MAR-GOES

After a great trip in Vienna, my parents had 5 days scheduled in Prague. This was my time to shine and show them around. My parents spent 3 days in Munich, Germany while I was in class during the week. If you want to know what Munich was like, ask them… unfortunately I cannot provide a blog for that. Anyways, they arrived back in Prague on that Wednesday. Wednesday is also when my cousin Andrea arrived. For those of you who don’t know, I am extremely close with my cousins so this was a huge deal. We dreamed about her visiting me for a while and I couldn’t believe we made it work. (Hi Mads, missed you but we will be back to explore Europe one day too). That being said, I had 3 people to please. Greg’s parents also visited the same week so we ended up having a nice big crew to sightsee, eat, and enjoy Prague with.

I took the day off of school to hang out with Andrea when she arrived, no complaining there. We got settled in our hotel room (right down the hall from my parent’s room) and waited for my parents to come in from Germany. They weren’t too far behind us. We decided to walk around and see the main highlights of the city. I told them what area to stay in, making sure it was an easy walk to all of the big attractions. They listened to me and ended up staying in a great hotel. (This also gave me the chance to sleep in a clean, nice hotel room, away from my shoebox.) I showed them Old Town Square and Charles Bridge. Thanks to my dad, I was able to learn more about Prague than I did before. Like I said, he likes knowing the history behind things and actually going into museums. I did something I hadn’t done before. We went up to the top of the tower at the end of the Charles Bridge. It gave us an outstanding view of the city.

I had thought about what dinners to take them to for a while. I finally came up with a good list and what was first? Drum roll please…. SUSHI. I took them to my favorite sushi place in the city, Yami. It was delicious as usual.

The next day, I had one class in the morning. Andrea and my parents met me outside of my class. I am not sure if I’ve talked about where I go to school before but it’s kind of a big deal in Prague. It’s called Vyšehrad and it is an old palace ground up  on a hill.. aka the brutal hike to get there. It is gorgeous up top though, there is an old cemetery, church, and a great view of Prague. Of course again with my dad being there, we went inside the church. It was so pretty (as are most churches in Europe I’ve come to find out).

That night, I had an exciting thing planned for us! (Well mainly for my dad.) The Czech Republic is known for its beer, so I got us a reservation for beer tasting. It ended up being really fun and informative. We had an awesome host and ended up tasting 10 different beers. Even after this beer adventure, I still have not found a beer I would voluntarily drink for fun. But I still thought it was a good experience and if there’s a place to beer taste, it definitely is in Prague. Now where I can I find some good wine tasting…..

The next day, we stopped in the Convent of St. Agnes. This is a convent turned National Museum and it was nothing like I had ever seen before. First, it was very large. I felt like the museum kept going and going. Second, it is home to Medieval Arts of Bohemia and Central Europe. Third, the art ranges from 1200-1550. It was so fascinating seeing how old, but preserved most of the art was. The colors in the paintings were still vibrant and the statues still had fine details to been seen. This is a must-see for any travelers who find themselves in Prague.

We then took the day to walk around the Jewish Quarter. This area is full of high end shops, nice restaurants, and history. In the Jewish Quarter lies the Old Jewish Cemetery and a few beautiful synagogues. It was nice exploring this part of the city since it is on the opposite side of where I live, therefore I hadn’t spent much time there before.

The next day was a big day, Greg’s Birthday! We had beautiful weather this day so we decided to bring both families up to the Prague Castle. The Prague Castle is up on top of a hill that over looks the city. On the castle grounds, the most prominent building is St. Vitus Cathedral. Again, another absolutely outstanding church. We spent a good amount of time walking around the castle complex and enjoying the view and good weather.

Onto my favorite part of my travels, the food. We dined like royalty for the special occasion. Mrs. Bresnan found the restaurant with the best view of Prague and booked us all a table. This was the fanciest dinner I have ever been to. (They even gave us warm towels to wipe our hands down with before the meal. When it was handed to me I first thought they were for the back of our necks… can you tell I haven’t spent much time at fancy restaurants?) We had some delicious wine and some great food. At the very end they brought Greg out a birthday cake. The cake had gold dusted fruit and chocolates on it… GOLD. My descriptions wouldn’t do it justice, so of course, I’ll attach a photo.

Alas, Sunday had already arrived. I was upset knowing it was my family’s last day, but was grateful for the week we had. Time really does fly people! We spent the day wandering parts of Prague that we had missed. We spent a good amount of time down by the river, soaking in some sun. I had an authentic Czech dinner planned to finish off the trip.

Quick note. I didn’t mention this in the blog chronologically because we went every night, but while my family was in Prague, the Easter markets were up. This was so fun. Around Prague, Easter markets popped up, selling good food, flowers, trinkets, and Easter eggs. It was so nice to walk around and see all that the vendors were selling. It was nice to have a little Easter in Europe since I missed the celebration at home with the family.

I am so thankful that my parents had the time and opportunity to come out to Europe and visit me. I’m happy that they got to see a little bit into the life I’ve been living over here. I am thankful that my dad was able to teach me about new cities and my own! (It was also nice not having to pay for my meals for a week… hehe.) Huge shout out to Andrea for coming as well! I know it isn’t easy to take off work to come explore Prague, but it was definitely worth it in my eyes. This was a really special week that made me realize a few things. 1. The world isn’t as big as it seems. You can get anywhere, easily. 2. Family is everything. Living in Europe as a 20-year-old isn’t easy, but when you are surrounded by family, it feels like home. 3. Be present. Life flies by so fast, it is important to take in life at all moments. This is how memories are made and how they last as long as possible. I know I haven’t lived as long as most of you people, but yeah that’s what I took away from this week.

Thanks for reading. Again, I’m still a little behind, but don’t worry, you will be able to read about all of my adventures. Good thing I have a good memory.

Hope you are all enjoying the good weather I know you’re having. It was 44 degrees here yesterday.

xx