Czech Me Out! (Part 1)

Prague was simply amazing. Maybe this was my favorite. I still can't decide.

Here is our tour guide Ana. I really think she was a legitimate midget. She was adorable.

What would you do if you found a candy bar in the street? Well I found one on the street in Prague and I literally screamed and jumped up and down in excitement! I got even more excited when I found out it was perfectly wrapped. Kinder chocolate is heavenly. And I took my chances and ate it!

This statue reminded me of the ghost of Christmas future in the Muppet's Christmas Carol. I am craving Christmas family traditions! Can't wait!

Since Levi complained about not being included on here....this is for you bud! I love you!

This is the famous clock tower in Prague (don't know it's name. oops).

It was a European version of small world! They gouged the eyes out of the man who built it so he could never make another one again. Seems like a very cruel reward for such hard work.

We waited til the hour to hear it go off! I was a little disappointed (don't get me wrong, it was beautiful) UNTIL a man came out of the highest part with a trumpet and played a little tune. In the best costume I've ever seen in my life he waved at all below him. I did not expect such a wonderful thing to come from this!

As the Ukrainians like to say "It is normal!"

The bridge across the old and new square was incredible.

Hundreds of years ago the queen of Prague confessed her sins to a priest. The king wanted to hear them so he took the priest and tortured him. The priest never spoke so the king threw him off the bridge at this spot. The Czechs believe you can make a wish at this spot if you put your left hand on this little thing and your right foot on this other little thing (great explanation...i know). They say it will come true in exactly one year one month and one day from the time you make the wish. So November 28, 2012 something awesome is coming my way!

These dolls are for sell everywhere.

One of my favorite moments of this trip, and possibly my whole entire life came next. Laria and I were exhausted after the days of touring and my scoliosis was kicking in. We were starving and Laria had been craving spaghetti. We found this cute little restaurant right next to the clock tower. It was outside, but they had heaters! And blankets! We had the most divine meal. It was the perfect atmosphere. The heaters with cool wind blowing. Perfect spot to people watch the streets of Prague. The square was gorgeous. AND we were there to see the clock tower guy play his trumpet twice! It was just one of those moments you have no worries sitting there with your best friend enjoying life. It was wonderful. And the food was delicious. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Oh and did I mention the homemade ice cream with hot raspberries? Oh I've missed raspberries.

The night was ended back in our hotel room with my 21 month letter and fireworks from our window. :)

Magic Water

Back to blogging the rest of my vacation....the next day led a smaller group of us to Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic. Have you heard of it? I sure hadn't. But supposedly it is a gem of the Czech Republic, a town filled with magic water! Yes, you heard me, MAGIC water. People come from all over the world to partake of the "healing" water. I was imagining some lake deep in the forest with a little village. It was nothing like that, but I was pleasantly surprised at how beautiful Karlovy Vary was. The "healing" water is from a bunch geysers. It was the most picture perfect town I've ever seen. Everywhere we've visited here has been beautiful, but this was the only place with absolutely no graffiti, no bad smells, no beggars, etc. I just wish it wouldn't have been cold and rainy all day.

That last picture is a hotel. It costs one million dollars for ONE night there. Insane. I cannot fathom that.

Can't forget the tour guides. This is Alex. He actually worked for the company we traveled through. He was nice enough to translate this tour for us, but then the Ukrainians complained he was being loud and distracting them. So he just came exploring with us. We practiced our Russian with him and learned words like chuvak(dude). Real useful.

Here is one of the geysers.

Alex and Roman (our main trip leader) bought us a cup so we could try the healing water. You have to drink it through a cup with a straw because it ruins your teeth. Here is the well thing the water came from.

Here is me about to try it when in reality I could barely hold that cup because the water was 160 degrees! It just tasted like warm blood because of the salt. One sip was plenty for me.

Laria's face right as she took her first sip convinced it really was blood.

The group outside of the Black Plague Monument(they have a lot of those here). We once again did "Ring around the Rosies" and made Alex join. He was very embarrassed.

To get the gross taste out of our mouths we got some wafers. They were flavored Vanilla, Chocolate, Hazelnut, Cinnamon, and Lemon. 20 cents each! They were all delicious.

On the way back to Prague they stopped at a beer factory for a tour. We stayed in the bus with the younger kids (there was a school group on our trip) while the Ukrainian adults went in and got drunk. During it some of the kids went inside the gift shop and bought beer! 11 year olds! They were just allowed to buy it and drink it right there! It blew my mind. Welcome to Europe. And that was the end of the day of blood tasting water.

Eleven Wishes

11/11/11 was such a happy day! It started off at school where we decorated 11's.

And made clocks that were supposed to look like this...

But looked more like this....(way cuter anyways!)

And then the magic happened right in the middle of class! And I made all my kids kiss the clock!

I had to think of some way to make the rest of 11/11/11 really special...what would it be? And my wish, ah what was my ultimate 11/11/11 wish going to be?! Genius plan...why not make 11 wishes? Laria and I found 11 ways to do just that. I made a list of the perfect 11 wishes and the magic began!

Wish #1: Scriptures
Rumor has it you can make a wish, open a set of scriptures and if the page says "and it came to pass" anywhere on it, then your wish will come true! Good thing it said it multiple times on the page I opened to!

Wish#2: Ring
It's said that if you put a ring on someone and say "I wish it on ____" filling the blank with a date and time then you can make a wish and it will come true if the person doesn't remove the ring before the said time. Laria and I wished rings upon each other and didn't remove them until after 11:11 p.m. Another wish granted!

Wish #3: Wishbone
Everyone knows you can make a wish on a wishbone! Well we didn't have any turkey's handy, so how were we supposed to get a wishbone! Don't worry, we found an alternative. Wishbone the dog! Just as legit right? Just ripped him in half.

Wish #4: Leaf in running water
You can make a wish and drop a leaf in running water and if it lands right side up, your wish will come true! Once again, our lack or resources here led us to the kitchen sink. We made a mini lake and had the water running in. That definitely calls as running water! Leaf right side up! Yes!

Wish #5:Going through a tunnel holding your breath
Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Wish #6:Throw money into a fountain
The mall with the fountain was closed, but we didn't let us stop us! We just threw money down the drain. It counts, I promise. I threw 11 kapekas (Ukraine's version of cents)to be exact!

Wish #7:Wish upon a star
Ukraine really has something against us making wishes, so it produced clouds covering stars all night. But once again, we didn't let them get away with it! We found a star.....this one. "Starlight star bright, first star I see tonight!"

Wish #8:Bury a list of 100 people who have touched your life
This was possibly my favorite activity of the night. We made lists of 100 people that touched our lives. If you ever are having a bad day, please please do this. It was a sweet experience to remember all the people I've been blessed with in my life! It was hard to stop at 100! You can bury the list and if you aren't seen doing it, your wish will come true. We magically found some random pot of fresh ready-for-burial dirt. Buried unseen. Check!

Wish #9:Blow out a candle
Does this only count on your birthday? Because it was my unbirthday. And we had funfetti cupcakes. Only my favorite treat ever! Kalley brought a box to Ukraine, no better day to use it!

Wish #10:Eyelash
Everyone knows if you lose an eyelash you can make a wish and blow it off your finger.

Wish #11:Kiss the clock at 11:11
Obviously we had to end on this one! 11:11 came and the best wish of all was made.

And that is the end to our eleven wishes. Oh and did I mention the awesome people in our branch that were out of town and had us stay at their apartment? That is why these pictures look like they are not in Ukraine. This apartment is basically not. It was a nice getaway for the weekend! Thank you eleven eleven eleven for bringing such an awesome needed weekend!

eleven eleven eleven

As many of you know, I have been waiting for this day my whole life. Eleven is only my most favorite number in the world. And 11:11 wishes are something I partake in daily. I believe in the magic! I remember so many times talking about this day, trying to predict where I would be. I can't believe this day is here! And I can't believe I'm in Ukraine! It has been a magical day indeed. And I can't wait to tell you all about it! But now it's time to go watch some Boy Meets World and snack on chips and salsa...we know some awesome people here in Ukraine. They hook us up. Life is MAGICAL! Happy 11/11/11 everybody! :)