New Wonderings

We awoke early before the town started moving.

 

We tried a new place for breakfast that Doug discovered that served melted chocolate in a cup!  It was so rich and amazing

Then we headed over to a Christmas market that Doug, Kylie, and Karis found the day before. 

It was set up in front of the cathedral that's pictured below. We went inside the church and found all the walls and columns painted BY HAND in intricate design!

And we decided to take one to be like others we have seen in some of the places we have lived.

My first ever successful picture with all 6 of us.

So, we did it again.

Czech National Museum behind us and Wenceslas Square in front of us.

These Christmas decorations reminded me of my hometown in Texas. I could see some creative person there designing these for their front yard.

Our Airbnb was near the famous Prague Astronomical Clock, so we stopped and took pictures when there weren't crowds around it (which was hardly ever).

Cold nights wondering around the markets never seemed to get old.

Another Day of Discovery

The next morning, we went looking for breakfast and we found a tiny shop open selling assorted breads and coffee.

What more could we ask for? 

The pastry that Karis is looking through and that Keira is sitting under a picture of is called a Trdelnik. 

We called them "turtlenecks," which makes sense since they do look like a turtleneck...for a giraffe.

Dough is wound around a stick, rolled in cinnamon sugar, and then cooked over an open fire while spinning. We didn't add chocolate or whipped cream, etc. They were good just as they were, off the fire, and they quickly became my new favorite thing!  

It was also a good morning to get pictures in front of the entrance to the famous Charles Bridge entrance. 

Some of us were more excited than others :)

Keira modeling on the bridge

Next, we met up with our friends to head to the castle on the hill (Sheeran, anyone?)

We had some trouble understanding the transportation system and how to buy tickets, but we eventually made it.

I took a little advantage of all of us being together to take a "few" photos.

All the kiddos

Vitus Cathedral is inside the castle complex

We decided to walk all the way back, sightseeing on the way. It was such a nice weather day.

Kylie had been planning to get her ears pierced whenever we left our country, so this was a perfect opportunity.

We split up for a bit because Doug and the girls wanted to explore parts of the city that required a lot of walking, Caleb wanted to go back to the Airbnb, and Keira wanted to find a Claire's Boutique.

Yes, you heard that correctly.

It's her favorite store in the whole world, and when our friends told her they had seen one in the mall, she just HAD to go.  Actually, it was a smart move.

I sat outside the display window, reading my book, while she looked for over an hour!  I was able to buy a lot of cheap things that she wanted, save them, and put them under our Christmas tree later as gifts from my mom and her other grandmother.

The middle picture was taken as she signed and mouthed things to me from inside the store

And can I just say, this girl can find a rainbow or a unicorn just about anywhere.

Actually, maybe they just find her. The one on the left was in a fudge shop and the one with pink hair was on a street, advertising a flower shop.

Doug and the girls had some fun of their own out on the town.  They found a new Christmas market.

And hot apple cider.

Later that evening, we met up for dinner and a stroll downtown to see another market. We loved the lights and the feel of Christmas in the air.

Before we climbed the stairs to our apartment, Doug found a marker for the Prime Meridian in the courtyard, so we took another "family photo."

December 8, 2019

An Unplanned Getaway

My last post came out May 2020.  

Life happened.

Hopefully, since there wasn't much to report for most of 2020, I can get caught up again soon, but who knows. The trick is making the time to sit and do it.

For now, instead of starting current, I'm going to back up to December 2019 where I left off before the world went crazy. It's funny to look at all of these pictures where so many were gathered before we had to social distance.

We had a meeting in late November with our friends talking about Kylie's last Christmas at home, our friends' son turning 16, and the fact that it was time for a break, and we decided to quickly plan a Christmas getaway to celebrate all of it. None of us had ever been to a Christmas market in Europe, but we had heard great things about them, so we decided we would give it a try. (In hindsight, I'm so glad we went because lockdown was coming in a few months)

My sister has told me in the past how much she loves Prague, and we decided it would be a great city to explore.

We had REALLY early flights, and unbeknownst to us, Karis took photos of our exhaustion during our layover.

We arrived late in the afternoon, and right outside our Airbnb's window was a magnificent tree and one of many markets in the city.

Our window.

Keira taking it all in from the window seat while we rested from travel and got settled in.

Later, we went out to experience a little Christmas spirit and find something to eat. We found all sorts of food that didn't disappoint.  You just can't find this sort of thing where we live :)

Boys

This is the Czech Republic version of St. Nicholas. He was posing with people in the town square.

(Caleb thinks this could be Professor Trelawny with Dumbledore ;)

December 6, 2019

What a fun first evening. We planned for an early morning so we wouldn't miss a thing.