Odyssey Tour - Prague

Thursday we left Vienna. 

We had to be on the bus at 9:15.  Then we drove 5 hours to get to Prague.  We did stop twice, once for gas and once for lunch.  We didn't mind the longer drive though because it allowed us all to get a little nap in.  Sleeping on a bus is not super easy though. 

On the way into Prague we picked up our tour guide and immediately went into the city to begin our walking tour.  He said we walked easily 5 kilometers. 

We started at Prague Castle.  According to Guinness it is the biggest castle complex in the world. 

We got there in time to see the changing of the guard.  I haven't seen it, but I suspect it was much like the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.  (Actually, Sarah says it is a much bigger ordeal at Buckingham Palace.)  Anyway, it was fun to watch. 

Then we went inside and got to see several of the rooms in the castle. The castle is currently being used as Presidential offices so we only got to see about 10% of it.  We saw the ballroom, the throne room, and replicas of the crown jewels. 

In the castle complex there is a huge cathedral; St. Vitus Cathedral. We will be going there tomorrow for a tour of that building. 

We walked through several courtyards and then to an area called the Golden Lane.  It was just a small road in the castle complex where the goldsmiths and alchemists worked and lived.  Now they hold small exhibits showing how they might have lived and souvenir shops. 

Just by chance we found a circular staircase going up and decided to check it out.  It ended up being a display of things that would have been found in the armory.  Lots of weapons, helmets, suits of armor, etc. 

We even saw devices used for torture.  I thought a lot about Dalton as we were walking through.  I just kept thinking how much he would like to see them. 

Then we met up with the group again and walked out of the castle complex into the city. 

We walked to Charles Bridge.  It is one of the oldest bridges in Europe, built in the 14th century.  It is currently just for pedestrian traffic.  Before we actually walked over it, we saw a small river running under it and an area that they call little Venice.  There was even a boat floating down the river when we were there and it did look like Venice to me--at least what I have seen in movies. 

Then we walked over the bridge.  Apparently, Prague is a very popular place.  They have tons of tourists and everywhere we went it was super crowded.  The bridge was no exception.  They talked to us on the bus about pick pockets and then reminded us again when we were about to go over the bridge to really take care of our purses because it is a common place for pick pockets to work since it is so crowded. 

I think we all made it over without any problems but I did find myself hanging on to my purse with my hands and not just letting it hang from my shoulder.  Lots of little vendors set up shop right up on top of the bridge.  The river flowing under the bridge was the Vltava River, also called The Moldau.  When I was younger, I played a song on the piano called The Moldau by Smetana.  I loved it!  It was neat to see the river that inspired the song. 

Then we walked into the old town square.  So many beautiful old buildings.  Prague was not bombed during WWII so all the buildings are still intact--kind of like Heidelberg.  They really were spectacular.  Sometimes I would see a line of buildings and think they didn't look real--they looked a lot like a set at Disneyland.  Almost too perfect. 

 

This was a "powder tower."  It was an entrance to the city and it was also where they kept their gun powder.  There were several around the city center.

Our guide pointed out that the left tower was smaller than the right.  He said they were Adam and Eve towers.  Adam (the right) was bigger to protect Eve (the left) or keep her in shadow.  I loved having local tour guides in all the city to give us little nuggets of information like this.  Not super important but fascinating to me, nonetheless.

In the town square, we saw the building where Albert Einstein lived while he taught at Charles University.  It is the gray building in the middle.

Then we walked over to see the famous medieval astronomical clock tower built in 1418.  It still works and on the hour two windows open and you can see figures of the 12 apostles moving inside as well as a few figures on the outside. As our guide said, it was a little over-hyped but since we were there . . .

 

From there we had a little over an hour to wander and find dinner.  We stopped at a little outdoor café called Pizza in Piazza.  I actually had Gyros rather than pizza but it was good food.  We ate surrounded by amazing buildings and beautiful scenery.  So many wonderful old buildings but also so much green space.  It really was beautiful! 

 The girls--mom, Ada, Barbara, Linda, Shari, Sarah and Melissa

Our meeting point in Prague ended up being right next to a gelato stand.  Yea for gelato!

After being on the road and touring all day, we finally checked into our hotel at about 8:30 or so.  One of the earliest night to be back to the hotel except maybe the first night.  That doesn't mean that we got to bed any earlier though.  We would spend the evenings reading/writing emails, posting pictures and talking.  It seemed like we stayed up later and later each night of the trip.

After a lovely breakfast at the hotel, we got on the bus at 9:30 and headed up to visit the St. Vitus Cathedral on the castle complex.  It is a beautiful old church. 

It was started sometime in the 1300s but didn't get totally finished until hundreds of years later.   The stain glass windows were amazing!  Sadly, the pictures I took don't do it justice at all. 

I also loved seeing the arches and columns.  It was amazing to me what they could build back then without any of the fancy tools we have today.  I'm sure it was a labor of love.  It reminded me of the sacrifices made when the Salt Lake Temple was built. 

While at the Cathedral we did a little flash mob.  We didn't dance, but we did sing Ave Maria and Lux. 

I think after our second song they came and told our tour guide we couldn't sing anymore.  We were done anyway.  I think Lyle has discovered, on various tours, that it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.  It was fun.  We sounded glorious, if I do say so myself and we had plenty of tourists stop and take pictures and videos.  It was a pretty neat experience! 

The day before, when we came to the castle complex we had passed a vendor selling paintings of Prague on the street.  Melissa stopped and quickly bought one.  I couldn't make up my mind and ended up not getting one.  Apparently, Sarah and Linda had also wanted to stop but our guide, Nicole, told them that we didn't have time and to get one another day.  So, when she gave us some free time to wander around the cathedral we decided to run back to where he had been selling the pictures the day before.  When we got there we were sad to see that he wasn't there.  We figured that maybe he just wasn't there yet because it was too early.  We were disappointed and started back up the stairs to go back to the meeting place.  But, as we were walking I realized that the guy in front of us was carrying some folded cardboard strapped to his back and I thought that he might be the vendor coming to set up--and sure enough he was.  So we were able to get the paintings we wanted.  Because we had to wait for him to get his stuff set up, we were running a little late so we had to run back to St. Vitus cathedral.  Running uphill on cobblestones is not super easy.  Luckily we made it back in time.  Two other girls from our group had wandered to a couple of shops during the same free time but didn't make it back before the bus left.  Apparently, they had a misunderstanding of where the meeting place was and when they finally decided just to go to the bus they saw us pulling away and couldn't catch up.  They were able to use the public transportation to get to our next stop but missed us there as well.  After a series of near misses they finally caught up with us back at the hotel, right as Nicole was filling out a missing persons report.  Boy, was I glad that was not me!

After the cathedral we went to the Strahovsky Klaster Monestary. 

It sits up on the hillside above Prague and had the most beautiful views of the city! 

 

 

Higher up on the hill was a tower built in the style of the Eiffel Tower. 

Our guide informed us that it is a few meters taller than the Eiffel Tower--if you include the hill!  :)  All our guides were witty and entertaining while still providing all the historical information you could want.  They were great!  Sarah and Melissa weren't interested, but Linda and I decided to walk to the tower and climb the stairs to the top.  It was a nice walk.  In the tower itself, you could choose to walk up the steps or take the elevator.  It cost extra to take the elevator and I was looking for some good exercise so we decided to climb the stairs.  It was another spiral staircase, a lot like the spiral staircase we climbed to go up the tower in St. Stephens cathedral.  However, these stairs had a staircase just to go up and a staircase just to come down.  Halfway up the tower there was a lookout and after stopping to take pictures Linda and I started going up the down staircase without realizing it.  Finally someone was brave enough to tell us that we were going the wrong way and we went back down and then continued up in the correct staircase.  The view of the city was amazing! 

Being able to do this trip with my mom and my sisters made this experience even better than it already was.  I loved spending time with them!

We spent so much time on the bus, I had to take some pictures of it as well.  We had two drivers, Fritz and Hans--very European names!  Fritz was with us the majority of the time, but the last few days Hans was our driver.  I was constantly amazed at how they could maneuver that giant bus on those narrow European streets.

After the monestary we came back to the hotel.  It was about 2:00 and we were instructed to be back on the bus ready for our evening concert at 3:15/3:30.  We still hadn't had lunch and Nicole suggested running down the street to the market to get food or to go to the restaurant in the hotel.  I wanted to shower before the concert so I decided just to stay in the room and eat beef jerky and crackers that I had brought from home.  Sarah, Melissa and my mom decided to go get something.  Since Sarah was leaving I sent her with our room key (they only gave us one when we checked in).  I knew that the lights would probably go off without the key in the slot next to the door, but I figured I could shower without the lights if I needed to and I didn't want Sarah to be stuck out in the hall and not be able to get in if I was showering when she came back.  Sure enough, after a few minutes of the key being gone the lights all went out.  It wasn't a big deal.  I showered and then put on my make up with the light from the window.  However, when I went to use the hairdryer I realized that none of the outlets worked.  They somehow shut off when the key was gone.  That ruined my plans, but I figured that Sarah would be back soon because she had to get ready for the concert as well.  I figured I had plenty of time and so I started to read my book while waiting.  I read for awhile and then decided that I couldn't wait anymore or I wouldn't have time to dry my hair.  So, I called the front desk and asked how I could get my power back on.  They said that I needed to come down to the front desk to get another key.  So, I threw on my dress and went down with wet hair.  I got a new key and sure enough, when I put it in the slot by the door all the plugs worked again.  Unfortunately, by then I was really needing to hurry to be done in time.  Sarah finally came back and said that they had been sitting at the hotel restaurant along with many other members of the choir and so the poor waiter was swamped and taking forever to get food out.  Apparently, they saw me come down to the front desk with wet hair but they didn't know what I was doing.  They had maybe 10-15 minutes to get ready to go. 

Once we made it to the bus, things calmed down.  We drove back to the city and found the church we were performing at--the Church of St. Salvador.  It did not look impressive from the outside, in fact, from the exterior I wouldn't have guessed it was a church at all. 

 

Once we walked in it was obviously a church but not as impressive as the others we had been seeing and singing in.  It was built much later than the others and was less ornate.  It still had wonderful acoustics and we probably had our best concert there. 

 For this concert we had a violin, viola and bass to play along with the Haydn mass.  It was glorious!  Sarah's solo was in the mass so she got to sing with the organ and the strings.  It was beautiful!

It seemed to me that we all performed our best.  Maybe we just all realized that this was our last concert and we just relaxed and did well.  It just felt good.  The audience was enthralled. 

 

One of the songs we sang was called Waters Ripple and Flow.  It is an old Czech folk song that was at one time banned.  We used four soloists and they began the song singing in Czech.  When the first soloist started singing and the audience realized it was in their language their faces all lit up and they all started clapping right there in the middle of the song.  Then at the end of the song we all sang in Czech as well.  Lyle didn't have us start learning the Czech until about a week before we came so we were all a little skeptical about it and how it would sound but it turned out amazing.  They were thrilled that we would try to sing in their language.  It really was a great concert.  After the concert we all gathered at the back of the cathedral and as the audience members left several of them stopped to tell us what a good job we had done.  One older gentleman stopped and told me about his wife who had passed away and how Ave Maria was sung at her funeral.  It was one of our first numbers and I remember seeing him lean over and talk to Sarah after we finished singing that number.  He was sharing with her the same experience, explaining why there were tears on his cheeks along with his smile.  It was such a touching moment. 

It was a bittersweet evening as we realized that we had sung our last concert in Europe. 

The Dalton sisters with Kent and Betty Demars--We love them!

After the concert we stayed in the city for a late dinner and gelato.  We quite often will eat at the little outdoor cafes that remind me of the place we ate in Germany the first night we were there.  While we were eating some people started performing (I guess you would say) with whips.  The guy had tattoos all up and down his arms and was wearing a kilt.  A little odd, but he was using the whips to break straws that his partner was holding, first in his hand and then in his mouth.  Surprisingly, it was interesting to watch.  The funniest part was when someone decided to jump into the square and moon them.  While his pants were down, the guy with the whip, whipped him across his rear end.  He quickly pulled up his pants and got out of the square.  I'm sure he won't be sitting comfortably for a while. 

Our last Saturday was a completely free day.  The bus left the hotel at 10:00 and we had until 4:00 to wander around the city--shop, eat lunch, sight see, whatever we wanted.  By now, I was starting to recognize a lot more and didn't feel quite as lost as I did the first day they let us out in the city.  I still relied on Melissa to be the guide.  My sense of direction leaves a lot to be desired.  We pretty much stayed with the same group we have been with for the whole trip with a few changes:  the four of us Dalton girls, Linda, Ada, and Barbara.  Along the way we lost Shari because her sister joined her, and we picked up Robbie.  In the morning Sally and Mike stayed with us as well but then had to go meet Lyle for lunch.  We spent the morning doing some shopping.  We hit several souvenir shops.  Lyle had planned a "tacky souvenir" contest for during the dinner cruise this evening so we were shopping with an eye out for the tackiest souvenir we could find. 
While we were shopping we came across a Ferrari and I had to take a picture for Jeremy.  So many nice cars in Europe!

We had lunch at a cute little café that our guide, Nicole, had told us about.  It was great and not to expensive.  I had a chicken broth soup with noodles and vegetables, a Caesar salad and a chocolate cake with raspberries and white chocolate.  All of which I enjoyed! 

Robbie, mom, Barbara, me, Linda, Melissa, Ada

After lunch we walked back to the Charles Bridge and spent a little more time being able to wander and take pictures than we were able to yesterday.  It was still so unbelievably pack with people.  They say it is a pick pockets dream.  Tons of tourist all pack together so tightly that they don't notice when someone is jostling them around.  We all made it over the bridge and back again without losing anything or anyone so that is good. 

On one side of the bridge we were able to go see the Lennon Wall.  It is just a section of wall covered with graffiti.  Apparently that is how the youth would protest communism.  It was really neat to look at.  So colorful and bright! 

Also while we were out wandering the city we randomly came across Beethoven's house.  I don't know if he lived there for a long time or any history of the house, but we took pictures all the same.  The little sign above the door says Beethoven.

 

On our way back to the meeting place we stopped for one last gelato.  Boy, we enjoyed those on our trip. 

I was so excited for our dinner cruise.  We dressed up a little nicer and I had great expectations! 

However, when we got on the boat and we were seated down in the lower deck, I was less than thrilled.  We were about at eye level with the water.  It was not the greatest view.

We did run up to the deck to take some pictures as we passed the Charles Bridge. 

 

 

 

The dinner was buffet style and in my opinion, only so-so.  Ok food but nothing spectacular.  But, rather than stay down below decks, after dinner we went up on top of the boat to the open air deck.  From there we were able to really enjoy the sights of the city and the Moldau river. 

 

 

 

 

 

Nicole was telling us a funny story about doing a Superman pose and I happened to get a picture of her up in the air.  We laughed about that for a long time!  We really loved Nicole!

We had our "tacky souvenir" contest up on the deck of the boat.  My tacky souvenir ended up being two identical magnets that broke when I accidently knocked them off the doorway as I went into a shop.  I got two of them but the shop owner kindly only charged me for one.  Then he wrapped the pieces up carefully in paper so they wouldn't get broken--further.  Melissa was one of the top contenders.  She found a can of Prague air.  Yes, you read that right!

Sarah found a picture of the Mona Lisa but instead of the woman it had Shrek's face.  The souvenir that won was actually a marihuana sucker that Lyle and his wife found.  I don't know where they found it or what they will do with it now.  It was hilarious though. 

 Lyle, Vicki and Dan

Dan Colette was the Master of Ceremonies for the evening and he had us all in stitches!

 

It was such a perfect night.  The weather was pleasant and the scenery was beautiful.  Prague at night is amazing!  I loved to see the lights reflecting off the river. 

We sang together one last time while on our dinner cruise.  As we were singing we passed by people on the shore who could hear us and they all seemed to enjoy the impromptu concert.

 

 

On Sunday morning, our big travel day, we had to be up at 5:00am so we could be ready to leave for the airport at 6:00am.

As we were all standing around waiting to start boarding the bus, I mentioned to Sarah and Robbie that my dad had sent an email saying that our flight to Munich was on schedule and how he had wished us a delay-free trip home.  That prompted Robbie to show me the flight information for our flight from Munich to Washington, D.C. which was already showing as delayed by 6 hours!  That meant that before we even started we knew we wouldn't be making our connecting flights.  It was incredibly frustrating but there was nothing we could do about it until we made it to Munich.  Once we got to Munich and made it through security and customs we were told that yes, our flight was indeed delayed.  They sent us to the Lufthansa help desk to see if they could get us out on different/earlier flights.  I think 1 or 2 people were able to take another flight but the rest of us, after waiting 2 hours, were told that all the other flights were full and we would just have to wait for the delayed flight.  They assured us that we would be put up in a hotel for the night and our missed connections would be taken care of once we got to Washington, D.C.  Then they gave us vouchers for food and sent us on our way.

The only good thing about our delayed flight is that a lot of people who were supposed to be on that flight were able to get on different flights so that big 767 was quite empty.  We were able to spread out a lot!  I got a whole row of three seats to myself!  I still didn't sleep great but I was able to lay down which was so nice!

Once we got to D.C. they split our group of 40 or so into smaller groups going out on different flights.  Melissa's group didn't stay in D.C.  They immediately got on another plane to Houston and spent the night in a hotel there.  From there they flew home the next morning.  Sarah, my mom and I spent the night in Washington, D.C. and then left in the morning.  Mom and Sarah followed Melissa to Houston and then to SLC, while I was rerouted through Chicago and then to Salt Lake.  Luckily, Linda was with me so I didn't feel so alone.  Our flight to Chicago left at 6:00am so I got up at 3:00am (after having gone to bed at about 12:00am) so that I could leave for the airport at 3:45am.  We had a bit of a layover in Chicago but we still had meal vouchers so we found a place that was selling freshly baked cinnamon rolls and smoothies and I was happy!

Getting home was such an ordeal but mom and Sarah had the worst of it.  After finally making it to Houston, they were 3 hours into their 4 hour layover when a storm rolled in and they were delayed another 4 hours.  They sat in Houston longer than they had waited in Munich! 

Melissa had made it into Salt Lake about an hour before I did, but she was waiting for Scott to get done with a meeting to come pick her up so she was still in the airport when I got there.  As I was getting my luggage Scott called and told her that his meeting was just starting so she opted to get a ride home with us.  It was the worst travel experience I have ever had, but on a positive note, they did not lose my luggage! 

My trip was glorious!  Even the awful ending couldn't detract from the amazing time I had.  In fact, the trip home just adds more to the experience.  I loved every minute of my trip!  I loved being able to sing and share my love of music with people in different countries who also had a love of music.  I loved being able to spend time with my mom and my sisters--to be able to see and experience new things.  I loved getting to know and love all the other choir members and travelers.  I learned to be grateful for little things like ice, air conditioning and free toilets!  How grateful I am to a dear, sweet husband who secretly arranged for me to go on this trip, just because he loves me and wanted me to be happy!  It was something I will never forget!