Prague

Prague is a beautiful, old city located on the Vltava River. Left intact after WWII, it has an old-world charm, cobbled streets and wonderful architecture.

We arrived on the day of Vaclav Havel's funeral.

The largest memorial in Wenceslas Square

The Charles Bridge - commissioned by Charles IV in 1357, completed in 1402.

Sidewalk in the Old Jewish Quarter

Old Town Square

Astronomical Clock - The clock was first installed in 1410, making it the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest one still working.

Kris and I in the Old Town Square Christmas Market



FOOD!!

Traditional Christmas Eve dinner of carp. Ours came with a mushroom and barley casserole.

Christmas day lunch of Czech garlic soup (YUM!!) and beer at a brew pub.

Sorry to disappoint those of you who think there's nothing more American than Budweiser but it actually originates in Bohemia. In most European countries American Budweiser is not labeled as Budweiser but as Bud, and the name Budweiser refers to the original Czech beer, Budweiser Budvar.

The Budvar that came with my 2nd eating of garlic soup on the last night in Prague.

Trdelnik being "baked" over hot coals.

Trdelnik and Starbucks...

Grilled sheep cheese served on rye bread. So tasty!!

Potato pancakes. Surprisingly not so tasty.

Wafer cookie the size of my head!

Entertainment!

Motzart's Don Giovanni, performed by marionettes. The Czech Republic has a long history of puppetry, puppet-making, and marionettes. Czech puppets have been a part of Czech tradition since the middle of the 18th century.

The Lichtenstein Palace where I heard a string quintet play.


The string quintet.

Santa Run

The night before leaving for Prague there was a charity Santa Run in the nearby city of Maastricht. I don't know what charity the money went to but it really didn't matter. With your registration you get a santa suit to run in. It was a good time.

Drive Much?

It's been almost a year since I registered my car here (it will be a year next week). I have to turn in my fuel ration card in order to get another one. So I crunched the numbers and I used less than 25 gal/month. And the first few months, before getting the bike out and reassembled, I drove almost every day. Now that I ride my bike almost every day I'm excited to see how much less gas I will use this year.

Tough Mudder

12 May!!! Oh yeah!!!



The official Tough Mudder website is here: http://toughmudder.co.uk/

All this insanity is for a great cause; Help for Heroes, which supports wounded warriors.



If you want to help Wounded Warriors, click here to donate to Help for Heroes (did I mention it's a GREAT cause?!?!):

http://www.raceit.com/fundraising/donate.aspx?event=6522&fundraiser=r2402759

Wish me luck!!!