Prague Day Two: Castles, Kolaches, and Questionable Tram Tickets

So many cute trams!

The next day we were able to sleep in a little bit after the travel before starting our day. We had breakfast at the hotel and then left to find the tram. Prague has really incredible public transportation that makes it so easy to get around the city. One of the most common modes to
use is their tram – which is similar to our light rail in Denver – but it has many more routes to choose from. Buy your ticket (very cheap), validate when you get on, and off you go! There is also an app you can download which takes out the need for validation, but we didn’t use that. Tram #22 is the option you want to use when headed towards Prague Castle – which was our plan for the day. Travel books will tell you to try and arrive early before the crowds get too busy, which is what we hoped to do.

About a week or two before we left for our trip, some of the castle tram routes were closed for construction, which meant you couldn’t take it straight to the castle grounds. Your options were to get off at the bottom and walk up or start at the top and walk down. When we loaded onto the tram it was PACKED, so there was no hope of buying a ticket or validating it. We also assumed since there were so many people, no one would stop us and check. Nevertheless, we didn’t want to risk a $100 fine, so we took the exit at the bottom of the castle to walk up. And boy do they mean UP. A long set of steep stairs gets you to the castle grounds entrance where you have beautiful sweeping views of the city. It was here that we did another Rick Steves walking touring of the largest castle complex in all of Europe. Yup, you read that right. This complex is HUGE. We spent about two hours wandering around the complex and that didn’t include entry into several of the exhibits. You can walk the complex for free but must have ticketed entry for a few of the other sites. Details that aren’t worth going into here – we had tickets for the sites and then decided to cancel them – but we saw plenty!

To learn more about the castle – check out their website. We were here for about three hours and could have certainly spent more time. You also can zoom through it - just plan accordingly for whatever your preference is!

All of the travel books will then tell you about the Strahov Monastery, which is just a short walk from the castle complex. If you know enough – you also learn that there is a brewery within the monastery as well! This felt like a bit of a no brainer – a brewery at a monastery?! Yes please. It was here that we took a nice break for a pivo and a pretzel. The weather today was also gorgeous – sunshine and a breeze! Couldn’t ask for better patio weather. Around the monastery there are also some great viewpoints of the city which we made sure to stop and take some photos.

Across the street from the monastery is the tram that drops you ‘at the top’ of the castle complex – the other option we had in the morning. So here we chose to take it back down closer to the city. We got our ticket and went on our way. But here, we had issues with the machine, and it said it was $0 – we weren’t sure what we did wrong. So again, we spent the tram ride hoping not to get a ticket – ha!

We had the afternoon to roam the city more, so we stopped not too far along the tram path and used this time to cross the Charles Bridge. This bridge is one of the other famous shots you see all throughout Prague. Guides will tell you to cross this either early in the morning or late at night because it gets so packed – and they aren’t wrong. It just made more sense for us to do it in the middle of the day, unfortunately. This bridge is pedestrian only and has vendors all over – so it is CROWDED. But it does have great shots of the city, castle and Vltava River. Sadly, we never did it a second time – but still beautiful views with great statues all along the length of it.

Kolaches!

From here, we wanted a snack and I was long overdue for my first kolache of the trip. If you aren’t familiar, a kolache is a Czech pastry -usually with fruit filling but some will do savory. It is more common as a breakfast treat in the Czech Republic. My grandma always made them
growing up and I was dying to have one here. We found a place that was recommended to us, Kolacherie, and luckily, they had the only kind that matters (to me) poppyseed! It was so delicious and surreal to have one in that moment.

iykyk

After our kolache stop, we weren’t at a weird time of day where we had a few hours before a food tour we planned to take – but didn’t think it made sense to go home. We were already in the area to meet for the tour so just walked the street of Dlouha – known for its shopping. Known, however, for its FANCY shopping. Not realizing it, we were now in a very fancy part of town. Some of the cars we saw, Bryan said were probably hundreds of thousands of dollars, it was fascinating to wander into this little pocket of incredible wealth. We also found some very cool art along the way. One of the coolest things about Prague was the art that would just pop up out of nowhere – you don’t need to go looking for it – it will find you!

About an hour before the tour started, we decided let’s just find a pub and take a break. On our Google map for a suggested stop was a place called Lokal, local food and beer hall. Here we popped in for a few pivos, again a spot where they simply tallied how many drinks you were having. We got to watch hockey with the locals, helped a bachelor party with a scavenger hunt (let’s face it, they knew the American tourists would be down to help them), enjoy the Pilsner and then start our food tour!

Gotta get those tallies!

 

Sprinting a Marathon of Irish Whiskey

Our friends, Jonathan and Katie had spent a couple of days in London before meeting us in Ireland,

with their friends (and Katie's business partner), Kat and George. We all met at the train station, at a restaurant called The Galway Hooker where we planned to have lunch and then catch our train. After getting engaged a couple days earlier, we had called friends and family to tell them the news. Because
we were going to see J&K soon, we decided to wait and tell them in person. To this day, we like to joke about how we made them tell us all about London, then we told them about all the details of our trip – saving the engagement for last! I talk with my hands a lot and was getting really excited, so had to sit on my hands to not give anything away! To celebrate – Katie went and bought us all shots to kickstart the trip – here we go! We made our way to the train and the journey to Galway (about 3.5 hours) started. 

When we arrived in Galway, it was raining and we had planned to walk to our AirBnb (highly recommend staying at this spot) – it wasn’t that far! We didn’t account for the wind – I’m sure plenty of folks were quite entertained seeing us walking through the streets of Galway, trying to use umbrellas, but the wind is blowing them apart, and then trying to figure out which way to turn to find our home……I think we all dropped our bags in relief when we finally got inside! Everyone was a little worn out from the travel of the day (J & K had flown in that morning from London), so we decided to keep it a fairly mellow night. 

We made the short walk back to the Latin Quarter of Galway (where most of the pubs are) and tried a handful of restaurants before finding Gemelles that could take us for dinner without a reservation. We had a great meal and then went across the street to 1520 for a quick drink. After that, we decided to get in our pj’s and hang at the house. We went and bought snacks, wine and Irish whiskey…….K&J bought Glendalough whiskey, not even knowing those were the mountains we had visited the day before! We played Go Fish, had a dance party enjoyed other games and drank the night away! 

Late night shenanigans

The next day was a big one – Jonathan’s 40th birthday pub crawl!! When we originally planned this trip, Jonathan had asked us to go to Kentucky with them to do the bourbon trail…..we asked instead how he felt about doing the Irish whiskey trail! So today was Jonathan’s day, whatever he

wanted to do! In researching for the trip, we discovered that Galway has a whiskey trail, so part of the day's plan was to 'follow' it and go to as many of the bars as we could hit. The morning started with J&K going golfing early in the morning. Because Bryan and I aren’t golfers, we told them we’d meet up with them at lunch time and start the day…….we were told golfing was super cold and rainy – and they were some of the only people on the course! And they got two birdies on the course - woohoo!

At 1pm, we all met at Tigh Neachtain's for lunch and to start our day of drinking. Jonathan decided he wanted to try 40 Irish whiskeys for his 40th birthday (not all in one day) so we had some work to do! On this day he knocked a lot of those 40 whiskeys off the list, hence why we sprinted the marathon. We chose to do a lot of flights throughout the day and even a sip of a whiskey was counted on the list! Naturally, the day gets a little fuzzy as it goes on, so I’ll just list the bars we went to and let you decide if it’s a stop for you! Most of these pubs are within steps of each other so it is very easy to hop around,

Sonny Molloy's (which turned out to actually be the Front Door - they are connected)

Then the REAL Sonny Molloy's

Dail Bar

Freeney's

Dinner at Trattoria Magnetti (the host lost our reservation that we had just made that morning)

The Quays - One of the best stops to make in Galway for live music

Garavans

Tig Choili

1520

Back to the Quays to end the night

We made a joke that day that someone always had the baton – whoever had the energy and was keeping the party going! With such a long day, the baton got passed a lot! At about 12pm, I finally said, you guys can call it, but this girl has to call it a night! I'm not 21 anymore! :) As we made our way back to the AirBnb, Katie was convinced she should go swimming in the mini waterfall that was in the courtyard of our home. It took a lot of work to keep her out of the water - that's what drinking whiskey all day will make you want to do.

Happy birthday, Jonathan!!!

Italy's Original Capital, Turin

When planning this trip, we made the decision to go visit Turin, because Bryan's favorite soccer team, Juventus, plays in this city. Plus, it is the original capital of Italy and has a lot of great history here as well. It was also home to the 2006 Winter Olympics. Yet, our favorite part about planning this was everyone asking where Turin is. :) For the record, Turin is in northern Italy, in the Piedmont region. It's about a 45 minute train ride, south and west of Milan.

About two weeks before we left, we went to purchase soccer tickets (that's when they become available) and had a hard time finding a reasonably priced ticket. Then, we came across the unfortunate news that the game had been rescheduled. Yup, we (mostly) planned this entire trip around that game, and now it was no longer. Since Juventus (had) been doing good earlier in the season, there was a chance they would have another game close to this one, so they changed the schedule and we missed out. We contemplated not going to Turin at all because of this change, but thought it would still be fun to visit this town since most people typically don't.

Hard to find this hotel

After getting off the train from Rome, we had about a 10 minute walk to our hotel. Well, it would have been 10 minutes if we could figure out where we were going. Again, I'll post more about the hotels later, but this one was a bit tricky to find. Nevertheless, we found our way and settled into our room. After cleaning up, we headed to dinner at one of our fave restaurants of the entire trip, Bottega Baretti. More to come about restaurants too, but just add this one to your list. Following dinner, we called it an early night. This was our first full night in Italy and after having gone to the Colosseum earlier in the day, we needed some sleep!

The next morning, we hit the streets of Turin. Since we were no longer going to the soccer game, we had the day to do what we wanted. A few blocks down from the hotel, we found a great cafe where I ordered my first Italian coffee and nutella-filled pastry. Trip made. We were staying in the San Salvario neighborhood, and just across the street from the cafe was an open air market. It was fun to wander through and see lots of local and handmade items for sale.

Mole Antonelliana

From there, we made our way through town, first visiting Mole Antonelliana. Mole in Italian is a building of monumental proportions, and this place is believed to be the largest museum in the world. What was once used as a synagogue, now houses the National Museum of Cinema.

Next we found our way to the Royal Palace of Turin, the former palace of the House of Savoy. The House of Savoy, led the unification of Italy and ruled the Kingdom of Italy until 1946. Their palace was then turned into a museum and became a UNESCO world heritage site in 1997. The Royal Palace also is home to the Chapel of the Holy Shroud, which is believed to have the Shroud of Turin. The Shroud of Turin is believed to be the cloth that was used for the burial of Jesus. We chose not to go 'see' the Shroud of Turin, because it is buried in a thick wall with nothing to actually see. Instead we wandered the palace grounds and the public garden in the back. 

In the square of the Royal Palace (Palazzo Reale), is the Palazzo Madama. This housed the first Senate of the Italian Kingdom and is now home to a museum of ancient art of Turin. Heading south from here, we stopped in Piazza San Carlo, one of the more famous piazzas of Turin. Here, we finally had our first gelato of Italy. I know, I know, it took us this long to get some. But well worth the stop. :) And THEN we had lunch. Priorities!

Apreol spritz in the park

Following lunch, we went to Parco del Valentino, a giant green space. This spot reminded us exactly of Wash Park in Denver. Space to play volleyball, sit with friends, walk your dog, the list goes on. There were even small concession stands where you could order food or drink. It was here we decided we needed to try our first (and what ended up being only) Aperol spritz. Aperol spritz is a drink very popular in Italy, particularly in this part of the country, made of Aperol and prosecco. It was very bitter, so not our favorite thing, but at least we tried it! We sat under these beautiful trees and enjoyed the view of the River Po. 

After the park, we kept walking through town. Since we couldn't go to the Juventus game, we decided to try the next best thing and visit the Juventus store - had to see what we could get!

Following all of this walking, it was time for a drink! Also popular in Italy is called apertivo - basically our version of happy hour. The apertif was made famous in this part of Italy, the state of Piedmont. Most places you can purchase a drink and food comes along with it at no additional cost. We stopped at a place called Del Cambio Pharmacy that came highly recommended and it did not disappoint. We had a great spot outside on the square and relaxed and enjoyed the view. Following apertivo, we made our way back to the hotel so we could start thinking about dinner. We stopped at a variety of stores along the way, to window shop, but found out the hard way that a lot of places were closed since it was Sunday. It actually made our dinner choices that night slim as well.....twist our arm, we went back to Bottega Barretti for a second night. That's how much we loved it. :)
Turin was definitely a great town to explore - we had over 26,000 steps that day - so much to see! While I know it's not anywhere near the top of someone's list of places to visit in Italy, because it's so far off the beaten path and still has so much history, Bryan and I would definitely recommend you try to stop if your path takes you near it!

Trains, Whales and Glaciers? Oh My!

As much fun as it is to travel by yourself, and really get to know more about yourself as a person, no one can deny the fun of having friends with you! So when I started planning a second trip to Alaska for work, I decided I needed some friends to come along for the ride! Some Denver friends: Julie, Tiffany, Jeff and April were up for the fun - and April has a childhood friend, Tommy, that lives in Anchorage that we could spend time (and crash) with while we were there.

What made the most sense for us was to head up over Memorial Day weekend. With the holiday, everyone was able to have a long weekend not take quite as much time off. And I planned to spend the weekend exploring with them, and once the workweek hit, they would keep exploring while I hit the office.

The big part of the trip was a long weekend in Seward, Alaska. Seward is a small town in the Kenai Peninsula, about four hours south and east of Anchorage. Because there were six of us making the trip together, a car would be tough. Luckily, the Alaska Railroad is a huge part of the Alaska tourism experience. And with the events and activities we wanted to do, we found a tour option that included rail, hotel and our tours, all in one package. Early in the morning, we boarded the train and took the trip to Seward. What makes the train ride even more incredible is that it goes through a part of the state that the highway doesn't, so you get to see some incredible scenery and views. Seriously, you guys, we wanted to just take pictures every single second of the way it was so stunning. And add to it, there is food and drink on board if you need some refreshments. :)

Once arriving in Seward, we had a tour scheduled to hop on a boat and see the KenaiFjords National Park. We picked this particular tour because it would give us an opportunity to (hopefully) see whales and other mammals, and end with a view of the glaciers - a little mix of everything! Let's just get it over with and say while this tour is incredible.......it was exhausting! Particularly coming off of the

train ride. It's a loooooooong day. Legit, we kept looking at the clock wondering if the trip was almost over because it felt like it was so long. But once again, the views beautiful, the fresh air refreshing (no pun intended), and the wildlife we saw, incredible. And to top it off, we DID see whales, other mammals AND part of the glacier crash into the water. This is one of the things you really think about when you think of Alaska.

But not to mention, May in Alaska and it was cold! So while the fresh air was nice, it was usually brief because we would get so dang chilly, especially with the wind. :)

Final takeaways for this one? Absolutely take the train, but pack some snacks for the boat cruise!