continental excursion

(first pic: the john lennon wall in prague on the quieter side of the river)

val and i had an awesome little excursion to the continent and were delighted with loads of art, culture, opera, ballet, wiener schnitzel...

starting the first few days in vienna visiting come lovely churches, the belvedere (where we saw the infamous painting "the kiss"...unbelievable), and the prater. i think i have to say i enjoyed the prater thoroughly. its an amusement park and i got to go on rides and play air hockey. much fun.


(second pic: the view from prague castle, maybe from the tower)

prague was awesome. ended up there after a 5 hour train journey and a couple of stamps for ye olde passport. it's definitely more of a working city and you can see how its tumultuous history has shaped its character. stunning architecture. visited the museum of communism and felt very educated; lots of reading of museum panels involved in that one.





(third pic: the giant ferris wheel at the prater)

i like rides. this made me want to revisit my youth and season's pass to canada's wonderland.
















(fourth pic: val)

val sitting in one of the best garden restaurants of all time in vienna. we visited Kunst Haus Wien, which is this building conceived by artist Hundertwasser. *very* cool stuff and may have to post more photos of that place.








(fifth pic: st michaels, petrin hill)

thanks to my keen sense of direction and navigational skills (*skills* haha) we made it down to this little wooden church that was moved from the ukraine to this spot after flooding. it was tiny and beautiful and i wish the lighting had been better. val and i were constantly saying "i know the lighting isn't right, but don't tell davoud."

oh. and don't forget to wish a happy birthday to val...it's today!