pics: Wien & Munchen...die deutche is so fun

I mean honestly....there really are signs that say wiener, fhart, die, brau, frau...just to start. Conor´s having a field day acting like a 10 year old boy with a potty mouth. Not to mention the fun accents...



We spent the morning wandering through the Naschmarkt, which has been the best market we´ve seen all over Europe thus far. Probably becuase it has tons of prepared foods, like millions of stalls with little appetizers...stuff tomatoes, austiran cheese, meats, pickles, mmm delich.

After a trip to the market, we wandered along the Danube river and through a beautiful park...a nice way to recover from our all nighter watching the election....midnight for you is 6am for us....but it was worth it...things seem a little brighter, even over here we can feel it. Conor decided it was time to break out his hat with the american flag on it (he´s been hiding it in his pack since we left.)

Our trip through Bavaria continues to Munich.....where we got in late but still managed to hit our first beer hall: Augustinerkeller, which was HUGE, and the beers were even `huger`, as in one liter each. We also had dinner, which was a pig on a plate....another day when i consider being a vegan, but conor was in heaven...clearly.

Today we also visited Munich´s markets....enjoyed a lovely bratwurst with mustard and headed to the Science and Technology museum after wandering the streets. Care, we are usuing your suggested German....Gutten Tag!

Pics: Czech & Co...

One entrance to the Charles Bridge, which spans the Vltava River and contains elaborate statues every 50 feet or so. That creepy guy in dark is Conor. You can see how spooky and Halloweenish this city really is.

This building in Old Town Square in Prague has an astronomical clock on the left side that people gather to watch every hour. On the hour, it ´´releases a procession of apostles accompanied by a skeleton symbolizing death.´´

After our days in Prague we took day trip into the original land of Budwieser and their beer, Budvar to a picturesque town called Cesky Krumlov, this is the castle that looms over the town from a hill. Obama won, so I no longer feel the need to look for real estate in this town.

After Praha, we headed to Vienna....This back side of the Hofburg Palace. Like my last trip to Vienna, this trip involved mostly walking around buildings rather than walking within them. Last time, it was because me and the Eastern European Wrecking Crew were a little too partied out to do any real siteseeing. This time, it was because Lindsay and I were too partied out from staying up til 6:30 am watching G-Obama usher in a new era.

Pics: Athens & Prague

The Parthenon getting a facelift...it actually is in pretty bad shape, but you would be too if you were 2,440 years old...

View overlooking Dionysius´theater... sort of looks like we superimposed Lindsay in this photo, but we didnt, WE WERE ACTUALLY THERE!

View of Prague from the Wencelas vineyards up on the hill outside of Prazky Hrad. This was the last stop on our tour of the castle grounds and was the best view by far. We got to soak in the view over some local Moravian wines, which we purchased with some crazy money that they gave us as we entered the grounds. From the vineyards, we walked down the side of the vineyard and across the bridge, where we.....

...were able to take this picture. This view is from across the Vltava River and is of Prazky Hrad (even if it was light out, you wouldnt be able to see the vineyard we were in because it is to the right of where this picture ends). Some of the best sightseeing we did was after sunset because so many of the gothic structures are lit up at night. After taking this picture, we actually walked down the river and crossed back over to go to a local pub and soak up some of the Prague atmosphere.

Picture Time: Paros & Athens

Conor in his element enjoying some cobblestones and archway flowers in the back streets of Paros...















Sunset in Paros...This picture looks like it belongs in a magazine...I think Lindsay did a perfect job of following hte rule of 3rds (I think that is a rule in photography, right Mike?)















Just after sunset in Paros. We had to scooter up a rocky dirt rode to get this pic...it is like riding over small rocks when you are bicycling, where you temporarily loose your balance...only you are traveling at much faster speeds...terrifying

View of the acropolis from our private terrace in Athens. If you look closely, Aristotle is trying to give us the bunny ears.

Prague, Round 2 for Conor, Round 1 for Lindsay (and congrats Warndog and Kelly!)

So, we have spent the last 4 days in Prague and it didnt take Lindsay long to understand why I fell in love with it the first time I came here back in 2003. Prague was the 3rd stop on what a group of 9 of us (all guys) called the Eastern European Wrecking Tour. Some comparisons that bear mentioning...

2003 - got lost in the woods up near Prazky Hrad (the Prague castle), ended up stumbling upon a pack of german sheperds and machine gun-carrying guards outside the US Embassy
2008 - got lost in the streets of Jewish Town and stumbled upon some beautiful and quiet streets and shops and warm pubs

2003 - drank flaming absinthe incorrectly due to a problem with a language barrier, received some nasty burns
2008 - drank some of the best beer out there, (budvar and pilsner urquell) and something that rivaled absinthe in taste (Slivovice, could barely get it down). Only burned the throat this time.

2003 - Ate at McDonalds most meals
2008 - Ate at many different restaurants and pubs and have enjoyed some amazing food, in particular, the beef goulash and the pancakes

2003 - advised by a neighbor to stop banging on our door so loudly (after being locked out) because "the people that live in this area still operate like they did before the Iron curtain came down...they will sit there listening to you, they will get upset, let there blood boil, and then they will kill you." We stopped banging on the door.
2008 - not really fully understanding what that guy meant back in 2003 but still terrified, I advised Lindsay to get up from her bus seat that was next to a woman who was incoherently whimpering something at Lindsay from the moment Lindsay sat down next to her. I think I told Lindsay something to the effect of, "if you dont get up now, she might go iron curtain on you and kill you." Lindsay stood up.

2003 - spent our extra day splitting it among an internet cafe, a casino, and a couple different bars
2008 - spent our extra day in Cesky Krumlov, a beautiful European village set on a winding river with a big castle that makes you quickly forget the Iron Curtain/Cold War feel of parts of Prague. If McCain/Palin wins and no houses are for sale in Villeneuve Lez Avignon, we are going to be looking for property there.

Anyway, as you can see, this time around, things were much different and much better. We got to watch the sunset over Prague while sipping wine up in the Wencelas Vineyard overlooking the city, we went on a great pub crawl one night that took us over the statue-laden Charles Bridge and allowed us to snap some amazing night shots, I dragged Lindsay around to all of the places that I visited my first time there (4 places in total) and made her take photos of me standing in front of them (Shaun and Tom, I cant wait to show you guys...), we actually ate Sushi for the first time in months and it was amazing, and we had a blast getting creeped out while walking amongst the buildings with roofs that resembled witches hats on Halloween night. Prague was way more amazing than it was the first time around and I only wish we could stay one more night. However, we have to move along to Vienna, where we will rest up before the all-nighter that we plan on pulling to watch the election tomorrow night. So go vote for Obama tomorrow, or else we might have to go Iron Curtain on you!

Back on the Mainland

We've returned to the mainland in Athens, after 5 very relaxing days in the Cyclades. We had a great time braving the winds along the beaches with our ATV. We also had a great night out with our fellow hostel guests, Ryan from Australia and Amir from Israel, who were probably the only other tourists on the island, and thankfully ones that wanted to talk politics and american sentiment over pool and beers (please vote for obama so our reputation doesn't precede us...shameless plug, sorry) After Naxos, we made a last minute decision and cut our stay at the lovely Hotel Soula short and hopped a ferry to nearby island of Paros on Monday morning. Lucky for us Paros was even better than Naxos, mostly becuase the weather picked up, and the hospitality at Anna's Pension was even better. On thursday we got to experience a National Greek Holiday, Feast of St. Demetrius, as the local children paraded throughout the main street in Parikia and the locals all celebrated at the cafes and bars. After enjoying the white washed buildings and blue shutters we rented a scooter and took off for some of the sights around the island. We stumbled upon a private beach sheltered from the wind by the rocks and the bay and laid out for while before driving around the rest of the island and experiencing an amazing sunset along the water. Sadly on Wednesday we returned to Athens for some sightseeing. Our hostel is in the Monstiraki section of the city, which is the eqivilent to the lower east side of NYC....super cool, looks rough around the edges, but has all sorts of awesome grafiti, hipsters galore (authentic ones that is), neat shops, and awesome bars. From the balcony of our room we have a perfect view of the Acropolis lit up at night. Yesterday afternoon we explored the Agora...as in the actual agora, not BC's super-fangled-web-meeting place-technology (but you can see where it gets it's name.) Conor noted that he felt like he was arriving just a few minutes late and missed one of Socrates great orations.....if only! Then we had another amazing Greek Dinner....and fresh huumus and tzitziki.

Today we hit the biggies...first a strenous hike up to the Acropolis we saw the Temple of Athena Nike, The Parthenon and the great views of Athens below. From up on the hill you can see the entire landscape. NExt we ventured down the south slope down to Hadrian's Arch, and the Temple of Zeus...which is HUGE. Hard to imagine how big it must of been, but the Corinthian Columns give a pretty good indication. From there we walked to the first Olympic Stadium. In the 04' Games the Marathon Finished inside the stadium, and held the archery games...since it's not that big, but does have amazing white marbles for all the seating. Then we wandered the rest of the streets, checking out the Syndagma and Plaka neighborhoods.

Sadly Greece must come to an end as we head to Prague tommorrow and finally say good bye to mild weather....although from the sounds of it we're getting a good deal compared to the weather back home. Ya Mas!

Capri

This shot, taken by a wily old German fellow who was hysterical even though we dont speak German, is from on top of Anacapri, which is only reachable by the chairlift.







Shot from a cove named Marina Picola. We enjoyed a frothy libation right under that umbrella in the center, after a swim in the lovely mediterranean.










The view from the terrace of our B&B. You probably cant tell the difference between the sky and the sea...that is just how blue the water was...