Merry Christmas

This was a very fun Christmas with the kids.  They are at such a great age.  Sofia was completely amazed watching Santa's journey on noradsanta.org.  We had to make her leave the computer becuase she was just sitting at the computer waiting for Santa to reach his next stop.  On Christmas morning the kids woke up and we headed downstairs to see if Santa came.  He definitely made a stop in Prague to deliver presents.  We open our stockings and then took a short break for Jason and i to get some coffee and to cut up the Holiday sweet bread (I have made this every year since living in Prague and it is part of our Christmas morning tradition) so that we would have something to sustain us through the gift opening.  It did not take the kids long to get through all their presents.  They were going through them so quickly that it was hard to snap pictures and pick up the wrapping paper so that they would be able to see the gifts.  They got a lot of legos, K'Nex, polly pockets, and littlest pet shop.  They also received books.  I'm happy that the girls are just as excited to receive books as they are toys.  Sofia received her Magic Fairies books and has already started reading one of them.  She wanted to start right away but we told her she had to finish the book she was currently reading before starting on a new one.  She complained a bit but then finished her Katie the Kitten Fairy book and has started on Zoe the Skating Fairy.  We have allowed her to read in bed with a book light the last two nights and she has read a chapter a night.  We will see if she can continue to do this since the last two nights she hasn't gone straight to sleep after reading so we may have to put a hold on this kind of reading until she is older. 

After opening presents and having our traditional Christmas breakfast of bacon, eggs and homefries we got dressed and went to our friend's house for brunch.  Ali was very excited to see her best friend Cianna and it was nice for us to celebrate Christmas with friends.  As soon as we got there (which took about 2 minutes since they live just down the hill from us), the girls took off with their friends.  We only saw them briefly when they came into the kitchen for some food and drinks.  It was nice to catch up with everyone and see how everyones' Christmas went and how the kids were all excited. 

After that we headed back home for a leisurely afternoon.  We had some light snacks since after a large breakfast and some brunch food we didn't need a full lunch.  We played with Legos and Operation and then I started to get dinner ready.  I made the same beef tenderloin with Gorgonzola cream sauce that I have made the last few years along with potatoes and salad.  It was delicious! 

It is hard to believe that Christmas has already come and gone.  The day after Christmas we took our tree down which we do not normally do but this year our tree died about 2 days after we got it so it was looking pretty bad.  I have started to clean up the toys but it seems as soon as I put them away the kids have them back out again to play with.  I guess I will just have to accept that the new toys will be strewn about the house until the kids are back in school.  I'm glad they are enjoying themselves.

Bye Bye Christopher

The kids have been on school break since we went to Berlin.  We have mostly just relaxed and hung out at home with a few exceptions.  I got a haircut (nothing big just a trim) and the kids went into town with Jason, we went to my friend Beanie's so the kids could play with their friends (and I could chat with mine).  They actually were able to play with their friends a second day as well since Daria (our friend's Nanny) agreed to watch the kids while Beanie and I went together to get some shopping finished.  It made my life immensely easier as doing a giant pre-christmas grocery shop in a busy grocery store with the kids is not a lot of fun.  Other than that life was quiet here. 



It says " To: Christopher Pop-In-Kins
I will miss you Christopher when you are back in the North Pole.
From: Alessandra



Over the course of the week we started prepping Ali for the departure of Christopher Pop-In-Kins.  We did not want a repeat of the tearful goodbye of last year so we wanted to make sure she knew that he was leaving on Christmas Eve.  There was some sadness and Ali wrote a letter to give to Christopher before he left that was very sweet.  She started to cry before dinner on Christmas Eve but we told her that Santa was not going to allow Christopher to come back if Santa knew that Christopher made children so sad that they were crying on Christmas Eve.  This definitely did the trick because while she was still sad to see him go she pulled herself together and stopped crying.  After dinner we watched A Year without Santa Claus and we allowed both of the kids to take turns snuggling with Christopher.  I know that technically the children aren't suppose to touch him because he loses his magic and has to go back to the North Pole to replenish it but we justified touching him since he had to go back to the North Pole that night anyway.

Berlin

This past weekend we headed to Berlin.  It is a city that was not on our original list of things to see while living in Prague but after living here for a few years it made its way on to the must sees before leaving Europe.  Somehow living here had increased my desire to see Berlin and to see the Wall to envision what life was like during that time in history.  Anyway, we decided to combine our yearly trip to a Christmas Market with seeing a bit of history and we headed to Berlin.  The trip there was a a bit (about twice as long) longer than normal since we drove in a snow storm and had to divert around a road closure on to unplowed roads but at least we made it there safely.  After making it to the hotel we found that our rooms were not ready yet which would normally really annoy me but the receptionist at the Marriott was very friendly and immediately offered us the use of the executive lounge for the length of our stay.  We took that as a good deal, because really what else were we going to do.  It worked out great to have access to the lounge since it meant we did not have to wait in line to be seated for the breakfast buffet in the main dining room and if ever we needed a snack or the kids wanted food or a drink it was readily available. 

We headed up to the lounge to relax while they prepared our rooms and then we went out to the KaDeWe department store.  I was looking for boots that I thought they might have but unfortunately they did not have what I was looking for.  It was not a wasted trip though as the department store is huge so we spent some time in the toy department since Jason's mom gave us money to spend on gifts for the kids.  Her prerequisite was that we buy things for them that we would not normally buy.  This is actually a hard rule to follow since when they pick up things that cost a ridiculous amount of money my first instinct is to say no but we did let them browse and only said no to a few things.  After spending time in the toy department we went upstairs to the gourmet food hall.  I could have spent the entire day on this floor.  We ended up buying some cheese and bread to bring back to the room and grabbed a quick dinner of sausages for Jason and the girls before heading back to the hotel.

Saturday was our big day out in Berlin.  We took a two mile walk with the girls which was very interesting for all of us.  We stayed right in Potsdamer Platz which was formally the No Mans Land area between East and West Berlin.  There are parts of the old Wall still standing here so we stopped to discuss what this meant for the people of Berlin.  We then followed the line on the road which marked where the wall used to stand until we came to another long section of the wall.  We stopped again to talk about what this meant.  Having the actual wall still remaining makes the history lesson very real for the kids and for Jason and me. 

We continued our walk towards Check Point Charlie and came across the demarcation of the wall again on the side walk.  I had the girls stand on either side of the marked space so that they could see what it was like for families who were separated by the wall.  I forget which one said it but they definitely summed it up with , "I would not have liked the wall!".   

We continued on to Check Point Charlie and our walking history lesson.  It was strange to walk past the sign saying "You are leaving the American Sector" and knowing that we were walking into an area that we would not have been able to walk in twenty years ago.  It is amazing to see that in twenty years any distinction between East and West ( at least on this road) has been obliterated.  It is one city again and if you didn't know the history you would assume it had always been one.  This is really the first city we have visited where the kids could physically see the after effects of war and world politics and it wasn't some theoretical discussion that they couldn't understand.  They definitely understood that the wall was not a good thing and that it separate friends and families.  They also understood that they wanted to be on the "good side" (as they called it) of the wall and be free. 

After our history lesson we ended at one of the Christmas markets for a little more light hearted fun.  We looked in all the stalls, bought some cookies, apple chips (dried apples but they were crunchy like chips), souvenirs and warmed up with mulled wine and kinder punch.  I loved buying warm drinks at the Christmas markets because the mug is also a souvenir.  You pay for the drink and you pay for the cup but if you don't want the cup you return it when you are finished drinking and they give you your money back for the cup.  Some markets don't have this option like Prague.  Some markets have only one type of mug for all the markets in the city and some markets have a different mug for every market in the city.  Berlin had a different mug for every market in the city so we have mugs from Gendermenmarkt, Operpalais, and Postdamer Platz markets. 

The Berlin markets do a good job of including things for adults and children so we would spend time looking at the market stalls but then also going on carousels, ferris wheels and we also took a few trips sledding down Europe's biggest mobile toboggan run.  I've realized that things I would not have thought twice about doing without children now stress me out.  Going sledding wouldn't have bothered me before but sledding down the hill holding onto to Ali's inner tube next to me and worrying that we were not going to stop when we came to the wall at the end of the run really stressed me out.  Of course we did stop and it wasn't a problem but its funny how much self preservation and child preservation differ.  I kept my worry to myself though and let the kids be kids and have fun sledding.  How often do you get to go down a massive sledding hill in the middle of Berlin??? You just can't pass it up when given the chance!

On Sunday we decided we would go back to KaDeWe to buy the kids toys that they wanted and to pick up a few things from the gourmet floor and then drive home.  Unfortunately the shop did not open until 1pm which threw off our plan.  Our goal was to get through the mountains before sunset in case the drive was bad like it was going to Berlin.  We could not leave though without "Hannah" the doll Ali had picked out in the toy department.  We had not wanted the girls to spend all their money from Grammie on Friday since we thought they might find something in the markets that they wanted so while we had been in the toy department before we hadn't bought anything.  We have never seen Ali want anything as badly as she wanted Hannah.  She talked about this doll all weekend and anytime she saw something else she liked she would then say, "but I want Hannah more."  We couldn't in good conscious leave without Hannah so we waited until 1pm and went into the KaDeWe and bought Hannah.  Sofia also picked up her things that she had picked out on Friday as well.  We picked up a few other gifts for the kids for Christmas as well as some things from the gourmet floor for us and then hit the road.  We did not make it thought the mountains before dark.  We didn't even make it to Dresden before dark so we ended up driving through the mountains in the dark in a snow storm.  Fortunately there were no road closures and it only took us 5 hours to drive home ( still an hour and a half longer than it should have).  It was a great weekend and well worth the drives in snowstorms.

Creative Writing Award

This year Sofia's teacher has been teaching the kids about writing books.  She has them brain storm, draft, edit and rewrite their own books.  She has taught them NEPR which stands for Nice beginning, Event or change, Problem, Resolution.  I had not seen any of the work that Sofia had done on her book since they do not bring the stories home.  Her teacher was really giving them time to use their language and writing skills while using their imagination so if they finished a book they could start a new one.  I didn't realize that an award would be given for any writing but in the school assembly today Sofia was awarded the Creative Writing Award.  The award certificate will be framed and hung in the library along with her book.  She also received a gift certificate to an English language book store in town.  We are extremely proud of her and love to see her beaming with pride over a job well done!

YAHTZEE!!!!

We played a few rounds of UNO today with the girls.  They really enjoy it and Jason and I have fun playing it with them.  After playing a few rounds we decided to introduce the kids to a different game...YAHTZEE!!  They still need a little help understanding the different combinations...full house, small straight etc. but they loved it!  It is great for practicing their math skills as well so it is fun and educational.  Sofia won our first ever family YAHTZEE game.  She ended up with two YAHTZEEs!!  Jason and I taught them the appropriate response when you get a YAHTZEE!  Here is a picture I snapped of Ali when she got her first ever YAHTZEE.  It was a lot of fun playing with the girls and we are looking forward to many more games of YAHTZEE!!!

Santa Claus!!

 Santa came to town on Friday and stopped at the kids school.  The girls were very excited to see Santa.  We, fortunately, got to Santa early enough that there was no line and the girls went straight in to see him.  Sofia decided she would see him first so she walked in and headed right to Santa but once on his lap she could not think of any toys that she wanted.  It was very cute. 

Ali was a little more timid about walking up to Santa but once she was on his lap she had no problem telling him she wanted a doll with yellow hair.  They are at such a great age since they are old enough to understand the magic of Santa but not old enough to not believe in that magic.  When they were all finished talking to Santa they were given a small present which turned out to be a yo-yo.  They have never used yo-yos but with a little practice they can now make their yo-yos work.

Not only did the girls see Santa they also received a video message from Santa.  Santa has come a long way from my childhood!  The kids are very observant though and Ali immediately noticed that the Santa from school had a much shorter beard than the Santa in the video.  I told her that Santa must have cut his beard some before he came to their school so that the kids wouldn't sit on it.

To watch Ali's message, click here: Ali's video message from Santa

To watch Sofia's message, click here: Sofia's video message from Santa

Christmas Tree Decorating

 

Every year the girls school gets a christmas tree and each class makes a different ornament and each child hangs the ornament they made on the tree.  The kids love making their ornaments and they really enjoy decorating the tree.  The parents make hot chocolate and cookies for the kids so after the kids have hung their ornaments they get to have a treat too.  This year I made chocolate chip cookies for Sofia's class.  I wasn't sure what was happening for Ali's class so I brought enough cookies in for both classes but another parent brought in the cookies for Ali's class so I just set aside my cookies.  We didn't need the kids on sugar overload from too many cookies!

Sofia's reading

Sofia's reading continues to amaze us.  She is reading chapter books.  She wanted to read a Beverly Cleary Ramona book and so we decided to let her give it a try.  She did great with it and got about half way through the book but found it a bit boring.  Since we had bought her another book already we decided to let her stop reading Ramona and try a new book.  I'm glad we did becuase the book we bought her was "Storm the Lighting Fairy" and she loved it.  It is part of a series of books called Rainbow Magic.  She is now on her third book from this series of books and is reading about one book a month.  The books are about 70-80 pages long and she reads it when she gets home from school.  She still likes to be read to though so at bed time Jason and I read other books to the girls.  I'm thrilled that Sofia really seems to enjoy reading.  She is already asking to read in bed with a bed side table to put her book on and to have a lamp.  As the girls are currently sharing a room it isn't possible but maybe when she is a little bit older we will give them each their own room so Sofia can read to herself before she goes to sleep.

Grace Grace Grace

Our friends, Karen & Matt, flew back to Prague this past weekend to attend the Broken Silence Ball on Saturday night.  It was so nice to see them.  On Sunday a bunch of our friends met up in town for lunch.  Karen and Matt were going to the lunch and they were bringing their kids Lucy and Grace with them so we weren't going to miss the chance to not only see our friends another time but also for Ali to see Grace.  Ali was so excited when I told her Grace was in town and that we were going to have lunch with her.  She immediately got busy making Grace a card to take back to England.  We all went for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe which was great.  St. Mikulas was there so the kids were entertained by him, the angel and the devil.  They got tons of candy from him and legos which seemed to keep them all entertained before their food came and after they were finished eating.  It worked out perfectly.  Ali was fine with saying goodbye to Grace again.  I think seeing her again was a good lesson in "moving away doesn't mean gone forever". 

The Christmas Season

We kicked off our family christmas season yeseterday.  We went into town yesterday to have lunch with friends and then after lunch we walked into Old Town Square to look at the Christmas markets, the christmas tree, to pet the animals and to get one of many Trudlo that we will eat this year.  Old Town Square was beautiful as always.  The markets are not my favorite in Europe since the majority of the stalls are food but it is still nice to look at and we do enjoy Trudlo.  The girls were more excited this year about the animals than in years past so we stopped and let them pet the horse. 

Ali did not want to pet the horse but then changed her mind later so we headed back to the horse again so Ali could pet it.  We assumed she didn't want to pet the horse becuase she was afraid.  It turns out she just didn't want the horse to eat her trudlo!  After making our way around the market we headed home to buy our Christmas tree.  We went to our local garden center and chose our tree.  It was the same man as last year at the garden center and he was very friendly.  After tieing the tree on top of the car we drove home without any sudden stops or turns so we managed to keep the tree on top of the car.  We had some difficulty getting the tree into the stand so we had to get the saw out and go to work.  It didn't really seem to help much though since we just could not get the stnad to hold the tree upright.  We eventually gave up and we tied the tree up to the door handle behind the tree. The kids were very excited to decorate so we got through all the decorations very quickly.  The girls danced and sang all around the tree once it was finished. Now our tree is up and we are living in a winter wonderland of snow with snow forecasted for the next ten days.  We are definitely ready for Christmas!

Broken Silence Ball

Last night was the annual Broken Silence Ball.  The Broken Silence Foundation holds a charity ball every year to raise funds to support the National Hearing Screening project.  This is the first year Jason and I have gone to the event and it was a blast.  This years theme was fairytale in a winter wonderland so Jason and I dressed up as snowman/woman.  The other costumes worn last night were amazing.  Some people really went all out and only a very few did not dress up but chose to wear black tie.  It is quite a party and a lot of money is raised.  During the evening there is a silent auction, a live auction, a tombola as well as a three course meal, drinks and dancing.  The items up for auction were amazing such as tickets to South Africa with hotel and game rides.  They were all out of our price range but I'm happy there were people there with money to spend so that the charity can raise a lot of money.  One of the auction prizes went for 220,000CZK ($11,800USD) so I think the charity will be very happy with the funds it raised last night.  The ball was held at a nice restaurant also so the food was actually good.  It was open bar so the drinks flowed all around....from the bar or the vodka flume or the servers walking around with trays of drinks.  Also one of the men sitting at our table works for Red Bull so he had the red bull and vodka filling up everyone's glasses at our table.  Given my experience at the 80's party we went to I kept the alcohol to a minimum last night so I did not have a repeat experience.  It was much easier to get up on four hours sleep without a  lot of alcohol that is for sure!

Snow Snow Snow

It snowed again!!  The snow started in the afternoon on Wednesday and continued through Thursday morning.  It did not stop until it had left another 6-7 inches (15-18cm) !!  It is only the beginning of December and we already have a foot (30cm) of snow on the ground.  It has been enough to disrupt our schedules.  We kept the kids home on Monday because of the snow, we skipped gymnastics on Wednesday afternoon, skipped school on Thursday and no Czech lessons on Thursday.  While the kids school did not close we chose safety over school and kept the kids home anyway.  The school is horrible about clearing parking lots and pathways and I refuse to drop my children off on a main road to cross the street and walk up a side street by themselves in slippery, snowy condtions.  I wouldn't allow that in good conditions so I certaily wouldn't allow it in snowy conditions.  The kids did not mind having a snow day though.  They spent a lot of time outside and loved it.  On Monday they spent two hours out on our road with me while I shoveled and they didn't complain once.  When I was finished shoveling we came back into our yard where they played for another hour.  On Thursday Jason also stayed home and even though he was working it meant I could leave the kids in the house or in the yard while I went out to shovel our road again.  They did take some time inside but by the time I came back from shoveling they were sledding in the back yard again.  It is nice to see them thoroughly enjoying the snow.  It is also great that they have reached the age to play together and have a really good time.  While the kids enjoyed playing I did some not quite so enjoyable work and shoveled our road for three hours.  For reasons unfathomable to me the people on our road do not shovel so I do the entire thing myself.  One of the men our our road spent an hour trying to get his car up the hill through 12" (30cm) of snow!  It would have taken him less time to shovel the entire hill!!  The lady a little further down the hill was outside with a BROOM!! Who shovels that much snow with a broom???  I then went past her and shoveled out in front of her house.  I did feel like I made some progress though when I got to the bottom of the hill and the lady I saw while I was shoveling after the first storm came home and took a brand new snow shovel out of her car.  Now, I didn't see her use it but it is progress over the digging shovel she had the other day.  Maybe by the end of winter I will have a little help shoveling the road.  I will admit though that it is very gratifying to drive on our road now and know that I cleared all of it.  It definitely gives me a "job well done" feeling.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Happy Birthday to a great Dad and Grandpa!  We hope you have a wonderful day. We love you!!

Christopher Pop-In-Kins

Along with the snow last night came Christopher Pop-In-Kins.  The girls love him and were very excited last night when we told them that maybe he would come during the night.  Sure enough he made it through the snow storm and arrived at our house sometime last night.  The girls looked all around the livingroom this morning and finally found him on top of the bookcase.  As it is the first time they have seen him in almost a year we let him touch him but since we don't want to make him go back to the north pole all the time to replenish his magic they won't be allowed to touch him until Christmas Eve when they say good bye to him.

SNOW!!

 Winter had begun in Prague!  We had a small amount of snow on Friday night but last night the snow started in earnest.  We woke up this morning to find about five inches (12cm) of snow on the ground and it is still snowing.  This does cause some problems for us since we had not put our winter tires on the car yet and our summer tires are less than ideal for driving in the snow.  I went out this morning to the cash machine to get money so that I could bring the car to the tire shop but unfortunately the bank machine had no money so I turned around and headed home.  By the time I headed home the traffic was so bad heading in to town that I made the executive decision that the kids would have a minimum one hour delay.  Well, I have moved that to a two hour delay after speaking with a friend who told me the traffic is still horrible going in to town.  Once I bring the kids to school (if I bring them) I will head all the way into town to a cash machine and then head to the tire place to have new tires put on.  That is problem number one which will hopefully be solved later today.  Problem number two is waiting in the wings and that is our septic.  We were holding off to empty it until mid December so that it would be ok for most of the winter and we would not have to worry about the septic man being able to make it down our road.  Well, let's hope this doesn't become a problem and this first big drop of snow melts enough to allow access to our house so the septic can be emptied.  The third problem which isn't really a problem but more of an inconvenience is all the shoveling that is ahead of me since just like last year I will have to shovel our entire road.  Such is life, at least I get to enjoy the beauty of the snow.  The trees are all looking beautiful with the snow resting on all their branches and their is a definite peace in the air when the snow is falling and everything is pristine.

Play Date

On Friday we invited Sofia's friend, Matilda, over to play after school.  It is such a nice age for playdates since the kids just go off and play with each other and require little interference from me.  We got home and Matilda and Sofia took off their jackets and headed upstairs to play without even a second glance for me.  They played nicely together and really seemed to enjoy each other.  They eventually came downstairs as part of their imaginary game to play and to put on their mermaid bodies.  Here they are sitting in front of their mermaid rock together.

Thanksgiving leftovers

It has been great to have Thanksgiving leftovers all weekend.  I invited some girlfriends over for leftover lunch on Friday.  It was nice to sit and relax with friends.  It started to snow a bit on Friday night which made for a perfect Saturday.  The kids played in the yard a little bit and since there wasn't enough snow to make an actual snowman, Ali decided to make a snow Peep.  Peep in the Big Wide World is a PBS TV show that the kids have enjoyed for a long time and Jason and I enjoy it too.  After playing outside for a little while we called the girls in for leftover lunch.  The girls really like eating the legs and wings from the turkey so they were happy to see I had put a wing on each of their plates.  While it is definitely not polite to gnaw on a bone in public it is perfectly acceptable to do it in the privacy of ones own home and Jason and I had to laugh at the gusto to which the girls ate their chicken wings.

A letter for Sofia

As I mentioned before, Sofia's good friend Lars moved away this past summer.  I knew they were friends and, of course, were going to be married but I did not really truly understand the depth to which Sofia enjoyed Lars' company.  Since he has left she rarely talks about him but I find little things every few days that tells me she still misses him.  A letter in her bag that she wrote to him, a heart that says, "I love you Lars", a card that tells him she misses him...it really is heartbreaking to find these little glimpses of my daughters feelings.  I'm glad she has a way to express herself though and doesn't just keep it all inside.  We did send a letter to Lars along with the Flat Stanley Project that Sofia's class is working on and we will wait to get the Flat Stanley back but today a letter arrived for Sofia from Lars.  I was very excited for her when I picked up the mail and saw the letter and I couldn't wait for her to open it.  I knew she would be excited to receive the letter.  It is so nice that Lars and Sofia are both at an age where they can write letters and can maintain their friendship.  She has read the letters multiple times since she came home from school and I'm sure she will keep them in a special place.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Thanksgiving Day in Prague always feels different since to most people here it is just another day.  While we still send the kids to school Jason and I still want to celebrate and enjoy Thanksgiving.  It is not as easy to celebrate with all the fixings but with a good scavenger hunt I managed to come up with all the necessities for a good Thanksgiving meal.  To find all the things we needed for dinner I had to go to the British shop to order the turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce.  After the British shop I headed to the fruit and vegetable shop near our old apartment to find butternut squash and sweet potatoes.  I managed to get the sweet potatoes but not the squash so the search continued to the Bio shop which did not have it either.  I decided to try one other bio shop and I was in luck because they had three squashed left.  Since the squashes were enormous I only bought one and headed home. I sent Jason to a shop in town to buy pureed pumpkin and another shop to buy pecans.  At least after almost four years here I know where to go to find everything we need.

We invited two families to join us so we had six adults and eight kids and we all had a great night. Jason and I prepared the house and figured out where to seat everyone for dinner.  I made the sweet potato casserole, squash, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, chocolate cream pie and custard pie yesterday so today Jason put the turkey in the oven and we figured out the timing for all the side dishes.  It all worked out great and we served, turkey, sweet potato casserole, mashed potato, gravy, green beans, stuffing and the above mentioned pies.  I had cranberry sauce but in the rush of getting the kids food and sitting for our adult dinner I forgot to put it on the table.  We did have a brief power outage just as we were finishing up making all the sides but we figured out the problem and continued on with dinner.  We had such a great time talking that I completely forgot to take pictures so the only pictures I have are the ones I took before our guests arrived.  Such is life, I guess I was having so much fun I did not think to take pictures.

Velka Kunraticka

Today I ran the 77th annual Velka Kunraticka, which is a unique race run in a public forest in Prague.  The race is unique because it is only two miles but is on a forest trail with three stream crossings and three successively larger hills to climb up and back down: 90, 120 and 180 foot climbs.  I have wanted to run the race the past three years but the last two it just didn't work out so I really felt I needed to do it this year.  Mary and the girls came to cheer me on and we were fortunate to have an absolutely beautiful day that felt more like September than November. 

Because the race is on a narrow trail runners are started two at a time every ten seconds.  For me, number 1316, that meant I started about two hours after the first runners went.  With the nice weather it didn't really matter and before long I started the race down a completely muddy rutted trail.  After running through the first stream (that's me in the stream in the photo to the right) and gettnig up the first hill I knew I was in for something interesting.  .  My surprise came when I got to the second big hill - on the other side of a stream again - and noticed it was very steep and had a rope run up the side to help runners get up.  It was steep and slippery enough that I had to hold and pull the rope most the way up.  After another stream an even bigger hill climb and a much needed stretch of flat runing the trail went down to the finish.  I was tired, wet and muddy but thrilled I did the race.  The other victory for me was that I got to run the race at all and felt fine doing it.  Since last Saturday night I have been suffering from we assume was a bout of food poisoning.  I felt terrible most of the week and wasn't sure I'd be able to run.  My weight was even down about ten pounds after day four.  However, on Friday I felt things were largely better and yesterday my stomach was fine although I still felt a level of exhaustion.  I am very happy that I recovered in time to run.  I'd like to think my time would have been a couple minutes faster had I not been sick all week but this race wasn't about the time, just the experience of participating in a long running Czech tradition and getting the chance to run through the woods and get muddy.