Vienna and Prague recently

[onager]

Hi all,

I'm the guy who lives in Alexandria, Egypt (and needs to update that thread about Egypt, down there!). As part of my work contract, every 3 months I get a VACATION from Egypt. My employer pays round-trip airfare from Cairo to London. They don't care where I go, but that's what they pay for.

My first vacation was back in February. Rome and Venice for 4 days each, not nearly enough time! I did get to Venice on the last night of Carnival. I'd never been to that city, but have always wanted to visit it. And Carnival!?! Sign me up! I arrived on the train from Rome in late afternoon. Threw the bag in the room, didn't even unpack. And went downtown. It was a blast. I basically just found groups of interesting costumed people and followed them. As you might guess, they were usually going to either St. Mark's Plaza or the Rialto Bridge.

Week before last I spent 4 days in Vienna, then went to Prague for 4 days.

Both cities were just fantastic, and if you're thinking of going to either or both, do so!

Since I spent about 2 years living in a Marriott here in Egypt, I racked up a lot of Rewards points. That meant my hotel rooms in Vienna and Prague were basically free, except for the extras.

In Vienna I stayed at the Renaissance--Imperial Riding School. Which really is a 19th-century military equestrian school, converted to a hotel. It's on the Untergasse. Walk out of the hotel and turn left, in 15 minutes you're at the Stadtpark and a short walk from St. Stephan's Square. Turn right and you're just a few minutes from the Belvedere, the Red Army memorial and Schwartzenberg Platz.

Trip highlights: riding the Giant Ferris Wheel in the Prater. Spending my birthday at the Vienna Technical Museum. (That might give you a hint why I'm divorced and never re-married.)

And seeing an object that literally changed history. I'm a big History Geek, so I stood there and contemplated the fact that the history of virtually the entire world changed because of the museum exhibit I was seeing.

That exhibit is in Vienna's Museum of Military History. It's the car in which Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were riding in Sarajevo on a summer's day in 1914. They were assassinated, kicking off the start of World War I. Right beside the car, the museum displays the Archduke's jacket, with bloodstains and bullet hole.

And on a happier note...

Prague really took my breath away. I'd always heard it was one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, and I heard right.

And since I normally live in a 95% Muslim country, you can imagine how much fun I had with Giant Cheap Beers and an endless supply of PORK! (The real stuff, not the Congressional variety.)

My Prague hotel was the Marriott Old Town, which is pretty much right in the middle of everything. Short walk to Wenceslas Square and Old Town Square.

How weird am I, anyway? A highlight of my stay in Prague was visiting the Museum Of Communism. It's located right above (and in space rented from) McDonald's. Right beside a gambling casino, and across the street from Bennetton. Just in case you wondered how that whole "historical inevitability" thing worked out...

As always, I'll be glad to try and answer any specific questions you have about either place.

[comrade snarky]

1. Ahhh Prague!

Such a great city, sigh....

I can imagine the contrast between Alexandria and Prague. Seems like going from the covered women of Egypt to the got it going on, dressed to the nines, ungodly sexy women of Prague could cause some kind of mental whiplash! How do they wear those high pointy healed boot on cobblestones and not fall down?

One of life's great mysteries.

When I was there in 2003 my first meal was pork loin stuffed with other kinds of pork! That is a perfect place to get your fill of piggy goodness. Please tell me you had a sausage from the stands at the bottom of Vencislas Square? So cheap and so good with a cup of mulled wine. Of course I've only been there in the fall and I understand it can get hot in the summer.

I never did make it in the museum of communism but I think I could spend a year there and not run out of things to see.

So, what the heck do you do anyway?

[onager]

2. I'm a Field Engineer

That's not to be confused with a real engineer. I would only be a real engineer if I had a striped cap and a set of HO scale trains. :-) I'm basically a technician who takes care of a big geekish system. Servers, workstations, etc.

I did have several sausages from those stands, but mostly in Old Town Square. That just seemed to be where I ended up when hungry. I think I liked those giant kebabs even better, for a little variety. Chuncks of thick ham and chicken with peppers and tomatos on a skewer, stuffed into a long roll. Especially great with the hot mustard.

You're right, Prague is great for people-watching. Especially now, in the tourist season. I saw some amazing outfits, or lack thereof...

Everyone warned me about the pick-pockets in Prague, but I didn't have any problems. One of my co-workers did. In fact, he had his pocket picked right after he bought a giant sausage in Wenceslas Square. It was a female pickpocket and she got away with several hundred Crowns, lifted from his side pants pocket.

Practical advice everybody probably knows anyway: in places like Prague, I never walk around carrying my wallet and passport. I carry a photocopy of the passport and leave the original in the hotel room safe.

If I think I will need a credit card, I wear a T-shirt with a pocket under my shirt. Put the credit cards and cash in the T-shirt pocket where nobody can lift it easily. Usually I don't even carry credit cards. I take enough cash to last me for the day and again, leave the rest in the hotel room safe.