Christmas in Europe

    We took the train to Prague for Christmas.

    You know the images that people have of trains in Europe where you have those cool compartments where you can slide the doors shut?  Well, the folks who were traveling 1st class had those, but the 2nd class cars which we were in were just like trains in the U.S.  As we stepped on the train to look for our seats which were printed on our tickets we saw someone in our seats.  Turned out that they were American and that someone was sitting in their seats, so appartently the seating assignments weren't adhered to.  So we sat down across the aisle from them.  Turned out it was a father (about mid 40's) and his daughter who were in Europe for Christmas.  Well, we talked almost the entire 7 hours of the trip.  We didn't realize how hungry we were for conversation with Americans!  And these folks were aligned with our values and lifestyle.  Mark had served in the Peace Corp and so he understood the challenges of being in a foreign country where little English is spoken.  They were politically liberal just like us and Morgan was quite the composed and mature young woman of 18, so we enjoyed talking with her as well.

   When we arrived at the train station the first thing we had to do was change money.  At the time I had in my wallet Euros, dollars and Hungarian forint.  When we got the Czech currency I was carrying 4 currencies!  Both The Czech Republic and Hungary are part of the EU and are scheduled to change to euros.  However with the global economy such as it is there have been delays in the process.  Hungary was supposed to change in 2010, but there economy is really depressed and so it has been postponed indefinitely.

    We felt quite comfortable taking the subway to our hotel stop and felt pleased that we are now able to negotiate subway systems with relative ease.  The Hotel Europa was just a short walk downhill (thank goodness for suitcases on wheels).  When we arrived we walked into a grand old hotel with character oozing from it's 120 year old walls.  Our room was on the 4th floor which we got to in one of those old elevators with the metal gates.  To make a long story short, the room was a massive suite with old style furnishings and built in closets overlooking a square with lots of action.  We were enthralled until we discovered that the toilet only flushed intermittently and the shower lacked water that was warmer than tepid with no water pressure!

    As soon as we dropped our luggage, we bundled up to go explore and find dinner.  Following a glimpse of a steeple that we could see, we found the main square which was dominated by the most beautiful Christmas tree that I had ever seen!  It literally brought me to tears!

  So, we spent 3 days walking the streets of Prague with a lot of tourists and locals as well.  The city is about half the size of Budapest, so it was an easier feat to accomplish.  It was super cold the whole time, but each day had fewer clouds so our pictures improved.  We had an incredible time and really felt like we had been dropped into a fairy tale.

   We made some interesting observations about the Czechs v. Hungarians.  First of all there is much more english spoken at least in the areas that we visited.  Language was just not an issue.  Also, the Czechs understand about service in a restaurant, offering excellent service and suggesting additions to make the meals more complete.  This is something that we never experience in Budapest.  There, they take your order which sometimes means that we point to the Hungarian words on the menu and pray that we are making a good choice, bring it, and then you never see them until you have to flag the server down to beg that they bring the check.  Once they do, though, they hoover over you as you look at the bill and calculate the tip.

   I have included several pictures which speak to our experience in Prague as well as anything.