Simmons European Vacation - Freiberg and Dresden

After spending several days in Prague, we decided to take a day trip to visit the Freiberg Temple. It is always wonderful to be at the temple with your family but for me the highlight was being able to see my Mission President and his wife, Frank and Helga Apel. He is now the Freiberg Temple President. We didn't get to catch up much but it was great to see them.

On the way back to Prague we were able to spend several hours in Dresden. Dresden was leveled during WWII but they have really started to rebuild it. The old historic part lies right on the Elbe river and is beautiful. We were only able to spend several hours in Dresden and the first part was spent visiting a famous renaissance gallery called the Old Master's Gallery. Here's the entrance and courtyard.

The rest of the time we just spent wandering around the city. Here's some of our favorite pictures.

Simmons European Vacation - Prague

The main bulk of our European trip was spent in Prague. We spent a week there and it was there that we met up with Brian's parents and his sister Trisha and her husband Chris. Brian's parents are in Russia on their mission and Trisha and Chris live in Utah so it was really exciting to meet up in a foreign country.

I loved Prague from the moment we left the train station. Unlike a lot of the rest of Europe, Prague was never bombed in the world wars so things are mostly original and you can see the difference. The streets are all cobblestone and all the buildings are beautiful. After our whirlwind visit of Munich and Vienna, it was nice to be able to slow down and really spend time wandering and exploring the city.

We stayed in a great little 3 bedroom apartment just a few blocks from the Old Town Square.

Here's the view from our window. The spires you see are from the Tyn Church (probably the second most important church in Prague).

The old town square was really fun and we spent a lot of time there. It is full of restaurants, shops and people. In the middle is the old town hall with a cool astronomical clock. The clock not only tells time but also time of sunrise and sunset, phase of the moon, zodiac signs and a few other things. The oldest part dates back to 15th century. It must have seemed pretty amazing to the people at the time.

Prague is full of tourists and so there are tons of souvenir shops. We spent our share of time in the shops, but I really liked this little outdoor market that was a mixture of souvenirs and fresh produce.

Trisha and Chris were able to celebrate their 13th anniversary there. Congrats guys!

Before WWII, Prague had one of the oldest, most vibrant Jewish communities in Europe. Today only a few thousand Jews are left in Prague, but their legacy remains in the Jewish Quarter. The Jewish Quarter is made up of seven different sights scattered over three blocks. The sight that touched me the most was the Pinkas Synagogue. The Synagogue was used for worship for 400 years but is now a memorial to Czech Nazi victims. The names of about 77,000 victims are handwritten on the walls as well as their hometowns, birthdays, and last known date to be alive. It was a very sobering experience. The rest of the sights focus on Jewish history and religious practices.

This graveyard was also really interesting. Jews believe that once a body has been buried it can't be disturbed. This was the only graveyard allowed for the Jews of Prague from 1439 to 1787 so graves were just layered one on top of the other. Over time, the ground settled causing the tombstones to become crooked.

The Vltava River goes right through Prague. One of the best ways to see Prague is to go on a boat cruise. We took two, the first at night and then during the day.

The picture above is of the Charles Bridge. Charles IV was Prague's most famous and important king and also was the Holy Roman Empire. He ruled in the 14th century and during his rule Prague became on of the biggest most important cities in Europe. He commissioned the Charles Bridge to be built after a flood washed away its predecessor in 1342. It was the only bridge in Prague until the 19th century. Some of you may recognize it because it has been in a number of movies (it's the bridge Jon Voigt falls from at the beginning of the first Mission Impossible). Originally, the bridge was adorned only with a cross but now it is lined with statues. One of the most famous statues is of Czech Saint John of Nepomuk. It is said that rubbing one side of the statue will make a wish come true and rubbing the other side will ensure that you return to Prague someday. You can see how the bronze is showing from where the statue has been rubbed so much.

The Charles Bridge leads to the Castle Quarter.

Here is the main entrance to the castle complex. The Czech President has his offices here and flags up mean that he is there.

In the middle of the castle complex is St. Vitus Cathedral. This was probably my favorite sight in Prague. It was started in 1344, again under Charles IV, and wasn't completely finished until 1929. It was mainly built in the Gothic style of the 14 century but has influences of other eras because it took so long to build.

Inside it contains the tombs and relics of the most important saints and kings including St Wenceslas. St Wenceslas (yes, the one from the Christmas Carol) was an unusually good and educated 10th century Bohemian ruler. He is known for Christianizing Bohemia and allying them with the Holy Roman Empire. He is the most famous of Czech Saints and the main symbol for Czech nationalism. In his chapel within the cathedral, the state jewels are kept. Only a few state leaders including the President have keys to the vault containing the jewels and they are only displayed for very special occasions. The other thing I loved about the cathedral were all the stained glass windows. Here's an example.

We also took a quick day trip from Prague to visit Karlstejn Castle. Charles IV built this medieval castle in 1348 as a safeguard for the crown jewels of the Holy Roman Empire. It's only about 30 km from Prague and is on a hill above a cute little village surrounded by beautiful countryside.

Our last night all together, we saw a concert at the Estates Theatre. It is a beautiful building and was built in the late 18th century. Many famous artist have played here, most notably Mozart. He premiered Don Giovani here and it is the only theatre still standing in which Mozart performed.

Simmons European Vacation - Vienna

After our wonderful day in Munich, we hopped on a train at 7:30am and were whisked away to Vienna. I LOVE riding on trains!! It is one of the things I miss most about living in Germany. You can just chat with your friends or grab book and sit back and relax. This was one of the most scenic rides I've ever been on. It was all green rolling hills and very cute little farms.

In Vienna we stayed at this cute little hotel, Vienna State Opera Hotel. The location was great. We were right off Kartnerstrasse which is the main pedestrian area. It is full of shops, businesses and throngs of people. Even at midnight, there were still tons of people out. I don't know if I ever really want to live in a city like Vienna but I love the energy of it.

Our first stop in Vienna was the Kunsthistorisches Museum. The ground floor has a collection of artifacts from Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquities and the second floor is a Renaissance art gallery. Again they had a great audio guide and we spent four hours there ( I could have spent several more days there). I am not an artist at all and so I spend most of my time in awe and amazement that someone could create all these fabulous masterpieces. Even the building itself is magnificent.

Brian was very set on having Wienerschnitzel in Wien (German name for Vienna) so thanks to our trusty tour guide book we found this cute little restaurant tucked in the heart of the city.

Every night from the end of June to the end of August, the city sets up a huge screen in front of city hall and as soon as it's dark show films of various types of performances (operas, symphonies and ballets). We saw a ballet of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream set to the music of Mendelssohn. I usually am a fan of ballet but I like the very classical style you know pretty tutus and such. This ballet had a lot of modern elements and while somewhat interesting was not really my style. However, it was a lovely evening and it was nice to be under the stars enjoying some culture with the locals.

Vienna is beautiful at night with all the buildings lit up so we spent the rest of the evening wandering around. We were mainly in search of a ice cream shop and we finally found a place called Zanoni Zanoni. It is truly the best ice cream (it was actually gelato though I'm not sure of the difference) I have ever had. It was so good that we even had to go back the next day. We tried a number of flavors but apricot was the best. I don't think ice cream will ever be the same.

The next day started off with a visit to the Schatzkammer (treasury). They have the best display of jewels, ceremonial robes and religious artifacts in Europe (or on the Continent I should say since the crown jewels in London are also quite impressive). I have seen crowns and robes in pictures or movies but it was different to seem them in person and realize that nobility really did wear this stuff and it's not just stuff out of a fairytale. I can imagine just how magnificent the Royalty and Church leaders must have looked when they were wearing their jewel studded robes and crowns. My favorite and probably on of the most famous in the collection was this crown of the Holy Roman Emperor dated from the late 10th century.

We spent mid-morning wondering through downtown Vienna. Here are some of the sights we saw.

For lunch we wandered through the Naschmarkt. The Naschmarkt is a huge fresh fruit and vegetable market mixed with little food stalls and small cafes. I had a döner kebab which is one of my most favorite foods of all time. There are little kebab shops all over Germany and they were a staple of my mission. For those of you who have never experienced a döner kebab it is a lot like a gyro but is the Turkish version. It is a piece of thick flatbread cut open and stuffed with lamb meat cooked on a vertical spit and sliced off to order along with various vegetables, usually onions, cabbage or lettuce and sometimes tomatoes and cucumbers, and is topped with a spicy garlic sauce. It is delish!! Brian also enjoyed some applestrudel.

So after 27 hours in the wonderful city of Vienna, we were again on a train for our 4 hour ride to Prague.