Karlovy Vary

The last day of our trip we spent in Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad in English). This town was built because of the natural hotsprings there so throughout time ancient people have always come here for their spa treatments. People still drink the hotspring mineral water in hopes of a cure to their ailments. Maybe they forget they had a headache when they are now dealing with diarrhea, needless to say we didn't drink the water! We did go swimming though and the girls had a great time. Aubrie is in a swim class and home and it was fun for her to show us how much more brave she is in the water. She can actually get her face wet now, though holding her breath longer than 3 seconds in the water is still quite scary. We also toured Moser's glass works museum and saw workers blowing glass/crystal vases. We also stocked up on Karlovy Vary Oblaten (a sweet treat that has 2 thin waffers the size of pancakes stuck together with different cream flavors like cinamon or chocolate). Here's a fun Youtube video on Karolvy Vary, the pictures aren't great the song is catchy. I would assume it's sung in Czech but it could be Russian for all I know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4LVgycY6Ok

This link is more like a Karlovy Vary travel show but it shows all the people drinking from the funny cups where the chunks in the water can float to the top of the cup and you drink from the bottom.
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/karlovy-vary-czech-republic/21686996

A lot of Czech looks like this, worn out stucco pealing from the cinder/brick buildings. The main tourist cities, at least in the city centers are all remodeled and painted and the architecture finely detailed. Ted wishes he could remodel an old building like this one and restore it to it's former glory. I think it would be funner to just choose the paint color and let someone else slab on the stucco and gut the inside.

Kutna Hora

We took a day trip to Kutna Hora, about an hour west of Prague. We enjoyed seeing how the people of Cezch really live as we drove through some very small farming towns. Kutna Hora had a Cathedral that had a nicer looking roof that St. Vitus in Prague. Both were in the same style as the Milan Cathedral in Italy. The best part of the day was seeing the circus.

The girls in Prague

The girls had a great time. We went to 2 different playgrounds and even spent some time throwing rocks into the river below Charles bridge. Their favorite by in large was seeing the zoo in Kutna Hora though. We also saw a puppet show-Cat and Dog (all in Cezch) and a Black Light Theater show that starred two clowns who were interacting with an IMax type movie being projected onto the curtains that the clowns would pass in and out of, all by pantomime. Odd to say the least.

Prague Castle

Up on this hill is Prague Castle where the rulers of Cezchalsolvakia have always lived and worked. Inside the walls is St. Vitus Cathedral along with the city's torture chambers and a bunch of museums (for today's tourists).

Here we are being annoying tourists outside the entrance to the Castle. These guards had the fur on their collars instead of having to wear the silly fur hats like the British guards.























Here's a video we made inside the Cathedral.
















The gargoyles all over the building really are functional rain spouts! Do you think they will come back in fashion on homes today?

Prague-Charles Bridge

Charles Bridge was built by Charles IV in the 1500's . When Ted went to Europe after graduating college, Prague was one of the cities he talked about most and walking across this famous bridge with me became a goal of his. So here we are on the famous bridge.


This is the famous town clock in Prague that tells more than just the time but a lot of astrology information to. The clock maker was a genius but the king had his eyes gouged out after making this clock so he couldn't make another and this one would stay unique. It's a downer story and paints Prague as a cruel, heartless place to be, at least during the reign of that king. It just makes me more gratefull to live in the time period I do.





















This church was really cool looking with the buttresses on the side of the towers. There is a lighthouse in Germany with the same look that I'd love to see.

Prague, Cezch Republic

On March 9 we headed to Prague in the Czech Republic. It was only a 6 hour drive from our house. We stayed in a families home that we met on Home Exchange for free for the week. Franta and Melina cooked a traditional Czech meal for us (pork with salami and cheese melted over and fried potatoes) and told us about Czech history and what it was like for them during WWII, Franta said his parents often reminded him of seeing Dresden, Germany on fire and that town is 2 hours away! Franta himself was part of the Velvet Revolution were the residents of Prague began to protest during a weekend state of Soviet control, without a single gun shot Cezchalsolvakia became the democratic Czech Republic nearly over night. Because Prague was allied with Germany but never really involved in the fighting, the US and England and Russia never boomed them in the war. Thus, Prague is one of the few big cities in Europe that still has the same buildings standings as they had since they were built throughout the centuries. There are pictures for sale in Prague that were taken 200 years ago (or drawn?) and the point is that it is the exact same sky line as it is today. There were a lot of fancy old buildings, that Ted couldn't get enough of but in the outskirts of the city where we were sleeping the buildings were just plain old. Stucco only sticks to a building for less than 100 years I guess so a lot of the community looked really poor and run down. We had a great time though seeing museums, churches, castles, bridges, play grounds, and even the zoo!

Aubrie's Birthday

Aubrie turned 6 this year. We had a few friends over and made rings and butterfly hair clips. Aubrie got a new (used) bike, and a kid camera from us but her favorite gift was a snow globe from a friend, go-figure. The friends we invited were Henriette Kern, Melina Bartel, Lenina Motel, and Marla Boeger (just for my own sake of poor memory).