and lakes, and majestic mountains made for a wonderful family vacation.

Banff and Canmore Day 3

   Today we got up early-ish to be at the hot springs in Banff when it opened. Success! We were some of the first in line. The natural hot springs was very nice and relaxing.. plus the views from the pool were super.

  Then we grabbed lunch at Chili's, violating my rule of no US chains while out of the country. Evidently it's famous and we 'had' to at least get a picture.

  After that we split up and just bummed around Canmore, looking at sights and souvenir shopping.