Austria and a taste of Germany

We found an amazing deal on a bus ride from Prague to Nurnberg, so we took it. We spent the half day at The Nazi Party Rally Gounds Museum learning about WWII. It was a really cool museum. We saw the Congress Hall, Zepplin Field, and watched a couple short documentaries about Hitler and the War. It was very interesting to see and learn more about. Afterwards, we went to the city and had lebkuchen which is sort of like a gingerbread cake that they are famous for. It was absolutely delicious. It was a fun day. After spending the day in Nurnberg, we headed down to Austria, which is about an hour and a half away by train. You may be wondering why we didn’t just stay in Germany, since we were going to come back, well the reason was because our flight left out of Munich, so it was just easier to finish the trip there.

Translation: Hitler: Our last hope

Zepplin Field

This is where Hitler used to preach from. Danny wanted me to heil, I wanted to live.

And this is for all you nursing mothers out there. Yes, the water is coming from her nipples.Our first day in Austria was really fun. We went to a little town called Werfen, home of the famous Hohenwerfen Castle. We hiked up a large Alp Mountain to get there, which was beautiful. The castle was really cool. It is about 600 years old and has been used for a myriad of purposes. It was used as a castle, a prison, and a Nazi Police training center. The little town that it is in is famous for bird training, so we were able to see a falcon, eagle, and owl show while we were there. It was very cool.

These are some of the birds we saw in the bird show

Danny was misbehaving, so I put him in the stocks.

View of the city from the bell tower

After the castle, we went to Salzburg, home of The Sound of Music. There we saw some beautiful gardens, the city center, and some fountains called Trick Fountains. The person who designed these fountains was a bit crazy. He designed a whole city block with hidden “fountains.” He then would invite guests over and trick them with them. When they would be sitting or walking, he would turn on the water and get them all wet. Every room had sprayers in it hidden very well. We went with a group of students from Italy, and they were loving getting wet. Our guide was nice enough to take us in separate groups so we all didn’t have to get drenched.

This is a little city built out of wood, and has over 200 figurines, of which 75 move

This is the Salzburg CastleOur last day in Austria was spent in a little city called Hallstatt. It is a very old Austrian city, dating back to before Christ. Obviously it has been renovated since, and is a beautiful city. It is built right around a big lake, with the houses going right to the waters edge. We rode a tram up to the top of the mountain, and then hiked down. It was absolutely beautiful. I also had my first and last leberkase, translation: liver cheese. Yes, liver cheese, do I need to expound upon why it will be my last? Danny absolutely loves the stuff, but I could not force myself to do the same. I gave it a fair try though, 3 bites. Danny wasn’t very sad that he had to finish my share. I couldn’t get the taste out for the rest of the day. It reminded me of bacon bits in that aspect. It was a very relaxing day, we walked a lot, as usual, but the city and the lake were well worth it.

The LeberkaseWe were sad to leave Austria, but happy to be moving on to Germany, our next stop.

Prague

We took a small jumper flight from Rome to Prague, and after just a couple short hours, we arrived in Bohemia. It was beautiful. We arrived a little later on in the afternoon, and by the time we found our hotel, there was only enough time to eat, see one cathedral and explore the city a bit.

Prague is a beautiful city. All the buildings are different colors and all the streets are cobblestone. There are so many cathedrals it seems impossible to count. We only were able to spend two days here, but they were both packed with sight seeing. On day one, we saw basically the entire city. We walked a lot, but it was nothing new. Some of the sites included: National Museum, Prague Opera House, Wenceslas Square, Klementinum Tower, Astronomical Tower, Charles Bridge, Nicholas Church, Prague Castle, and finished off at the Petrin Tower, which is a replica of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. While at the Astronomical Tower, we were able to walk up to a view point allowing us to see the entire city. It was very cool to be up above all the buildings. There is definitely good reason that it is the 6^th most visited city in Europe.

Wenceslas Square

Klemintinum Tower

Nicholas Church

Astronomical Clock

View from Astronomical tower

Prague Castle

Charles Bridge

Petrin Tower

View from the hike to Petrin Tower

Day two was not quite so eventful. We didn’t realize that we would be able to see so many sights on the first day! We went to a little town called Kutna Hora which is about an hour and a half outside of Prague. I rode my very first train to this city, which has always been one of my dreams. The main reason we went to this city was because there is a little church there called Kostnice that is completely decorated with real human bones. After the Hussite War, and the plague, which obviously killed many people, this little church was expanding its cemetery. In doing so, they found many bones and the priest who was presiding at the time thought it would be respectful to those who died to use their bones as decoration for the church. He built 4 huge pyramids out of long bones, such as the femurs, humorous, tibias, ulnas and radius, (thank you human anatomy) with some skulls mixed in and topped them with a golden crown. None of the bones in these pyramids are stuck together. They are all just stacked in a way that they won’t fall down. The “chandelier” actually has every single type bone found in the human body. There was a very eerie feel to the church, which I am sure you can understand…due to all the bones. It was really interesting, and definitely not something you see every day.

Me, before my 1st train ride

The bone pyramids. Couldn't get the whole thing cause they were too big.

My nose looks like roudolph, it was a bit chilly that day.

This chandelier contains every single type of bone found in the human body

He even made a coat of arms. Notice the bird in the right corner. It is eating the skull. Weird.

We spent the rest of the day walking around the little city, which is also beautiful. The streets are just lined with beautiful colorful buildings, and small shops. It was a very relaxing and informative day, and one that we will not soon be forgetting. And this concludes our journey in Prague. Our next stop? Nurnberg, Germany and then on to Austria.