Blogging on the Road

I had a business trip with three great destinations in the itinerary, so Dara packed her bags and came along. I'm not great company in my business mode, so it mostly amounts to her being a single tourist. Still, we managed some time together in Nice, and our weekend in Prague is just about over. Then it's on to rainy and cool London.

The Promenade d'Anglais runs along the beaches of the Cote d'Azur. The hotel was at one end, and at the other was the "old town" area. We climbed above the old town for this view along the Riviera toward the hotel. We sampled some of the local fare in the old town, including Socca, a kind of chick pea pancake that is cooked like crepes, and beignets stuffed with onions and fish. We had a good time eating dinner outside, very late by American standards, and people watching.

Here in Prague, the touristy area of the city is quite compact, broken into various neighborhoods with their own character and history. Almost all the streets are cobblestones, and the sidewalks are paved with 2x2 inch multi-colored stones set close together in sand, making different interesting patterns as you rove the winding, narrow streets. Dara the photographer rousted me at 5AM to get the best light. Here she is on the famous Charles Bridge, looking toward Prague castle on the hill. By 6AM, the streets were still fairly deserted, except for roving bands of drunks returning from bars. One bunch of drunk Frenchmen was getting their picture taken on the bridge, forming a human pyramid of bared asses.

This morning we walked across the river and took a tram up to the top of a hill overlooking the city. The Charles Bridge is the one on the right side of the picture, for foot traffic only. At the far end of the next one downriver is the Rudolphinum. For two evenings now our entertainment has been classical music in concert halls. Last night was some Mozart and Dvorak in the Dvorak Hall of the Rudolphinum. There are people hawking tickets to little concerts all over the town as you walk through it.

More updates later. Just thought I'd keep the blog alive!