Czech Please!

It is hard to imagine we were there! We really did go Prague, in the Czech Republic for Christmas this year.

My sister Mar and her husband Gary along with myself and himself, boarded a German Wings Flight for a 55 minute flight, that included a happy snack PLUS to Prague, the city that ......

Charmed us right away! We were awestruck by the architecture, the city has been virtually untouched by war or natural disaster so most of the buildings remain strong, some dating back as far as 600 years ........the captial city boasts more than one title: The city of a thousand spires as well as The jewel of Europe.. just to name a few. It is beautiful and gothic and inexpensive and old and new and full of energy and solemn all at the same time, it was such fun to explore. The city is home to one of the worlds largest castles, which we circumnavigated-well mostly anyway, our trip to the kingdom included a look at the changing of the guards, very impressive!

We wandered thru Christmas markets and sampled the hot wine, sausages, chestnuts.....we listened to the astronomical clock strike the hour, we ate hot sweet cinnamon sugar bread rolled over a hot stick, we listened to the bells being played and we walked and laughed and meandered all thru the city. Of course, we remembered to hold our thumbs all accross the St. Charles Bridge for good luck! Both couples bought artwork from street vendors to remember the trip.

We ate traditional carp and bohemian potato salad on Christmas Eve, fresh carp and I mean seriously fresh carp can be purchased on street corners, there are barrels of fish swimming - right next to a fillet (er) in a tent next door.......

Christmas Eve Midnight mass found us at a very solemn mass at Our Lady Victorious, and EVEN if we didn't understand a single word, being said, the mass was very meaningful.

We learned about a few interesting Czech traditions for Christmastime such as cutting an apple open to read the seed pattern for luck, also, you must wait for the first star to be seen before eating and if you leave the table you must go in pairs or it is considered bad luck. We never did figure out why folks were carrying lanterns down the street, it looked important. Amazingly enough Santa found Mar, all the way in our little apartment in the heart of the city! She must have been an extra good girl this year.

In Prague the children wait for baby Jesus to bring them Chrismas presents and in the nativity scenes they have the traditional barn set up with Mary, Josef, wise men, barn animals....etc. etc. but what they also have is a donkey pulling a keg of beer, a gift for baby Jesus, or perhaps the entorage..........! Too funny!

Of course The Czechs did invent Pilsner beer!

There is more to Mary and Gary's trip, but I thought is best to blog Prague while it is somewhat fresh in my mind. I realize I need to catch up with my adventures ............I will try and blog more in the upcoming coming year as I get ready for a trip stateside for Mom's (80th) birthday, a trip to Spain in springtime , a trip to Norway, perhaps a side trip to Venice....and of course the big move to Japan this July!

love and miss you all