Prague

Prague.....ah....Prague.  Definitely on my list of top 10 cities in the world.

And the reason was simple - it had atmosphere!

Brad and I headed out Friday morning for Prgaue.  It's about a 4-1/2 hour drive from Stuttgart.  We'd made reservations at the Corinthian Hotel Prague, a Wyndham chain hotel, that is two train stops outside of city center.  Since Prague has one of the higher crime rates in Europe, it was important for us to have a hotel with secure parking, which this place had.  Arriving in early afternoon, we checked in.  Our hotel package included daily breakfast, access to the "Spa" (Swimming pool and sauna), and a king bed room with views - this photo is the view from our window.  The best part was a reasonable cost (as long as you didn't plan to use the internet or other services).  And the breakfust was a full buffet with lots of excellent choices.  I'd highly recommend it.

While there are sites to be seen in Prague -- namely the Charles Bridge with vendors set up along the bridge selling jewelry, knick-knacks and paintings:

the Prague Castle at the top of the hill:

with the St Vitus Cathedral located in the center of the palace grounds:

The stained glass windows in the Cathedral were amazing - made of of individual pieces of glass put together vice painted glass, the amount of work and detail was superbly amazing. (the Castle is also known Pražský hrad - the largest castle in the world and the Cathedral is the oldest Gothic cathedral in Europe);

The Astronomical Clock in Old Town Square:

The modern Wenceslas Square:

And the somewhat interesting Jewish Cemetery -- what we loved best was the international feel to the whole city, the countless shops, restaurants, cafes, and beautiful historic buildings that make up this city. 

We ate the first night at an old restaurant across from St Nicholas's Church

 It's always fascinating to me when our restaurants are older than the United States - this one was started in 1665 for example.  The second day, after breakfast at our hotel we had a lunch at another old Czech restaurant and dinner at an Italian restaurant - both of us enjoying good Czech beer.

 I discovered after the first day that the beer was much better than the wine!  The last day we went and walked around the Old Jewish Cemetery (not worth the cost).

This picture of Brad is from on the Charles Bridge - look at the sky behind him!  We were lucky to have beautiful weather during our visit, with rain starting the last day.  It was in the 70's and sunny the whole time.

This was St Nicholas's Church (I think).  A beautiful baroque church at the base of the castle hill.

And then a couple other pictures of the city:

While we didn't partake, there were countless tours offered, including both bus and boat trips.  We truly enjoyed just walking around taking everything in.  Someday we'd both like to go back - definitely a great City of the Month for May!!

Stuttgart Flea Market

Once a year there is a huge flea market in downtown Stuttgart.  This isn't the normal Saturday flea market - instead it's HUGE!  The booths are set up up in many streets and fill up at least three squares.  Brad and I, never known for turning down a fleamarket opportunity, were quite glad we went here.  Brad is standing in this first picture in the Rathaus square - just look at how many people are behind him!  It's crazy.  I think Brad's right when he commented that the Germans are desperate to have something to do on Sunday's, since all the shops and other places are closed.  This Sunday - they were all downtown!  In the next picture I'm in the square by the new castle and the church (the church is behind me). 

We walked away today with a new oil painting (at least 3ft x 2 ft), two cut glass wine glasses, some scalpel blades (for Brad's hobbies), a bottle stopper, some old Navy buttons, two scarves, a level, and a set of three really cool beer bottles (I think they hold either 2 or 3 Liters each).  It was quite a productive day!

Laura & Reggie's Visit

Good friends of ours from San Diego - Laura and Reggie - came to visit us in Stuttgart the first weekend of May.  The weather was really crappy - cold and rainy, but we took in a couple sites while they were here.  The first day, after picking them up at the airport, we went home and visited for a while, then chanced the rain by going to Hohenzolern castle, here you see it with the mist wrapping around the base of the hill.  Afterwards we went and had dinner at Gasthause Riedsee.  Laura and Reggie had the schnitzel with au-gratin potatoes, Brad had the pork medalions with au-gratin potatoes, and I had spinach and duck.  It was delicious.

I thought this door handle was fascinating, especially since it was on the chapel door at Hohenzolern Castle.

The next day we went to downtown Stuttgart, where we walked around and saw the sights, and took in some shopping.  It was a short but fun two days and we're glad they came!

Laura and Brad, Scholtzplatz, Stuttgart.

Laura and me, main square (Schlotzplatz), downtown Stuttgart.

I took pictures of each of the fountain statues, in this one I caught Brad, Reggie and Laura waiting for me on the other side. 

I loved how beautiful the purple flowers on this tree looked against the building behind them, Schlotzplatz, Stuttgart.

The four of us in downtown Stuttgart.

Reggie and Brad waiting for me and Laura to come out of a shop.  I loved the flower box behind them.