Goodbye to Prague - 28th June

Tomorrow we head off to Paris so tonight we spent our last few Czech crowns in Prague...

The travelers rejuvenated their tired old feet with some therapy from the Turkish nibbling fish!





... and we bought some nice woolly Czech hats for the boys to keep their ears warm during ski season when we get home.

On to Paris tomorrow...

Kutna Hora - 28th June

Today we took a day trip from Prague to the historic Czech town of Kutna Hora.

A town famous for it's creepy church with skeletal architecture... The Sedlec Ossuary.







Kutna Hora was also a famous silver mining town in it's heyday and we got to explore some of the old medieval mine shafts heading 35m underground...

We got to wear the cool miners outfits too!

Back to Prague - 27th June

Left Ohrozim today and headed back to Prague for a couple more nights before continuing our journey.

Arrived in time to head up to the Petrin Tower on the hill above Prague for some amazing views.






Also visited the mirror maze - good fun but a bit of a rip off!

Olomouc Zoo - 26th June

Took a day trip today from Ohrozim to Olomouc to check out the zoo.

We spent a great day there with the favourite animals for the boys being the new lion cubs, the goats, the stinky bat cave, and the cheetah at feeding time!





Jacob got a little too close...

Ohrozim: 21st - 25th June

Today we managed to negotiate the Czech public transport system with three connections and arrived safely in Ohrozim to visit our friends James and Pavla.







Nice to catch up with them since they left NZ about 18 months ago - and having a great time here!

We visited Plumlov Castle on the 22nd June




On the 23rd June we went to the Ohrozim Festival - great fun for the kids with plenty of games and prizes and the grown ups got to have the local delicacy - smoked mackerel!

Prague - 20th June

Arrivederci Italia!

Today we left our campsite in Venice and flew to the Czech Republic.







We arrived in Prague for just one night with a quick chance to see some of the sights of the Old Town.

Tomorrow we head down to the little village of Ohrozim to visit James and Pavla - our old friends from Hawkes Bay.

Venice - 18th June

Arrived in Venice after a quick train trip from Florence.

Stayed in a campground just outside of Venice itself.






Spent two days exploring the canals and winding streets with time of course for a gondola ride!

Pisa - 16th June

Took a day trip today from Florence to Pisa to climb the famous Leaning Tower

A bit scary climbing the winding staircases and leaning out over flimsy looking balustrades...

 But the view from the top was well worth it!!!

Finished the day trip to Pisa with pizza!

Florence - 15th June

Arrived safely in Florence after catching our Eurostar train from Rome. Spent the afternoon wandering Florence and seeing the sights. Plenty of cool shops - just as well the kids kept dragging Tarsha away...

The boys had their picture drawn by a street cartoonist in the Piazza - amazingly they sat still for long enough!

Rome - 14th June

Today we visited the catacombs of San Sebastian to explore the underground tombs of the Christians from the times of Roman persecution.




As today was our final day in Rome we also just had to have another gelati from our favorite shop...

Trying very hard to miss the winter back home!








Tomorrow we head to Florence and Pisa!

Rome - 13th June

A bit more of a rest day for us today with a visit to the Villa Borghese park and Rome Zoo.

Saw plenty of cool animals...

Tested the boys power of co-operation in a row boat....

& we all visited the Trevi Fountain to toss in a coin to ensure another future visit to Rome!

Rome - 12th June

Harry better today - still sore but up for a big day of exploring Rome.


- Visited the Colosseum

                          The Roman Forum -




- The Piazza Navona

 
     
   
    The Bocca de Verita (Mouth of Truth) -



- & the cat sanctuary amongst the ruins in the site where Julius Caesar was assassinated.

Rome - 11th June

First injury of the holiday today with Harry twisting his ankle badly...

Good news for the rest of us though as now we can keep up with him. As a result we changed our plans for today from visiting the Colosseum and Roman Forum to going to the Time Elevator - a 4D cinema journey through the history of Rome.




The boys also managed some souvenir shopping and there was time to visit the Pantheon and Victor Emmanuel monument. We avoided walking as much as possible and Harry's ankle was better by the end of the day but not 100%.