Mums' Weekend in Prague

This past weekend, two friends here and a friend from home and I met in Prague, Czech Republic for a "Mums on the Run" weekend. Needless to say, we had a fantastic time sleeping in and walking around seeing anything that we stumbled upon instead of child-centered activities and constant food searches. Prague was very tourist-friendly and you'd really never know that up until 17 November, 1989 (just over 20 years ago), it was a communist country. We had excellent weather and coats were optional during the day. We were able to book one of the US Embassy flats which sleeps "exactly four people" and it was central to many sights and very safe given that there were Czech guards at the Embassy and in the streets checking every car that attempted to pass the Embassy - driver gets out to pop their hood for inspection, Czech guard uses a long mirror to view under the car...

Here are some photos from the weekend.

View out of our window of the Embassy and a dome


The Charles Bridge - Karlov Most

Statues in front of the Kafka Museum doing exactly what you think they are doing

Marionette Museum
Prague is known for carving marionettes.

Street market goodies

Interesting street art depicting the Czech sense of humor, giving new meaning to the phrase "going out on a limb"

View of the Prague Castle across the Vltava River

The biggest pan of potatoes I have ever seen

The Astrological Clock
Laura and I spent almost two days trying to find this %#@&! clock. After we located it pretty much right in front of our eyes, we must have passed by it or heard it chime like 15 times. It was a lot like the lame clock in Munich. Figures paraded in front of the two small windows at the top, a weak horn tooted and then it chimed the hour. Then, a trumpeter (real person) sounded a tune at the very top of the tower and waved down to the crowd.

My beau

The inside of the Spanish Mosque
The walls were painted from top to bottom. Photos were not allowed inside any of the buildings in the Jewish Quarter. However, after watching about 20 people take photos, I thought I'd sneak one. Within five seconds of snapping mine, an old lady docent charged in saying, "No photos! No photos!" Snap! Busted!

Street art near the Lennon Wall

The Lennon Wall

From Wikpedia: Since the 1980s it has been filled with Lennon-inspired graffiti. In 1988, the wall was a source of irritation for the then communist regime. Young Czechs would write grievances on the wall and in a report of the time this led to a clash between hundreds of students and security police on the nearby Charles Bridge. The movement these students followed was described ironically as 'Lennonism' and Czech authorities described these people as alcoholics, mentally deranged, sociopathic, and agents of Western capitalism. The wall continuously undergoes change and the original portrait of Lennon is long lost under layers of new paint. Even when the wall was repainted by some authorities, it was again full of poems and flowers the following day. Today, the wall represents a symbol of youth ideals such as peace and love.

St. Nicolas' Church in the morning mist

St. Vitus Cathedral at the Prague Castle
From Wikipedia: The full name of the cathedral is St. Vitus, St. Wenceslas and St. Adalbert Cathedral. It contains the tombs of many Bohemian kings. The cathedral is an excellent example of Gothic architecture and is the biggest and most important church in the country.

Changing of the guard


This knight must have loved chickens.

Relaxing in a square

The Sex Museum foyer
No, we did not go in and no, I am not discussing this machine's purpose.

It was great to see a good friend from home and spend quality time with newer friends.

Spain: Part III

Our last day in Valencia was spent in the city's Old Town. The architecture was gorgeous and the city is just lovely. Our first stop off of the train was the bull ring. Really awesome, but the market inside of it was drug dealer central.

So we made our way to the central train station because it was supposed to be gorgeous and it was.

Then we headed to the central post office because again it was supposed to be awesome and it was.


Then we headed to the town hall because it was supposed to be pretty. The outside definitely was. The kids were just happy the doors were locked.

After a bad lunch, we went over to the Mercado Central. The guys enjoyed looking at the seafood for sale. Owen impressed the fruit lady by purchasing his own apple and orange with his own money.



Across the street is the old silk market (La Longia). This is an old medieval building with a ton of great carvings and unique pillars that spiral upwards about 80 feet to the ceiling. We were able to see the whole thing in time before it closed for lunch.





After a snack,

we headed to the cathedral. Totally gorgeous and most well-known for housing the supposed "Holy Grail" and having the actual right arm of St. Vincente.



Our last stop was a walk through the Torre Serrano. It is a really well-preserved tower gate on the northern entrance to the old city. The kids were most impressed with the array of Halloween costume castoffs populating the dry moat: a witch's hat, two brooms, a devil's pitchfork, a pair of silver pom poms and a plastic chair.





The metro tram stop was just across the river and not a moment too soon as the youngest two were sightseeing worn out! Lucky for us, St. Vincente gave his right arm to make the day worthwhile for centuries of school children.

On our last day, we got an early start to head south to Alicante. On the way we stopped at a town called Calpe where there is a huge 300m tall rock rising up out of the Mediterranean called Penyon d'Ifach. We played in the very blue sea.



After a very tourist-centered lunch, we continued south to Alicante.

We found our very posh five-star hotel (booked by Kris) without a fuss. The kids enjoyed the indoor heated pool and the groomed deserted beach. Craig had an evening run. We found an AWESOME Italian restaurant just around the corner from the hotel after opting out from the pricey hotel restaurant. We spent the last day in Alicante. Our favorite part was shopping in El Corte Ingles - a six story department store. We did go to see the "castle" in Alicante, but most of it was either being rebuilt or restored to look genuine.


Craig couldn't resist a photo op of 'the pirate guy' at the castle.



We headed to the airport early and waited for our flight. Overall, we did not enjoy the Costa Blanca and its being overrun by British old age pensioners. Cars were double-parked all over, people wandered into the streets and pushy hawkers selling junk were everywhere. However, the coastline is gorgeous. Spain was a worthwhile trip.