Prague

Drinking wine was not the only thing we did in Prague. We also did quite a bit of sight-seeing during our time there. Prague is a beautiful old city that almost entirely escaped bombing during WWII -- a single attack by American bombers that was supposed hit Dresden, Germany (only 70 miles away), killed over 700 and destroyed over 100 buildings. But compared to other cities in Eastern Europe, the history of Prague is easily seen in its old, well-preserved buildings, including the Prague Castle:

We climbed to the highest point in Prague and then up the Petrin Lookout Tower, which resembles the Eiffel Tower, only much smaller:

From there, the views were fantastic:

We also learned a lot about the history of Czechslovakia and the Czech Republic. After the fall of Communism, on January 1, 1993, Czechslovakia peacefully split into two countries: the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The non-violent split is also known as the Velvet Revolution. The gardens at the Wallenstein Palace, now the site of the Czech Senate, are beautiful with much greenery, fountains and a surprising number of statues that were copies because the originals were taken by Sweden at the end of the 30 Years War (1648) and apparently never returned.

We also, of course, ate really well. We definitely took advantage of being in a bigger city, eating decent Asian and Mexican food. We also found a really good deli -- all the meat imported from Argentina -- and I already regret not going back for a second pastrami sandwich with good mustard and, of course, sauerkraut. We also tried some local dishes although we drew the line at pigs' knees, which is apparently a local delicacy.

More about Prague still to come...

Hasta luego,

Jeff and Shana