Preparing for Spain

Tomorrow we leave for our week in Spain. Preparing for this trip has been odd for both Jason and I. Somehow it hasn't seemed real and we have not had that excited buzz about going on a trip. Don't get me wrong, we are looking forward to the trip but we just haven't done any major research in preparation. I think it is for a couple reasons. I think that because we aren't taking a huge transatlantic flight it doesn't seem like such a big deal and because we are viewing it as more of a beach vacation. That means no major sight seeing just enjoying the sun of a beach week. Of course we plan on seeing a few sites so the other night we broke out the Seville & Andalusia book and figured out what might look interesting. We are planning on going out to Gibraltar so Sofia and Ali can see the apes. It will be interesting for Jason and I too since it is suppose to be very different from Spain. I'm looking forward to seeing this famous place that I have read about in books throughout my school years. We will take a couple other afternoons and take drives inland to see some of the white villages of Spain. Other than that we may catch a couple local markets but that is it. We plan on sitting on the beach in the morning and at the pool in the afternoon. Of course before I do any of that I actually have to pack!! I'm off to complete my packing. I will post more when we get back from Spain.

Assembly

On Sunday Jason and I assembled the armoir we bought from Ikea. We had been using an armoir that was in the apartment when we moved in to store Ali's clothes and other random stuff. I hated that armoir b/c there were no drawers and the place to store Ali's clothes were all little cubbies. I ended up not putting any of Ali's clothes away since it was such a pain to get things into the little cubbies. I decided it was time for some other bureau of some sort for Ali. I decided to combine my need for drawers with the armoir storage b/c I also wanted a way to block the kids view of each other at bed time. Sometimes bedtime was fine and the kids would just go to sleep but more often than not they were feeding off each other and getting all wound up and not going to sleep. The armoir from Ikea was perfect since we could choose how we wanted it set up. I opted for two large bottom drawers and then the doors on top of the drawers. Open the doors and there are 4 shelfs. That gave me enough storage for everything I needed. Of course, the assembly of the armoir took much longer than I anticipated but in the end we made no mistakes and assembled it without a problem.

Renting a car

As Jason previously posted we rented a car on the weekend to drive into the Czech countryside. We took full advantage of having the car after we were done sightseeing. We got back from Orlik and had dinner and put the kids to bed and I headed to the supermarket. The timing was perfect since we had just run out of milk last week. I had bought a couple milks here and there over the week but we had run out of our stock pile. I entered the Tesco in Letnany into the TomTom and hit the road. It was so nice to just have the freedom of hopping in the car and going to the store. Once I got to the Tesco I filled two huge grocery carts with groceries. It was a little bit of a challenge to navigate two shopping carts but I managed. A few people looked at me like I was insane for buying that much stuff but I didn't care. I checked out and bagged all my groceries since they don't have baggers in the grocery stores here. I wheeled the carts out to the car and started loading the car. Since we had rented a Fabia my space was limited so I filled the truck and the backseat with groceries. It took me about 2 hours to get the shopping done but now I don't have to worry about buying the heavy stuff like milk, water, juice, and beer for another month. Since we plan on renting a car again this summer to see the countryside I will just try to time it with my next big shop. Before we returned the car on Sunday we took a trip to Ikea to pick up a couple things that we needed. The trip to Ikea on the metro takes about 45 minutes but in a car it takes 15min. We drove by Motol Hospital on the way to Ikea. Motol is the hospital I had to go to with the kids when we were enrolling in the Czech healthcare. Going to Motol on public transit takes about 45 min but only 10 min by car!! Having the car definitely made me long for a car. I know that the reality is that I don't need one and it would only be useful for big grocery shops and the occassional long metro trip but it sure was nice having the freedom to get somewhere quick and to get as many groceries as I wanted. I still think the cons outweigh the pros for having a car in the city but I will enjoy our rentals over the summer.

Country Driving - Orlík

Mary interupted our lazy Saturday morning with a great suggestion: rent a car and drive off to South Bohemia for the day. We have talked about taking day or weekend drives outside of Prague, especially when the hot summer weather and bigger crowds remind us that Spring and Autumn are the best times to enjoy the many great sites within Prague. However, despite our ideas we had not yet explored anywhere in the Czech Republic outside of Prague.

We rushed around to get a car rented. The one place we had rented from before didn't answer their office door so we paid a bit extra to go to another place but set off just after mid-day. Since we don't own a car now it was a treat for us to be in the car. We had a destination, the chateaux at Orlík, but we had set the TomTom (our new GPS toy) to a location further south and realized we were taking a less than a direct route. This turned out to be exactly what we had hoped for though as we ended up driving through a beautiful mix of forests and farmland with a number of very small towns in between. At point the small road we had been following came to a sudden end, with a barricade blocking the entire width. To the left there was a narrow road so we continued on. Quickly that narrow road became even narrower to the point that the hay growing on the sides of the road were as tall as the car and brushing the sides of the car. The best part was that the TomTom didn't recognize our road but adjusted our route to have us continue on what appeared as a dotted line through an empty stretch of land before intersecting back with our intended path. The road turned to dirt before merging back on the "main" road and we continued to Orlík.

Just before our arrival there we came up a bridge high up over the Vltava river. We stopped and walked out on the sidewalk with girls. It was incredibly windy but we had a great view down over the river and the boats below so the girls really enjoyed that. We arrived at the chateaux and began walking around. It was certainly not the most impressive of all chateaux or castle but it was a nice sight. The tour of the chateaux was 50 minutes which we knew would be too long for the girls so we spent most of our time just walking around the outside of the chateaux. The land it sits on juts out into the water in a beautiful setting. The river is dammed so the chateaux sits just above the water where in the past it was perched high up and likely a very impressive site. The girls had a great time walking around, playing on the narrow paths, or just sitting on the grass in the shade below the castle eating blueberries. We finished our trip with ice creams and drove back to Prague. It was great to have broken the ice on our Czech countryside day trips and we know now that there will be a number of these types of trips this spring. A great day for all.

Doctors, vets etc

This week has been filled with appointments. On Monday we went to the doctor so Ali could get her MMR shot and yesterday we went to the vet again so that Watson could have his ears checked. Our vet is about a 20 min tram ride away and then a short walk so it takes me about a half hour to get there. Of course it is humorous for my fellow tram riders to see me get on the tram with 2 kids (1 in a stroller) and a 75lb dog. Since the vet appointment was early in the morning Jason walked to the tram with us and helped get us on before he hopped on the metro. Unfortunately this didn't actually save us anything since a few stops before ours the tram stopped and we had to get out and wait for another tram since the tram we were on was going out of service! Anyway, once we got back from the vet we had to wait at home all afternoon for Ikea to delivery the armoiur we bought for the girls room. They give you a huge time window to wait so ours was delivery between 2 and 7. They finally came at 6pm so now we just have to put the armoir together. Today and tomorrow we have nothing planned so it will be nice to not have to do anything. I'm hoping that tomorrow will be nice so we can go to the pool but the weather forecast looks a little shady.

Salted butter

In the U.S. you go to the grocery store and buy butter and that butter is salted. When you say, "I want butter." it is assumed you want salted butter. If you want unsalted butter for baking you can easily buy it at the store but there is not many brand options to choose from. In Prague it is the opposite. When you say butter it is assumed unsalted and to find salted butter you have to look for it. I had been buying the unsalted butter since I wasn't really thinking about it but the last couple times I have bought butter I have made sure to buy the salted butter. It is such a simple thing but it is good!

Wenceslas Square Activities

I work in a great location right on Wenceslas Square which is a bustling tourist and office location very much in the center of the city. The top end of the square (not really a square but actually a long wide avenue) houses the National Museum and the lower end is part of an open pedestrian zone. Throughout the year there are various festivals, shows, etc. that take place in the square and as summer has approached the things going on there have gotten more interesting. During the Christmas and Easter times it was filled with the wooden stalls of toys, gifts and food that we've blogged out before. In the last couple months (I'm sure I am only remembering a few) I have seen some type of car exhibit, presentations by an environmental group, a shopping display from some party store, a basketball tournament with hip hop DJ, what appeared to be a talent competition with people singing or dancing on stage in front of the crowd and perhaps the oddest yet, pole vaulting. Yes, I left work recently and saw a crowd gathered so I stopped to look. I saw one man on an elevated platform stretching out and wasn't sure what was going on. Suddenly he picked up the pole and began sprinting down this platform towards the bar and large padded landing zone I hadn't noticed before and successfully cleared his target height to cheers from the audience. I've never seen pole vaulting live before and certainly hadn't expected my first viewing to be in the center of Prague.

Vaccine differences

Today we went to the doctor so that Ali could get her second dose of the MMR vaccine. I wondered where they would give her the shot, in her leg or arm. In the US her doctor said that after age 1 they always give the shots in the arm but I knew that wasn't the case in the Czech Republic since Ali's last Dtap shot was given in her leg. I was hoping that the MMR shot would not be in her leg since she was sore for a week after the last shot. Anway, we got to the doctor's office and I asked where the shot would be given and she told me in the arm but I was still surprised. They don't give the MMR in the upper arm into the muscle they give it in the lower arm just under the skin. It was very weird to watch the liquid go under her skin b/c as the liquid went in her skin bulged up! Ali didn't seem to care and it didn't seem to hurt her since she didn't cry but it was very odd to me. I asked the doctor about it and she said that they have found that there is less of a reaction if they do it that way instead of straight into the muscle. It is always interesting to me how things are the same yet different here and this is just one example. It is one of the things I like about living abroad...you think that everything is done one way and then you live somewhere else and you realize there are other ways to do things. Sometimes you think, "why do they do it like that?" and other times you think, "why don't we do it like that?".

wind and windows

Yesterday we had a big thunderstorm in the afternoon. It is the first time I have seen hail bigger than a pea. The storm went away but was followed by a very windy night. The wind kept blowing the windows and doors in the apartment so we eventually closed most windows. After the wind blew the fan out of the window we closed all the windows and finally fell asleep. When we went out today it was amazing to see how many leaves had been blown out of the trees. I was surprised to see that the water from the rain pushed dirt and leaves etc into paths in Stromovka. The storm and wind left a cool day today. The wind has picked up again tonight. One of the windows in our bedroom slammed shut and broke the glass. I offered wondered if the glass would break since it seemed like it would be pretty easy for the window to slam shut. Now I know the answer...it breaks pretty easy. We need to get in touch with our landlord since we now have a broken window and a water stain on our ceiling after the strong rain yesterday. Unfortunately our landlord is on vacation for four weeks at a spa! Oh well, we will either leave a message for them or call their son (who lives next door as well). Such is life!

Mořsky Svět

Today we went to Mořsky Svět, the Prague Aquarium. We had originally planned to go to the pool today but the weather was too cool. It was a nice having the cool weather and it gave us the chance to see the aquarium since we hadn't been there before. The Prague Aquarium is no Boston Aqaurium but it was still a lot of fun for the kids. Since the aquarium is on the other end of Stromovka park we had a nice leisurely walk to get there. When we arrived at the aquarium and went inside it was extremely hot but the kids didn't care. They were so excited to see all the fish. We watched the eels for a bit and then checked out the big shark tank. I missed it but apparently Jason and Sofia got to see the shark eat another fish. Sofia has mentioned it a couple times and we had to explain that the shark just needed to have lunch and since he lives in the water he has to eat what is there. She seemed to understand that argument and was fine with the fish being eaten. The aqaurium was very small. It is essentially one room but it was the perfect size for us. The girls saw enough and we were finished before they got tired.

Pool

Today we spent another morning at the pool. Since the girls love the water it is fun to bring them and it keeps us nice and cool. I had previously just bought day passes since i didn't quite understand how the season passes worked. Last night I tried to decipher the website for the pool to see if I could figure it out. I sort of figured it out and from what I could gather it would probably more cost effective to get the pass. When you buy a pass you are buying a certain number of hours at the pool. I was unsure about how it worked since I didn't understand how they would be tracking my hourly usage since when I buy the day ticket I just pay whatever the amount is for the hour I arrive and noone checks me when I leave. I figured, what the heck, there must be some system so I went ahead and bought a 50 hour pass. Once I bought it the system became clear. I have a metal tag (kind of like a on the go gas card) that I have to put to the touch pad when I arrive and then touch again when I leave so that it will clock the hours spent at the pool. Now I look forward to many more days at the pool. We average about 2.5 hours at the pool when we go since we have to go early or late to work around Ali's nap schedule. I'm excited to have the pool so close to us. It takes about 20 minutes to get there. It is three stops on the tram. We could walk but I have no desire to walk the 1.5 miles up/down hill in 90 degree temp when I can just hop on the tram. (not that the tram is any cooler, it just takes less time)

School Fair

It is a beautiful day today (although a bit hot) and a great day for a fair. We went to a fair that was held at the school Sofia will be attendingin the fall. It was fun and it gave Sofia to see her school again as well as meet her teacher again. We met our friends at the fair which was nice. The kids love seeing each other. Since it was a school fair there were tons of age appropriate things for the kids to do. Sofia and Ali both made glitter masks which they thoroughly enjoyed. They (and Jason and I) were covered in glitter by the time they were done. Ali had flowers painted on her arm that she was very proud of and kept showing off. The school had a playground as well and Sofia couldn't wait to play on it. We enjoyed some hotdogs, ice cream and desserts as well. What is a fair without junk food?? It was a fun day.

Running

There are a couple things that often go through my head here - Do I really live here? and I can't believe I have become a runner! I ran 8.5 miles last week. I can't believe that I actually ran that far. The run felt great but it was a little too much. My stomach did not feel good for a few hours after that run and my achilles was a little sore. I hadn't intended to run that far but I just couldn't help myself. I had mapped out where I was going to run to and then turn around but when I got to that point I just thought, "oh a little further" and when I got there I thought, "I just want to see around the bend". Once I got back home I checked the mileage and was surprised it was that far. I had planned to run 7 miles and didn't think I had gone an additional 1.5 miles. Oh well, it was fun. I know that I'm not quite ready for that distance though so I went online and got a schedule to increase my mileage. I'm hoping by following the plan to increase my mileage I won't have the stomach issues I had the other day. By following the mileage increase plan I will also ready myself for the half marathon in the spring. I know, it is crazy talk! Who ever thought I would say I would be running a half marathon?? Not me!! Now I just need to fins a few more races this summer so I can get more race practice in.

Customs

I can't believe it is June already. Brangelina and George Bush have come and gone. Time is rushing past so quickly that a week goes by and it feels like it has only been a day. The weather has been great and the girls and I have been outside enjoying the parks. It hasn't been quite hot enough for the pool lately but I think we might get back there today.

We learned a good lesson yesterday about customs. We bought a tomtom (navigation system) in the US and had my mom ship it to us since it was so much cheaper there. In the end it ended up costing us more since the customs fees are ridiculous! For a package that had a value of $600 (there were a few things in there besides the Tomtom) we had to pay $350 in taxes and customs fees!! Oh well, lesson learned. We won't be buying any electronics in the US and having them shipped here. When we do have things shipped like 4C fruit punch, lemonade and betty crocker brownie mix we will have them sent via US mail and will make sure the value of the package is less then $25 becuase then it won't go through customs and we won't have to pay anything for it. It was quite an expensive lesson but not much we can do about it now.

The joy of a great babysitter

Our babysitter is awesome. She is so great with the kids. On Friday when she comes the kids get so excited. The doorbell rings and they both come running screaming her name. If Jason gets home before the babysitter the kids run to the open door and then realize it is Jason and are a little less excited! She plays with them, teaches them Czech, gives them baths, feeds them and puts them to bed (although most times I get the bath and feeding in before she arrives so that the kids can just play). She is more than just a babysitter though. She does all of our ironing and more. the last two weeks we have come home from dinner to find more things done around the house. Last week she mated the socks. It may not sound like much but I hate mating socks! I don't mind doing the laundry and folding the clothes but the socks just sit in a pile until there are no socks left anywhere but in the clean pile of unmated socks. To come home to mated socks was just great. This week I had cleaned the house and washed our sheets but hadn't gotten to remaking the bed before we left. I just accepted that I would have to make it when we got home from dinner. When we got home I got new sheets out of the closet and went to the bed only to find that our babysitter had taken the clean sheets in off the line, IRONED them, and made the bed for us!! She is just great.