Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna (See Slide Show)

We visited the Schonbrunn Palace this morning, the former summer residence of the Hapsburgs, begun in 1695. It has 1,441 rooms, with 40 of them open to the public. I put my photos of the Schonbrunn Palace on a slide show on this site: Go to Slide Shows, Central/Eastern Europe, Schonbrunn Palace or directly to

http://wp.peggysphotos.com/schonbrunn–palace–vienna/

Back to Stephandom (See Slide Show)

After the palace tour, we went back to the area around Stephandom for lunch, where we were yesterday. I have already put this third time back near Stephandom on a slide show: Go to Slide Shows, Central/Eastern Europe–1, Three Walks Around Stephandom, Vienna.

Vienna

After lunch, we drove from Vienna to Prague (from Austria to the Czech Republic), a distance of 187 miles or 300 kilometers. Photo: Seen in Vienna during our drive.

Vienna

Serving local food, including schnitzel and hot dogs.

Vienna

Urban art, definitely making a statement of some kind.

Austria

The countryside outside of Vienna.

Austria

More canola fields. We must have seen thousands of acres of canola in bloom on our trip.

Austria

The Austrian countryside.

Austria

Seen going through a small Austrian village.

Austria

An interesting building.

Austria

The village square.

Austria

A village church.

Austria

Another interesting building.

Austria

A shrine along the side of the road.

Austria

Austrian countryside.

Austria

More Austrian countryside.

Austria

Last photo of Austria. We are approaching the Austria/Czech Republic border.

Czech Republic

We are now in the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic and Slovakia have existed separately since 1989, previously being  Czechoslovakia together. A Jesuit monastery is on top of the hill in the photo.

Austria

A large shrine.

Czech Republic

We drove past the city of Brno.

Czech Republic

We are now in Pilsner country. We had a comfort stop here.

Czech Republic

No one had changed any money into Czech koruna yet but we were able to pay for our food in euros. Photo: Czech donuts.

Czech Republic

If you were really hungry, you could order one of these dishes at its restaurant.

Czech Republic

An interesting house seen approaching Prague.

Prague

We have made it to Prague. One of the modern buildings in this old city.

Our Prague Hotel

Our hotel in Prague: the Villa Okrajni I. I think this was everyone’s favorite hotel––it had character and was located in a residential neighborhood. It even had old fashioned keys to open our rooms. All the other hotels we stayed at were very nice, but they could have been in any city almost anywhere. We had a very good dinner tonight at our hotel.

Our Prague Hotel

It had an outside sitting area and lovely grounds.

Our Prague Hotel

A tree in bloom on the hotel’s grounds.

Our Prague Hotel

And a lilac tree in bloom.

Prague

We had an optional night tour to the Strahov monastery for views over Prague with a stop at a typical Czech pub.  Photo: seen on the way to the monastery.

Prague

An old building that we passed.

Prague

It has started to rain. Photo: Prague in the rain.

Prague

Prague in the rain.

Prague

Prague in the rain.

Prague

River boats on the Vltava River in the rain.

Stravhov Monastery

Here we are walking over slippery wet cobblestones in the rain to the Stravhov Monastery.

Stravhov Monastery

The monastery’s gate.

Bostlov

Bostlov, our local Prague guide for tonight and tomorrow. Not only were his looks distinctive but the way he talked as well. He dragged out each syllable of each word with a Czech accent. I think we all enjoyed having him as our guide––he really gave us a feeling of being in an old European city.

Bostlov

He gets a second photo.

The Strahov Monastery

Walking through the grounds of the monastery.

The Strahov Monastery

More of the monastery.

The Strahov Monastery

More of the monastery.

The Strahov Monastery

And one more photo.

View from the Strahov Monastery

You come up to the monastery mainly for the view of Prague. It has stopped raining and there is a rainbow.

View from the Strahov Monastery

Another view.

View from the Strahov Monastery

The spires are of the St. Vitus Cathedral.

View from the Strahov Monastery

The green dome is of the St. Nicholas Church in the Little Quarter.

The Pub

I remember walking down some steps to get to the pub, the one which was described as a “typical Czech pub,” but I think only tourists were in it.

The Pub

We had a choice of either regular or dark beer. I had the dark beer––very strong and very good.

The Pub

The pub’s coasters. Perhaps this is the beer that we had.

The Pub

On the wall of the pub. I think these are all photos of Emperor Franz Joseph from the time when this area was under Hapsburg rule.

The Pub

An older Franz Joseph.

Prague

A pretty scene near the monastery where our bus picked us up.

Prague

Prague with wet streets at night.

Lunapark

We passed by Lunapark, which the fairground of Prague and also an amusement center. I believe the ferris wheel dates back to the Jubilee of 1891.

Stromovka Park

We are our next stop, Stromovka Park, at the Industrial Palace, which was the centerpiece of the 1891 Exhibition.  Trade fairs, sports, and artistic events are held here.

Krizik’s Singing Fountain Show

We are here to see the Krizik’s Singing Fountain Show.

Krizik’s Singing Fountain Show

I have put four movies of the show on this website. Go to Movies, Central/Eastern Europe.