Did some T Tapp this morning. My current mantra about my exercise routine:
"Y'all can laugh at how funny it might look when I'm doing it. But when y'all are all are out of alignment from walking on cobblestones and chubby from one too many pastries, I'll be the one laughing." ;)
Random declaration: a skirt buried under your suitcase that didn't know you had packed in the first place is the equivalent of hitting the jackpot when you packed pretty light for a ten day trip.
Aunt Rachel and I took the kids down to the main square while their parents got our luggage out to the holding area. Once again, they all enjoyed the talents of Mr. Bubble-blower man and the traditional Czech performers. Erla and I stayed even longer after Rachel and the rest of the kids went to get coffee.
Aunt Rachel related the following story. She was walking around the plaza trying to see where George was and a guy asked her;
"You need help madam?
"Thank you, but no, I'm just looking for someone."
"Will I do?"
"And I thought, give me couple minutes to learn the language and I'm yours."
Me: "Haha that's so cute! I have to write that down!"
Arnheidur: "Don't marry the first guy that says that to you!"
Me: "No worries, course that's for me to say to HIM."
;P
We enjoyed a lovely lunch cruise on the river Moltov. The food was really good and fresh, they had some meat, cheese and veggies, along with some traditional Czech food- fish, as well as some schnitzel-like meat. We also tried some Czech teacakes and desserts. They were different, but good. Nothing is as sickly sweet as they make it in America, and the flavors are more complex. My personal favorite was the cream puff that had caramel on the top.
The city was just beautiful from the water and our guide was very knowledgeable. There are 18 bridges over the river Moltov (Czech name: something I can't pronounce.) We passed under five of them on our boat tour, including the 14th century Charles Bridge.
Yes, the city is very romantic, it is the perfect place to bring a husband or boyfriend here."
(Well, how 'bout I just bring myself?) ;)
She shared with us that Prague almost got bombed in World War II, but the American pilots lost direction and they accidentally bombed Dresden instead.
She also told us that our state of Carolina would be pronounced m "Car-o-lee-na," in Czech.
Our names were the following:
Margaret: "Ah, that's an easy one, it is pronounced Margrèta, like the Czech Queen of old."
*scuse me while I adjust my crown*
;)
Rachel: "in Czech, it is pronounced as the Jewish pronounce it, Ra-hel."
The city was sprawling, and you could probably spend a whole week here and still not see everything. Nonetheless, I think we covered some really good ground for having a shorter window of time to do things.
We left Prague around 3:30, after finally locating the Honda Odyssey in the parking deck of a nearby mall. I went and found where I had parked the Ferrari I bought on impulse purchase.
In reality, I just took pictures of it. But in my imagination, I am a visiting Opera singer wearing pearls who is descended from royalty, drives a blue Ferrari, has fifty suitors, and speaks five languages.
In reality, I am just a girl that drives a pickup back home,
wears the same dress for a few days in a row here, speaks enough German to talk to a three year old, and sings children to sleep using botched lullabies.
But anyway.
;)
There were two other boys doing the same as I, selfies with the car that costs more than the three of us might make in our entire lives combined. We didn't speak each other's language, but our conversation was the following:
Me: "Oh wow, um, that's a Ferrari!" *takes out phone to get a pic*
Guy 1:
"Ja ja, Ferrari, *ka-chink ka-chink* "
(I have decided after careful research that *ka-chink ka-chink* is the international word for taking a picture)
As we traveled towards Poland, we got to see a lot of the countryside. The Czech Republic is GORGEOUS as seen from my window. It's an even mix of hills and flat plains and lots and lots of pines mixed in with the regular deciduous trees.
It's the type of landscape you could easily imagine a knight come into view on a hill, riding his valiant steed.
We stop a lot on our road trips together, between the seven of us. Most of the bathrooms at gas stations cost money to use, believe it or not.
By the time we stopped at a Shell en route to Poland, we had rightly spent all the Czech coins we had left before leaving Prague so that we weren't leaving the country with money we couldn't really use. After rummaging through our pockets and determining we only had enough Croner for one person, so we decided that Rachel would be the one to go. Myself and the others could just wait to find a free bathroom later in the trip.
There was a slot for coins and a little turnstile, like when you are at the movies or something (except here, it's for nothing exciting, it's only you having to pay money to pee.)
She came out and I noticed she didn't have her cane. This was bad news, because we can't exactly just waltz back in there and grab it without paying up.
We asked the guy at the register but he didn't seem to understand. Then we found out that you could use Euro coins (thank goodness!) and thus I was able to use the bathroom after all and retrieve her cane. It all worked out in the end. :)
It's about four hours or so from Prague to Poland. Since we are visiting Auschwitz tomorrow, as we traveled I couldn't help but think of how long a journey the Jews had to take when they shipped via cattle car.
Arnheidur remarked on how some of the houses looked like Iceland. Poland is different in its own way. The landscape is beautiful, with lush green fields and gently rolling hills, with the mountains standing tall in the background. The houses are not as colorful here, and they have brown or red roofs and are painted grey or white neutrals or are made of brick.
There was an appalling lack of vowels from what I could see of the signs and such. For example: "Ozylwylwlyn." Uh huh. Ain't even gonna try pronouncing it.
They also appear to have a particular fondness for the letters z and w, and I'm pretty sure you could go gangbusters on some scrabble if you played in Polish.
To quote Aunt Rach:
"Gosh, they are sure crazy about grey."
We all had a good laugh as we drove past a Wild West park-with saloons, a Main Street and Canteens-in the middle of Źory, Poland. Yeah. Oh, and the Ferris wheel carriages? They were those old west covered wagon things.
It's rather unique to be in an area with virtually zero tourists, as we are here for the night staying in Hotel Kaminiec, which is situated in the little town of Oświęcim, Poland. We have a bed each and a balcony to boot. But the wifi is not working, which is why you will most likely see this post later than usual. But anyway. Goodnight from Poland!
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