Prague – a city to yet be fully explored

What to say about Prague? I was excited and amped up to see Prague, and it was beautiful, but unfortunately I became unwell early in our stay – which did put a dampener on our travel here. My brief experience is that Prague is a well oiled tourism machine. Even in the off season, the coldest month of the year, and the number of visitors drawn to Prague’s legendary sights is still a steady stream. The good Czechs of this historic town are ready with their attraction lists, English language menus, audio guides, entry prices and souvenir stands. This doesn’t detract at all from the genuine warmth of the people you talk to, and it rests comfortably on the surface of a town which outdoes itself with piles and piles of stunning architecture, intriguing mementos from a complex history, and a proud sense of place in the world. Continue reading “Prague – a city to yet be fully explored” →

Christmas Markets

xmasmarketsnight — One of the Christmas Markets in Barcelona

One of the joys of traveling through Europe is the Christmas Markets. This is where you can get pretty much anything you need to deck your house out for Christmas, and is abundant in local tradition. Generally speaking there is a festive and joyful buzz as local artisans show off their wares, and more often than not the market is well catered with local delicacies, and some sort of warming alcoholic liquid.

In a rather impromptu moment, we decided that for our own Christmas tree we would get an item from each Christmas Market – preferably related to the local custom. This blog post is a snapshot of that journey. Continue reading “Christmas Markets” →

40th Birthday in Budapest

You may recall beginning of this year we made a decision to head to New York for my 40th Birthday, and as you may recall, that all changed a few months back. Today was my actual birthday, and I awoke to snow flurries in Budapest. We headed to the Gellért pools for a massage and a soak, and then wandered around the Christmas markets eating gigantic sausages and drinking Krampampuli – all in all, a very very successful Birthday!