We arrived in Prague in the evening and I loved it right away. It was really easy to find our way in the Metro system. The city was hopping with teenagers. Tons of shops were still open at 9 pm. I wanted to stay out and play but I was so tired. So we ate dinner and watched people herd by before we headed to our hotel.
The next day we packed all of Prague in. We started at the Old Town center where there is a famous clock and lots of colorful buildings. We walked past cathedrals playing organ music and over the Charles Bridge. We had a relaxing lunch in a little café where Chad thinks he ate on his last trip. It started to rain and we braved the sprinkling. We had a hot chocolate that was the consistency of pudding. We went to a castle there and its cathedral. We saw the monastery where Michael and Monica Scoville were married and peeked into the old library. We went to a beautiful performance in one of the churches. It was classical music performed by an organist and a mezzo soprano. It was relaxing and a very nice way to end our visit before we went off to the train station.
Elisa and I arrived in Vienna by plane on Saturday morning. Our hotel was by Schönnenbrun Palace, so that’s where we went first. The gardens are pretty awesome. There’s even a labyrinth garden. They have a few versions. Two small versions include brainteasers and games. In the palace itself we saw lots of old regal stuff. It kept us pretty interested, even though that’s not normally the kind of thing that entertains us. For the rest of our vacation, we were saying things to each other like, “This castle isn’t as cool as the one in Vienna.” We even saw a presentation where they give you a recipe for Äpfelstrudel and teach you how to make it. Of course there were samples which were really good. It looked pretty difficult to make so I do not think we’ll be attempting it any time soon.
Elisa and I were up late Friday night, and we were starting to feel it. We stopped back at our hotel for an afternoon nap. Party on.
We tried to follow a walking tour from a Frommer’s Guide. We got kind of lost. The sun was going down. So we pretty much bagged the tour. Our fall back was to eat the famous “Sächer Torte.” We just kind of wandered around and ate stuff that smelled good.
On Sunday we took a train up the Wachau Valley and then we took a boat back down the Danube. There’s little castles you can see en route. Elisa taught me about the oldest form of pornography (a statue) that was unearthed beside the river.
The evening was really fun. We went to the Präter amusement park. There are the best rides there. We were doing all sorts of high spinning, upside-down, swinging rides.
Monday we walked around Baden. We just window shopped. The original plan was to check out the natural hot springs but it was just a dumb pool. We tried to make the most of the trip by sampling some local Traubenmost (grape juice). Then we watched chestnuts plummet from the trees while we waited for the train. Lucky Chad got smacked on the head by one of the falling nuts.
Tuesday I took a little trip down to Rapperswil again to see if I could find myself some comfy shoes that can keep out the fall and winter weather. Elisa looks pretty hot in them too. I managed to find a pair and am putting them to good use right away. It was more fun to take a lone trip than I expected, though I still prefer the company of Chad. When we first moved here, I was excited that Elisa would be able to take day trips, like to Geneva, while I was at work. She was horrified by the suggestion. 🙂 But I was able to practice speaking German with the lady who helped me in the shoe shop and with some random old man from Holland who sat down next to me on a bench up at the castle. My vocabulary needs to improve. I was able to tell the lady I met at the shoe store what Mormons are—hopefully I didn’t say anything too off.
Wednesday was the happy day I was finally able to take my test. I got up early and took a train and then a bus to the University of St. Gallen. Alvin Schwendener graciously proctored for me. After all that waiting, it took me only 20 minutes to complete. Lame. Elisa also received the grades for her assignments so far. She has aced everything. I think psychology comes naturally to her. I walked around town and bought a sweater since it was a good 10 degrees cooler at the higher elevation. I went to this ancient library that reminded me of the one in the Beauty and the Beast Disney movie. It was full of scrolls and books and documents that were hundreds of years old. I even had to wear these funky felt slippers over my shoes just to go in and see. Unfortunately, due to the library’s fragile nature I couldn’t take any pictures. I strolled through the market and bought some figs and pepper Raclette cheese.
