Viva la Furia Roja! A Trip Report - Prague, Poland, and Dresden 6/7-6/21 - PassPorter Community - Boards & Forums on Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel
Viva la Furia Roja! A Trip Report - Prague, Poland, and Dresden 6/7-6/21
About This Page: This is a discussion on Viva la Furia Roja! A Trip Report - Prague, Poland, and Dresden 6/7-6/21 within the Globetrotting: General Trip Reports, part of the PassPorter Community - Boards & Forums on Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel; Hi everyone! to my PTR! I hope some of you that followed along on my recent Paris TR are back ...
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Viva la Furia Roja! A Trip Report - Prague, Poland, and Dresden 6/7-6/21
Hi everyone! to my PTR! I hope some of you that followed along on my recent Paris TR are back to follow my next European adventure. I decided to start with a PTR this time so I can just jump right into the action when I get home and start on the TR. So let’s get started, shall we?
Who? Me, Ashli, 32 & DH Kyle, 33
What? An Eastern European extravaganza (Kyle’s first time in Europe!)
Story: As some of you may know, DH and I are soccer nuts. We watch MLS, La Liga, some EPL, etc… but what we really love is national team soccer. Of course the U.S. is our absolute #1 team, but we’ll watch a game of any national teams. The passion people have for their countries translates to great excitement and a wonderful experience. We learned this first hand when we went to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup. It was such a great time all the way around. We went to several US games there, but also to many non-US games. While I love love love my team and would always prefer to see them play to anyone else, it is sometimes a little more “fun” when they aren’t the ones playing and I’m not quite as emotionally involved (read: freaking out all game in hopes that we win). I’m not sure my heart has ever fully recovered from the terror-turned-elation that was the U.S./Algeria game we went to in South Africa (if you watched it, you know exactly what I’m talking about ). So, after our World Cup trip when Kyle suggested that in 2012 we should go to Poland and see some Euro games, I thought that sounded great!
For those who are not fully in the know about the Euro, here’s some info. This is also an every-four-years tournament like the World Cup. The difference is, clearly, that it is a tournament only involving European teams. The qualifying games are played in the years leading up to the Euro year, and 16 teams earn the spots for the tournament. This year the following countries have qualified: Greece, Russia, CzechRepublic, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Croatia, Sweden, France, and England. The remaining two teams are Poland and Ukraine, who get spots because they are the countries hosting the tournament. Now, you may be saying, hold on a minute, if Ukraine is hosting games too, why are you only going to Poland? Well….we originally had planned to go to both Ukraine and Poland to see as many different teams as possible. (In the first rounds, which is when we will be there, each team plays all of their games in one country or the other, not both.) We got books about both countries to see what we wanted to make sure not to miss. (We don’t only go to soccer games…we do LOTS of sightseeing in between!) The Poland book was great; lots of wonderful history and things we wanted to see and do. The Ukraine book… not so much. I’m sure Ukraine has plenty of wonderful people and interesting things to see, but to be completely honest the travel book kind of freaked me out. Being a former Soviet country, it really reminded me of Kazakhstan. DH and I adopted our DS from Kazakhstan in 2006 and spent 4 weeks there, and to be perfectly honest, it’s not somewhere I care to ever go again. Since we were both less than impressed with the idea of spending part of our vacation in Ukraine, we started looking to see where else we could go in the same general area. I immediately looked up the distance to Prague. What do you know? It’s just a tiny hop, skip, and jump from Poland to Prague! I’ve always heard about how beautiful of a city Prague is and it’s been very high on my “must-see” list for years. Kyle agreed. This would be a perfect opportunity! Kyle suggested that we also try to spend a day or so in Dresden, Germany. He’s really wanted to see Germany, and I’ve never been to the eastern part of Germany, so it sounded great as well. We finally put an itinerary together based on where we wanted to go and also what cities would be hosting games on which days and here is what we came up with:
June 8 – Arrive Prague, Czech Republic June 9 – Prague June 10 – Prague June 11 – drive to Warsaw, Poland June 12- Warsaw (Poland vs. Russia soccer game) June 13 – drive to Gdansk, Poland June 14 – Gdansk (Spain vs. Ireland soccer game) June 15 – Gdansk June 16 – drive back to Warsaw, Poland (Greece vs. Russia soccer game in Warsaw) June 17 – drive to Poznan, Poland June 18 – Poznan (Italy vs. Ireland soccer game) June 19 – drive to Dresden, Germany June 20 – drive to Prague (after sightseeing in Dresden for the day) June 21 – depart Prague for home
Phew! So there you have it. We are renting a car and driving ourselves around. We enjoy doing this because ultimately it gives us the most freedom to stop where we want and see things that catch our eye that we may not have known to plan for. We did the same thing on our South Africa trip and it worked out very well. (And fortunately we get to drive on the right side of the road this time!)
I hope you’ve enjoyed my intro and will stick around for a couple weeks when I get to the actual TR. If anyone has been to any of these places and wants to give me some “DON’T MISS!!!” ideas, please do! For those who are not big soccer fans, I promise there will be much more than just the games to my reporting. I am looking forward to the sight-seeing just as much as the sport on this trip. (But for those of you who are soccer fans and might be wondering who I am rooting for? Long live LA FURIA ROJA!!!!! That’s Spain's national team for the rest of you. A fabulously talented team who also happens to be the defending Euro Champion as well as the 2010 World Cup champion. And I swear, my obsession with the Spanish team has nothing to do with my secret love for Sergio Ramos. Well, almost nothing. Shhhhhhhh!)
Oh yay! I am still way behind on your other TR but I'm more than ready for this one (and I swear I'll catch up on that one soon). This sounds like a fun trip, and I look forward to it all!!
Oh yay! I am still way behind on your other TR but I'm more than ready for this one (and I swear I'll catch up on that one soon). This sounds like a fun trip, and I look forward to it all!!
I was wondering when Sergio would pop up in there. lol I'll bet Sparky reads this just like one of the teachers on the Peanuts. hahaha! Sounds so exciting! Kinda makes me want to tour around and see games in all of the hockey states. No exciting tournament, but still it would be a good excuse to see new places.
Sounds good so far. I am interested in your Poland adventures, as you know, my great grandma immigrated from Poland.
Can't wait to hear all about it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Looks like another great trip, Ashli!
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by DisneyDana
I was wondering when Sergio would pop up in there. lol I'll bet Sparky reads this just like one of the teachers on the Peanuts. hahaha! Sounds so exciting! Kinda makes me want to tour around and see games in all of the hockey states. No exciting tournament, but still it would be a good excuse to see new places.
Haha, you KNOW I had to talk about Sergio at least a little. Only 10 more days... I haven't seen the man in person in two years!
I think your hockey trip would be cool! You should do it! I was going to say or you could go to the winter Olympics sometime and see games there, but the next one is in Socchi, Russia (wherever the hell that is) and the one after is in South Korea, so yeah hockey states sound better.
Shopping update: So I realized yesterday that I don't own a single green shirt. (Ok well I own a lot of very dark green shirts since I'm a USF Bull alumnus, but I mean a bright green Irish approriate shirt.) I will be needing one for the Ireland/Italy game however. (Surely we all know I will not be rooting for Ireland at the Spain/Ireland game. I will proudly be wearing my beautiful Sergio Ramos jersey at that one...) Anyway, so I got a green shirt at Target today. Everything is coming together!
I am so jealous! I am the only one in my family that likes soccer. I was the captain of my coed team in high school and fell on love with the sport. So, going to Europe to watch some great teams... AND you are going to Prague! My mom's entire side of the family is 100% Czech, so a visit has always been on the top of my "must visit" list! I hope you havea great time!
Trip shopping is so fun! Love that you got a green shirt for the game!
Isn't it? I must say that I didn't only get the green shirt, hehehe. That was just my justification for needing to look at clothes in the first place.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OneLittleSpark
SCORE!!!! On the green shirt!
Thanks! I was totally dumbfounded to look in my closet and realize I didn't have a single shirt the right color. I live in the town that hosts the second biggest St. Patrick's day celebration in the country for pete's sake! I guess you can see how I hide when that takes place...LOL!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ace_Athena
Jumping on board! I loved your last TR!
I am so jealous! I am the only one in my family that likes soccer. I was the captain of my coed team in high school and fell on love with the sport. So, going to Europe to watch some great teams... AND you are going to Prague! My mom's entire side of the family is 100% Czech, so a visit has always been on the top of my "must visit" list! I hope you havea great time!
Welcome! Always happy to meet another soccer fan! We're also planning Brazil 2014 - wanna join? That's so cool to be of Czech descent! You'll get there one day! I have heard such great things about Prague, I can't wait!
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Great Start Ashli!!! Sounds like such an exciting trip. I'm jealous that you are going to Prague, it's on my must see list too!!
Thanks, Kathy! It worked out so perfectly to also see Prague on this trip, I couldn't not add it in. I hope it's as wonderful as I've always heard!
I just finished reading your previous TR on the WC in SA. I loved hearing of your exciting time there and all the adventures you were able to experience. Just seeing the pictures of the bridge where you jumped gave me the chills. I can not wait to share in your new trip and "see" your Euro 2012 experiences.
About This Page: This is a discussion on Viva la Furia Roja! A Trip Report - Prague, Poland, and Dresden 6/7-6/21 within the Globetrotting: General Trip Reports, part of the PassPorter Community - Boards & Forums on Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel; Hi everyone! to my PTR! I hope some of you that followed along on my recent Paris TR are back ...
to my PTR! I hope some of you that followed along on my recent Paris TR are back to follow my next European adventure. I decided to start with a PTR this time so I can just jump right into the action when I get home and start on the TR. So let’s get started, shall we? 
We watch MLS, La Liga, some EPL, etc… but what we really love is national team soccer. 
Of course the U.S. is our absolute #1 team, but we’ll watch a game of any national teams. The passion people have for their countries translates to great excitement and a wonderful experience. We learned this first hand when we went to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup. It was such a great time all the way around. We went to several US games there, but also to many non-US games. While I love love love 
my team and would always prefer to see them play to anyone else, it is sometimes a little more “fun” when they aren’t the ones playing and I’m not quite as emotionally involved (read: freaking out all game in hopes that we win). 
I’m not sure my heart has ever fully recovered from the terror-turned-elation that was the U.S./Algeria game we went to in South Africa (if you watched it, you know exactly what I’m talking about 
). So, after our World Cup trip when Kyle suggested that in 2012 we should go to Poland and see some Euro games, I thought that sounded great! 
Well….we originally had planned to go to both Ukraine and Poland to see as many different teams as possible. (In the first rounds, which is when we will be there, each team plays all of their games in one country or the other, not both.) We got books about both countries to see what we wanted to make sure not to miss. (We don’t only go to soccer games…we do LOTS of sightseeing in between!) The Poland book was great; lots of wonderful history and things we wanted to see and do. The Ukraine book… not so much. 
I’m sure Ukraine has plenty of wonderful people and interesting things to see, but to be completely honest the travel book kind of freaked me out. Being a former Soviet country, it really reminded me of Kazakhstan. DH and I adopted our DS from Kazakhstan in 2006 and spent 4 weeks there, and to be perfectly honest, it’s not somewhere I care to ever go again. 
Since we were both less than impressed with the idea of spending part of our vacation in Ukraine, we started looking to see where else we could go in the same general area. I immediately looked up the distance to Prague. What do you know? It’s just a tiny hop, skip, and jump from Poland to Prague! 
I’ve always heard about how beautiful of a city Prague is and it’s been very high on my “must-see” list for years. Kyle agreed. This would be a perfect opportunity! Kyle suggested that we also try to spend a day or so in Dresden, Germany. He’s really wanted to see Germany, and I’ve never been to the eastern part of Germany, so it sounded great as well. We finally put an itinerary together based on where we wanted to go and also what cities would be hosting games on which days and here is what we came up with:
Melanie
Hi Melanie!! Glad to have you here!
"Sparky" Me & Dana @MVMCP
(Ok well I own a lot of very dark green shirts since I'm a USF Bull alumnus, but I mean a bright green Irish approriate shirt.) I will be needing one for the Ireland/Italy game however. (Surely we all know I will not be rooting for Ireland at the Spain/Ireland game. I will proudly be wearing my beautiful Sergio Ramos jersey at that one...
) Anyway, so I got a green shirt at Target today. Everything is coming together! 
AND you are going to Prague! My mom's entire side of the family is 100% Czech, so a visit has always been on the top of my "must visit" list! I hope you havea great time!
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