Prague and Vienna
The piano plays The Sound of Music from the musical of the same title, and I, along with my friends eat Austrian apple strudel. We are in the Cafe Central in Vienna warming up from a very cold day outside the warm and inviting cafe.
Only three days before that night in Vienna we were only a few hours into a long 17 hour, overnight car ride. Departing from Klaipeda at 5 pm the small nine passenger van departed for Prague Czech Republic. Now that the sun sets so early the majority of the ride was in the dark. As a result of passing the time mainly watching movies on our phones and sleeping during the night the ride seemed to be much shorter in than 17 hours.
The van where it all happened
After almost falling down attempting to support our weight, we stretched our legs, put our things in the hostel and headed for old town Prague. We had to take the metro to get there. Upon ascending the stairs of the metro we wondered around the city taking in the views and the atmosphere. My favorite thing to do in all these cities we have been to is to simply walk around and enjoy the atmosphere, not to mention hitting up a few souvenir shops as well! We then departed on a tour of the city as well. Dinner consisted of a nice dish of pasta. Once dinner was completed it was dark and we were exhausted, tired, and now full, wanting to go to bed. However, we decided to keep exploring the city when we realized it was only 6pm.
Street selfie
The sidewalks had a cool pattern
The astronomical clock in the city square
Love the atmosphere of the evening and nights in the old town
Street artist. Truly talented
The next morning, after sleeping in a little bit, we headed again to the old town. The city square was teaming with life and activity. There various street performers including a small band, those people who pretend their statues, and someone making lots of cool bubbles. It was a lovely atmosphere.
Anti gravity spaceman!
We headed to a nice market with good souvenirs. I decided to get a traditional dessert. It was simply like a hollow, circular, warm pastry with vanilla cream in the middle of it. Topped with whipped cream of course! pretty tasty!
We then embarked on another tour. This one took us to the famous Charles Bridge and the Prague Castle. Very nice views. Once we got to the castle and the tour ended we decided to walk further up the hill and get a better view of the city. At the top of the hill was a monastery with a cool library. It was slightly overpriced to go in because it was so small but it was cool nonetheless.
The paintings are of the scene right behind the bridge!
We then continued on the hill and went to an observation area to see the city.
Prague was over in a flash. The van was off to its next stop! Vienna, Austria! After a 6 am departure from Prague we arrived in four hours at 10. Let me tell you, Austria has a lot of windmills. There were so many when we were driving to Vienna. After again doing the routine check-in at the hostel, we headed for the metro, in route to old town. Once we got out of the metro we were in the heart of the city. St. Stephen's Cathedral welcomed us as it towered over us. We went on another tour, this one was much more cold and brutal, but still informational.
Austrian country side
After considering amputating my cold feet chilled by the unexpected infiltration of water in my boots we headed to a cafe to warm up in. After finding two cafes full the third time was a charm. The Cafe Central. A quite charming cafe.
We meandered around the city for a while exploring the various Christmas markets in the different squares around the city. The best market was in the largest square in the city. It was beautiful! There were so many stands adorned in Christmas lights and beautiful seasonal items for sale. As I walked the very crowded walkway the ambiance just swallowed me up! It was very special. The Christmas music could be heard ubiquitously through the market adding to the atmosphere. Towering over us was the city hall of Vienna lit up just like the much smaller Christmas tree in front of it. In addition to all of these sights and sounds, there were many more Christmas lights in the trees surrounding the area too.
This is the Christmas market at St.Stephens Cathedral
We finished the night with one more stop to the Christmas market near St. Stephen's Cathedral to grab a painting I wanted. We then said goodbye to Vienna and mentally prepared for the next days activities.... Sitting in a car all day. The drive was indeed long but I made it to the other side. We arrived back in Klaipeda at 12:30 am.