Although we could've easily stayed in Italy for a few more months, we were so excited to meet up with my parents and brother in Prague. The Czech Republic was a bit of an enigma for me before we arrived. I'll admit it's the place on our list that I'd probably researched the least. But it really blew us away.
My brother's volleyball team is playing a bunch of exhibition games against professional European teams for the next two weeks, so when my parents realized that their two oldest children would be in central Europe at the same time, they didn't want to miss out on the party. On Saturday we arrived a few hours before my mom and dad and went down to Staré Město to find a restaurant our friend Kelsey had recommended called U Dvou Sester. It was perfect. We ate goulash and dumplings and sausage and sauerkraut and pork, which is the meat of choice for Czechs. We wandered around a bit, went in some really cute wooden toy stores, and then met up with my parents.
U Dvou Sester with the most darling decor
This store is all over town, and they have some really amazing stuff. I bought some eggs to send home with my parents and they came with a little booklet about the cultural significance of each design and the different towns the eggs had been hand painted in.
We went to a late dinner at a place right by our hotel (the only real hotel we're staying in on this trip). It was a 1930s hunting lodge turned restaurant, with so many floors and rooms and secret hallways that we nearly got lost when we left after dinner. Fun fact: this was me, Matt, and my dad's first time eating snails. Apparently my mom had escargot at her high school prom in Cheyenne, Wyoming, which is my new favorite fact about her.
My dad and Matt ordered some insane meat platter for two, and it was truly comical. When they couldn't quite finish the monstrosity of meat, our waiter admitted that it was portioned for four Americans, two Czechs, or one Russian.
The next morning we tried to find the church but were thwarted by my dad's inexplicable use of Apple Maps (we quickly converted him to Google Maps) and the Volkswagen marathon that had taken over the city. A lot of the places we wanted to go were overrun (ha) by marathon festivities, so we hauled our butts to a rental car place and hit the open road.
The Czech countryside is BEAUTIFUL. As if the greens weren't enough, they're also gridded with plots of vibrant yellow canola blooms. We'd seen it flying in the day before, but it was so amazing to wind our way past it through little towns and narrow country highways.
My dad kept referring to himself as a Pro Georgeman, which is apparently a title he and his brothers used to use to describe anyone who is especially skilled at driving a car, boat, or plane. I don't think my mom thought he was much of a Pro Georgeman because she used the word whiplash quite a few times.
As we drove past this my dad yelled, "Look at that grass! That's a two stroke penalty!"
Our primary destination was Karlstejn Hrad (castle), just about an hour southwest of Prague. The castle served mostly as a hideaway for the crown jewels of Charles IV (aka Wenceslas), King of Bohemia. It was really lovely. We did the tower tour in Czech because we didn't want to wait two hours for the English one. I can't decide if that made us have a more authentic experience or just a more clueless one.
Matt's best Wenceslas
Our tour guide was the cutest human ever so I took weird pics of her. Idk.
I think I took a million pictures of the hills outside the windows. We loved the castle, but we really, really loved the drive and the beautiful views. I think the number one best thing about being from a place like Las Vegas is that I am still blown away by abundant greens every time I see them. Overgrown foliage makes my heart soar. I can't get enough of it. (This was particularly bad in Uganda, where I constantly yelled "Green! Green! Look how green it is!" from every taxi window.)
We got back into the city in the evening and chased down a tram to get to Old Town Square in time to see the hilarious marionette show at the 500-year-old Astronomical Clock. My favorite thing was the skeleton ringing his ominous bell. After dinner we walked along the river and across the Charles Bridge, which was alive with musicians playing accordions, hangs, and water glasses.
After the sun set, the sky was a strange electric blue, and Prague Castle shone atop the hill. It was all so magical, and I'm really, truly sorry that my adjective vocabulary only includes the word magical. Europe is just so freaking magical, ya know?
Also! It was Mother's Day, and it was so perfect to spend it far from home with my beautiful mother who taught me to be excited about the things the world has to teach us. I've toured some dang good castles with her, and I'm so grateful for her enthusiasm for learning and for delicious treats. Love you, ma!
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