After getting a few ideas from yesterday's tour guide about areas of the city that are somewhat less touristy, we set out on an ambitious walk today to get a feel for what Prague is like outside of the old town. We explored a few neighborhoods off the beaten path and found some great areas where the locals like to hang out. Prague is a visually interesting place to explore because the variety of architectural styles gives each block a unique feel. The buildings ...

The good thing about the rain in today's forecast is that it brought along some warmer temperatures. Even though the forecast was full of foreboding, we shrugged it off and decided to join a free walking tour regardless. I'm not sure if the bleak meteorological prospects frightened others away, but luckily we were the only two who joined the tour. A private free walking tour: hard to beat that! Our guide Karla hailed from Czech Canada, an area located in the rug...

A blue sky and shining sun coaxed us out for a run this morning, which is a great way to familiarize yourself with a new city. Prague's downtown has many bridges in close vicinity to each other, so it is a perfect place to run back and forth across the river while enjoying the awesome views. We ran across the famous Charles Bridge and enjoyed almost the entire pedestrian bridge to ourselves, which was a stark contrast to our afternoon crossing when people were pa...

Like Wayne Ronstadt we were on the road again today, taking the train north from Vienna to Prague. Contrary to our expectations, the climate warmed significantly as we moved north and found Prague at around nine degrees and sunny. Not bad for the beginning of December! We definitely received the VIP treatment on arrival as our gracious host Pavel met us on the platform holding a 'Louise' sign. Seriously, this guy goes above and beyond for his guests, even bringi...

Oompa loompa, dippity-doo: I've got another blog story for you. Today we set out for the Heindl Chocolate Museum, which was quite a journey to the southernmost part of Vienna. The museum provided an interesting overview of the chocolate making process from harvesting the cocoa fruit to the finished product. The best part of the museum was the three chocolate fountains where you were free to compare (and compare again) the relative merits of milk, white, and dark...