It’s hard for me to believe that our Prague – Vienna trip is over. (It’s equally hard for me to believe it has taken me over two weeks to finish this post!!) As I’ve mentioned in the past, one of my favorite parts of going on a trip is planning it. In the process of planning the trip, I learn about the geography, sites, history and art of the region. When traveling in a group, you have the added benefit of input from the other travelers, which can enrich the itinerary with ideas that may have been overlooked.

            Despite all of the planning and research that goes into a trip, flexibility is key. (Of course, the same could be true for life in general.) Me, I’m a planner. I like to have everything figured out ahead of time to the extent possible. Having an idea of what’s going on in the city before landing makes it less likely that you’ll miss something because the tickets are sold out or find that no more reservations are available. Nevertheless, the ability to stay flexible allows you to slip in those last minute ideas that you wouldn’t have even known to look for let alone find during the planning stage. One of the treasures of our trip to Prague that was not on anyone’s radar was an exhibit of Alphons Mucha’s Slav Epic on display in a large hall at The National Gallery in Prague. The Slav Epic consists of twenty paintings by Mucha that he worked on for almost twenty years. The immense canvases depict the history of the Slavic culture beginning in the 4^th to 6^th Centuries and were gifted to the City of Prague in 1928. They are a collection of breathtaking works of art that cause marvel at their beauty and the genius of the artist who was able to conceive and complete such large scale works of such historical significance. Already a fan of Mucha, a master of Art Nouveau with a very distinctive style of painting, I left the exhibit with a new respect for the artist.

            In our original Vienna itinerary we had planned a day trip to Bratislava, Slovakia. Nina, our guide, encouraged us to go elsewhere that would better serve our group. As a result, we took a day trip to the Wacahu Valley to visit Melk Abbey, the Benedictine monastery in Melk, and enjoyed a private tour of the Melk Abbey museum. The museum includes historic artifacts as well as halls adorned with murals and a working library that houses books from centuries ago.  The Melk Abbey, founded in 1089, is home to one of the most well-preserved Baroque churches in the world. Free from any of the destruction during the Second World War, visitors travel back in time to the 1700s when the church was converted from a gothic style to high Baroque. After our visit to Melk, we wound our way back to Vienna stopping in a couple of the small towns along the way. The small villages were charming and picturesque. The valley, known for its mountainside vineyards and apricots, shoulders the Danube River and offers some breathtaking views.   For lunch, we stopped in a local restaurant to enjoy a traditional Austrian meal of dumplings with chanterelle mushroom sauce. It was divine!