Dublin Here I Come!

Ahh... I was just upgraded to First Class! Thanks to Denny for being a "Million Miler" that makes me Premier Gold. 
 Imagine.. a meal, a glass of wine, what a great way to start my trip. The lady in the United Club said " Thank you Mrs. Botch for being Premier Gold."
I said "No, thank you."
So excited to be heading to Ireland.. Looking forward to sharing lots of fun times with all of you.. Until I get there!

Dublin, Killarney and Paris Too!

In just six weeks I’ll be on my way to Dublin and Killarney again! I asked my dear friend Carmina a while ago what she thought about joining me in Dublin for a week. Along with her almost immediate YES, she in turn asked me what I thought about flying to Paris for a couple of those days. I didn’t have a problem with that at all, as you can imagine.

 

She and I were in Ireland together in 2006 and since then, I’ve found a couple of new spots that will be fun to share with her this time.  One is the beautiful seaside village of Howth, just North of Dublin and the wonderful beach town of Dun Laoghaire just South of Dublin, each, an easy 30- minute ride via the Dart.

I’m thinking we’ll do the Dun Laoghaire-Dalkey - Killiney walking tour along the coast one day and then feast on the beauty and delights of Howth another.

I understand Carmina has a show at Moulin Rouge scheduled for us and the Giverny Monet Garden tour while in Paris. It should be a great trip!

I’ll update again as it gets closer and I do hope you’ll follow along at: www.celticcelebration.blogspot.com,  
I look forward to posting more adventures from Dublin, Killarney and Paris too! 

 

Sentimental Journey

Yesterday we went to the Charles Bridge. It is now one of our favorite places to visit in Europe along with Old Town Dubrovnik & St. Stephen's Plaza in Vienna.  Other favorites include: Las Ramblas Street in Barcelona, Piccadilly Circus in London, Grafton Street in Dublin, and Champs-Elysees Boulevard in Paris.  The bridge is alive with artists, painters, musicians, mimes, and other street performers and offers incredible views of the beautiful city of Prague. 

We had lunch at another nice outdoor restaurant, I had the goulash with dumplings and Denny had chicken schnitzel. The food has been good throughout the trip.

On the way back to the hotel it was raining so we were darting in and out of shops. Lucky me, one of them was a jewelry store so I had myself a look. I have been looking throughout the trip hoping to find a charm that would represent one of the countries we had been in. I found a charm of the Charles Bridge.  

So Dad, I hope you were watching as I walked on the ground that your mom and dad walked so many years ago. It meant a lot to me. Isn’t it amazing what we can do when we let our hearts lead the way?  

Now we’re on our way home and I’m hoping Dublin will remember us and forgive us for leaving him so long.We feel lucky to have found Traci Zubka who took such good care of him while we traveled. The pictures she emailed along the way were much appreciated. I hope everyone enjoyed following along on our trip through Central Europe. 

It’s been a real sentimental Journey.

Auf Wiedersehen Vienna~ Guten Tag Prague

 

Our last night in Vienna was fun.  We met my cousin Dottie and her husband Jeff in Town Center for a drink and had a great visit.  They were in Vienna for a convention, which just happened to coincide with our short stay in this wonderful city.  We talked about all the places we've traveled over the years and were amazed at how many of the same countries we had both visited.  After a couple of hours, they were off to meet up with their group for dinner and we went back to have a bite at our hotel.

We wanted to be sure to say good-bye to a couple of new friends we recently made who work in the Hilton Executive Lounge.  We were so happy to have met Mary Weymann and Elisabeth Hohl, who were part of the best staff we have ever encountered at a hotel.  They not only helped with our passport issue, but provided suggestions on local attractions and guidance on getting around Vienna throughout our stay. Both Mary & Elisabeth are now following my blog and have become Facebook Friends!

We arrived in Prague yesterday afternoon after a 4 1/2 hour train ride from Vienna. We made it a point to be on high alert while on a train or at any train station. I wore one of those waist belts with my passport and credit card in it. They weren’t going to get me this time. We were very careful if someone were to come up to us and ask to look at their ticket.  That is one of the ways they distract people as their partner in crime is lifting something out of your purse or backpack.  They’ll show you their ticket and ask “Is your ticket the same as mine?” expecting that you’ll reach into your bag and pull yours out, giving them access to whatever is in there.

I snapped a picture of a girl we believe to be a pickpocket.  She stood in a carefully picked out location in the Vienna Meidling train station, acting like a predator on the prowl.  She watched every one as they passed with close attention to their backpacks, purses or back pockets - places where valuables and tickets are most often kept. At her side was a scooter which would assure her a fast getaway.  At one point she took out a very small phone and said something to someone and quickly put it back in her pocket.  Often pickpockets work in pairs, one of them scopes out the situation and then brings in the other for the dirty work.  We were very happy to get to the hotel without further confrontations.

After checking into the hotel, we took a short walk along Prague’s picturesque streets.  We were here in Prague 10 years ago and were pleased to find that our favorable impression of the city had not changed.  Prague is a great city to walk, with cobblestone streets, outside cafes, 500 year old buildings and a dizzying array of shops, restaurants, and outside activities. 

In Town Center we found an outdoor restaurant where we could people-watch while enjoying dinner. We both had the “Prague Style Beef Stroganoff” which was good. Without exception the local beers and wines have been great throughout our trip. We’ll have to walk a little faster when we get home to work off all the Croatian, Austrian, Hungarian and Czech beers.

It started to rain when we were out walking but isn’t it something when you’re on a vacation, it’s all just part of the ambiance.

We’ve stayed at a lot of Hilton’s over the years and although most have been very good, the Hilton Prague is among the best – The Executive Lounge is exceptional.    

On the top floor of the Hilton there is a bar called The Cloud  The Cloud has a night club atmosphere and provides an outside area overlooking the city, which is great for a glass of wine and a place for Denny to enjoy a cigar.  Oh what a view!

This morning we’re getting ready to walk to the Charles Bridge and other attractions, while enjoying all the Sunday activity.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vienna and a Day for Celebration!

Our Vienna Holiday took a little detour by way of the local Police Station and the U.S. Embassy yesterday morning, but that didn’t derail us for long.  By noon, I had a new passport in hand and am now free to continue on to Prague on Saturday and back to the U.S. on Monday.  This was truly a day to celebrate!

The local Vienna police station was easily accessible by metro and located directly behind a large McDonald’s.  Obtaining a copy of the official theft report required only a few minutes.

The Embassy wasn’t nearly as intimidating as we thought it would be.  In our minds, we thought we would be walking up to a fortress-type facility with U.S. Marines standing guard.  Instead, the Consulate Office was at the Marriott Hotel on the 4^th floor.  The people working there were absolutely wonderful in every way.  I just had to fill out a couple of forms, provide them with a copy of the theft report and a couple of passport photos – which could be taken right there.  Within an hour I had a freshly printed official replacement U.S. Passport.  What a relief to once again have proof of identity while out of the country.

Now with those distractions behind us, we got right back on track and could continue on with what we really came here to see.  Since the U.S. Consulate (Marriot Hotel) was located in Town Center we could walk from there to many of Vienna’s beautiful sights.

St. Stephen’s Plaza is an amazing collection of cobblestone streets open only to pedestrian traffic and continuing for blocks on end.  There are street performers and horse drawn carriages. There are many high end shops, restaurants, fresh fruit and vegetable stands, the Opera House and yet, another stunning church St. Stephen’s Cathedral.

Just a few blocks from St. Stephen’s Plaza is a gorgeous park called Stadtpark, with statues of Mozart, Schubert, Strauss, and many more.  There are beautiful flower arrangements throughout ~ Oh the Tulips!

The metro is such a great way to travel.  It is modern, convenient, efficient and easy to use. I wish we had this type of transportation in the states. A lot of people that live in Europe don’t have cars and use the subway to go everywhere.

Tonight is our last night in Vienna, and we’re looking forward to meeting my cousin Dottie and her husband Jeff.  They’re from my hometown of Rock Island, Illinois. Imagine that, we’re both in Vienna at the same time.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good - Bye Budapest ~ Hello Vienna

We were sorry to leave our new friends Agnes and Sandor behind when we left Budapest, but we were excited now to see Vienna. The train ride was a smooth 3 hour trip. As we were getting close to our station, we reviewed the directions to the hotel and it looked like it would be a 20 minute metro ride and then a short walk. There was a nice man who helped me “lift” my luggage from the train upon arrival in Vienna and we were on our way.

We checked in to find another wonderful room at the Hilton and when I went to put my passport into the safe, it wasn’t in my purse. After retracing our steps, we realized I had been pick-pocketed.

Elizabeth at the Concierge desk was awesome in helping us find solutions to our dilemma. She arranged for the local police to meet us at the hotel to file a theft report and called the U.S. Embassy to notify them of our problem.

Today our itinerary includes a trip to the police station to pick up the theft report and a visit the U.S. Embassy to arrange for a replacement passport.

In spite of our arrival issues in Vienna, we were delighted to see that the sun came up as beautifully as ever this morning. 

 

Our First Hungarian Sunset

Our afternoon train from Zagreb to Budapest was right on time, as trains in Europe always are. This is one of the pleasures of travelling in Europe ~ the trains. It’s nice not to have to go through security, take your shoes off, and pull your laptop out of your bag. You just get on the train and open your bottle of wine.

 We were set with our ham and cheese sandwiches and a bottle, well 3 bottles of wine for the 7 hour ride to Budapest.  When the trip began there were 5 people in our 6 person 1^st class cabin.  It was very hot and the cabin was stuffy. Shortly after we started out, I took a walk and met a young woman in the cabin next to us, but their cabin was a lot cooler. I asked her why. Her suggestion of opening the window didn’t work for us as it was locked.

At one of the stops all the people in both our cabins departed except Denny and I and the women next door. She invited us to come and join her and rid ourselves of our sauna like conditions.  It was nice to meet Agnes, who is from Budapest and had lots of good advice on what to see and filled us in on what Hungary is like.

When she looked at our directions for getting to the hotel, she suggested we get off at her stop and then she would make sure we transferred to the right train that would take us right to the Hilton.  When her boyfriend met her, he had already purchased tickets for us on the connecting subway. How nice is that! Here we are in a strange city at night and our quandary of how to negotiate the Budapest subway system is suddenly solved.  Agnes and Sandor not only provided us with the necessary tickets but also guided us right up to the Hilton entrance.

 Tonight, we took them to dinner and they had a great restaurant picked out with a spectacular view of the City.  It was an area called the Citadel which is on the Buda side of the beautiful Danube River,
 

 Today we walked around the city and saw many spectacular sites: The Hungarian Parliament, we were lucky to get there just in time to see the changing of the guard. Freedom Square, where we took pictures along side of the Ronald Reagan Statue and the Soviet Memorial. St. Stephen’s Basilica, with its majesty,  built in 1845.  Denny believes it is one of the two most magnificent churches in the world, being 2nd only to St. Peter's in Rome.