My mom took me to Auschwitz when I was maybe 10, then again at 14, then I went as an adult at 24. It was grim, obviously, but I did have some background on war and stories and what to expect, as my “aunt” (close friend of my grandfather) was in a concentration camp, and as a child seeing the number tattoo prompted questions from me, and my folks didn’t sugar coat it. I knew there wa/is a great evil in the world. But there are definitely images there that don’t leave you. I remember the pile of shoes, the lampshades, and a picture of the electrified fence and dying children and stories of people throwing themselves against the fence to end their suffering. So, yes, it’s a lot, but I didn’t feel I was introduced to it too early, but you know your children best.
We were in Prague last year and really enjoyed it.
Wencelas Square is a bit of misnomer - it’s a long mall, with modern stores and buildings. There’s a statue of King Wenceslas at one end, and at the other end is the entrance to the Old Town. The Cub took a picture of Mrs Piper and me in front of King Wenceslas, literally “on the feast of Stephen.”
We found the food good and very cheap, but a bit on the heavy side: meat, potatoes, sausages. Pilsner beer is everywhere!
The Cub was good about trying new food, but he was also reassured that there were both McDonald’s and Burger King on Wenceslas.
And, the drinks fountain at the Burger King included pilsner beer: Coke for the Cub, pilsner for me, fill-your-own-cups.
The Old Town is wonderful for just wandering around. It’s one of the few Central European old towns that came through WWII unscathed. There was a nice Italian place that we went to, as a break from meat and potatoes; I think it was called the Five Crowns (in Italian). And, as a little glimpse of the inter-connectedness of the modern world, as we were leaving, “Big Yellow Taxi” by Joni Mitchell, a fellow Saskatchewanian, came on the restaurant’s radio. 
If your kids are interested in zoos, the Prague Zoo bills itself as in the top 10 in the world, and I would believe it. It’s built on and about a hill, with lots of walks, and also a ski-lift thing to get from the bottom to the top. We spent most of a day there and the Cub had a great time. The restaurant-cafeteria was excellent, good food, clean, cheap. Oh, and pilsener at the drinks fountain for me, coke for the Cub.
There’s also an excellent outdoors play area at the Zoo with a huge climbing thing for kids; Cub had a great time there as well. Plus, an outdoor refreshment area, with, you guessed it, pilsner for moms and dads to relax with while the kids climb and run about.
Prague Castle is huge! It’s the largest castle complex in Europe. You’ll want to do your research in advance on what to do and see at the castle complex, and get a good map/guidebook just for the castle.
The language on signage was a barrier for getting around; we didn’t try to understand the tram/metro signs and instead took a car hire when we were went to the Zoo, out of the downtown area. The car was private hire, a friend of the people who ran our B&B. But, most of the people in the main tourist areas were okay with English, particularly the younger ones; at a couple of places, the older staff would gesture for a younger staffer to come over to speak to us.
(When we were leaving Paris for Prague, the Cub said: “My head hurts from speaking French. What do they speak at Prague?”
“Czech”, I replied.
Long silence. “Oh.”)
Re getting around via public transit: Google maps worked really well. And they write numbers the same way as we do in all those countries. If you want to take the 215 tram, you can.
In Prague I went to a place called the Cafe Imperial. It was a gorgeous room, and it’s been renovated since I was there. I don’t remember the food being all the great, but it may have just been what I ordered.
The part I do remember was the sign saying that you could buy the whole plate of day-old donuts and throw them at people. I’m not sure if they were serious about it; I didn’t buy them and no one threw any while I was there. There is video on youtube.
(And I quoted Harry Lime while getting off the Riesenrad in Vienna, too.)
Hello, I’m back, with more questions!
Thanks for the advice, particularly on the pick-pocketing. It looks like a minor nuisance, but a major disruption should it actually occur. Got a money belt anyway and will maximize credit card usage over cash. Some guidebooks seems horrified of Roma and refugees, but I figure Prague and Vienna aren’t hotspots like Paris and Rome.
Map navigation: I have AT&T, which will charge us $10 a day overseas for data. Not horrible, but could still think of ways to reduce this. Yes, I have paper maps, but sometimes it’s good to see how far we have to go, and then navigate once we reach the city.
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I read that I could start my directions using the hotel’s Wi-Fi, put it in airplane mode, then my phone will remember the maps and directions without LTE/4G. Have any of you tried this, working with Apple Maps and/or Google Maps? All our accomodations have free wi-fi.
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I also read I could save ALL the Google MyMaps markers in say, Vienna, onto my phone in Google Maps while in Wi-Fi range. Then, never using my LTE/4G, use it to get around the city. Have you tried this, including trams and subway directions?
Prague Castle: A question for you Prague experts above: this appears to have lots of lines. We’re getting to Prague at 7:45am at the train station from Brno, then taking Tram 22 to the castle. Where should I get off? Primarily interested in the church and Golden Lane (where we can shoot crossbows!).
Vienna: We scored tickets to a Mozart concert at the main theater in the State Opera House. Is a tour worthwhile, or we’ll see most just exploring the theater before the performance.
Austria: To get a driving vignette, is it as simple as pulling into the first gas station after (or is it before) the border and saying “I need one”. I’m guessing the rental car company (getting our car in Prague) won’t mind a sticker.
I’m a bit late, and I’m probably missing a joke of some sort, but it’s not at all pronounced “rish-laff.”
Wrocław in English is pronounced approximately “VROT-swahff” or “VROAT-swahff” (a final “w” usually gets pronounced as an “f” instead of a “v” sound. Same sort of thing happens in other languages, where a voiced sound becomes unvoiced at the end of a word. And the “O” isn’t as long as the “o” in OAT, but it’ll be understood, or you could cut it off before going into the second part of the diphthong.) I have absolutely no idea where “rish-laff” comes from.
Yes, I did exactly this in Japan using Google maps on an Android phone. I was paranoid, and kept maps open all the time, and was careful not to let Android cycle it out of memory. It worked fine.
But Google has made it much easier to download maps to use off-line, so I’d be less paranoid now. Gps is a separate radio and functions fine without data.
If you are off line, you lose real-time information like when the next bus will come.
An excellent offline alternative to Google Maps is Maps.me, which uses the OpenStreetMap database. Since you load the country (or part of it) before you leave home (or leave the hotel Wi-Fi), you have the maps on your phone and don’t need any service at all. OSM data is very good for Western Europe. Your position, determined from GPS, shows up on the map like normal, and you can also mark points. I generally mark my hotel, and then my phone always tells me which direction to walk to return to it. That’s very useful in places that don’t use street names, or with signs I can’t read.
However—except in Japan and Korea—you can do the same thing with Google Maps or Here Maps. Just look in the menu for Offline Maps and download the places you’re going. If you already have places starred in Google Maps, those will show up on your phone as well.
What data is concerned, in Austria mobile data is very inexpensive. A couple of months ago I was in Vienna for about 5 days and I just bought a “pre paid starting package” for 9,99 that included two gigs and some minutes and texts that I didn’t really use. I did use up a large chunk of the data. In general the EU has decreed that the rates in other EU countries, need to be no higher than the domestic rates. I can use my minutes, texts and MBs everywhere in the EU for no extra charge. You should be able to just buy a bunch of gigs in Austria and just use it all over the EU (I would double check about this though).
Vignettes can indeed be bought at gas stations. I’m not entirely sure about small gas station in villages, but definitely on the highways.
You are aware that gas prices in EU are generally a lot higher than in the US, right? Figure $6-7 per gallon. And of course the gas pump will have liter and not gl.
When you booked hotels, did you get the free parking option? Parking on the street in most bigger cities (or parking garages) can easily run up to $20-30 a day. I’m not up to speed on prices where you’ll be going, but my bet is that it’ll cost a lot.
Dump the rental at the hotel and use public transportation. I’ve found that in every city that has a subway or a tram*, it’s the easiest and fastest way to get around. It’s also safe and cheap and they will surely offer one, two or three day passes. I was in Berlin last year and a day pass was €7, covering all of the city: tram, subway, buses, and the S-Bahn (commuter trains to the burbs).
*Buses, not so much, since they are stuck in the same congestions as cars.
Our places in Brno and Salzburg have parking included, but not Vienna, which is $20 per day. For those three days, it’s not too different than parking in a Waikiki stay-cation hotel. Living in Hawaii, it does reduce the sticker shock on gas and food prices on vacations.
We do plan exactly that: leave the car in the hotel and use the transit to get around, especially in Vienna. In Prague, we’re more inventive: Our accommodations are in Brno and we’re taking a train to Prague, leaving the car in Brno. I wanted to give the little ones a “European train” experience, so we got a 4-person business class train compartment. Hey, I tried for a sleeper car : )
That said, I am looking forward to driving from Vienna to Salzburg, stopping at Mondsee and St. Gilgen. Then driving back via a more southern route through the mountains via a sliver of Germany and Werfen. “The hills are alive…”