Entry #41 Christmas in Prague

We were lucky enough to get connected to a family living in Prague through mutual friends (thank you Sarah!). It turned out that Maylia and Jeff, along with their two little ones, were going to Rome for the holidays so they offered us their apartment. That's given me the chance to keep track of our daily outings while we're here in Prague.

December 20th: We left Kuwait!!! YIPPPEEEEE!!
The flight was uneventful and it amazes me how great the kids are at traveling. I'd like to think it's because we are awesome parents and we've taught them to be patient, self-sufficient individuals who are able to entertain themselves for long periods of time, but really we just let them watch A LOT of movies! (Zoe looked a bit bug-eyed as we exited the plane)


We only had one bump on our trip and it is proving to be a challenge; British Airways lost our stroller! We are trying to cope with this as best we can but Prague is a walking city and we're not sure that Isaac is up for the challenge. Perhaps this is a sign from above that it is time to get rid of the stroller?

December 21st: The Kindness of Strangers!
Our generous neighbours helped us out tremendously by loaning us their two seat stroller for the day. This gave us the chance to hike through Letna Park and walk down to the Old Town Square where we visited the Christmas market. We discovered a yummy Czech treat called Trblo (which Zoe loves), and then enjoyed wandering through the narrow streets to Wenceslas Square. There was another market at the bottom of the square, but it didn't live up to the Old Town market. We went to the National Muesum to get out of the cold and the kids had a great time looking at dinosaur bones which Isaac found "very scary!" On the walk home we stopped for our very nutirious lunch of hot wine and crazy big sauages. (We have to get our fill of wine and swine before heading back to Kuwait.) Then we walked back to Letna Park where we finished the day with some time playing in the snow and romping around in the playground.


Zoe and her trblo...very yummy!
Zoe and the biggest hot dog ever!!

Some hot wine and a sausage!

December 22nd: Day two without a stroller! (and this time I mean it!)
Our friends from Kuwait, the Johnsons (Seth, Christie and their two year old Lewis as well as Seth's parents Helen and Doug), are visiting Prague as well, so we met up with them for a few hours.

We went back to Old Town Square to visit Tyn Church. The kids were fancinated by the ornate paintings and statues depicting the different stations of the Cross. Then, for something completely different, we marched off to the Communist Muesum. Now I was the one facinated by our surroundings. Call me a nerd but I loved reading all about the country under the communist regime and seeing how the people ended communism in a series of peaceful demonstrations, refered to as The Velvet Revolution. Communism only ended here in 1989 (20 short years ago) and walking through the streets you would never guess that this country was effected by such a repressive system. Isaac's favorite part of the museum was the huge statue of Lenin that he kept calling "the big man".

After the Muesum we headed off to lunch and had more wine and swine! I had a traditional Czech dish called vepro-knedio zelo and Jamie had a gulosh of some sort. Very yummy!
Our last stop of the day was Charles Bridge. Those of you who have visited Prague know what I mean when I say that it is specatular. The view, the statues, and the atomphere were all awesome. I hope my pictures capture how we felt about Charles Bridge.

A guard on Charles Bridge. Isaac isn't so sure about this guy!
There was always different enterainters on the bridge. Zoe liked giving them money.

The view from Charles Bridge
Another view from Charles Bridge!

One of the many statues along Charles Bridge

December 23rd: Day three without our stroller and still no word about its location.

On a side note, on the British Air web site our stroller is listed as a black "phido and bill" umbrella stroller. When in reality it is a green "phil and teds" two seater stroller.

The neigbhours came through again and lent us their one seater stroller. Today was zoo day and we thought it was a good idea to walk. In hindsight this was not a good plan, but we survived. It took an hour and Zoe was miserable. (FYI: knock off Ughs from Payless are not waterproof) Jamie and I took turns carrying her. When we finally arrived (to meet up with the Johnsons) Zoe's socks were absolutely soaked. Luckily, Christie had an extra pair of socks and we stuck some plastic bags on her feet and we were ready to rock and roll. (The plastic bags on feet took me back to my childhood) There were wagons at the zoo for use and Zoe was quite happy to be carted around. The zoo was very impressive but it was a wet damp day.

My favourite part of the day was actually on the way home from the zoo when we witnessed a Czech Christmas tradition. Carp is the meal of choice here and it is bought fresh...as in alive. You get to see it knocked on the head with a hammer and gutted right in front of you on the street. One man we saw preparing a carp was smoking a cigarette over the fish with a bloodied bandage on both hands. Apparently, a lot of people end up taking them home alive and letting them swim in the bathtub until dinner.

December 24th: No word on the stroller but Jamie was hung up on twice by British Air after waiting on hold for 20 minutes.

We celebrated Christmas today. Santa came through with a Jessie and Woody Doll for the kids.
We met up with the Johnsons for a walk around the castle area. Most things were closed today as the 24th is the big day in the Czech Republic.

We had another great Czech lunch overlooking Petrin Park by Prague Castle. More pork and cabbage for me and Zoe ate a whole trout! These Czech know how to cook cabbage!

We went back to the apartment for our Christmas dinner with the Johnsons. I know this will be a shock to you but we had a pork roast with cabbage! It was a lovely meal with friends!

December 25th: Day Five without a stroller. We didn't even try calling today, though Jamie is sending some outraged emails. I think he omitted all the pleases and thank yous! :)

We headed down to the Jewish Quarter today where the museum and synagogues were open. We were very impressed by the Jewish Cemetery and the Pinkas Synagogue. In the Pinkas Synagogue all the names of the Czech Jews who died during the Holocust were written over the walls. It was overwhelming to see so many names. Some of the other museum and synagogues would have been interesting minus two kids.

Back to the Old town square for some cabbage and Starbucks. And then another walk home over Charles Bridge. It was packed today.

The Jewish Quarter of Prague

The Old-New Synagogue

The Jewish Cemetery

December 26th: Day Six without our stroller and I have given up any hope of seeing it again! Luckily we still are able to use the neighbours stroller.

Today we headed off to Prague Castle which was just three tram stops away from our apartment. It was amazing and the kids loved it. The history is incredible here. There was a whole room on knights and the kids picked out what suit of amour they would wear when they become knights. We continued back to Charles Bridge and grabbed a tram home. It was a long day but a good one.

Maylia, Jeff, Ella and Mattias arrived back from their trip from Rome and we were able to get to know the Parkers. They have lived in Prague for 3 years so it was interesting to get a non-tourist take on the city.

Family shot with St. Viticus in the background.

Prague Castle, which was founded around 880. It is a world UNESCO site.

The inside of St. Vitus

December 27th: Our last day in Prague and still no stroller. Jamie cannot get in touch with anyone. On-line it says we are in Prague until January 2nd! Good bye Phil and Ted!

Today we had a slow day and enjoyed pancakes for breakfast prepared by Jeff. We got out and went to an even older castle that not many tourists make it too. There was a great playground for the kids and a beautiful park area. We had to make it a short day since we had to finish the packing and it was quite cold.

A taxi was ordered to pick us up at 4:15. Jamie ran downstairs to give the neighbours some wine as a token of our appreciation for the stoller loan. The neighbour was quite excited to see him since the courier company from British Airways had just called to say it be would be delievering our stroller in an hour!! Our taxi arrived just in time for Jamie to get the stroller our of the couriers trunk and put it in the trunk of the taxi. You cannot make this stuff up!

Flight home was great. (The kids slept from take off in London to landing in Kuwait)

We are back in Kuwait after an amazing week in Prague and ready to bring in 2010 and all the changes that come with it. We will be home in Halifax in 5 short months and in the meantime we'll try and enjoy all the Middle East has to offer.

I have tried to go high tech by making a slide show with some of our pictures. I hope it works! It is just under four minutes and the quality is not great but it does capture our trip. FYI, Zoe made me put the Christmas graphics on a few pictures.