Adventure update!

Hello everyone! We have been traveling for almost 40 days, by far the longest time I have spent on the road! Thank you so much for reading and I can’t wait to catch you up on what Zach and I have been up to! After exploring Berlin, we headed to Prague, Czech Republic. Prague was one of the top places I wanted to visit and the Charles Bridge and Prague Castle did not disappoint. The city is full of history and charm, however incredibly crowded and I would recommend visiting in the off season if possible. The dance schools were still on break for the summer, but we were able to attend a performance of Swan Lake at the Divadlo Hybernia Theater. While the performance felt like it was geared for tourists (it was an abbreviated version - typically told in four acts, this version shortened the ballet into only two), the storyline was easy to follow and the highlights were all there including, the “Little Swans” from Act II and the famous Act III Grand Pas De Deux and featuring Odile’s 32 fouettés. At first I struggled with the shortened version, missing the depth that the full length provides, but I began to see the value of this shorter performance as it can be a good introduction to those that might not traditionally come see a ballet. Even with his love and appreciation for the arts, my husband has a hard time sitting still for long periods of time. So for him the length of this show was perfect. I can imagine that this would appeal to others as well! As the show went on, my head was filling up with ideas for how a ballet school could create a production like this. With a cast of about 20 dancers, they were able to create the magic that is Swan Lake with minimal costumes and sets. This would translate well to a pre-professional program giving the dancers a chance to perform a challenging pas de deux and variations that they might not otherwise get the opportunity to perform. 

After the busyness of Prague, we headed to the countryside and spent the next few days in the charming village of Cesky Krumlov. It felt like we stepped right into the pages of a fairytale! I highly recommend adding a few days to visit this place if you’re heading to Prague. We followed Rick Steve’s recommendation and took a canoe down the river to the Abbey. Though most of the river is calm, there are a few rapids and Zach and I did end up in the water!  Tip- take the raft, not the canoe!

From Cesky we headed South to Salzburg, Austria. Salzburg is the fourth largest city in Austria famously known for The Salzburg Festival, a prominent festival of music and drama held every summer since 1920. Salzburg is well known for being the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, one of the most talented and prodigious musical composers of all time and it’s possible to visit the house that he grew up in. The highlight of the trip for me so far, was going on The Sound of Music bike tour! This musical drama was filmed in 1965 and the tour takes you to many of the famous spots used in the film. We saw the Abbey, Captain Von Trapps' house (side note- the front of the house and the back of the house are two seperate places!) and the fountain used for “Do-Re-Mi”. The gazebo where Lizel and Rolf dance to “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” was my favorite and riding bikes down a tree lined street singing tunes from the movie will be a memory I will never forget!

After Salzburg, we headed to the Alps and spent the next few days enjoying nature. We stayed in a town called Werfen, with was a great home base to get to many different towns. We explored the world’s largest ice cave, Eisrienwelt, toured the Lake District visiting the iconic Lake Hallstatt and soaked in the sulfur baths in Bad Ischl.

Next, we crossed the border into Slovenia! We spent a few days in Lake Bled, where swimming and taking a boat to the island at the center of the lake are the main activities. From here we headed to the capital, Ljublijana. This city was full of European charm without all the crowds typical of Western Europe. Unfortunately, we had four days of intense rain, but we were still able to enjoy this city and the food was incredible! It was an unexpected surprise to find such culinary delights and we had many memorable meals.

In my next newsletter, I will share about our adventures in Croatia! Thank you so much for reading and please let me know if you have any feedback or suggestions for where we should visit!

Best, 
Ashley Kohl Adler

Travel Tip #3

Build in rest days! It’s okay to take it easy and curl up with a good book or people watch at a cafe. This will help you reset so that you don’t burn out!