Your Travel – Prague

I am very excited to present the next guest blog in my Your Travel series – Rachel from Da Paura. She has been living in Rome for two years and has also been visiting some amazing places. I have really come to love her blog with all of her fantastic pictures and I was so excited that she wanted to contribute to my travel series. Her post is about breath taking Prague, a city that I would absolutely love to visit, and her post made me want that even more. So enjoy this and be sure to check out her blog.

First, thank you so much to Cammie for allowing me to participate in her travel series. Travel is one of my passions and after living in Rome for two years, I have had the opportunity to see a lot of the world. Strangely enough, I chose to not to write about any city in Italy. This is mostly due to the high volume of Italy-inspired posts on my own blog throughout the past two years.. I actually thought it would be fun to share my very first European experience – long before our crazy notion to sell all we own and move to Rome! My husband and I went to Prague, Czech Republic on our honeymoon in September of 2006.

During that time, it was quite uncommon for Prague to be high on the list of most travellers from the US… and on our trip, it seemed like a hidden gem! Visiting Prague was like stepping back into time, and much more so than even most places in Italy. Since the Czech Republic was under the Soviet rule for so long, it was highly untouched by the Western World. I believe it was as late as 1989… after so many years of dangerous Soviet rule, it was finally allowed and safe enough for travellers. As terrible as the reason was, we certainly had the opportunity to visit such preserved beauty as a result. There was no Starbucks, no McDonald’s… although I am guessing it has changed by now. At the time, the US dollar was stronger which made the Koruna (Crown) an amazing price for us. We typically paid $0.50 for a litre of beer and $1.00 for a glass of table wine! All of our friends kept asking, “where are you going on your honeymoon again? Where is Prague??” It was a unique vacation, and one I will never forget.

Our hotel was near Wenceslas Square, which is actually a popular place for shopping – fashion in particular. Our quaint hotel had the most breathtaking view of Prague Castle, and sunsets were spectacular. Everything is very easy to get to in Prague. The public transportation is SO easy and fast, and at the time, very cheap! We were only a skip away from my favourite place in Prague, Old Town! The charm begins with Charles Bridge. It is absolutely stunning in the early morning hours when very few are walking on it. There are statues of beauty and a view of the castle. I also loved the somewhat medieval and dark feeling of Prague – there are tons of gargoyle statues on the buildings which gives it such a mystical feeling almost. It’s a bit like a life-like Disneyland.

One you pass Charles Bridge, you are at the beginning of Old Town. There, you can see the famous Prague Astronomical Clock, the Estate Theatre where Mozart premiered the famous Don Giovanni in 1787 (so amazing!), and of course Prague Castle at the top of a winding hill. Once you are in the castle, you must again take old winding steps up to a lookout, where you can find the most gorgeous views of Prague. (that is, if you can catch your breath soon enough to enjoy it!)

One of our favourite things to do in Prague was to simply sit at cafes or pubs for hours and take in all of the surrounding beauty. The pubs actually serve amazing traditional Czech food (at least they did in 2006), and be sure to order the goulash and knedliky! Be prepared to walk a lot. I always recommend flat or wedge boots for any travel in Europe – they simply have saved my life a million times. The servers were typically very polite and somewhat quiet, so don’t expect them to list off their specials of the night and come back to check on you every 10 minutes. Prague truly took my breath away, and I can’t wait to return to such a special place. Thank you again Cammie for letting me share one of my travel experiences here!

The pictures are Rachel’s personal photos.

If you’re interested in contributing to this, then please do not hesitate to contact me on cammiewaaden@yahoo.com. I am very interested in posting about your travels and to learn something new.

Your Travel - Bruges

It is now two weeks since I posted the first guest post in my new travel guest series, Your Travel. I am very excited to present the second guest post from the lovely Meghan from Wishful Thinking. Be sure to check out her blog, it’s fantastic. Enjoy her story about wonderful Bruges and her amazing photos.

I am so excited to take part in Cammie’s travel series! My favourite part of travelling is reliving the memories and sharing them with others!  I had a really hard time picking just one destination to talk about, but I went with a destination that truly captured my heart and imagination… Bruges!

Bruges was relatively unknown to me so I didn’t really have any expectations, but from the moment I arrived, I completely fell in love with it. Just a short walk from the train station and you feel like you have been transported back in time - complete with mediaeval buildings built around small winding canals and bridges, quaint chocolate shops, imposing Gothic churches and cobbled streets with horse-drawn tourist carriages. And yes, it looks as good as it sounds!

The practicalities:

Bruges is small and very walk-able so you don’t have to worry about public transport to get around! Or if you are feeling more active, there are plenty of places to hire bikes or even do a Segway tour! The main attractions include the Market Square with the Belfry Tower (I was too nervous to go to the top after seeing the movie ‘In Bruges’), the Church of our Lady and De Halve Maan Brewery, where they brew the delicious local Bruges Zot! To get a different perspective of the city, take a short boat trip along the canal! My favourite day was spent strolling around Lovers Lake sipping hot chocolate and contemplating life.

The fun stuff:

Bruges is the place to break out the elasticated pants. No seriously, you will need them! The Belgians are world-famous for waffles, beer, mussels, French fries (yip, they even have a museum dedicated to them) and of course chocolate. In the interest of being a good tourist, I tackled each and every one of these delights with gusto! If you haven’t tried a Belgian waffle in Belgium then you haven’t lived!

Some tips:

Take a stroll outside the major attractions, the crowds are thinner and the neighbourhoods are very pretty. Although the chocolate shops in the centre of town are fantastic, they are quite posh and expensive so shop around, we found a fantastic chocolate shop near the French Fry Museum (sorry, I can’t remember the name), the choccies were delicious and cheaper. And finally, visit around Christmas time to enjoy the famous Christmas markets but also make sure you leave enough time to do a day trip out to the WWI battle sites – I was so disappointed that we ran out of time!

Thanks for having me Cammie! I am soooo looking forward to hearing other travel stories in this series!

The pictures are Meghan’s personal photos.

If you’re interested in contributing to this, then please do not hesitate to contact me on cammiewaaden@yahoo.com. I am very interested in posting about your travels and to learn something new.

Your Travel – Bali

I am very excited about this post as this is the first contribution for my travel guest series, Your Travel. I was very happy when Kate emailed me last week and asked if she could write a post about Bali. This is the first guest post in this series and I hope you’ll enjoy it. Please be sure to check out Kate’s amazing blog Travelmoon.

I’m very excited to participate in Cammie’s new Travel Blog Series.  Cammie has really been to so many incredible and awe-inspiring locations on her around-the-world journey, which inspired me to share one of my own dream trips here.  

It is nearly impossible for me to pick my favorite travel spot as each trip has evoked a different feeling and experience.  Yet instantly, the first place that came to mind was tropical Bali.  I remember thinking as I traveled through each town peering over at the passing rice fields, rich in in lush greens, and watching people at their local temple steadfastly making offerings, that this was a magical location that was almost unworldly in its beauty.  And you will be hard pressed to find people anywhere in the world who are more welcoming and warm.  

If I could give only one tip it would be to leave your resort pool and check out the amazing countryside.  If you are brave, you can rent a motorbike for the day, where you can swerve in and out of traffic to get to places quicker.  After one harrowing motorbike experience (that is a story for another day), I have sworn them off forever.  Instead, we opted to hire a personal taxi driver for surprisingly inexpensive rates.  The taxi driver will wait for you while you spend the day on the beach, or take you to a temple, or to a different part of the county all for a fixed price agreed upon in advance.  We connected with a taxi driver we met on the first day who practically turned into our own personal tour guide and introduced us to traditional Balinese music.  Almost six months after my journey, I still find the repetitive tinkling tunes hard to get out of my mind from time to time.

There are many places to spot monkeys roaming wild or even visit a monkey forest if you dare.  Monkeys can actually get quite aggressive and you must make sure to not have any food while in the monkey forest unless you are prepared to have them jump on your head.  At a distance, they can be quite entertaining to observe.  If you want the opportunity to ride an elephant, Bali provides a chance for that too.

Make sure to venture inland to Bali’s spiritual center that is brimming with artists: Ubud.  This is where you can see or even stay among the rice paddies.  Ubud has a large market where they sell traditional and native wares and also a plethora of spas as well.  We indulged in hours of spa treatments for rates so low it seemed almost sinful.  Nearby, is Tegalalang, an expansive stepped rice terrace (a mouthful to say but you will be speechless once you arrive).  I sipped ginger tea and ate fried bananas in a restaurant built into the slope to maximize the splendid view and in a fit of madness asked if the owner was willing to sell the restaurant.  I know I am far from the first person who has been seduced into contemplating staying in Bali forever...

The pictures are Kate’s personal photos.

If you’re interested in contributing to this, then please do not hesitate to contact me on cammiewaaden@yahoo.com. I am very interested in posting about your travels and to learn something new.