The Charles Bridge in Prague

On March 31, 2017April 3, 2017 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Czech Republic4 Comments

There are several reasons to visit Prague in the Czech Republic and one of those is the Charles Bridge, which leads from the old town area over the Vltava River to the Prague Castle. Prague is extremely popular with tourists and the bridge is no exception, so be prepared for heavy crowds and lots of tour groups when you visit, even during the off-season. Equally impressive as the bridge itself are the guard towers that protect the bridge and serves as a stunning entrance. The views of the castle from the bridge are quite amazing, but the main attractions of the bridge are the statues that line both sides.

Construction of the bridge began in the 1300’s and it has been damaged and restored many times throughout its history. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the 30 statues and statuaries were added on top of the bridge pillars along both sides of the bridge, greatly enhancing its beauty. Today, as visitors take photographs of the amazing artwork, they are appreciating reproductions as the originals started to be removed in the 1960’s in fear for damage and vandalism. Despite the fact that they are replicas, they still remain quite an impressive sight.

Looking across the Bridge towards the Castle

There is one statue on the bridge, the statue of St. John Nepomuk, that is of particular interest to tourists. It is on your right as you head from the old town towards the castle and can be identified by his gold halo and the crucifix in his arms. Below the statue are two plaques, one to the right and one to the left of the statue. Legend has it that if you rub the plaque to the right you will one day return to Prague, while another legend has it that if you rub the plague to the left, with the dog, you will have good luck. Needless to say, they are just legends, but there are throngs of people lining up to rub the plaques, making them shiny from their efforts.

View of Charles Bridge from another Bridge in Prague

Today it is a pedestrian only bridge and you will find many street artists and vendors playing music as well as selling arts and crafts. We couldn’t help but purchase a watercolor from an artist along the bridge that we felt truly replicated the feel of being on that historic site. Despite the immense crowds, it was definitely one of those places that when you visit, it stays with you forever. We will always cherish the views of Prague and the castle from the Charles Bridge.

The Good and Bad of Our Weekend

On November 28, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Germany18 Comments

It has been an interesting few days here in Germany to say the least. First of all, we had been greatly anticipating our youngest daughter’s arrival here in Frankfurt as she and a friend were going to Rome and Naples before coming to spend the “holiday” weekend with us in Germany. First of all, obviously Thanksgiving doesn’t exist here in Germany, but we had taken time off of work, partially because it is a holiday in the US, but mostly because of the arrival of our daughter and friend. The day before they were supposed to fly from Naples to Frankfurt, we received a phone call letting us know that her friend had fallen and they were on the way to the hospital. Obviously not the phone call any parent wants to receive when you have children traveling abroad, but she is an adult, so all we could do was support her the best way that we could.

The Dom as You Walk Back from the Bridge

After a few hours, we received another phone call letting us know that her friend had broken her ankle and that they needed to get home to Chicago to receive further treatment. Immediately we began the search for flights that would get them home, forgoing them coming to Frankfurt, but instead just trying to get them from Naples back to Chicago. To make matters worse, Lufthansa pilots had chosen to strike, so finding flights was just about impossible and those that could be found had several stops and prices that were outrageous. After several conversations, they decided to take their previously scheduled flight from Naples to Frankfurt where they would have more options available, but obviously it would delay their return by a day. Perhaps because it was a holiday in the US, they were able to find a non-stop United flight that got them back to Chicago on Thanksgiving day.

That gave us about a half a day to spend with them, albeit not going anyplace other than our apartment, but we did at least get to see our daughter. Sometimes you just have to make the most of what life offers you and take it with a smile. We had a nice time visiting, but certainly not the experience that we had hoped for. One of the things that we had planned was a visit to Würzburg, a smaller city that has a wonderful palace called the Residenz as well as a fortress that looms over the town across the old bridge. We specifically chose this town because it was smaller and we wanted them to see something other than a larger city like Frankfurt or Cologne. With somewhat sad hearts, we went ahead and visited Würzburg over the weekend even though they weren’t with us. It was everything that we had hoped that it would be. The town was festive and busy, but not the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds that we have seen in other cities with Christmas markets.

We toured the Residenz, which was truly magnificent and spent most of our time just walking the tiny side streets. We found a restaurant called Stachel that was over 600 years old and served incredible food. There was a wonderful Dom (Cathedral), which was, of course, surrounded by Christmas markets. We truly did enjoy our time in Würzburg, but we were definitely a little sad that we didn’t get to share it with our daughter as we had hoped. After a few stressful and eventful days, followed by a couple of days of relaxation, we are back to our normal routines and should be posting again on a regular basis. We have shared a few photos from Würzburg, but will talk more about this wonderful town in a future post (although it seems like we are way behind on fully sharing our experiences 😀).

Walking with Locks of Love

On October 20, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Germany, Photo Challenge4 Comments

We haven’t been consistent with sharing for Cee’s Which Way Photo Challenge, but we thought we would try to participate more often. For this week, we decided to use a photo from here in Frankfurt. This is the pedestrian bridge that takes you from Altenstadt (Old Town) Frankfurt into the suburb of Sachsenhausen. Sachsenhausen is home to some of the best local restaurants in town as well as a lot of lively pubs, at least from what we understand. The love locks on fences, like these on the bridge, are always intriguing wherever they are found and we definitely enjoyed seeing these. We have wondered over this bridge several times now and will enjoy crossing it to share a meal, perhaps even with one of the locals that we have met.