Random thoughts/reflections/best practices from this trip:
Europe Trip 2026: Random Thoughts, Reflections, and Best Practices
Major Mom
Flying Home: A Nice Surprise!
I have United “Gold” frequent flyer status which allows for some sort of hierarchy to automatically competing for upgrades. In the couple years I’ve had “Gold” that upgrade has never come to fruition, until our flight home from Prague.
I mentioned in the previous post that we were surprised with a “Business Class” upgrade between Prague and Munich. That was a short flight.
When we scanned our passes to board Lufthansa 480 from Munich to Denver, we were surprised again! A little slip of paper printed with a new seat assignment. So Dave and I got to fly home in Business Class on an A380 (top floor). So roomy, and the food was incredible.
Praha Day 4: Homeward Bound!
Our flight from Prague to Munich was at 6:15am, which meant a 3:30am ride to the airport this morning. So early!
We are enjoying the scenes around Munich Airport celebrating Oktoberfest …and liked the self-service bar at the Lufthansa Lounge!
Praha Day 3: Wandering the City
This was our last full day in Prague. We started out visiting the stunning Baroque-era St. Nicholas Church, which was just a few hundred meters from where we’re staying. Unlike St. Vitus, this cathedral’s decor and architecture were pretty consistent…simply gorgeous throughout.
After we bid farewell to Andy and Suzy, who left for Berlin after lunch, we wandered across the river to see the astronomical clock/astrolabe; it puts on a show at the top of each hour. We arrived to incredible crowds and thought maybe it was comparable to the Munich Rathaus-Glockenspiel, but it wasn’t. At all. Somewhat underwhelming, to be honest. The clock itself is worth checking out, just the same…I studied Wikipedia quite a bit to try to understand all the dials, and there are still parts of it that’s confusing to me.
Praha Day 2, Part 2: Dvorák Prague
When planning this portion of our trip, I learned early on that Prague hosts a music festival celebrating Antonin Dvorák every September. Two weeks of concerts throughout the city, with an assortment of performing groups, soloists, and guest conductors.
Praha Day 2, Part 1: Prague Castle and the Charles Bridge
Apparently these are the two most popular destinations in all of Czechia. Both attractions were crazy crowded but we were able to see almost everything we wanted.
We elected not to see the Hapsburg Crown Jewels on temporary display at the Old Palace because that involved hours of waiting, even with a ticket. Which meant I didn’t get to see the “1618 Defenestration of Prague” window. But we did get to the St. Vitus Cathedral and St. George Basilica. The architecture and artwork are simply breathtaking, albeit a bit visually cacophonous in some places. The photos don’t do it justice.
We enjoyed an outdoor lunch at the base of the western tower of the Charles bridge, then walked back and forth across the bridge admiring all the statues.
I have to admit I’m kinda scrambling to keep up with all the Czech history I’m seeing. As a child of the Cold War you can imagine we didn’t learn much about this part of the world.
The weather was very pleasant and autumnal, with temperatures around 60F give or take, depending on whether the sun was behind a cloud or not.
München Day 5 / Praha Day 1: A Really Old Train…and a Really New Funicular
We arrived in Prague around 4:30pm on a really old train (sorry, no photos showing how old the train actually was). Apparently the train company, called “Alex”, buys national carriers’ old discarded cars. Luckily we were able to get a compartment to ourselves for most of the journey. The scenery was beautiful during the 6 hour trip.
We are in a really cool AirBnB just a few hundred meters south of the Prague Castle, and a few tens of meters from the US Embassy (not on purpose)…we used this evening to go exploring the neighborhood.
We enjoyed traditional Czech food with Pilsner Urquell at a restaurant up the street, and while we were waiting for our dinners we learned a nearby funicular at a park that had been closed for two years had their grand reopening today and was running until 10:15pm.
So after dinner (and ice cream in a chimney cake — a flaky cinnamon bread rolled into an ice cream cone), we headed over to the funicular station. We loved the nighttime views of Prague Castle and the Charles Bridge going up and down the track, but from the top of the hill, all you could see were trees and this old wall that encircled the observation area.
Excited to visit Prague Castle tomorrow!
München Day 4: No Theresienwiese Today
Today Dave woke up feeling quite congested so I ventured out on my own with the tour group on a bike tour of Munich. Thanks to our guide Bob, I’m now drowning in interesting facts about the history of the city…and probably rode 7-8 miles. I was particularly interested in Munich’s choices in rebuilding after WWII using war rubble to simply patch some of the historic buildings.
After the tour Dave and I took a tram ride out to do a little shopping…Tim sent us on a wild goose chase for a food product called “ChoViva”: a brand new chocolate substitute made of fermented sunflower seeds and oats (Google it). Rewe (a grocery store chain here) carries the ingredient in some of their store brand snack products. I could only find one product with the ingredient and now I need to make room for a 400g bag of cookies for the trip home.
Massive pizza for dinner — with an early bedtime as we rest up for the next adventure.
Oktoberfest 2024: Welcome Dinner for the Tour Group
This was a welcome dinner for everyone here for Oktoberfest? opening weekend with our Tour Group from Bucket List Event.
We took up most of this part of the beer hall. Met some great folks Friday evening. The wienerschniztel was ??????.
The kegs tap at noon Saturday!
#oktoberfestmunich #oktoberfest2024
München Day 3: Oktoberfest Day 2
We started with the Costume and Riflemen’s parade, which is LONG but went right in front of our hotel so we could come and go all morning pretty leisurely.
We then visited a small tent in the Wiese for a light lunch of käsespätzele, obazda, and salad. There was a little band that performed while we ate. Lots of families: it was fun watching the kids dancing.
For the evening, we got to experience the Schottenhamel tent which is quite the party. It’s the OG Oktoberfest tent, the one where the mayor of Munich taps the first keg to open the festival each year. The band, called “Südhertz” was incredible, playing everything from oompah music to Neil Diamond to Kings of Leon. The food and beer were outstanding.
We all noticed that we felt better after 2+ maß of Spatenbräu beer tonight than we did after 2+ maß of Hacker-Pschorr last night. Maybe it was the ginger juice shots we had tonight (and didn’t have last night…). Interesting data point.