Slovakia

On our drive to Budapest we stopped in the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava. Out tour director gave us some history about it and we had some free time. We HAD to stop at the Mayer Café since I was still legally a Mayer. And then it happened…it started to rain! And hard! We held up in a little shop across from the café but the rain wasn’t going to let up. Ashley said she wasn’t going to let some rain stop her from seeing at least some of the city so we rolled our pants up and headed out. We were able to get some pictures but didn’t get to explore too much (dang umbrella was in my suitcase). I was kind of disappointed because it did look like a quaint little town. We headed back to our meeting point and loaded the bus for Budapest!

had a yummy treat here!

we both just loved the black and white facade of this building! 

And I saw this article that Slovakia is one of the hidden treasures of Europe! It really is a pretty little town, wish we could have spent more time there. 

Prague, the city of hundred spires

{Prague Castle}

Prague is where I had planned to meet my two lovely Norwegian ladies Kjersti and Cecilie! We got there and I immediately called them and we planned to meet after dinner since we had already paid for it in our tour price. And we took the subway into the heart of the city and saw the Astronomical Clock and had a MASSIVE mojito! So big we all shared it! Then the next day on our tour we went to St. Vitus Cathedral which is located in the Prague Castle, it was very beautiful! We did an excursion to see the insides of some of the famous homes and see where Mozart had once preformed. On our way back to the town center to meet up with the girls were we passed Prague Fashion Week which was kind of neat and then we did a little walking around and a little shopping. We headed across Charles Bridge to get these really yummy treats called trdelnik! They were worth the long walk! We had had lunch/dinner in a British Pub and by night time we were hanging out at the hotel and having some drinks. Then we had to say our goodbyes :( it was sad but I was so happy that I got to see them!

{Huge Mojito!}

{yummy trdelnik!}

On a side note, every time we made a pit stop on while traveling we always stopped at a McDonald's! This really made me and Ashley mad because we didn't come all this way to have McDonald's. Well we asked the reason for this and our tour guide told us that since the Communist had moved out (about 10yrs ago) the only people willing to build there was McDonald's so we had no other choice for breaks…ugh, okay I guess.

{me and my Norsk friends!}

Willkommen to Munich, Germany

{Glockenspiel clock}

So while back when my husband was still my boyfriend we went to an authentic German restaurant and they had this fun couple that played the crazy instruments and yodeled. Well they offered this tour trip to Germany and Austria and it got my travel bug moving again! So I asked him if he wanted to go, I would pay for us to go, and he said no (I’m sure every man knows why, ‘you don’t want to let your girlfriend pay for you’ silly!). So I said fine, and I offered to repay Ashley and her family by taking her on a Trafalgar trip! So we researched which trip we wanted to go on and picked the right dates and in October of 2009 our trip for Europe in September of 2010 was planned! You know me; I plan in advance…WAY in advance! A lot happened in between then and the trip. My boyfriend and I got engaged and then married and 11 days after that he donated a kidney to his dad. So in reality this trip, if he had let me pay, would have made a wonderful honeymoon but that’s not how the story goes…and Ashley’s wedding was just a month and half after we would get back.

After a long flight we land in Germany an hour before our plane was due! I give big props to our pilots! But the Trafalgar bus was to be there 2hrs after our original landing time was suppose to be, so now we have 3hrs till the bus comes. We decide to bit the bullet and pay the 60€ taxi ride to our hotel. Luckily our room was ready and we had time to take a nap before our tour meets for the first time. We got some rest and freshened up and headed down to meet our group, we then got on the bus for our drive around Munich. We really didn’t get to see much, we went to Marienplatz to see the Glockenspiel clock and we decided to grab some food here since there weren’t any places that looked interesting near our hotel. We just had some pasta because it was cheap and looked pretty good and we stood to eat, I guess they don’t want people lingering in the restaurant for too long (thanks for the hint). Then we met up with our group and headed back to the hotel for our official “meet and greet” and our free German beer!

{on the road again}

The next day was the same; we drove around and saw the Olympic park and BMW headquarters and then we were off into the country side headed for Prague, Czech Republic. On our drive there we saw many hops farms and we stopped in the town of Nuremberg where we walked around the market that was going on and we bought our first real souvenirs (a floral wreath and other small things). And there was Schöner Brunnen (English: Beautiful Fountain) next to the Frauenkirche at Hauptmarkt, legend says if you touch the gold ring on it then you will be blessed with fertility! HAHAHA, I told Ashley that I wasn’t going to touch it because the last time I touched something in Europe (Verona) I found what it said I would find! :P

{Schöner Brunnen}