| Introduction | Itineary,blog links, hotels, Eqpt | Moscow | Munich & Nurnberg | Prague | Video of Praguue |
Introduction
Who does not like traveling to new places ?
I am lucky to have traveled quite a bit. But one of the most enjoyable journey I undertook was when We ( I and my wife, Saroj ) visited 5 countries of Europe in 2013 (18-3-2013 to 28-3-2013). Our itinerary was Delhi-Moscow-Munich-Prague-Vienna-Budapest-Melk-Salzburg-Munich-Zurich-Lucerne-Mt. Titlis-Zurich-Moscow-Delhi. We were planning the visit for quite some time and had obtained 30 days Schengen visa. Initially we planned to include Paris too since I was due to Visit Paris officially and wanted to use the opportunity to club it with our vacation, however the official visit was getting delayed (finally it happened next month) and our visa was due to expire. I had to plan our trip. Since I had visited Western Europe during my various official visits we decided to include some East European countries and booked a Cosmos bus trip. Added to this was Moscow en route Munich.Towards the end we took an interesting train journey through Alps between Munich and Zurich. We visited Lucerne & Mt Titlis from Zurich. The final itinerary is given below.
Itineary,blog links, hotels, Eqpt
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Blog Part-1 : Day 1: Delhi-Moscow-Munich (by air), Day 2 Munich-Nuremberg-Prague.
Blog Part-2 Day-4 Prague to Vienna Day 5 Vienna to Budapest.
Blog Part-3 Day 7 Budapest -Melk- Salzburg Day 8 Salzburg- Munich
Blog Part-4 Day 9 Munich to-Zurich (By Train) Day 10 Zurich -Lucerne-Mt Titlis-Zurich. Day 10 & 11 Return to Delhi via Moscow.
Viewthis part of journey on you tube
Europe trip part-1 Munich-Nuremburg-Prague
Hotels where we stayed:
Night-1 :NH Munich airport
Nights 2&3 : Hotel Barcelo Prague
Nights 4 : Hotel Kavalier Vienna
Nights 5&6 : Hotel Mercure Budapest (Buda)
Night 7 : Hotel Ramda, Salzburg
Night 8 : Hotel Ibis Parkstad Munich
Night 9 : Hotel Walhalla Zurich
Equipment we carried were 2 digital auto focus camera, a tab and a Flip video recorder & of course our mobile phones . Our flights were booked on Aeroflot and it took us 6 hours to reach Moscow. Moscow air port was full of snow and runways seemingly were being cleaned continuously. Our tour itinerary included Moscow in our return journey too when we had over 16 Hours lay over.
We had a short stop over at Moscow airport we spent clicking photos from plane as well from airport, the runways were full of snow and we only observed removal of snow using heavy machinery. We could not find vegetarian food except chips and tit bits. Our next flight was announces soon.
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| Large Waiting space Moscow Airport | Red Square Pix |
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| Snow covered Moscow as seen from sky |
Our next flight to Munich was just after one hour. At Munich we expected some one to wait with placard and it gave us some anxious moment to locate the Hotel's airport transfer bus which took us to Hotel NH Munich Airport, all 21 co tourists were lodged in this hotel itself. A briefing was organised regarding marking of our luggage etc in the evening. Our tour had begun.
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| NH Hotel Munich | Munich Hoptbhanhof |
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| Olympia Park | Marienplatz |
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Nuremberg main square
It was raining and we had to pull out our umbrellas.Could not visit Palace of Justice famous for its court no 600 where High Nazi officials were tried. Was informed by tour director that court is still in use and week ends are best days to visit the same. We saw St Seabald Church dedicated to St Seabald the Patron Saint of Nuremburg.
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| St. Seabald Church | Street View |
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We took our lunch in one of the restaurants in Nuremburg main market and proceeded towards Prague . Our stay was planned in very comfortable Hotel. Our 2 days tour included visits to Charles Bridge, Synagogue, Old Town Square and Prague Palace. A local guide added to our tour experience.
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| River Front - Vltava River | View from the banks |
The Vltava River flows through the center of Prague, and is the waterway around which the city has developed over the past 1000 years.The Old Town and the New Town lie on one side of the Vltava River. On the other bank is the Lesser Town and Prague Castle, which is a magnificent sight from the water front.
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| Alighting from Bus at Charles Bridge | Jewish Quarter |
Charles Bridge is a historic bridge built over Vltava river in Prague, Czech Republic. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV, and finished in the beginning of the 15th century. Many beautiful statues are there to see when you walk on this pedestrian only bridge. Next we walked through the Jewish quarter which is also called Josefov after King Josef II who gave equal rights to the Jews. The Synagogue was not open and we just took pictures from out side. This part of Prague is also world heritage .site as declared by UNESCO. Understand after WW-II since owners were not alive after the holocaust Jewish property left behind were converted into museums.
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| Hand made Toy shops | Astronomical clock |
Astronomical clock is called Orloj and dates back to 1410. The clock is 3rd oldest clock and the oldest one still operational . Calendar dial was incorporated in 1490 and underwent many repairs. Tourists assemble here several times since at specified interval different figure appear to do certain activities. This is a spectular sight. We spent rest of the day in the Town Square changed some Euros to Koruna - Czech money for our expenses. There was certain festivities going on in the Town Square and we spent time purchasing Souveniers and buying our lunch.
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| Easter Fair in Town Square | Charles Bridge |
2nd Day at Prague was spent visiting the magnificent Prague Palace. We saw a Buckingham Palace style change of guard and saw the magnificent palace. A small entry fee was needed to enter the Castle. It is a ninth century palace part of which is still the residence of Check President. The castle was seat of power of kings of Bohemia and of Holy Roman Emperors. As per Guinness Book of world records this castle is the largest ancient castle in the world.
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| Stand Still Guard at Palace | Palace Court Yard |
There is a lane called Golden Lane, It had row houses originally on both sides and built to house castle guards. House on one side was demolished in 19th century. Although the lane was temporarily called the Street of Alchemists or Alchemists' Alley, alchemists have never worked or lived there. Most of the brightly painted houses are now souvenir shops. Writer Franz Kfka and nobel laureate Jaro Slav Siefert also lived here. Next morning we traveled to Vienna and on way tried to use or converts all Czeck money into Euros.
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| Golden Lane | Exihibits in Lesser Town |
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| Galleries in Lesser Town | Collection in Lesser town |
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| Birds Eye View | Next On way to Vienna |
Video of Charles Bridge at Prague
Very good post. Highly informative for travellers who want to visit these places in Europe. Nicely written and keep up the good work.
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