During the five weeks I spent researching and planning this month-long 9 country European odyssey, I saw photos of an amazing garden called Vrtbovska Zahrada. It was under $4 to gain entry and I was determined to find it. In yesterday’s post, we walked down Petrin Hill in search of the gardens and found it! As you can see, it’s absolutely gorgeous!
The views were spectacular…
With the Charles Bridge and Prague in the background, this solitary row-boat appeared to be quite “solitary”!
I left off yesterday having explored some of Wenceslas Square in New Town and Old Town Square. When I presented this trip to my Travel Spirit Meetup.com, I stressed the point that we would be traveling together as independent travelers, meaning if you wanted to stay with the group you could, and if you wanted to divide off with someone else or a separate group, you could and should. At various times during the tour, people would do that. I enjoy solo traveling and believe it empowers people, so I encouraged others to take at least a few hours by themselves, exploring.
On our way walking to take the Funicular (Cog Railway) up Petrin Hill, we happened upon this interesting Memorial to Victims of Communism…
The Astronomical Clock in the center of Old Town Square is on the tourist’s “must do” list, so we did it. There were twelve of us traveling through Eastern Europe for 11 days. Shifting from one leg to the other to take pressure off of my back, it was hard to believe I was finally there. When the figures finally did their thing (I forget now what they did because I watched a clock in Munich also), it was a bit anti-climatic. I was more interested in taking photographs of the amazing architecture and people!
I loved watching the giant bubble maker making his bubbles and children trying to pop them!
A couple of us climbed to the top of the Powder Gate for a fantastic view of Prague…
I couldn’t believe my ears when I arrived to the Delta Airlines check-in desk at the Cincinnati airport and the Reservations Clerk said, in a cavalier tone, “Your flight to Newark, NJ has been cancelled due to weather. Come back in the morning for the next flight.” I explained I was leading a group of people through Europe and it was very important to arrive as soon as possible. After checking some other options, he explained that was my only option. My husband drove the 50 minutes back to the airport to pick me up and in the morning made the third trip to the airport to drop me off. I’ve always liked Airports. The anticipation of going somewhere new, the people watching, and even the photo ops. Who knew restrooms can look “artsy”.
On my overnight flight from Newark to Amsterdam, I was seated between two men traveling together. I intended to get as much sleep as I could, but they were so funny and interesting, we talked and laughed for more than half of the flight! I had arranged for an airport shuttle to pick up the 12 travelers in my group. They arrived at various times, so there were a number of trips. After notifying one of the travelers of my late arrival, they decided to wait the extra two hours for me to take them on Day 1’s list of activities: Taking Tram 22 to the Prague Castle Complex, which includes St. Vitus Cathedral, the Powder Tower, Rosenberg Palace, and the Old Royal Palace; strolling down from the Castle area on Nerudova Street across the famous Charles Bridge.
After checking into the hotel and taking five minutes to freshen up, I joined the group in the lobby for the day’s activities. The first photo I took in Prague was while we were waiting to hop on Tram 22. When I requested permission to take this woman’s photo, she asked “why” with a puzzled look. I responded, “Because I like your pants and your dog”.
So, now we’ve arrived at the top of the hill where the Prague Castle Complex is situated, including St. Vitus Cathedral.
Having just returned a few days ago from my month-long European Vacation, I’d like to share a photo from each of the ten Cities I traveled through. I’ll be going more in-depth in future posts about my experience of taking a group of travelers through Europe, my feelings and thoughts, challenges and delights! The photos are in order of Cities visited…
Here’s most of the group (a couple of people’s flights were delayed or missed) (for the Eastern Europe portion) in front of St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague.
Within the Hofburg Palace Complex – Vienna, Austria…
Planning a trip for yourself is one thing, but when you’re planning for a group of 12, the importance of a solid travel itinerary is essential! I’ve spent over 100 hours planning an 11 night trip for May of this year to Prague, Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest, traveling from City to City via train. I’m so excited! I’ve longed to visit Eastern Europe and am giving a presentation to my travel meetup group next week, to see who would like to join me! After checking how much other travel companies charge for a very similar trip, my group will be very pleased to discover how economical it will be…at almost half the cost. I plan on staying an extra week to travel to Berlin and Amsterdam and hopefully Couchsurf!
With the weather so cold, its been the perfect time to get all of this planning finished! I took these photos the other morning…
You can barely see the sun peeking through the pine trees here…
I’ll post the itinerary for everyone when we get closer! xoxoxo
I’ve just began my own Meetup group called Travel Spirit Meetup Group. If you’d like to take a look…here’s the link! I’m very excited to begin organizing meetups to travel together and to share our tips and travel stories! It doesn’t matter where you live…if you join, you could still meetup with us somewhere!
Here’s a photograph from Lake Malawi, Africa…
I’m working on another Powerpoint presentation…from my 40 day trip through six countries in Africa. It will have to be split into two presentations because I have over 200 photographs and an hour isn’t long enough to share 40 days of adventure!
Oliver Winery in Bloomington, Indiana has stunning scenery…stone landscaping, sculptures, beautiful flowers, and tranquil seating areas. For my annual girls’ weekend this year, five of us visited the winery this past Saturday. It’s one of eight wineries on the Indiana Uplands Wine Trail. The day before, a few of us went to the Butler Winery, which is also on the Indiana Uplands Wine Trail, and really enjoyed our time there. They are very different from each other. Butler Winery is much smaller, has a more homey feel and natural beauty, and only a handful of people were there. As you’ll see from these photos…Oliver Winery was very crowded, but beautiful!
Dee is taking our photo here…
I love hiking and so do my girlfriends, so on our recent girls’ weekend, we went hiking on the Rock Shelter Loop Trail in Morgan Monroe State Forest, Indiana. I had researched hiking trails in the area, and this trail seemed to be a good choice. The trail was only supposed to be 20 minutes away from our Vacation Rental by Owner (VRBO), but getting lost on those back country roads made it seem much farther. We couldn’t find the trail head once we were in the State Forest, but luckily I had the phone number for Morgan Monroe State Forest with me, so we called its location. We weren’t going crazy…there was no sign for it. The large sign said Low Gap Trail and then once you park and start that trail, there is a small sign (see below) indicating that the Rock Shelter Loop Trail is part of that trail.
Anyway, it was supposed to be a three-mile hike, but ended up being four miles. I took a photograph of this leaf that was on a slick rocky portion of the trail. The sunlight was illuminating it…
OK…so we’re not really girls anymore…more like ladies…but we did get a little wild! Here are some photos from the 24 hours we spent together (excluding sleeping time).
Dee (the Chiropractor…the 2nd photo down on the right) gave us a partial Pilates class Saturday morning, so Cindy put on an outfit she had bought recently that makes her look like I Dream of Jeannie.
I can’t divulge what story Gina (in the middle) was telling us, but it was obviously very funny! Cindy (on the left) was also a bit appalled!
For my annual girls’ weekend, I found a Vacation Rental by Owner in Bloomington, Indiana (aka Elm House) that had everything we were looking for—a home located on 100 acres with hiking trails, three bedrooms for five of us, two bathrooms (a must), a hot tub, and two wineries located within five miles! If you read yesterday’s post, you’ll recall our first stop was a winery located five minutes from the property. From there we found the house, unpacked the car and took a quick tour of the house. Elm House has three short maintained hiking trails on the grounds, so we laced our hiking boots and headed for the longest trail…a one-miler. There were only three of us at this point. Two of the ladies weren’t arriving until around 6:00pm.
Here’s a beautiful view from the house looking down at the sawmill that is located on the property.
When I prepared the itinerary for my annual girls’ weekend this year, I included a stop at two of Indiana’s beautiful wineries.
After driving three hours from Cincinnati and getting lost a few times on the back country roads, we were ready for a glass of wine! I had Google map directions and my friends had smart phones, but some of the streets didn’t have signs and we lost signal with the phones. Butler Winery, located just five minutes from the Vacation Rental By Owner, was a convenient and fun stop! They offer six complimentary tastings.
Notice the reflected vineyards in the window…
The little town of Golden, Colorado is situated less than 30 minutes drive from Denver. My friend and I stopped there for a late lunch/early dinner after hiking up to St. Mary’s Glacier. We were headed to see The Local Natives and The National Bands at Red Rock Amphitheater. After walking a few blocks through town and taking some photographs…we stopped at The Bridgewater Grill for our meal. We were seated on the outside patio with a view of the small river/large creek. It’s attached to the Golden Hotel. The food was good…I would recommend it.
This statue of a man fly fishing is cool. At first I thought he had a bull whip…
The sign as you enter town, “Howdy Folks, Welcome to Golden, Where the West lives” is a nice touch!
One of the cool things about traveling and having a blog is it forces you to do research and learn things…like…how many glaciers are in Colorado. Well not specifically how many…but is there more than the one I hiked which was St. Mary’s Glacier in Idaho Springs which is only an hour from Denver. If you read my last post you know St. Mary’s Glacier is only about a mile round trip–that it’s uphill and at an elevation of around 10,000 ft.
Here are some photos of the glacier and my girlfriend and I.
Located only an hour from Denver, St. Mary’s Glacier in Idaho Springs, Colorado is a beautiful hike and at 1 mile round trip is perfect if you’re looking for a shorter length hike and as an added bonus…you can enjoy a 10 mile scenic drive from I-70 to reach it. Having spent six wonderful days in Colorado (except for having to escape Estes Park flooding), my girlfriend and I had a full last day planned before we left and flew home to Cincinnati. We stopped at the magnificent Red Rock Amphitheater to take photos before returning later that evening for a concert and were stopping in the quaint town of Golden to have a late lunch after our St. Mary’s Glacier hike.
Here I am taking in the view on the hike…
I couldn’t stop taking photos…it was so pretty!
