Blog From Prague (Part II)

Reporting from the slightly hideous apartments at the American Embassy, Prague, CZ. I just finished doing the dishes and vacuuming. Yes, that's right...I'm on vacation. I just can't stop with the vacuuming. I blame Jan.

We started off our day with pancakes. I'm sure this leaves you with an idyllic picture of the four of us happily eating our golden stacks of pancakes while we have charming breakfast conversation. But I was making the pancakes, so I wasn't at the table. I burned the first two because the pans they have here are approximately 17 years old and not non-stick. So it ended up that Hans had two pancakes that were slightly singed and the kids had the two that turned out and I had cereal. But my heart was in the right place. I have another mix for tomorrow and will try again. What else can I say about my cooking skills except that I can try again?

After breakfast, we headed out to see the sights. The sun was bright, everyone was happy, nothing was too crowded at 10:00 a.m. The apartment is very, very conveniently located for the tourist, that's for sure. I guess I can overlook the fact that the futon we have to sleep on is rock hard and that the toaster doesn't work for the sheer reason of location, location, location.

We walked across the Charles Bridge first. This is probably the most famous bridge in Prague. Even early in the morning, there were quite a few people there along with buskers and vendors selling drawings, paintings and jewelry. I'll upload pictures soon. On the far side of the bridge, Hans and Josiah stopped to climb the tower at the foot of the bridge. Annika and I waited below and chased pigeons. I mean, Annika chased pigeons...I just watched and handed out the Goldfish to bait the pigeons.

We wandered around the Old Town area of Prague for about an hour, popping into a couple of shops. There are some great shops, but more often than not, shops filled with junk. I did buy a few things at a great store full of things produced in the Czech Republic. I'll have to take some pictures...there's another one just down the street from us and I'm tempted to go in a bit and look without the pressure of knowing my husband and children are tapping their feet outside the door. Another nice thing about Prague, the stores are open late and on weekends.

Just as the skies started to sprinkle, we settled indoors for a very good meal. Found a restaurant that served chicken tenders and french fries as well as traditional Czech food. Hans and I both had a sort of goulash of beef with "dumplings". I've had almost the same meal in Germany...the dumplings are really more like big, doughy slices of bread that you dip into the beef and gravy. Yeah...it was as good as it sounds. Cheesecake for desert and to top it all off, the children didn't spill anything, didn't yell or otherwise misbehave.

Back to the apartment after lunch, which was so nice and just what the kids needed--a little downtime before hitting the cobblestones again. We all had some quiet time and then headed in the opposite direction to see Prague Castle. I will save you all the details, because there are a LOT. I'll just get the pictures uploaded and post them and let them do the talking. We were at the castle for about three hours, after which...most of us being absolutely fried and some of us experiencing Braxton-Hicks contractions, we came home. Stopped at the tiny little grocer nearby to pick up eggs in case of breakfast disasters tomorrow and some fruit, and feeling very European, came back to our place for supper.

And now the children are bathed and we're watching "Enchanted". Again. I think someone has a crush on Amy Adams. And no, it's not Josiah!