Praha!

I spent the majority of my winter holiday in Switzerland yodeling, herding sheep and trying to find elusive St. Bernards with brandy around their necks, but there was one other place I decided I absolutely had to visit: Prague.

 

Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, is beautiful beyond words. I recall first seeing images of it in a music video I watched in high school by my then favorite band, HIM (“The Sacrament” if anyone is curious). The city’s architecture is a plethora of Gothic, Renaissance, Romanesque, Moorish and much more, however they all blend together to make a magnificent city.

 

I’ve dreamed of going to Prague since I saw that music video and was ecstatic to finally be making it a reality. The city did not disappoint, even though it was at the tail end of my trip and I was tired and low on money. 

The highlights of included: walking across the Charles Bridge (named after Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor), eating more kinds of meat and biscuits in 2 days than I have in months (rabbit is delightful!), seeing the defenestration windows in the Palace (did you know that Prague is one of the defenestration- the act of being forcibly hurled from a window, usually by an incited mob- capitals of the world?) and going to the Alphonse Mucha museum (my favorite artist!).

Charles Bridge, looking back to Prague Castle

The Astrological Clock in the Old Town

 I wish that I had been able to spend more time there with more money because there were some excellent looking day trips offered by the tourist council that went outside of Prague, such as one to a concentration camp. 

A Christmas market in the square near The Church of Our Lady Before Tyn

  Prague was just as beautiful and charming as I had always been told it was, despite the crowds of Russian tourists and the globs of vendors trying to sell cheap trinkets. The Czech Republic has really only opened up its doors to tourism in the past 20 years or so, so the tourism infrastructure hasn’t matured yet to the same level of other major cities in Europe.

My face the entire time I was in Prague

   One day I will go back, if only to have a cup of coffee and meander along the Charles Bridge once more.

Schneefall and Snowfall

It suddenly hit me that I only blog when I’ve traveled. How did that happen? Somehow, things which my family and friends back home probably find extraordinary have become ordinary to me. I am going to make it a point to blog more about non-travel events and ideas…After I tell you about my run in with the Yamagata Snow Monsters!

 

Yamagata is located in Tohoku, south of Akita, and was virtually unscathed by the Earthquake/Tsunami of 2011 since it’s on the western, China-facing coast. As part of my “Be Physically Present in All Prefectures of Japan” Goal, I went up there over the recent 3 day weekend with The Guy.  

Knowing that Yamagata is about as far from the buzzing metropolis of Tokyo as you can get, we armed ourselves with thermal socks, coats and a plethora of action movies in case we were snowed in (We weren’t, but we watched T2:Judgment Day anyway).

 

The shinkansen ride was 2 hours long, and we passed through really pretty snow covered countryside. Being the southern California girl that I am, I still get over-excited by snow (That fascination wore off after The Guy swept his arms through waist high snow and hit me square in the face with a wave of the stuff). Yamagata City was small, even for a capital city, and fairly quiet. Our first day there we wandered to the old castle grounds, and then went to a mountainside temple complex called Yamadera. There are close to 1000 steps leading to the main temple at the top, and the ticket lady cheerfully told us to “Watch your step, it’s a bit slippery”.

 

I suppose in Yamagata-speak, it was only a “bit” slippery, but there was still at least 4 inches of snow on the ground.
The main event of Yamagata was seeing the snow monsters! On a particular mountainside near Zao Ski Resort, a large amount of wet snow falls on the fir trees. The snow freezes into near-horizontal icicles and then further snow builds up, eventually coating the trees and making them look like lumbering giants. The Guy and I spent about 10 minutes outside admiring their other worldliness before the -7/ 19 degree weather (not including wind chill) made my feet so cold I could barely walk. The Guy was kind enough to rub my toes back to life in the lift café, but I was ready to go home afterwards. 

These guys grow up to be...

....these guys!

So, while Yamagata is a far cry from a bustling, adventure-around-every-corner prefecture, it was still nice to explore off the beaten track tourist sights. 

A near run in with hypothermia, but a successful trek!

As for my next entries, any suggestions? What would you like to hear about?

A Miss in Swiss

First and foremost, I wish you all a belated Happy New Year!

 

In Japan, the Year of the Dragon is over and we’re now welcoming the Year of the Snake. All of the traditional New Year’s cards, called Nengajo, have lots of cute little snake motifs and designs on them. My favorite design was a pair of snakes holding hammers in their tails and pounding mocha together- a traditional new year activity.

 

Of course, Christmas and New Year meant winter break, and winter break always means that I go on a long trip. This year, I was feeling a bit “Asia’d Out” so I packed my bags and headed to Switzerland in hopes of a good time and meeting up with some friends.

 

Zurich

I haven’t been to Europe since my high school graduation trip of 2006 and I’ve matured a lot as a traveler since that whirlwind packaged adventure. This time around, I leisured in the fact that I could wake up whenever I wanted, eat wherever I wanted, and see whatever I wanted.

Something I had forgotten about, however, was money. Switzerland was by far the most expensive place I have been to. I had way more sticker shock in Zurich than I did in Australia. The Swiss do have a pretty awesome standard of living, which is reflective in the prices of daily items, but it’s still not a place for a backpacker on a budget.

The Astrological Clock, Bern

That said, the country is beautiful and people are friendly. I don’t speak German, I can’t even pretend to speak German, but most people there are comfortable fluidly switching into English. I also can’t ski, so you’re probably asking what on earth I did there for 2 weeks. Basically, I walked. A lot. I explored the cities of Zurich, Basel, Bern and Interlaken on foot. Zurich is sprawling but charming. Basel has a hippy, artsy vibe to it. Bern is stunning with its sandstone buildings, winding river and Alps in the background. Interlaken was breathtaking, nestled at the foot of the Bernese Alps and between 2 glassy, clear lakes. 

Lake Thun, Interlaken

 

Chocolate was nibbled, cheese fondue was gorged on, and sausage was savored. Money was spent and money was saved by eating breakfast and dinners in at the hostels I stayed at.

 

Christmas morning was spent meandering around the quiet streets of Basel before my friend M and I sat in on a church service in the main cathedral. I was hoping to at least be familiar with the hymns but even those were different. The only thing I recognized was the Lord’s Prayer near the end of the service as the whole congregation stood up.

 

New Year’s Eve was spent in Interlaken with a bunch of new Australian friends, dancing the night away at a club that was conveniently located in the basement of our hostel. We’d even found a cheap bottle of champagne to celebrate (no small feat since the Swiss like to close up shop several days before and after holidays, and on Sundays regardless of religious holiday).

Staubbach Falls, Lautterbrunnen

Sadly, I was unable to meet up with either one of my friends in Switzerland, but in the end I still had a wonderful time. Don’t let Switzerland’s (true) reputation for being expensive stop you from ever visiting the country-it is absolutely worth it!