Prague

Everyone loves Prague. I have never met someone who didn't thoroughly enjoy their time there. Of course, that means word is out of Prague and everyone seemed to be there at the same time I was. Prague was crowded. Tour groups pushed through every lane, trash cans overflowed by evening.  It was smoky and busy and generally all the things that I hate about a city.

I loved it anyway.

My apartment was in the new city section, very much away from the historic sectioon and its crowds.  I started from here, using another Rick Steves' audio guides to wind through town.  Wenselslas Square started things off, with its big statue of the founding king and lots of bright sunshine.  From here I walked through pretty 19th century streets, smelling the delicious trdlink cooking on street carts.  The entrance to the old city was a grand medieval gate, darkly gothic and imposing.  Underneath it was tourist heaven: shops in medieval looking pastel buildings stretching as far as the eye could see.  I can see this being a lovely stroll in October, or perhaps at 6 AM.  The street led to the main square, which could have been Times Square for the crowds.  Jan Hus, the statue subject, was clearly a popular guy.  The main city hall was under construction and covered in scaffolding, but the astronomical clock still performed on the hour.  I liked how it was at street level, not up high and hard to see.

From the square I wound down toward the river and Charles Bridge, along with my 1.1 million closest friends also making the trek that day.  The shops continues, including some unique finds (The Apple Museum, brand not fruit).  The Klementium was sadly closed for renovations.  Fighting the crowds, I crossed the impressive bridge with its artists and musicians and tourists to the little quarter on the far side.  There I found a good lunch (bread dumplings!) and relaxed away from the crowds for a bit.  

After lunch I sought refuge from the madness by walking through the Jewish quarter and admiring the a architecture. I easedropped on a Spanish tour near the Spanish synagogue and learned it was founded by those fleeing the Reconquista.  Cool.  

The medieval art museum was a delightful little break from the sun,  full of statutes of Mary and gold-backed bible paintings.  I found some great examples for our units on art history.   It was also nice and quiet.  I loved it.

I got a late start on the second day,  because I knew I wanted to stay out until after sunset to see the lights.  I went straight to the castle by tram.  The ride was full of city sights and super easy with the text/ticket feature.  The castle sits above the city,  in the blazing sun on the hill.  Its main feature is the St Vitreus cathedral,  which started as Gothic but was neo- gothic by the time it was done.  I loved the 20th century stained glad mixed wth the older medieval tombs. 

After the cathedral were the royal rooms, which didn't have much.  They did,  however,  feature THE windows from the Defenestration of Prague, which was pretty awesome. One of the more obscure ways to start a war...

The rest of the castle included a small history museum (lots of open graves- not my favorite), another chapel, and a fun street preserved like the Middle Ages.  It had a big armor exhibit.  I was so spoiled by Higgins Armory that it didn't wow me much,  but they did have a crossbow range. I was not missing that opportunity. The attendant was petty shocked I wanted to try - seems to be a manly thing while the women shop- but I needed to test this out so I could teach it later! I learned that I am a terrible shot,  and that while crossbows are hard to load,  they are easy to fire. I hit the paper - 1/3 times....

From the castle I meandered slowly downhill,  just exploring the neighborhood.  I found the Lennon graffiti wall and old water wheel before settling in for sunset.  As the sunlight faded,  I ducked into a garden restaurant for dinner before finally seeing Prague at night.

Overall my two days were busy,  crowded,  hectic,  and informative.  I learned a lot about Bohemian history and culture,  and saw some sights I had longed to visit.  Definitely recommend Prague- just maybe not in August.

Copenhagen Day Trips

There was so much to see in Denmark that I'll  have to go back.  I ended up sticking with the sites on Zealand, with one major exception. Everything was accessible by easy train connections.

First up was Roskilde, home to the Viking ship museum.  It's actually the second Viking ship museum that I've be been to.  I went to Oslo's last year.  Oslo definitely wins when it comes to impressive artifacts.  Their complete ships can't be beat. But Roskilde had something just as impressive, which was a full experiential history museum. You could learn to make rope and ribbon, and learn to the knots. You could watch as historians and carpenters recreated actual Viking ships with historic tools. Some people even got to try carving.  I did a tour of the boatyard and learned all about how Viking ships were created.  They are learning a lot from these recreations.  For instance, a ship probably only lasted about 30 years,  because after that the iron nails couldn't be replaced any more. 

But the very best part of the day was that I got to ride on a Viking Ship replica!  We had to row out of the harbor and then put up the sail for a glorious ride,  then row back in.  Rowing was hard! If you weren't in perfect sync with the others in the boat your oars got crossed.  It wasn't like a modern paddle, just a skinny board reinforced where it rested on the side of the boat. It was about eight feet long. Such a cool experience.

In Roskilde I also saw the cathedral, a great example of bricked northern gothic style.  Many kings of Denmark are buried there. 

The second trip was a quick succession of castle-castle-museum.  I started at Fredericksborg Slot, one of the royal palaces.  This looked like something right out of Disney, from its still, reflective moat to the dancing fountain in the front courtyard.  The palace is full of portrait paintings of rulers past and decorated with historic furnishings.   My favorite was the room where a chair pictured in an 18th century painting was still there! It was heavenly to walk through these grandios rooms with a fantastic free audio guide. It even played triumphal music when you walked into the ball room, as if you were arriving royalty.  I truly loved visiting here.

Second stop of the day was Kronberg Slot. I stepped off the train ready to walk the 15 minutes to the castle when I saw a bustling festival spread along the way.   It was some kind of historic maritime festival,  with people in old fashioned clothing,  a massive tall ship, and many food and craft stands. You could cook over an open fire in a long handled cast iron skillet or listen to a group sing folk tunes.  It as so fun I decided to skip going into the castle to spend more time in the square. 

Finally,  though, I had to move on. The Louisiana art museum is regarded as the best modern art museum in Scandinavia. I don't like modern art.  I don't like that it doesn't tell you much about the civilization it comes from.  I wonder what historians will make of it in the future.  But I had to go.  So I did.  It was not my favorite,  as my very polite little cousins would say. But I saw it.

Lastly,  I couldn't resist the call of Sweden.  Malmo was only a half hour away over a bridge,  North Sea on one side,  Baltic on the other.  I've put off gong to Sweden because I feel like there's so much there that I would want to see. My mother's family came from there about 120 years ago.  My mother has been twice,  my uncle a few times.   I have always wanted to go but hesitated.  So this was a perfect induction. Honestly,  it's just like any other cute Scandinavian city,  but with meatballs and dahla horses.  Both of which I had.  Someday, I'll do Sweden right - rent a car, see the old family farm that is still there auth a different family.  But for now,  Malmo was a great taste. 

I ❤ Copenhagen!

I'm not sure why Copenhagen became the first stop on my sabbatical adventure.  It might have been the cheap plane ticket from Boston.  But after Norway last year, I've developed a love for Scandinavia and was excited to see more of it.

An easy seven hour flight from Boston and I was on the ground ready to go.  To get a sense of the city I started with the Rick Steve's walking tour.  Actually,  no,  I'm lying.  I started with a Danish.  How could I not? And it was delightful.  Raspberry and almond slivers on buttery pastry... the perfect welcome to the city treat.

Then I set off on the walking tour,  getting a good orientation to the city and falling mite in love with every step. The weather was gorgeous, and the city easy to walk around.  It's very flat.  That is good.

Copenhagen is an perfect mix of old and new.  I frequently forget that Denmark was one of Europe's great empires, but Copenhagen reminds you.  Brick is the most common building material but you see wood half timbered buildings and cement mixed in too.  There are a wide pedestrian zones, open plazas where people gather, lots of trees and even more benches which is greatly appreciated when you're jetlagged. My first day took me from Tivoli Gardens to Nyvhan, where the canal comes up into the city against multi colored houses.  It reminded me of Bergen,  one of Copenhagen's historic trading partner cities.

The 2nd day was dedicated to some of the biggest landmarks period I started by taking the bus boat up to the little mermaid statue sitting in Copenhagen's Harbor period it was lovely, but very crowded as its new the crew ship dock period from there I wandered back through a beautiful park to the Amelia board palace, where the current King and Queen live along with their family. Part of the palace has been set aside as a museum, which was nice to walk through. They've managed to show the evolution of the monarchy over the past 200 years.  The second palace of the day was Rosenburg, which is set up to show how royalty lived in the 16-1700s. It had all the beautiful old details and hidden delights one would expect in a renaissance castle. 

Copenhagen is made for wandering, so the long walk back to the hotel each night meant forrays down pretty pedestrian streets and picnic dinners with grocery store salads or Tic crackers, fruit, and cheese.  The city was full of people- it's both Pride and the IronMan this weekend. 

There are more than just pretty streets and palaces here.  I spent last night at Tivoli Gardens,  an amusement park right in the city.  It was gorgeous with all of the lights and rides whirling.   Even on a rainy night,  it was a so much fun to walk around. The rides were intense! 

There is also the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, a cool art/history museum right next to Tivoli.  I loved the ancient statutes and that they showed one repainted as it originally was. 

Copenhagen was the perfect start to this long trip.  I can only hope everything else goes this smoothly.