Life on the Vine

It was kind of hard to miss that a royal wedding was being planned with all the non-stop press coverage for the weeks and months leading up to the big day.  Many of my co-workers were following the news specials and festivities and suggested we have a Royal Wedding party in the office.   It was a simple plan.  All the ladies would sport colorful headgear in homage to British hats.  We'd have theme-appropriate snacks and then all we needed was a TV.  Check, check and check!  And, to our good fortune, being in Germany and all, the wedding happened right around lunch time.  So don't worry...your tax dollars weren't too terribly wasted this day! And truth be told, it has been a long, busy, sometimes stressful few months for our office.  The United States being part of the coalition to enforce UNSCR 1973 in Libya was certainly no small part of it.  So, honestly, the chance for us to be a bit silly, dress up and watch something...

Our second day trip in April took us to Prague, the Czech Republic's capital.  The Czech Republic is one half of the former nation of Czechoslovakia.  Czechoslovakia was formed after World War I and dominated by the Soviet Union after World War II.  Communism ended in 1989 and the nation split on January 1, 1993 into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The locals call Prague - Praha.  Until about 1800, Prague was four distinct towns each with its own town square and all separated by fortified walls.  The four towns were Castle Quarter, Little Quarter, Old Town and New Town.  The Vltava River divides the west side (Castle Quarter and Little Quarter) from the east side (New Town, Old Town).  The day began at the main train station, which is in New Town (Nové Město ).  We walked towards Wenceslas Square, named for King Wenceslas -- yes, the "good king" Wenceslas.  The creation of the Czechoslovak state was celebrated in this square in 1918; an...

Truth be told Tom is not really a fan of bus tours.  He usually enjoys himself once we get to the destination but it's the 6-8 hour-long bus rides going there and coming back that he could really do without.  When I was looking through the new USO catalog a couple months ago, I saw tours to two cities that I really wanted to visit.  I like the USO tours because they give you quick feel for a particular city and help you decide if you want to go back and spend more time. I've shared photos of Christmas markets.  Turns out that some cities have Easter markets too.  The two tours would be visiting the cities when their Easter markets were going on.  So, after confirming that Tom was game, we signed up.  First traveling to Vienna (Wien) and two weeks later traveling to Prague (Praha).  Let's visit Vienna first.  Vienna skyline from Schönbrunn Palace The first Easter market we visited was the one at Schönbrunn Palace , the summer residence...