K&A in Prague

A marvelous confluence of low gas prices, an improving exchange rate, and a bad economy brought forth one of the best environments for cheap airfare to Europe I’ve ever seen. Not since the dawn of time when barnacles snuck free rides to Europe on the back of mammoth dino seacows has getting to Europe been this cheap and easy. (The seacows especially liked Paris in the spring but were also known to occasionally hang out in Albania before the country went crazy.)

Not to miss an opportunity, Kathryn and Antonio came for a short 11-day visit in late April. We frolicked in the fresh springtime air around central Germany – making sure to visit the Rhein – and saw most the pleasant sites of our fair city Wiesbaden (including the pastry shop below our apartment). They even bore witness to the Elizabeth’s first munchy morsels of food: sweet potatoes.

But our biggest touristic foray was a visit to Prague.

This marked my sixth time to the “City of a Hundred Spires,” as Wikipedia claims it is called, and it was no less enchanting than it’s ever been before. In fact, we had a few firsts: It was Pecos's first time wearing a muzzle. It was also his first time boarding a subway (hence the muzzle). 

It was Elizabeth's fourth country. 

It was the first time we actually went to Josefov, the old Jewish Quarter, which was actually quite quaint. And it was our first celebrity spotting in Europe. Here's a shot of Andre Royo (Bubbles from HBO's "The Wire") behind Kate. We were eating at a Mexican restaurant. 

But it was May 1 – the International Day of the Worker, something understandably important in former Soviet Bloc countries. This meant more tourists than usual came out of the woodwork. May 1 also fell on a Friday this year, meaning even more tourists. And, because that wasn’t enough tourists for us, we had beautiful sunny San Diego weather all weekend long.

So although we sightsaw (sightseed?) as a group the first day, the rest of the weekend mostly involved Kate, Elizabeth, and I hanging out in various parks around the city while Kathryn and Antonio independently excursed (the past tense of excurse … as in excursion? no?) the cobbley streets of downtown Prague.

My favorite part was when Elizabeth showed off her green thumb by “weeding” all the unnecessary flowers from the park.

And then she had to take a nap in the grass.

After Prague we drove to Nürnberg to see our friend Marc, who allowed us to park for free outside his place and gave us a tour of the castle. What are friends for if not to mooch?