Our location in Palma Nova on the western bay of Palma was very convenient with one exception: several of the hotel guests came home between 3 and 6 am in various states of inebriation and were hollering loudly to each other. Their incomprehensible utterings reverberated in the concrete hallways and inevitably woke me up. Just as I was ready to fall asleep again, another group of lager louts was coming in and making their presence known to...more
As the late afternoon sun had come out, I was continuing my action-packed day in Prague. After a guided tour through Pragues Jewish Quarter, a savory and informative lunch in Pragues oldest kosher restaurant, followed by a tour of Municipal House, Pragues Art Nouveau masterpiece, I had just finished a boat tour on the Vltava River that gave me a completely different view of Prague from the water. Our knowledgeable captain had shared many stories...more
One of Pragues key attractions is the Jewish Quarter, the former Jewish ghetto of the city. So on this bright, yet blustery day I strolled from my hotel on Wenceslas Square over to Old Town Square to meet my personal tour guide for the day who would be meeting me for an informative tour of the Jewish Quarter.I met Richard just after 10 am a few steps away from the Astronomical Clock and learned that he is a political science student who also does tours for Prague Walks, one of Pragues most renowned tour guiding companies. Walking tours with a personal guide are a fantastic way of getting to know this fascinating city.Standing right in the middle of Old Town Square, Richard started talking to me about Franz Kafka, one of Pragues most important personalities and an important connection to Pragues Jewish history. Born in 1883 to a middle-class German-speaking Jewish family, Kafkas writings became some of the most important literary works of the 20th century, even though during his lifetime only a few stories were ever published.All of Kafkas famous novels (The Trial, The Castle and Amerika) were published posthumously, a move initiated by his friend Max Brod, who was a famous...more
Always on the lookout for historical structures, I had planned a visit to another renowned Prague establishment: the Radisson Blu Alcron Hotel, established in 1932 at the height of Art Deco as Pragues premier hotel of that era. Martina Pavlikova from the hotel welcomed me and graciously took me on a tour of this Art Deco Jewel.The hotel was the...more
On a somewhat cool and breezy day, bright sunshine woke me up and I stepped out on to the balcony of my room at the Hotel Jalta. This four-star hotel is located on Wenceslas Square, the main square of Pragues New Town district. To my left, at the top of the square, the imposing neo-classical faade of the Czech National Museum dominated the view...more
My local experts Jitka Simkova, owner of Prague Walks.com, together with her colleague Karel had given me a great introduction to Old Town Prague. The day was getting late now and the air was definitely getting cooler.We had turned around in the middle of the Charles Bridge and started walking eastwards again. As Karel had another appointment he said goodbye, and Jitka and I continued our walk through the narrow streets of Prague. We strolled through the cobble-stoned Karlova Street (also referred to as Charles Street) that was teeming with people. I marveled at the many bars, restaurants and souvenir shops. Many of the shops sell marionettes, a typical Czech souvenir. Jitka added that years ago one would have mostly seen imported Russian matroshka dolls, but nowadays Czech crafts and the tradition of marionette-making have returned. The Don Giovanni Marionette Theatre is also located on this street.Karlova Street is also part of the Coronation Route, or the Royal Route, that Czech Kings took for their coronation proceedings. The route started at the medieval Powder Tower, passed through historic Celetna Street, across Old Town Square and then Karlova Street to the Charles Bridge...more
At the end of my delicious lunch at La Rotonde, the Art Deco restaurant at the Radisson Blu Alcron Hotel, my personal tour guide for my walking tour of Prague came to pick me up. Petra Bedlasova is a historian, artist and photographer, and she is...more
Many backpacking lovers often self assume that planning a trip to their favorite destination is a hard task that involves lots of labor and pain! These reluctant to take initiative steps guys daily visit their dream places in their...more
After the rain and drizzle of our first day in San Francisco, day two of our adventure began more promisingly: bright sunshine greeted us as we made our way by public bus to Washington Square, the heart of San Francisco's Italian-flavoured North...more
Our last day in San Francisco welcome us with bright blue skies and brilliant sunshine. In the morning we had already hopped on one of the citys moving landmarks and experienced a ride in the open-air cable cars that make this city such a favourite...more
San Francisco a dream destination for so many people across the worldWell, in February of 2008 I finally had to opportunity to revisit San Francisco, one of my favourite cities in all of North America. In just a bit more than four days I had a...more
After our interesting introduction to local history as part of the Victorian Homes Walking Tour we had to switch hotels for one night and grabbed our overnight bags to move to The Handlery Union Square Hotel in downtown Geary Street, just next to...more