A smooth train ride took us from Vienna to Prague in just over 4 hours. From the metro, we wandered until we found our hidden Airbnb apartment where our host greeted us with maps and dining recommendations. We immediately headed to one of her nearby suggestions to sample Czech cuisine before exploring the Little Quarter. We browsed Baby Jesus’ wardrobe at the Church of Our Lady Victorious, the graffiti on Lennon Wall, and followed the music to a lively French market in Kampa. Not yet hungry, we made our way across the tourist-packed Charles Bridge to the even more crowded Old Town Square, where a Jazz Festival was in progress. We joined the hoards to watch the Astronomical Clock in action, then stopped by a local grocery store before collapsing back at the apartment. Having skipped dinner, I awoke at 4am to a more tranquil and beautiful city. After catching glimpse of a woman posing nude on the Charles Bridge, I returned to join Melody in planning the week over homemade breakfast with fried eggs and cheese. We decided to ascend along picturesque Nerudova Street to Prague Castle, where we surveyed the delicate stained glass at St. Vitus Cathedral, the defenestration window at the Old Royal Palace, relics at St. George’s Basilica, and Kafka’s house along Golden Lane. As the summer swelter set in, we relaxed with a bowl of pea soup at a local cafe, then pushed ahead to Strahov Monastery and the Miniature Museum. Next, we continued to Petrin Hill, where we passed by owls near the Observation Tower, got lost in the Mirror Maze, and descended the funicular to New Town for ramen and Old Town for trdelnik pastries on the way to our afternoon nap. Determined not to skip dinner again, we awoke despite overwhelming exhaustion for a late dinner of goulasch and veal. Unfortunately, this made us miss our next morning’s train to Kutna Hora, forcing us to rearrange our plans. Instead, we went to Jewish Town, where we learned about golem lore at Maisel Synagogue, Holocaust victims at the Old Jewish Cemetery, and Rabbi Low at the Old-New Synagogue. The Museum of Decorative Arts was under renovation, so we satisfied our Asian noodle crave before boarding the afternoon train to Kutna Hora. The ancient silver mining town was far from the train station, and the local bus did not stop near the sites. This resulted in exhaustive hikes back and forth between St. Barbara’s Cathedral, Sedlec Ossuary, and the Czech Museum of Silver. Nevertheless, we were awed by the eerie formations of human skulls and enjoyed donning miner’s gear to explore the silver mine tunnels. Despite showing up late and way under-dressed, we got to enjoy La Degustations’ tasting menu with juice pairings that helped revitalize us. We slept in on Friday, waking up to pork knuckles for lunch before touring the impressive Art Nouveau interior of the Municipal House. A short train ride took us to Karlstejn, where we got palacinky to power our walk up to the castle for our tour and ascent to heaven. Back in Prague, we joined locals at Lokal for sausage, fried cheese, and goulash, which kept our bellies full for an Alice-themed black light show. On our last morning, we awoke early again to watch the sunrise over Charles Bridge. From St. Nicholas Church, we returned to Old Town again to bargain for Bohemian crystals, then snagged some pizza and brats on the way to the train station. Back in Vienna, we camped out at our hotel, briefly braving the heat for some schnitzel and unsuccessfully finding dessert near the Leopold Museum. Thankfully, our brother-in-law picked us up after the long flight home, as we felt like we could use another vacation after this … vacation. There was simply too much to see and too many people around in Prague. Our next trip will definitely need to be toned down a notch.

With the recent strength of the dollar against the euro, we decided to extend this year’s ASRS meeting in Vienna into a vacation through Slovakia and the Czech Republic. It’s been 6 years since our last visit to the Austrian capital, but our memories of the tidy city were still fresh as we navigated the U-bahn with another 72-hour Vienna card to our hotel. We arrived hours before check-in was available, leaving an exhausted and dehydrated Melody slumped in the lobby while I changed in the bathroom to make the morning session at the Austria Center across the street. The jet lag reached me by lunch time, so we crashed into bed for much of the afternoon. Dinner at the 2-Michelin star Silvio Nickol was an adventure unto itself, when we realized that the Palais Colburg, in which the restaurant was located, was barricaded for the Iran nuclear talks. After negotiating our way through the police line, we were led into the chic, cavernous dining room to join my cousin for a 10-course tasting menu that lasted a mind-numbing 5 hours. By the time we settled the bill, which was after midnight, we had forgotten most of the dishes, save several highlights including a duck liver mousse with popover. I spent most of Sunday at the meeting while Melody filmed restless reptiles and amphibians at the Haus des Meeres, missed the food stands again at Naschtmacht, and settled for disappointing Wiener pho and original sachertorte from Cafe Sacher. For dinner, we ventured to a film festival at the Rathaus, where we gobbled grilled calamari, roast pork, and spatzle with the locals. On the way home, we deboarded one-stop early to walk along the Danube, stopping for ice-cream and an eiskaffee that kept Melody wide-eyed the entire night. On Monday, after playing reporter at the morning session of the meeting, we hopped onto a train for a day trip to Bratislava. The Slovakian capital was only an hour away, and for less than $20 round-trip, the opportunity was hard to pass. From the train station, a short bus ride took us to the city center, where we passed through Michael’s Gate for lunch at Prasna Basta. The local favorite served up soul-satisfying chicken soup and escargot gratinee followed by classic bryndzove halusky and a veal stew with butter spatzle. Both the Old Town Hall and Primate’s Palace were closed on Mondays, but we did enjoy a small exhibit on Hapsburg monarchs, with the curator enthusiastically describing 18th century Spanish politics and modern reenactments. From there, we took a stroll along Hviezdoslavovo namestie, passed the medieval fortifications of the city walls, then climbed vertically up to Bratislava Castle. At the top of the hill, we collapsed on the grass, then took in views of the city, the Danube, and the closed Castle. We wound our way back down, with multiple stops for rehydration, before resting our feet at the Soup Bistro and souvenir hunting in Old Town. We returned to Vienna in time for dinner reservations at Steirereck. The other 2-Michelin star restaurant in Vienna was housed in an ultra-modern building in Stadtpark, serving up a more manageable 6-course menu, each dish with its own collectible card describing the ingredients. Back at the hotel, we packed my suit and conference materials, as we prepare for the “vacation” portion of the trip.