Day 11 -13

Day 11

Today we took an early morning bus ride past the remains of the Roman settlement of Aquincum on the way to the village of Szentendre. Here we had some shopping time, and weather that was cooperative. This village is famous for hand carved jewelery boxes that can be custom made. Shortly after, we rode the bus up a mountain to Visegrad castle. Here we enjoyed an amazing view of the river Danube and the mountains surrounding it. After this we ventured on to Esztergom (the former capital of Hungary) and visited their huge cathedral. Later we stopped for lunch, and this is where we gave our tour guide and bus driver (Bernhard and Alex) their gifts which were Canadian jerseys. After this we made our way to the Slovakian boarder, then to the capital Bratislava. There we stayed in the hotel Holiday Inn, which had a pool and a sauna :)


Day 12

Two capitals in one day, Bratislava and Prague.
Early in the morning we set out from our one night stay in the Holiday Inn Hotel in Bratislava. We enjoyed a scenic view of many farms and few trees, it reminded us of Canada. Some of the girls listened to music, while others took the opportunity to "respect their body rhythm"(as Sister Mary refers to sleep).
We arrived in the golden city of Prague and we were welcomed by our tour guide named Lenka. Lenka took us out for a walk around the misty city and we soon discovered how many legends and mystical tales the city offered. For example, there was a beautiful; however, poor young lady, who was granted by the devil a night in splendor with wealthy suitors. In turn she had to give her soul over to the devil. The legend says that she walks the streets after midnight crying searching for men.
However, due to the rain we cut our tour short and went back to the Ibis Hotel.


Day 13

Today after a scenic hour and a half drive, we visited the historical Karlstein Castle. After a tour of the castle, we had some time to walk around the quaint village. Some of us even met Canadians from Vancouver!
After returning to Praha, we were happy to enjoy a private concert, which consisted of three men. Their instruments included a bass, a wooden flute and an accordion. Together they created beautiful music.