3 countries, 1 day

Petr came by to say goodbye. I had to get a picture of the brothers. Jarek has bed head, and Max insisted on chewing on the coaster, but I still think its a good picture.


Once again we didn't have anything planned for the day and I wanted to do something fun. I had the great idea to have three meals in three different countries. It sounds cool right? Well, sometimes ideas just don't work out as you planned. We had already had breakfast (in the Czech Republic) when I came up with the idea so the plan was to have lunch in Polland and dinner in Slovakia.

First issue -rain. It rained for hours, and so hard we could hardly see the sights. The picture below shows Polland's flag with the EU flag, on the border.

This town was half-way in the Czech Republic and half-way in Polland. The Czech side was buzzing like a normal work day. The Poland side on the other had was very quiet. Their Polish flags eveywhere and I figured they were just really patriotic. Who knew that May 3 is Constitution Day in Polland? We found one place open that said it was a restaurant, but was really just a smoky old bar. We took one step inside and and then took a step back out. So much for lunch in Polland.

Back in the Czech Republic

We stopped in this mountain resort town and decided to have lunch. It was a really cool little town. We figured we would have dinner in Slovakia. But no one warned us that the dishes would be so large and filling. We each ordered the same dish. When it came it was humungous and we mentioned our surprise to the waitress. Her response (translated of course) "Yeah, people usually just order one and share." That would have been useful information when we were ordering. We decided we would have desert in Slovakia instead.

The sights of Slovakia, as taken from a moving vehicle. The rain is back. It's very pretty.

Max in the backseat. I love how his arm is wrapped around Clyde.

I know the above picture is blury, but I love the excitement on Max's face as he got out of the car and into the carrier. I don't think he shared my enthusiasm of visiting three countries in one day.

It was getting late by the time we got to Slovakia. Most things were closed. And an ATM took our card but didn't give us any money. So much for desert in Slovakia. In the end we went to a grocery store and bought some chocolate bars. Jarek was excited to taste the candy bar and take some home to his friends who served missions in Slovakia. We learned later that while you couldn't buy them in the Czech Republic 7 years ago when Jarek was last here, you now can. So the thrill of going all the way to Slovakia for the candy bar was a little lost.

So, in the end I had breakfast and lunch in The Czech Republic and no dinner. Not what I planned for my spontaneous day. But I did still visit three countries in one day, and I guess that is still cool.

Day of relaxing

Today was a very low-key day. We didn't have much to do so we just chilled at our favorite place on earth right now, Labuznik.

I love this picture, so serious.

Jarek is getting teeth (rather unfortunate timing if you ask me) so he loves his teething toys right now, but apparently he is too cool to hold them himself.

May Day, church and visiting friends

Today we drove just outside of the city to visit some of Jarek's friends. It was nice to see a little bit of the countryside. His friends were so nice and we loved their house. They have an open lot across the street from their house and we could buy the lot and build a house like theirs for the price of our condo. Hmmmmm............

Max playing at my feet. (Notice my slippers. You don't wear shoes in houses here -so smart- and people don't want their guests feet to get cold so they offer you slippers to wear)

Me, Jarek, Max, Zdenek, Ivana

And again, but with their son Andre instead of me.
Apparently he is some big-shot soccer player here.

Bedtime stories - The Little Mole (Krtecek). This book was a gift from Petr and Jana.

Loves for Blacky.

Maruska doing a clapping game with Max (Paci Paci Pacicky). When I was trying to find some Czech children's songs for Max I came across this clapping song. I asked Jarek about it and, just like the painted eggs, he told me that he didn't know that song and had never heard it before. So, once again I was delighted when I heard Maruska sing this song with Max. Maybe my husband didn't really grow up in the Czech republic.......

This picture is hanging in the guest room/office where we are sleeping. I just love it. It's a picture of Jarek's paternal grandparents. They look so happy and content and in love. He said they were, that his grandpa was faithful to his grandma until she died. Very sweet.

The Zoo (April 30)

Jarek has talked about wanting to go to the zoo in Ostrava since I met him. They went every summer when he was a kid and he has great memories of it. We were really excited to take Max. We invited some friends and their kids to come with us. Maruska also came. Romana was planning to come with her kids but they weren't feeling well. The day started out so nice. It was sunny and warm and we spent time getting Max covered in sunblock.

This didn't last long.

First stop was the goats. We thought Max would love the goats because he loves Blacky so much. He didn't have the same enthusiasm. I don't really understand what the difference between dogs and goats are to him but he certainly has a preference.

Me and Max next to Jiri and Jan, but he goes by Honza (which is "short" for Jan).

Thank goodness these goats were patient animals. We bought some food to win them over and lure then in so Max could pet them.

Ostrich!

Max and Maruska.

We were enjoying the sunshine and animals when suddenly a giant rain cloud filled the sky. It happened in a matter of minutes. Weird. We took cover in the hippo exhibit. We loved watching the hippos. There was a mommy, a daddy, and a baby.

The whole hippo family.

I guess I liked watching the hippos more than Max did. Max preffered to watch my camera.

But Max did love watching the fish.
He spent a lot of time trying to actually catch the fish through the glass.

We must have been in the hippo house for an hour waiting for the storm to pass, but it was only picking up in intensity. Jarek and Max were not happy.

We finally decided to give in and head back to the car. We put the cover of Max in his stroller. He loved being the boy in the bubble.....for a while.

And then the thrill wore off. Poor kid.

We were wet, cold, and disappointed when we got home. Max took a bath in the big tub to warm up. That was pretty cute to see, cuter than anything we would have seen at the zoo anyway.