Say it with me: “Has it really been eleven months? That’s almost a year!”
Time is absolutely flying by and it’s starting to give me panicky feelings about leaving Prague in just one month. Luckily we’ve had a lot of visitors (my cousin, briefly my aunt, my parents, and currently E’s parents, his sister and her guy) to help me soak up my time here and even explore new areas of the city. I am not the best at living in the moment, but I am determined to make the most out of every second we have left in Praha. I think I did a good job–June was absolutely packed! June was also particularly bittersweet–I was so, so excited for our visitors, but it was so, so difficult to finish out the school year and say goodbye to so many people I’ve come to love. I miss my little kindergarteners so much! Besides the sadness of the goodbyes, the end of the year is a great time to be a teacher–so many fun gifts from my students, and now it’s onto summer break!
ELEVEN MONTHS IN PRAGUE: BY THE NUMBERS
THREE EVENINGS at one of my favorite spots in Prague, the Letna Beer Garden. A view, fries and lots of good beer–what could be better?
TWO VISITS to a newly discovered restaurant in Prague that brings your drinks on a train.
TWO BEERS (or rather some kind of “nectar”) tasted in the caves–right out of the cask!–at the Pilsner Urquell factory in Plzen, Czech Republic–the best brewery tour I’ve been on!
ONE TUREEN OF WINE at another new discovery in Prague–St. Wenceslas Vineyard.
FIVE WALKS across the Charles Bridge with my parents. Somehow we kept going over that bridge!
TOO MANY goodbyes to my school students as the school year wrapped up. I will miss them so much, and miss everyone at my school. It makes me so sad to think about still!
^^one student gave me a droopy little rose that he’d been holding onto all day…I loved it!
ONE and a HALF WEEKS with my cousin!
SIX HOURS in a car on our way to Salzburg with my parents, which should have taken four…because we got stuck stuck in traffic, decided to avoid said traffic by taking “detour” that lost us another hour, all before we got a ticket…that’s travel, folks!
FOUR HOURS on a Sound of Music tour in Salzburg, fulfilling a dream of my mom’s since her childhood! The tour took us through Salzburg and into the gorgeous surrounding countryside.
ONE INCREDIBLE SUNSET in Salzburg.
THREE NIGHTS in Salzburg, staying at an amazing bed and breakfast just outside of the city.
FOURTEEN DAYS hanging out my with parents in Europe. Priceless. We visited three countries, eight towns/cities, drove about twenty hours, and saw five castles!
TWO BALCONIES with views of a castle or a fortress.
NINETY MINUTES stopping for a coffee/car break in the amazing little gem of a Bavarian town, Mittenwald.
FIVE baby swans! Swanlets?
HALF A DAY exploring the fairy tale castle with a spectacular setting, Neuschwanstein (and it’s neighbor castle, Hohenschwangau!)
THREE and a half HOURS taking our first walking tour, in Munich. I don’t know why I’ve been avoiding walking tours, they’re the best, and this Third Reich one was top-notch.
HALF A SIP from the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets fountain in Karlovy Vary.
ONE HUNDRED and FIFTY MINUTES exploring Loket and its awesome castle. So many little gems to be discovered in the Czech Republic!
COUNTLESS amazing meals enjoyed with our visitors!
^^yes I ordered a mouse shaped ice cream, because I’m six and all I want are sprinkles and cute animal-shaped things.
NINETY-NINE DEGREES on the day E’s family arrived. Is this heat wave over yet, Europe?
^^trying to escape the heat!
SIX segways rented in a dorky and completely awesome tour around Prague.
^^I’m kind of a grandma on a segway but I was able to take a few pictures without falling off, so success, right?
TWENTY-FOUR HOURS celebrating my fantastic fiancé!
See months one through ten HERE.