Czeching out the Old Town of Prague

We spent the weekend on November 14-16 with our friends Ami & Danny in the city of Prague. Actually, we only saw the 'old city' of Prague, and are sure that more of Prague exists, we just didn't see it! Rumour has it that Walt Disney visited Prague years and years ago, and was so inspired by the buildings (such as the church below) that he created the 'disney castle' and disney world based on the city. I don't know if that's true or not, but it was certainly easy to get lost in the magic of the place.
There was a massive square called the 'Old Town Square' (I know, really original), which was basically tourist central. The main attraction (among all of the cafes, restaurants and hot dog vendors of course) was the astronomical clock. I guess it's famous for showing the locations of the sun, the moon, and the phases of the moon. To look at its nothing special really as it doesn't do anything fun, but apparently apostle statues appear in the doors above the clock on the hour. However, what is most interesting about it is that its based on pre-Copernican geocentric belief that the earth was the centre of the universe, and the earth is in the exact middle of the clock! During WWII the clock was nearly destroyed by Nazi fire. The townspeople are credited with heroic efforts in saving most of the parts. It was gradually renovated throughout the years. According to local legend the city will suffer if the clock is neglected and its good operation is placed in jeopardy.

What we liked best about Prague (and there's lots to like!) were the fantastic views and music on Charles Bridge. With Prague being such a musical city there were jazz bands and clubs everywhere. The band below was called the 'Bridge Band', and every once and a while the band would stop playing and the one guy 3rd from the right would just make funny faces and sing 'Boo di bee boo boo di doo' or something to that effect. I found it highly amusing and wish I had a video camera.

On Saturday night we hit the town, tried some authentic Czech food (sausages, and ghoulash, and I had the most massive ribs ever that I felt like Wilma Flintstone!), and tried a shot of authentic czech spirit - Absinthe. It is basically a bright turquoise colour, and they light some sugar on a spoon that drips into it. When you taste it you 'cough' it down as it it literally tastes toxic - like what you would expect anti-freeze or the like to taste. We only did the one, but that was enough! After dins we went to a couple jazz clubs that were based in the cellars of a number of buildings - it was cool to watch people on big instruments like cellos and pianos inside a cave of stone walls! Afterwards, Syd and I hit a bar that was too American for my taste, but was a chance to talk to a few different people. It was a nice time, and a long night, but we felt that we made the best of Prague nightlife.

The next day we walked around Prague again and in the grounds of the Castle. We saw great views of the city from above from here - lots of red rooftops. As most of us were nursing hangovers we just took it easy and went out for a nice dinner where Danny got a massive hanging brochette (aka shish kabob) before heading to the airport.

Prague Observations:

The Czech Republic are a smart nation when it comes to tourism. They have it all figured out. They kept the old city contained in one area of Praha, and they added modern elements to it (bars, restos, museums - including a sex machine one! - and even a 200 store shopping mall). That way the tourists have everything they need to stay in one part always, and the rest of the czechs in Prague work and live in the surrounding commercial area! Its like they built an invisible wall and said come tourists, this way to be blissfully amused in our fairytale disney-like city...and we happily oblige. ;o)

And what's with the puppet obsession? There were shops and vendors everywhere! And what's more - why did I buy into it? They are actually really cute and beautifully made though and will be good mementos... so I turned around and bought two! Doh.

La Belle Geneve

On Nov 7-9 Syd and I took our last Europe mini-break (just the two of us) to beautiful Geneva Switzerland. It was a very metropolitan city in that it had many languages represented (German, Italian, French and English), and with it being on the border of France, French was the language of choice. Our friend Astrid has lived there for years and highly recommends it so we thought we should check it out.

The first night we flew in late, but were instantly impressed with the fact that we got a 'free' train ticket to town, and the train ride was only 6 minutes! We thought we could really get used to this free travel stuff. As it turned out, we could! Because when we checked into our hotel, they gave us a free travelcard for use in all Geneva transport for the entire weekend! Very strange, but very welcomed! ;o)

On Saturday we spent the day exploring old town Geneva, and of course the main shopping street. We didn't buy very much as the Swiss Franc and the clothing prices were not very cheap at all, even against the British pound! We loved how the streets in the old town were in layers, some higher and lower than others. And there were many narrow stairways leading to different streets so it was quite neat. Oh, and did I mention the cafes and chocolate shops everywhere?
We loved the sights on the main lake - Lake Geneva (or lac leman). In the middle is a very famous fountain landmark called Le Jet D'Eau. Five-hundred litres of water per second are jetted to an altitude of 140m by two 500kW pumps, operating at 2,400V, consuming over one megawatt of electricity! Its quite facinating to watch - and makes a great picture opp! Some crazy people were even swimming in the lake! I mean, ya, the weather was 14 degrees, but the lake cannot have been warm! Though it was VERY clear - look at the swan underwater below!

We were really impressed how the pier was so people friendly though, and had swimming and diving docks off of it, and even beaches where people can feed the swans! My swan didn't look too happy, but they were the friendliest swans we've ever met.

That night we went to dinner in the cool restaurant in our hotel that looked like a real Swiss Chalet (no not the fried chicken place that Canadians know of!) - with St. Bernard dogs and mountain murals everywhere! We both got a tasty cheese fondue and some wine and I have never been so bloated in my life! But it was soooo good! They had a live band there that yodelled, played the matterhorn, and even played the bells!

The next day we took a train to the other end of the lake to a town called Montreux. It is a cute lakeside town with nice restaurants, and beautiful views of the mountains. We decided to walk along the lake to the castle, called Chillon Castle, and it actually ranks among my top 5 castles in Europe! It as first of all, one of the most picturesque. Right on the lake, right next to the mountains, had cool turrets, and so fun to explore! It was one of those castles where most of the rooms weren't finished, so were mostly bare stone, so it allows you to visualise what it was like back in the 1500s. The place was completely open, no areas were closed off, and you could explore different stairways, courtyards, passageways and even the keep!
The view from the keep was breathtaking. 360 degree views of the lake and the mountains. It definitely helped that we were there in the autumn and had the red, orange and yellow colours as a backdrop.
Definitely the best day trip ever! Felt way more 'Swiss' than just visiting Geneva alone. ;o)

Europe sans Euros

As you can see with our flurry of posts tonight, we've finally had a chance to catch up on some blogging.  Ami & Danny were in town the last couple of weeks and the visit has been great.  But we're a little exhausted after being in Geneva the weekend before last and just arriving back from Prague last night.  Both trips were amazing, and actually quite different.  2 more currencies under the belt, but only 1 stamp as those nice Swiss aren't interested in stamping my passport :)

Complete pics and blog posts to come soon...

Pumpkins Pumpkins

Again another long overdue post, but the pictures in here are just too cute!

I love the "Please do not sit on pumpkins" sign in the background :)

Syd.

The Spooks of London Bridge

While I recognise that I may be a few weeks behind, I'm taking the first opportunity sans guests to sit down and describe the whirlwind that has been our lives to date.

The second weekend home from Canada was Halloween and we got together with Danielle to go out in scary style - as they do here in London (Syd dolled up as a creepy spider lord/lord death, I was a nearly-dead spider widow and D was an undead vampiress). We picked our costumes up at Fortinos (of all places) in Canada and when people saw us they thought we had gone 'all out'.
We went out to a Halloween pub event near London Bridge, the same fancy dress party event that Syd and Nyla and I did last year. When we first got there we felt overdressed as people in the UK still tend to do Halloween half-assed. One guy was walking around with a plastic bag on his head as a costume - puh-lease! When more people showed up within the hour we felt more at ease with all the other zombies, vampires and dead pirates.
We were actually quite impressed with one guy who dressed as a science experiment gone wrong - he was half werewolf half human - and used real theatrical hair to make the effect! I was quite impressed, but wouldn't want to be him later trying to remove all that glued on hair - ouch!
After Halloween we had some friends - Ami & Danny - come to stay with us for 2 weeks. They had their first European vacation and managed to fit in London, Paris and Prague! More to follow on that later.

London, like I've never seen it

This post is massively overdue.  First lets start with the background -- my 30th b-day fell on Sunday October 19th and as a gift to myself I arranged to be flying back to the UK on the red-eye, and going straight to work.  Some bday present :)  However, the day was fairly chill as we drove back from Fergus after June & Tyler's excellent wedding.  Unbeknownst to me, Astrid had arranged a surprise bday dinner at East Side Mario's where Doug & Penny, Josh & Robyn & Rowan & Joslyn, Nyla & Steve & Megan, and my mom, bro, and Isaac were all able to attend.  It was fantastic.

But the surprises didn't end there.  The following weekend (after a rough week of catching up after vacation) Astrid had another surprise for me.  She had booked us a private tour of London in a Helicopter.  How sweet is that?

I've flown a lot, but this was a real treat.  We were in a 4 seater but it was just the pilot and the two of us.  We were given Champagne when we arrived at the hanger, and got to checkout some of the other 'copters they had there.  We then did our 35 minute flight up from the south, across London (following the Thames from the West end over to Canary Wharf), then headed back South.  The pictures tell the true story:

West Minster Abbey, Big Ben, Parliament, The Eye:

Buckingham Palace:

Trafalgar Square.  Love those blue pools.

Canary Wharf, with O2 Center and Thames Flood Barrier in background:

Canary Wharf from the South, with our new flat marked on it :)

Astrid, thanks so much for such a thoughtful and fantastic gift!

Syd.

The Pond...

So I've crossed the pond twice in the past 2 weeks -- Astrid and I had a fantastic visit home for the Thanksgiving week.  We're sorry we couldn't catch up with everyone, but rest assured it wasn't due to a lack of effort!  In classic Astrid and Syd style, it was a whirlwind tour with us trying to get in as much visiting as possible.  Several friends have suggested we 'just stay put' when we go home for visits and have people come to us, but I think the control-freaks in us cause us to ignore this sensible approach.

The way back it was Astrid's first time going to work after a red-eye and I have to say I am very impressed with how awake she was to get through the day -- despite a sub-par sleep on BA.

After a short stay in the UK, I flew back across the pond on Sunday (Oct 26) to Los Angeles for the Microsoft PDC conference, which was pretty cool.  The universal studios party deserves its own blog post (can you say Canada's Wonderland Fright Night but _way_ better... AND free booze and food all night.  Crazy!). 

I was interviewed by the Microsoft Canada press there and you can see my quotes in an article in the nerd magazine IT Business here.  The flight to/from LA is quite long tho (10.5 hrs and 11.5 hrs, depending on direction), so although it was a red-eye on the way back, I didn't land until almost 4pm, so it didn't have the same 'get-through-the-day' challenges as usual.

In between the trips, Astrid gave me an awesome surprise bday gift that deserves its own blog post that is coming shortly!

Syd.