Prague: Street Performers, Old Cars, and Fog

My top three favorite things about Prague were:

• All of the street performers all over the city, on Charles Bridge and on Castle Hill, playing instruments, singing with a boom box, and playing some fun contraption with a monkey on it
• An army of old school cars offering tours of the city - we didn't take their tours, but they were cool to look at
• Some serious fog on Castle Hill which made for some fabulous photos, but a very cold Jessika 

 Here are a few more of my favorite short stories about my time in Prague:

• Our apartment was awesome! We had a view of Castle Hill and St. Nicholas church, which happened to be our next door neighbor. Charles Bridge was only a 5-minute walk away from our apartment. 
• We toured a lot of churches, mostly in Prague but a few in Budapest too, so I became fascinated by the pulpits and the statues in them. Especially the little friar-looking one in St. Nicholas that had a lot of photos at its base. I wonder why people put photos there?
• The architecture of Prague is amazing! I just love how beautiful most of Europe is. 
• The skeleton that rang the bell on the Astronomical Clock on the hour fascinated me - more so than the apostles that passed by the windows scrutinizing everyone. Why does a skeleton ring the bell? Does it remind us we are mortal and affected by time?
• On our first night in Prague, we attended a symphony performance. About 45 minutes into the performance, they finished their piece, the audience applauded .... a lot.... and they brought flowers to the first violinist who then left. So we assumed the performance was over since everyone left the concert hall. But when we approached the doors to leave, we realized no one was leaving - they all stayed up by the concert hall to socialize and get something to drink. Ha! We were so hungry that we decided to go ahead and leave. It was probably for the best anyway since I'm sure I offended the woman next to me because I practically slept the entire time and she was very enthralled by the concert. At least, I assume she was since she sighed in ecstasy at the end of the first piece. Ha!
• Our first of many European hills to climb was Petrin Hill in Prague where we found a pretty, little, secret garden and a Eiffel Tower look alike that two of the girls ascended to take pictures, but not I. The hill was enough to climb for me. I think I've turned into a pansy. 
• I think we also saw the library that was the inspiration for Disney's Beauty and the Beast library at the Strahov Monastery. 
• Food I ate in Prague: the meal of pork, sauerkraut, and dumplings, dessert "pancakes" (which were crepes), black forest chocolate cake, and goulash

View of Castle Hill from our apartment's front door.

Looking out the window in our apartment's living room.

Jenny & Randa in the main bedroom of our apartment.

The outside of our apartment building in Malostranske Square. The two little windows on the left were our windows.

At the symphony.

Strahov Monastery behind me.

The Beauty & the Beast library in Strahov Monastery.

I just love window flower boxes (near Strahov Monastery).

Inside St. Nicholas church.

The friar-looking statue with the photos.

The pulpit in St. Nicholas.

Definitely wouldn't want this pope looking down on me. St. Nicholas.

On the start of Charles Bridge.

Looking on the canal that separates Kampa Island from Mala Strana part of Prague.

Old Town and Our Lady before Tyn church.

The Astronomical Clock on old town hall in Old Town. Notice the coverings on the windows above the clock.

Randa and me at the clock.

Now notice the windows again - this time with the apostles staring you down. And! Notice the skeleton on the right. He's ringing the bell.

View of the city from the clock tower.

View of Old Town and Our Lady before Tyn from the clock tower.

Randa, me and Melanie in Old Town.

We attended a marionette show too!

The fog! And a cool lamp post near the Castle complex.

Behind St. Vitus's Cathedral in the Castle complex.

In the Castle complex.

Way, way too cold.

One of my favorite stained glass windows in St. Vitus's Cathedral in the Castle complex.

Interior of St. Vitus's Cathedral

Pulpit in St. Vitus's

We bought crepes from this little shop that was right off the staircase down from Castle Hill to the city.

Enjoying my very large crepe.

Climbing Petrin Hill and the view of the city.

The secret garden we found at the top of Petrin Hill.

Rumor has it that if you touch the relief on this statue you will return to Prague. :)

A Visit to California

The oyster bar out on the dock at Nick's Cove

I went to California to visit my sister, Joni, and her family this past weekend. I love visiting them. Joni and I started talking from the instant I got off the plane and didn't quit until I got back on the plane. Joni and I did a little shopping, ate a ton of chocolate (including some European "sipping" chocolate that was more the consistency of the middle of a chocolate lava cake), and attended the General Relief Society Broadcast together.

The highlight of the trip was Friday when we watched the Oscar Wilde play/movie, A Good Woman, ate lunch at Nick's Cove (I had the most divine steamed clams with tomatoes, corn, and chorizo and then warm gingerbread for dessert), and trekked out to the Point Reye's lighthouse. We had quite the adventure going out to the lighthouse: some serious fog rolled in while we drove out there, we saw a beautiful, buck deer in the fog, we walked through a dripping, mini rain forest, and went up and down 300 stairs to see the lighthouse. What a lifestyle it must have been like to run that lighthouse! The fog we saw prompted us to watch the horror film, The Fog, while I was in town too.

At Nick's Cove

The deer in the mist

Hiking down to the Point Reyes lighthouse

Joni and me at the lighthouse

The Point Reyes lighthouse

The rest of the weekend was wonderfully normal with going to Ethan's tae kwon do practice, going to a movie, helping Joni's family clean the church, going to Adam's company picnic, shopping (again) in Petaluma, going to church, taking a glorious 3-hour nap on Sunday, holding family home evening, and watching a Walton's episode with them.

The dripping, mini rain forest we walked through

Joni also hooked me on tea - specifically the ginger lemon tea - if I can find it!! I've checked two stores here in Utah and no luck so far. :(

12 Hours of Sundance Race

Me, studying, and one of my teammates, Ben, in between laps.

I raced in the 12 Hours of Sundance race this weekend. This was my first time doing an endurance race. I'm so glad I was on a team with three other folks. There was a terrible and long-lasting rain storm the night before, so when I got up to Sundance at 6:00 am, they had postponed the race to see if the trails would dry out. So the race ended up being only 10 hours long - with the start time at 9:00 am and finish time at 7:00 pm.

The race is kind of a relay race - when you do it with four people on your team - so the first person does a lap, then comes in so the second person can begin his lap, then the third, and so on and you keep doing that rotation for 12 hours (or in this year's case, 10 hours). I did two laps, while my three teammates (all male teammates) did 3 laps each. My first lap wasn't bad. My second lap started out fantastic! I was feeling good - better than during my first lap - and I had a personal triumph on this lap: I made it up the steep climb on Archie's Loop!! I've never been able to climb that steep without walking my bike until now! I was so stoked. Still am.

Timpanogos sopped in the clouds

The lap continued well until it started to rain again, then the trail became slick and I wiped out on a turn. I lost my mojo after my fall and didn't ride as well for the next few miles, but I think my poor-riding might have also been due to all the wet rocks and roots and my wet/muddy tires. I finished stronger and got the same lap time as my first lap. Overall the race was really fun and my teammates were really nice and fun. Maybe I'll do it again next year if I can find some teammates that will race with me again. :)

Chicago Town

I attended a business conference in Chicago and, as is tradition now, my mom came with me! We spent the first few evenings trying fancy restaurants that my coworker, Greg, and his wife, Kris Tina, suggested ..... and we went shopping on the Magnificent Mile. I hit the jackpot at H&M! I just love that store. And I got a beautiful cream-colored, wool coat from United Colors of Benetton too.

Saturday was our day to play, and we packed it full. We took the El out to Oak Park to go on a tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright home and studio and to see the birthplace of Ernest Hemingway. It was an adventure just to get on the El. I couldn't figure out how to get the dang ticket into the machine so we could walk through! I tried a million times - I was expecting it to be like London (and I think Washington DC) where the ticket comes up on the other side of the stile so you grab it after you walk through. But it wasn't. We finally got some help from the lady in the booth. Very nice lady.

After we made it to Oak Park, we walked down their darling main street to Pot Belly's and shared a sandwich for lunch. Then we walked to the Frank Lloyd Wright home and studio and went on their tour. It was so neat. I really like his style of architecture and design. After we finished the tour, we walked down the street to look at the beautiful homes, and they were beautiful! We liked seeing some of the "bootleg" Frank Lloyd Wright homes. 

Outside of the Frank Lloyd Wright home

The studio side entrance to Frank Lloyd Wright's home

I loved these windows in between the home and studio

Maybe a bootleg Frank Lloyd Wright house?

I liked this house

Another bootleg house?

Mom and I liked these row houses

I liked this house too

The tour at the birthplace of Ernest Hemingway was fascinating too! His mom was quite the diva and had every right to be since she brought home $1,000 a month with her voice and piano lessons costing $8 per lesson - that was in the late 1800's! Can you believe that? It's almost as much as lessons cost today. Whereas, Ernest's dad was a doctor bringing home only $50 a month. Very interesting.

The birthplace of Ernest Hemingway

After the tours, we returned to downtown Chicago and did a little more sightseeing - we saw the Tiffany dome in the old Marshall Field's (now a monstrous Macy's), and we checked out some of the sights at Millenium Park. By the end of the day we walked 17,000 steps according to mom's pedometer. That fact is very important to her! Ha ha! :)

The Tiffany dome in Marshall Field's

Cloud Gate in Millennium Park

Can you see our reflection in the Cloud Gate?

A fountain in Millennium Park

Cascade: The Last Hurrah Before School Starts

School starts up again tomorrow. I'm now a second-year. Woo hoo! So to celebrate, I went to Idaho again to visit my sister, Robyn, and her husband, Doug, up at their cabin in Cascade. Mom got to tag along too.

Robyn and Mom having lunch at the art show

We had a great time! Mom and I got to the cabin about 5:00 Friday night - just in time for a super-delish dutch oven chicken cacciatore dinner with ice cream and cookies for dessert. I think we ate every meal we could out on the deck. We went on walks. We stacked wood. We rode the golf cart and four-wheeler (my dream!). We strolled through and found treasures at an art show in McCall. Visited an old ghost town called Roseberry. And paid a little visit to a waterfall. It was a fabulous weekend!

Thanks for the fun time Robyn, Doug, and Mom!

Mom and me at the art show

The General Store in Roseberry

The little church in Roseberry

On our Sunday walk

Doug and me at the waterfall

Robyn and me on the four-wheeler!

Mom, Robyn, and me on the deck of the cabin