Today is actually Monday, January 3rd - Spencer returned to work today and it was the last day off for the kids. They will head back to school in the morning. It is time to get back on a regular schedule! Plus, I am ready to rejoin my social life! LOL! Today, the snow came back and the kids worked hard outside to build a snowman. I took some pictures but will save them for a blog after I have finished writing about Prague - I have too many pictures from the trip to share :)
December 26 was a very snowy day in Prague! We started the morning heading out to do some wandering and a little shopping and came across a glass and crystal store that had a sign out front that advertised live glass-making demonstrations. We thought that sounded neat and since Prague is known for its crystal, art glass, and Bohemian glassware, we figured it was worth a stop. That turned out to be a neat little stop! We went back into a little room in the rear part of the store and a lady was telling us about glass-making and such and we then walk into this area with a few chairs and there was a guy making glass! It was a fairly small area so he mainly made small decorative pieces - birds, fish, etc. - although he was a glass-blower as well. The space here did not allow for large blown glass pieces to be made or cooled. Those things we were told are made in larger factories.
The lady then asked Brendan if he would like to make something and give it a try, so he went back with the man and made a piece of glass - it ended up looking something like a hershey's kiss when he was done, but what a totally neat experience! It had to cool overnight, so we were told to come back to the store the next day and we could pick it up. We, of course, did and purchased several other small items we would be able to bring home with us!
A little later that day, we were scheduled for our river cruise tour. We joined about 10 other folks and our tour guide and went aboard a small river boat where we enjoyed a dessert and beverage while our guide pointed out various sights and told us interesting facts and stories about the history of the city. We met a lovely young couple from California who were living in London for his work and chatted with them a bit too! After the cruise, the tour wasn't over! Our guide walked us through the Jewish Quarter and told us about some of the synagogues and the history of the Jewish community in Prague. Our guide told us about one of the Jewish graveyards (I included a picture) where there are foot-stones instead of headstones and once the space was full, they would add another layer on top, each time raising the foot-stones of the previous layers. Very interesting. She also told us about some very unique WWII items that had been found that are very representative of the horrors that the Jewish community faced during that time.
We then headed over to Old Town and the Astronomical Clock. I can honestly say, this was one of the coldest days overall while we were there - on this particular day, it snowed almost non-stop! After our tour ended, we headed over to one of the TGI Friday's (yes, we had scoped these out on previous days!) and proceeded to order a blissful array of "American" dishes. Spencer and I always laugh that we feel like we need to explain that we haven't had good American food in quite a while since we appear to be ordering half the menu!
After dinner, we walked back through the market area and I grabbed another one of the yummy trdlenik (or some spelling like that) which is a delicious sweet bread kind of thing and Spencer got a piece of the Prague ham he had been eye-ing and we made our way back to the hotel for the night.
I am, of course including some pictures from this day...:)
