Alive and well in the Czech Republic

Much has happened since our last post, the least of which is that two days have elapsed without an update from us. We have been doing some major traveling, beginning with leaving Florence and heading for the day to Venice. We boarded a morning train and arrived around 10:00 am. We checked our baggage at the train station (which keeps getting heavier and heavier with each day) and were off for the craziest little city we have seen so far. Arriving in Venice, this was the first time we have handed over all of our possessions to a complete stranger (aka luggage checking - no lockers available), as we were just staying for the day. The twists and turns in the roads are enough to confuse even the most map savvy individual, but you add in all of the roads that end in canals with no bridges, and it is a recipe for disaster. Luckily we had the guiding prowess of Tim, who used the map like no ones business. We were navigating our way easily. We walked all around the major square, and many of the off track streets. Quite a few of them had multiple names, which made Tim's map skills even more impressive. We took a side trip by vaparatto to the island of Murano, which is famous for their glass making. As soon as we stepped off of the vaparatto we went into a shop that was giving demonstrations. It took them about 5 minutes to make a beautiful vase with different colors. Then a second artist came along and made a glass horse. The impressive thing was, the horse had to be finished in less than a minute or else the glass would become too hard to manipulate. And he did it perfectly, showing a horse raised on its hind legs, with the front legs in the air. And the piece could balance perfectly on the two back legs and tail. Now that is impressive.

We had a great lunch/dinner at a restaurant called Vino Vino, and enjoyed a good local specialty strawberry wine. It was called fragalino, and we are hoping that it is available in the states. Since we were taking a late train out, we also picked up some snacks for the road. We bought rolls, salami, cheese and Duane also picked up some olives (yum!). We ate all of this on the steps of the train station, overlooking the grand canal. The food was so good that Duane and Brandon went back for more. And what a beautiful view we had.

Next, we picked up our luggage (surprise - it was all still there!). I can't believe no one wanted all of our dirty clothes! They must have put our bags somewhere "special", so that the smell would not contaminate any of the other bags (it is amazing how your standard of cleanliness changes as you are backpacking throughout Europe - kudos to Michelle for hanging out with the boys). We boarded a night train bound for Vienna, Austria and were planning on spending one day there as well on our way to the Czech Republic. The trip to Vienna was our first experience in a sleeper train (cochette) and we all slept pretty well. It was like summer camp, only on rails and the cabins were smaller. We all fought for top or bottom bunk position, with Tim and Michelle winning the bottom bunks for this trip. We will make up for it by taking the top bunks on our way to Germany in a few days. Brandon really wants to keep his top bunk, but we are worried about this, after he fell out of the top bunk on his bunkbed in Rome. Hopefully he will not have this problem on any of the night trains.

Once in Vienna, we again checked our baggage, this time in some cool looking lockers. These were significantly cheaper than the checked baggage we had in Vienna (about 1/4 of the cost) and it was all automated. I am sure that it was an easy process, but since it took us a while to figure out that there was an English translation button, we stumbled around a bit.

Vienna was beautiful, we toured the city a while, bought Viennes pastries and even toured the Habpsburg Palace Treasury. They had some beautiful pieces in their collection, including the worlds largest emerald and some golden roses that Michelle did stop to smell (Mom - so we are remembering to stop and smell the roses! - hum 24 carat, now I know what I want for my next anniversary!). We also made sure to eat dinner at a place Tim's boss Steve Shinsky recommended - the Figlmuller. Tim and Duane had their special platter, the schnitzel, which was mighty tasty. We all made sure to get a bite.

Around 6 pm we boarded another train to Prague. It was a late train, so we arrived and secured our lodgings for the next three nights. We are staying in a room in the center of town, with a great breakfast place below, which was somehow included in the price of the room. We are still not really sure how, but after Italy, we will take it. We are paying around 1/3 of the cost of our lodgings in Rome and Florence. Nice on the pocketbook. The manager, Jan and the housmaid Lanka are both nice and speak great English. They are even helping Duane learn a little Czech.

We will update you tomorrow on all of the happenings today, as the internet location is closing. Much love to you all and know that we are safe and still having fun!