Monday, December 1, 2014

European Road Trip

Our 3 weeks in Europe was amazing! Most of the time was spent in Prague with Mal and Judy, but we managed to sneak in a little road trip in the middle of our holiday.  I'm so glad we did!

Sam hired a car from downtown Prague and managed to get himself a traffic fine before he even left the street! haha - apparently driving in a 'no-pedestrian zone' is not allowed!


Driving on the opposite side of the road, in Prague, on windy, narrow streets, is a little hair raising! And when your GPS device decides to run out of battery  only an hour into the trip (after taking you in the wrong direction) it can get a bit frightening.  However, we managed to secure a map before long and were on our way....in the right direction!



Sam had the driving under control once we hit the autobahn.  The speeds had me holding tight, but I finally relaxed...on the second day :)

First stop - Frankfurt, Germany


We had time for a quick walking tour of Frankfurt.  We found the Theater and some dinosaurs!  There was also a fun fair on in town but we didn't have time to stop and enjoy.  There was so much to see and so little time.

Next stop - Cologne, Germany

We weren't in love with this city, but perhaps we were staying in the wrong part of town.  We had some time to explore the Cathedral and visit the Lindt factory :)  YUM! Dinner here was great - Hamburgers!



Destination - Rotterdam, Netherlands

We arrived early afternoon in Rotterdam and it was beautiful.  It actually reminded me of home for some reason.  We stayed with friends here for 3 days in their tiny apartment which they had only just moved into 2 days before! So kind of them to let us stay.

We took a trip by train (45 mins) to Amsterdam.


It's such a fun place to visit.  The weather was gorgeous and the scenery amazing! We wandered aimlessly for lunch and settled on a cafe serving open sandwiches.  It was pretty nice.  The markets were happening in town but in our haste to find lunch we didn't spend time there.  They looked amazing though! (Turns our Rotterdam had their own AMAZING markets that we went to the following day, so we didn't miss anything).


We found some delicious ice-cream too! My advice, if you see a store you like, STOP!  You'll never be able to find it again. :)

Rotterdam

We took some time to go to a local park.  It was AMAZING! so green and open and huge.  It even had a Petting Zoo, but we arrived too late for that.  The kids had fun playing on the nice green grass with NO ANTS!


We loved our time in Rotterdam with Bonnie, Damien and Harry.  It was sad for us to leave.

We had a long drive today and took advantage of the fact that the girls were very tired and willing travelers today!.  We drove 9 hours with only one stop!  Brilliant.

Final Stop - Dresden, Germany

If we had known how beautiful this city was we would have arranged to stay longer.  Thank goodness for long summer days and daylight savings! We had time to explore for a few hours.  We found an overpriced restaurant for dinner, with sub-quality food, but other than that, LOVED Dresden.



 
From Dresden it was only a short drive back to Prague, where we still had about a week left to enjoy!

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Our Prague Adventure

Earlier this year we were blessed to be able to spend a few short weeks in Prague.  What a beautiful city!  We were visiting my parents who have been serving a full time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  They will be finishing up soon, so it was great to have the opportunity to see them and the amazing city they have been living in.

Taking 2 young girls on such a long journey was not at all enticing, but they couldn't have been more perfect.  We had a wonderful time and saw so much.

Here are a few highlights from our trip:

1.  Spending time with these two.  

 

They were so generous to us and we loved spending a few weeks with them.  They are the perfect tour guides also!

 

2.  Wenceslas Square.  

 

We would walk down this square most days on our way to explore the city.  It was right by where we were staying.


3.  The Food.  

 

The food is Praque is AMAZING!!  and so CHEAP!!  We over-ate...all the time, and we finished most days with an ice-cream, right outside the apartment.  I didn't actually take a picture of the ice-cream store, but it was divine. 


4.  Random parks in the city.


This was perfect for miss Eadie, who,  despite being very willing to be dragged everywhere sightseeing with us, still needed some time to play.  It helps to have a 'local' with you to help find these hidden treasures. 




5.  Prague Castle


We ventured here a couple of times.  Only a short tram ride from home, and so beautiful.  Not the best place to take a pram, but we managed!




 

6.  Charles Bridge


Very popular and a must see.  Despite walking past it many times during our stay, we only actually managed to walk onto it on our second to last day.  It was pretty long, and crowded, so we didn't even walk the whole way across.  These pictures are from both ends of the bridge.




7.  Prague Zoo


An amazing zoo, but not a lot of fun on a really hot day.  It's built on the side of a mountain so there were lots of hills to climb.  A good excuse to eat ice-cream though :)



8.  Petrin Tower 


This was a great place to go to look out over Prague and then only a short walk to Prague Castle.  Again, we had our trusty tour guides to show us the way.

 

 

9.  Swans on the Vltava River


These swans were hiding out right near the Charles Bridge.  We took a secret passage down to the banks (along with our tour guides) to take a look.  We couldn't actually feed them, but it was great to watch them.
 

10.  Karlstejn


We loved this little excursion.  We took the train to Karlstejn and then took the horse and carriage up to the castle.  If you ever go, take the horse and carriage!  It is such a steep and long hill to walk up.  Everyone has to walk back down, but why walk up too?!




Our time in Prague will be cherished.  I only wish the girls were old enough to remember.  One day when we are rich and famous we'll have to go back!



We also took a little side trip to the Netherlands.  Next post coming soon! 


Saturday, July 12, 2014

Then there were 4

A year between posts isn't too bad...is it?

Well, now we are a family of four!  Our second daughter Frances was born on April 1st.  We are going to have fun with that when she is older. 


Time is really getting away.  She is nearly 3.5 months old already! She is a delight though and we love her to bits.

The best way to catch up on the year we've missed is with pictures, so here is a snap shot of the past year.












They grow too quicly.

We are off on an adventure to Prague in less than 2 weeks.  Let's hope there is a blog post to follow :)