Backyard Surprises

I could see this from the Peloton and couldn't figure out if it was a giant egg perched on a tee

or a ball in the grass or what! This mushroom was as big as an ostricth's egg.

Talk about a home for Thumbelina.

The other surprise in our backyard is we have two large sections of dead grass.

Ferrari in the House

 Oh. My. Heck. I'm so happy to be home.

Our flight was delayed on the runway and by the time we got home 
and fell into bed it was past midnight.
This morning we debriefed and talked all about our trip for the first time in two weeks.

While we were talking in the dark,
Marty, Lizzie and Emi Facetimed. Yay!
We opened the curtains and talked from the very unflattering angle of lying down.
But it was so fun to catch up.

Two minutes after we hung up, Courtney and Michael called from Spain!
Also lying down, but they were napping at 5:30 p.m. while we were just waking up at 8:00 a.m.

After church, Dan's racing buddy and a friend came over for dinner.

He had purchased a Ferrari that was shipped to Utah from California 

and was planning a road trip (he claims Hwy 12 is the most beautiful drive in the US)

SLC to Southern Utah to Colorado Springs.

Last month he'd asked if Dan's team shop could store the car for him.

Dan said he'd store it here since we'd be out of town for the month.

And who doesn't love a Ferrari in the garage?

(Funny story, our neighbors came by to borrow chairs for a party 

and they were so excited, thinking we'd bought a Ferrari.

And Chris showed his friends who were freaking out.

It's so funny what cars do to men/boys.)

Shopping in SoHo

 We had time to go shopping in SoHo before heading home.

To be honest, I get a little confused and overwhelmed in SoHo because
1) I don't recognize most of the names of the stores.

2) I'm a methodical shopper -- I like to walk down a mall and just look in every store.
So, with a million streets South of Houston, its pretty impossible to go up and down every one of them.
Although, I really wouldn't mind trying some day.

3) Clothes have never been an area where I'm comfortable spending a ton of money.

I remember taking Courtney shopping in New York years ago, all geared up to just buy whatever we wanted. Just gonna go crazy. We went into Sak's and had so much sticker shock, 

we ended up at Old Navy. Maybe splurged at J. Crew. We stuck with what we knew.

But I do think shopping is fun and I do like branching out,

so I'm trying to get to know more stores (in a price range I'm comfortable with).

Chris' friend is a shopper and gave us a few stores he likes.

We went into one and the prices were waaaaay out of our comfort range. 

But we did find a cool jacket at Carhartt that Chris was excited about.

And I found some tops and went into several new-to-me stores that I liked:

Clare V., Nati Boutique, Outerknown. 

And a few stores I've only seen through catalogs: 

Poetry, Gorjana, Oliver Cabell

And bought the Fairmont Wailea's signature scent at Le Labo.

(We're so not cool that we didn't even realize the soaps at our hotel were super cool.)

Killing the Magic: Max Brenner's as an Adult

Chris and Dan both had meetings today and I worked on my blog.

Then we napped.

And afterward I felt more like a normal person and was up for going out to dinner.

After dinner, Chris wanted dessert.

He's been dying to go back to Max Brenner, but gets overruled for Serendipity every time.

(Which he still loves, and actually suggested first tonight, because he'd forgotten about Max Brenner.)

Dessert was good, but Max Brenner's just isn't as magical as it used to be

when you're a kid and think chocolate is literally running through the pipes throughout the restaurant.

Go Cowboys!

Oh. My. Word... *wipes brow*

I can't believe I'm caught up from trip blog journaling! 

I took my ipad on the trip imagining I'd post daily and stay on top of it,

but our wifi wasn't too slow for uploading so many pictures,

and I also wanted the joint albums to add more photos.

And the cloud wasn't transferring pics from my phone to my ipad which required...

well, let's just say it wasn't a cinch and I just simply couldn't make it happen.

We arrived home yesterday late afternoon -- 3:00 NYC time, 9:00 Croatia time --

 then sat on the couch for the next five hours binging TV and trying to stay awake until 8:00 p.m.

Emily in Paris; The Bear; Abbott Elementary; Only Murders in the Building,

if you need suggestions.

We're stopped in New York on our way home, because The Cowboys are playing The Giants

and the timing was perfect! My first NFL game ever.

I should clarify that the calendar timing was perfect; 

however, the time of day timing, (8:15 p.m.), was exhausting!

 But with all the bustle of public transportation and the crowd energy,

we powered through and had a great time!

Although Angela looks a little tired in this pic.

We were right behind the Cowboys bench and in good company, 

surrounded by fellow Cowboys fans.

We talked about staying for as long as we had energy,

but it was a great game and stayed close and we stayed until the finish 

when the Cowboys took home the win.

Then had a very long journey wading through crowds to get out of the stadium,

crowd control to get on the train from the stadium to Seacaucus.

A crowded walk up and down escalators to get to the trains from NJ to NY,

and finally the subway home. Whew. About an hour and a half.

And while we had to be patient with the crowds, the journey by train was easy and so nice not 

to have to drive ourselves and wait in a crowded parking lot to drive home.

Especially so late at night. 

We arrived home just after 1:00 and right before Chris,

who came to the city for a career meeting.

Can you believe that we stayed up until 2:00 a.m. talking?

I've been awake for 22 hours. 

Earlier today we went to the Affordable Art Fair in Chelsea.

I'd missed it last year and was thrilled we were in town for it today.

Most of the art was much more Contemporary than my tastes,

but here are some I loved.

When I woke up this morning, there was a lone light in the building across the street at 4:30 a.m.

I was up for the day, and so were they. Hi neighbor.

Beauty Everywhere

Today we are on our flight home from Heathrow to NYC.

So while I'm reading The Outsiders and napping,

please enjoy more pics of the Prague streets where even underfoot is eye-catching.

I didn't realize the architecture was so European and lovely in Prague.

I expected it to have more communist/eastern bloc influence.

We learned that Hitler also loved Prague, considered it a part of Germany,

and overtook it before the "actual" war even started, but it wasn't bombed so 

didn't need to be rebuilt. Similar to Paris. 

Wandering Prague

Our trip is coming to a close and this morning we packed for the final time and

checked out of our AirBnb.

Once again we found a place that would store our bags for the day.

However, the place we reserved and paid for online was closed!

Fortunately we found another place right around the corner.

Dragging our luggage over cobblestone streets required patience and a positive attitude!

Speaking of a positive attitude, I forgot to mention that we talked to Nick yesterday!

He's moved into his apartment and feeling more settled and happy.

They do have running water and even hot water if you catch it at the right time.

They've been contacting at the park and he's speaking his invitation opener in Spanish really well.

"Perdon, tienes tiempo para un mensaje muy rapido?"

(I'm not sure if that's exactly right, but its the gist -- do you have time for a quick message?)

He's hoping to explore new parts of their area this week.

Ethan is on the move from the Mexico MTC to Argentina today, but was only able to talk for a second because the wifi in the Mexico airport wasn't great.

And last night Sarah & Scott talked to their missionary when we were at home.

Missionary Mondays are so fun.

Crepes for breakfast -- savory and sweet. They were pretty good,

but with a thick layering of boiled spinach on a buckwheat crepe was unexpected.

We wandered across the St. Charles bridge and up the tower for new views of the river.

then went in search of the three most beautiful libraries and peeked into some cathedrals as well.

Super cool book tower. 

Walked through the farmer's market for tchokies.

With time left to go back up to Prague Castle to the Strahov Monastery to see the dodo bird.

The museum of curiosities ended up being super cool!

And took our final walk through the castle complex on our way home.

One more pic of darling streets. Photos don't capture it.

And we surprised ourselves happening upon the John Lennon Wall

just around the corner from our AirBnB.

Tonight we fly from Prague to London where we sleep in the airport hotel

then catch our individual flights back to the States.

This trip has been the funnest adventure and so fun to share it with my sister

and fun new friends.

We're so glad they let us tag along!

Forgot to mention one final dessert and hot chocolate

(if you don't count all the chocolate I'm bringing home with me)

at Cafe Kafico, recommended for the best Honey cakes and drinks.

The milk chocolate with whipped cream was delish.

And we had a lively discussion over what type of book we'd write

(Emily loves books too), where you'd partake of each of these drinks:

And finally, isn't "Notebooky" the best word for laptop?!

Walking Tours--Plural

We started our day with the most delicious breakfast right around the corner from our house--

avocado toast, croissants, hot chocolate -- millet was even on the menu.

Next up a walking tour of the whole Prague Castle complex.

Aris was a fantastic guide with lots of interesting facts and details and kept us moving.

The tour started at the monastery at the top of the hill. It didn't go inside, but Aris told us it had a dodo on display!! What?! Also a gorgeous library! I'm determined to go tomorrow. 

And taking some teasing about it.

A view into the cathedral next to the monastery.

Next stop the Presidential Palace and government buildings.

You can walk right up to the buildings with next to no security. 

Our guide had even seen the president through the windows.

The changing of the guard:

Our tour didn't include the interior of the castle cathedral,

but those stained glass windows are calling to me.

So after our tour was finished, we went back to the cathedral 

and the stained glass windows were stunning and everything I hoped to see.

Our walk home and to find lunch included a lovely, but unplanned detour to a dead-end

in a park with peacocks and an orchard. And to think if we hadn't made a wrong turn we would have missed it. (Just a teeny bit of sarcasm--or should I say summoning positivity after four hours of walking. ha!)

Lunch at a recommended favorite, Local, where we couldn't pass up the main event:

fried Edom with potatoes. 

It was literally a humongous block of fried cheese with tartar sauce.

And it was sooooo delicious!!!

After wandering the main square last night,

we decided it'd be fun to have a city tour, given that our tour of Prague Castle was so good.

However, we saw much of the same parts of the city as last night and our tour guide

had a... teaching style... where he asked a lot of questions that no one knew the answer to 

and the result as a slow moving, boring tour.

The guys tried to ditch after an hour and a half, but the girls felt guilty making

the guide feel bad, so we stuck with him to almost the very end.

And we survived. But barely.

And boy did sitting down for dinner feel good.