Tag Archives: Prague

An Annotated Map: Free, Fun, and Functional

Here’s a great keepsake for your kids! It’s free, fun, educational, and functional. Find a decent map of whatever city you happen to be visiting and give your son or daughter a highlighter and a pen. At each destination, highlight the route that you’ve just completed, mark and annotate where you are and what you see. Want to make a really cool map? You’ll have to be willing to walk a long way! Keep the maps from various cities as a reminder of where you traveled, what you saw, and what your kids enjoyed most.

Prague: Then and Now

Then (1991): The dusty train station was mostly empty except for a few tourists. I was approached by enterprising Czechoslovakians holding out pictures of rooms to rent, most in private homes.   I rented a room near the old square with a view of the river. It was a bedroom in the apartment of a middle-aged woman.  She was kind, charged a reasonable price, and spoke little English.

Now (2012): The train station in the Czech Republic is loud and bustling. It boasts a Burger King, a giant bookstore, DM, and Read more »