A night in Prague

We visited Prague in Sep, 2016.

Transportation

Prague is the capital of Czech Republic. It is is reasonably well connected by International and European flights, so you shouldn't have any problems in getting a flight to Prague.

Just so you know, Czech Republic is considered as part of Central Europe, and not Western (or Eastern) Europe. This implies that it is less developed than say Germany and Austria, but more developed than Romania. In practical terms, this means that while hotel and food will be cheaper, you still need to be cautious while taking a taxi so that you are not ripped off. Having said this, Prague is of course a major touristic hub, and you are more than safe if you stick to touristic parts. Like most European cities, it does have a very well connection public transportation system.

Old Town Square

Three days is usually a good duration to cover (and enjoy) Prague. The absolutely essential things that you need to cover are: Old Town Square, Charles Bridge, Prague Castle, and take a cruise on the Vltava river - this one is "if time permits", as you will already see some of views if you visit Charles Bridge.

Let's start with the Old Town Square. As the name suggests, this is main town square. Almost every monument at the square has historic significance. Even if you don't care about history, the monuments are downright impressive. For instance, we were told that some of them served as the inspiration for castles that you find in Disney Movies may be you will recognize some of the ones from the pics below :)

and they looks equally stunning at night. 

This is is the place with a lot of shops and cafes/restaurants. So its easy to spend a whole day here. 

Charles Bridge

If you are wondering what is so special about a bridge, you have to see it to believe it. Below is a spectacular night shot of the bridge:

The area around the bridge is for pedestrians only. So it provides a leisurely means to walk around and explore the many shops and cafes/restaurants around the bridge. There are a couple of towers, one on each side of the bridge, which provide excellent vantage points to take panoramic shots of the city and the bridge. 

The best time to take pictures of the bridge is around dusk. So try to be a bit early and you can take pictures of the bridge and riverscapes as it progressively gets dark.

River Cruise

Since we are talking about the bridge, let's continue with the description of the river cruise. 

The river cruises usually start from a different point than the bridge. River cruises are usually included if you take a day pass with any of the Hop on-Hop off bus tours. It is usually an hour or so long and takes you from the pick-up point to Charles Bridge and return. 

It is a leisurely cruise and you get the see the Charles Bridge, and some other bridges/monuments from a different perspective. So its nice, but our recommendation would be to prioritize it after the other 3. 

  

Prague Castle 

Finally, let's consider the Prague Castle. It is slightly outside the main city, so the best way to reach there is again the Hop On-Hop Off buses; it is of course also possible to reach there by public transportation. 

It is a wide scenic area with many impressive monuments, e.g. museums, castles and cathedrals. So plan for around 2-3 hours to cover the Castle. An alternative is to combine this with exploring the Charles Bridge on the same day. 

Horse Carriage ride in the Alps

We visited Gstaad in Jan 2107.

Gstaad

 

Gstaad is one of the most famous (and expensive) ski resorts in Switzerland. It is a hotspot for celebrities, so don't be surprised if you run into one during your visit :) The city itself is very small - so you can easily walk around the main street. The street is beautifully decorated and full of cafes, restaurants, and high end shops.

To accommodate the posh crowd,  there are 4 5+ Star hotels, with the Gstaad Palace being the most iconic and famous one. 

We stayed at the Le Grand Bellevue which recently re-opened after an extensive renovation. It is like a luxury home at the top of the mountains. It is a small hotel with around 60 rooms which gives it a cosy feeling. It was definitely one of the friendliest 5* hotels we have stayed in, as the staff were genuinely friendly and did not have the "air" sometimes associated with such high end hotels. The facilities and interior decorations are absolutely flawless - it also boasts of the longest sofa in Switzerland :)

The views in front of the hotel are absolutely stunning - check out the pics below!

 Horse Carriage ride in Lauenen

 

As we don't ski, every year we try to find interesting (non-skiing) activities to pursue at ski resorts, e.g. snow shoe hiking, toboggan rides. This year, we tried the horse carriage ride in Lauenen. 

Lauenen is a small city / village around 30 minutes drive from Gstaad.  You can also take the Post Bus, which unfortunately is not very frequent. Taxis are available, but they need to be booked in advance (will cost around 40 Swiss Francs) - check with your hotel if you need one.

The horse carriage ride is like 1 - 1.30 hours, from Lauenen to Lake Lauenen (and back). It costs around 150 Swiss Francs. We went with low expectations, but ended up thoroughly enjoying the ride. It felt like a dream - traveling on a horse carriage through beautiful scenery and snow capped mountains.

 The real icing on the cake was when we finally reached Lake Lauenen - and the lake was completely frozen. Check out the amazing pic below!

Short break in Krakow, Poland

We visited Krakow in Oct 2016.

Krakow is the 2nd largest city in Poland, after capital Warsaw. It has a small airport with limited flight connectivity - so you will most likely not get a direct flight and end up going via Warsaw, Vienna, Munich or Zurich. The city itself is very international, and you can easily survive with English. The taxi drivers seemed very professional and in most cases followed the meter rates - which was a very welcome change for an East-European country. Cost wise, of course it has a low cost of living; so you would not feel the pinch - neither in food nor transportation - if you are used to Western European Euro (esp. Swiss) prices.

Main Market Square

It was a coincidence that we visited Krakow soon after Prague. The two cities are quite comparable in that both provide an excellent mix of history, architecture and a vibrant culture (/ nightlife).

Like in Prague, tourist hot spots in Krakow are concentrated around the Main Market Square (Rynek Główny in Polish). The centre of the Square is dominated by the Cloth Hall.

  
The square looks equally stunning at night.

The Cloth Hall interiors have been transformed into a marketplace with small shops selling all kinds of local wares. Of course, this is a tourist hot-spot, so beware that prices in these shops are usually much higher than prices you will find in a shop 10 minutes away from the Market Square.

Apart from the central building, there is the magnificent St. Mary's Basilica adjacent to it (below). You can climb to the top of the Basilica towers to get a magnificent view of the Cloth Hall.

Apart from the impressive monuments and shopping venues, the place is filled with restaurants of all types. The glittering lights and lovely ambience make it ideal for a special evening out. The pic below also reminded us of another similarity between Prague and Krakow - the horse carriages :)

Castle

The castle is very impressive, and is within walking distance of the Main Market Square. Keep 2-3 hours in hand to explore the Castle fully. There are many impressive monuments, a park with cafes, shops, etc.; and museums to explore.

If you have time, and the weather is good; it is a beautiful walk around the Castle on the banks of river Wisla.

The last notable attraction that we would like to mention here before closing this blog - is the Auschwitz Birkenau Concentration Camp. There is no better reminder of the horrors of War. It can however be very depressing, so definitely take that into consideration! It is around 1.30 hours from the main city, so keep the whole day for visiting it. You can find a very detailed description of what to expect on its website (link). 

Romanticism on board the luxurious Orient Express

Travel with us into the world of old school charm and romanticism on board the Orient Express.

We traveled on the Orient Express in Sep 2016. It was a childhood dream for us having grown up reading Agatha Christie novels, namely 'Murder on the Orient Express'.

Long distance train travel has an aura of mystery and romanticism attached to it - gazing out of the window as the train winds through beautiful landscapes, meeting interesting people (and strangers) on the train - all add to the experience. And, doing all this in style and luxury is like the icing on the cake. The Orient Express is able to blend all this in one ride.

Watch the James Bond movie "From Russia with Love" or Chanel's "Train de Nuit" advertisement if you need further reasons to get inspired to undertake a journey on board the Orient Express :)

The Train

The original Orient Express ran from Istanbul to Paris in the 1880s. It has a rich history of connecting Europe, and used to be preferred mode of transport for royals, dignitaries, in general the privileged people in those days.

The modern Orient Express retains much of this old world charm and sophistication. The interior decorations have been carefully restored, so that you immediately feel like entering a bygone era as soon as you step on the train.

Routes

The (current) Orient Express covers multiple destinations on journeys ranging from 1 to 5 nights. You can get the full list of journeys here: (link). Note that these journeys are very expensive to say the least - a 1 night train ride can easily cost you 1500 Euros per person. So the 1-2 night journeys get booked fast, and advance booking of around 3-4 months is definitely recommended! In our opinion, a 24 hour (1 night) journey is more than enough to get a feel of the train. So 2 days are more than sufficient to fully explore and experience the train - anything above that purely depends on the time and budget you have at your disposal.

We took the Venice to Prague part, which is basically a 20 hour journey. Within this period, we had sufficient time to explore the train, even the souvenir shop :), have 3 meals on board, relax in our cabin, and even visit the bar; so we had pretty much covered everything (worth exploring) by the time the train entered Prague.

Cabins

The cabins are small, meant for a couple (2 people); however the two of you will definitely have trouble moving around or getting dressed for dinner, at the same time. The price may make it seem that you will be getting half the compartment, but that is clearly not the case :) In fact, all cabins are the same; the suites are basically two cabins combined together!

The cabins are small, but of course very elegantly decorated - refer to the pic below:

Basically, the upper part of the seat gets converted into another bed at night. So space is usually not a problem while sitting or sleeping, but moving around needs a bit of adjustment. Regarding luggage, we also had some confusion initially regarding the amount of luggage that will be permitted with us in the cabin. As a thumb rule, let's say one suitcase of the usual airline limit (23 kgs / 50 lbs) will be allowed with you in the cabin. The rest will be stored in their luggage cabin, and only returned to you at your destination - so pack accordingly!

Regarding other amenities, there is a wash basin and mirror in the room. However there is NO attached bathroom in the room. There is one per compartment, and of course you can cross over to the one in the adjoining compartment if your need is urgent :) However, there are still no showers in any of the bathrooms. This is one of the main reasons why a journey of more than 2 days is difficult on the Orient Express. (This is also why the 5 night journeys on the Orient Express usually have a layover of 1-2 nights in between at a city hotel, in one of the intermediate cities en route.)

The other reason why a multi-day journey is difficult on this train - is the amount of sleep you will get at night! The train usually travels at quite a fast speed at night, and the disadvantage of maintaining the train as it used to be in the old days; is that you will feel the jerks and bends of the train as it travels at night. Most other such luxury trains now stop at a station during night to allow you a peaceful sleep.  For us, however, sleeping on a moving train is very much part of the experience; and we prefer it to stopping at a station at night. However, it would of course be difficult to sustain this 'lack of sleep' over multiple nights.

Bar and Dining

Of course, you will not be spending all the time in your cabin. There are 3 dining cars on the train, where you will be having your lunch and dinner - breakfast is usually served in your cabin. There is not much to choose among the 3 restaurant cars, all 3 are equally stunning and uniquely decorated.

All meals are freshly prepared on the train. The quality of food and presentation can easily rival that of a Michelin star restaurant. So you also need to be dress accordingly for the occasion - don't forget your suits, tuxedos and gowns! The train is pretty long, so be prepared for some walking to reach the dining cars, of course depending on the location of your compartment.

There is also a bar with a live pianist where you can relax before and after your dinner.

Overall, we had an amazing journey on the train, leaving us with memories which we will cherish for the rest of our lives. The (super) friendly and helpful staff make it even more special. If you love classics, our absolute recommendation would be to experience this train journey at least once in your lifetime. Bon voyage!!