Entries about czech

We drove and drove and drove today, only stopping for food and fuel on our six hour travel day. After lunch at a little roadside restaurant, Mom and Dad gave Abby and I the 45 remaining koruna (just under $2.50 Canadian) to spend at the gas station convenience store. We each got treats for the road, and were going to have just two koruna left, which we were going to keep as souvenirs. Unfortunately, I decided just to hand the clerk everything, and even after counting through the change twice, he didn't give those two little coins back. I was upset on principle, as well as a little disappointed that we weren't going to have any Czech money to bring back with us. Luckily, Mom had kept a coin. Still, the nerve of him!

Our apartment is clean and spacious, and I like it even though Abby and I have to share a bed. Mom and Dad went grocery shopping, and Dad made what he thought was going to be some sort of delicious Alaskan fish alongside ravioli and green beans. It turns out all they had bought was pollock, and we've never eaten fish that needed more tartar sauce. The ravioli was good, though, and the green beans were something of a rare treat, as they seem to be particularly uncommon in Europe. Yes, I know that the two stolen koruna and what we ate for dinner might not be of any great interest, but as it was a travel day, that's about all I have to write about. Our next post, however, will detail our first day in the famous city of Vienna, which is sure to be much more exciting than this one.

13 days to go!

Today was our first day in Prague, so we decided not to make a plan of things to see, but rather just take in more of the town. We started off quite early, and after one metro trip we were already in the city. We walked towards the river at first, looking at the shops as well as the buskers. Along the streets and bridges there were people selling art, as well as a variety of different music being played. One group consisted of three men in overalls playing the washboard, a guitar, a horn, the cymbals, and a few other instruments. Lots of the singers that we heard were singing English songs, such as Hound Dog and Folsom Prison Blues. Another man was playing various songs on a group of crystal glasses with different amounts of water in them. He was selling some of his CD's nearby as well, but they weren't selling too fast.

After we finished walking to the bridge with went to a nearby square to look for something to eat. It took us a while, but 45 minutes later we had located the local snack we were looking for. Smažený sýr, which literally translates into "fried cheese", is a Czech version of our grilled cheese sandwich. It is cheese that is breaded and fried, and then put in a bun with mayo. I added ketchup as well, to make it a little more like the version I was used to, but we all enjoyed them despite the differences.

After lunch we wandered over to the gardens of Prague Senate for a little rest. While we were there we were visited by a peahen (female peacock) which gave off a little bit of a show in the middle of the shrubbery. Right beside the garden is a famous wall called The Grotto/Dripstone Wall. It is a wall of odd looking rocks, which have animals and faces carved in between them. It was a very odd but interesting thing to look at. Back in the gardens we were able to have a look at the paintings on the Czech Senate building, which were scenes depicting the Trojan War, painted by an unknown artist. We wandered around the maze of hedged for a little while, stopping at a fountain will a statue of Hercules slaying a dragon in the middle. The little pond was crowded with giant fish, and we were able to see a large amount of them come up to the surface when a young boy started throwing bits of his bread of the edge of the pool.

This was our last stop though, and we walked back the metro station and then back to our car. We had a picnic dinner of sandwiches and soup on our front lawn, and had a little chat with the husband of our host. We finished the evening off with an emotional West Wing before bed, to rest up for our next day in Prague.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sma%C5%BEen%C3%BD_s%C3%BDr

Our time in Olomouc has been a little quirky. We haven't done much of the traditional stuff, like museums or churches or castles. We've been rafting, mini-golfing, and today, we visited the zoo, our trusty Olomouc cards in hand. So far, the thirty dollars spent on them has funded five attractions. Here's hoping all the money we've saved here will balance out our three days in Prague.

We all connected with our inner child today. My favourite animals to visit are usually the monkeys, and it seems like most people there were thinking along the same lines. There was never a capuchin or a tamarind that not being stared at or cooed over. They really are the most fun to watch. There's just something about their antics that calls for affection, especially if one of them does something particularly human.

One of the highlights of the day for me was getting to hold an owl. A real live horned owl. He was attached to a special glove, and I felt his talons clench for purchase around my fingers as soon as I slipped it on. I had to steady myself as he settled his weight onto my arm. I got to stroke his feathers and admire his glossy head and amber eyes for a full minute. When I eventually detached myself, I found that he had left a small welt on my hand with one of his talons. Dad had a go too, but I like to think that I bonded with that owl more than he ever did.

One of the enclosures was open for visitors to walk through. Emus, wallabies, and prairie dogs greeted us nonchalantly as we strode along the path, and then lowered their heads to snooze in the shade again. There was one very eager toddler that marched through the gates ahead of her mother and promptly stepped off the path in order to "pet the doggies" underneath the tree. She was caught before then, luckily.

We saw lions, tigers, bears (oh my!), zebras, giraffes, wolves, lemurs, reindeer, camels, pygmy hippos, and more. Today was a small celebration of diversity, with the tourists coming from as many different places as the animals. And just before I wind up this blog post, I have to mention one thing, because I hardly ever get to write about my dad's soft spots. He has a special place in his heart for the adorable Malayan sun bear, of which we saw two. Watching him smile over them was another of today's high points.

Tomorrow we're off to Prague, which, according to Lonely Planet, is the new Prague.

Today we entered Czechoslovakia, our penultimate new country of the trip. When we left this morning, we saw that the weather forecast for rain was really coming true and it was coming down pretty hard. After we packed our car we put on our coats and went over to look at the stores to spend the rest of our Polish currency. We bought food for lunch at the grocery store, as well as bread and treats at the bakery. Mom gave Hannah and I the leftover change to buy ourselves snacks for the road trip.

After we had spent all that we could we climbed into the car and started our journey over the border. We stopped at a gas station for our lunch of sandwiches and pizza, and we bought a toll sticker for our windshield.

We found our place quite easily and we were greeted by a very friendly and helpful host. We are staying at this house for three nights, but we are staying the country of Czechoslovakia for a week total. We are staying in a suite of a house, which has two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen and a living room. Everything is very spacious and clean, which is really nice too.

Last night we watched the Avengers for a change from our usual West Wing. Tomorrow we plan to take a rafting trip down the river in town and maybe even go for some mini golf.