Europe Trip - Day 8

June 22, 2010

Robert took me out to a bakery before the bus left Krakow. A wonderful brisk walk and a wonderful bakery. Chocolate croissants! Robert is a fine man and I'm glad to spend time with him on this trip.

Off to Prague.

We stopped at a gas station so that people could get Czech Koruns to pay for lunch. They got ripped off. Getting our currency through AAA was a very smart move.

Ele collected lunch money and the ghost walking tour money in her hat on the bus. Funny.

She told us stories about Bulgaria during the cold war. She talked about her family's loss of land to the Russians, deaths, travel restrictions, no visitors and how houses were bugged. She talked about 20 year waitings lists to buy new cars and Chernobyl impacted her family and friends. Amazing. She has been a great tour guide mainly because she has heart and soul.

Looking out the window, the landscape looks a lot like WV / OH.

We had lunch at a 'medieval' restaurant that will forever be remembered for the bottled water that we had to pay for and that tasted like grossness. The actual lunch of noodle soup, chicken, ham, French fries and gravy was very good. Hannah entertained us with stories about her goat dragging her up the hill, her accidentally trying to drink cleaner, and how she purposefully licked frozen metal to see if her tongue stuck, it did, several times.

We finished Schlinder's List and watched survivor interviews that were recorded and archived as part of the Shoal Foundation that Stephen Spielberg started (www.vhf.org).

Amazing.

Dinner was at the hotel in Prague. A buffet. Horrible. How do you mess up a buffet?

Now we are off to Old Town Prague for a ghost walk. David is our guide. He is quite the character and the ladies think he looks a bit like Justin Timberlake.

It was a wonderful tour through the fabulous Old Town and the underground. No ghosts though, just a lot of history. David was wonderful.

They have a giant screen up in the center of Old Town and the World Cup is being shown. It is fantastic! No matter who is playing or who is winning there is a large and vocal fan base. I will never forget this truly World Cup event.

There is a balcony at our hotel that we can get to by climbing out the window. A beautiful panoramic view of Prague.