4 Countires in 8 days!!!!

On Friday, I left school at 11, took the bus to the Vienna airport, waited for a hour and a half and then watched my parents walk through the big doors, on their first trip to Europe. They stayed for two weeks and it was an amazingly wonderful time.

Days 1 & 2
Friday evening, we went out to dinner at our favorite restaurant, "The Meat Place." (Not it's real name, just what we call it because of the Ribs and Wings Platter they serve with BBQ sauce.) I had told my parents they could not go to bed until 9, but by 7:30 mom could barely walk, so we headed home. They unpacked a few suitcases before crawling into bed at a quarter to 9.
The next morning, we got up and headed off on the train to Vienna. Once there, we went to the Belvadere Palace. It is really magnificent with two huge palaces and gardens between the two and a huge private garden beyond. As it was too cold and wintery for the gardens, we toured the inside of the palace and were equally as impressed with the art inside. It was a very impressive palace with huge rooms, painted ceilings and all the other things that make palaces imposing places.
We then went to the shopping district, had some schnitzel, saw St. Stephens cathedral, and my favorite, the break dancers. Mom found a really cute knit hat for Hannah. We walked and walked, and saw many big impressive buildings. Unfortunately, I am not up on my Viennese architecture or history, so I wasn't very helpful with naming the buildings or the importance of them, but it was still fun to just wander around and see the beauty.

Day 3
I took my parents to church with me which was very special for me. Dad greeted everyone in English and so got himself introduced to the church by the pastor. A lady sitting in front of us offered to translate for us. Afterwards we went out to church with the D'Ettorres, the family that also teaches at my school. We walked around town for a while as it was a nice day and then headed back to relax and pack for our next adventure.

Days 4 & 5
On Monday, we left early for our 8 hour train ride to Cesky Krumlov. According to the schedule, we would first go to Vienna where we would switch train stations to catch our next train. (Check. Smooth and easy.) Second, we would go to the border town of Austria and Czech. (Check. Smooth and easy, even had time for lunch while we waited for our third and final train.) A little tiny, one car train pulled up and was sitting on the track we were leaving from, but I didn't think it was ours. However, turns out it was. The conductor told us that we would have to get off at the next stop however. (A little about Europe, you don't get told why, you just get told what to do, if you are lucky). Our conductor and engineer got off the train and followed us onto another train, where we were again told to get off at the next stop. Only this time, waiting for us was a bus. I was actually glad for the bus as it wound through this picturesque Czech countryside, full of old houses, farms, and animals. Finally, we arrived at yet another train, which our first engineer and conductor got on and this train took us all the way to Cesky Krumlov - and amazingly enough, we were on time. Once there, we went to our pension and met Michal, who told us where to go for dinner. It was a superb recommendation, with huge portions and wonderful atmosphere, and we had the whole place to ourselves. The next day we wandered around Cesky Krumlov, went to the castle, tried to find a hardware store, and just enjoyed the beauty of the area. Cesky Krumlov is an idyllic little town. What you imagine when you think of European towns. Like a postcard. Add this to your list of places to go when I go to Europe. And in the summer, it has rafting and bike riding.
We sadly said goodbye to Cesky and headed out to Praha.

Days 6 & 7
Praha (Prague) is the Slovaks favorite place. And with good reason, although I will always be partial to Bratislava myself. We arrived in Prague and found a cute restaurant, bicycle themed to have dinner at. Afterwards, we walked over the Charles Bridge, as it is beautiful to see the city all lit up at night. The next day, we headed over the bridge again and spent the day wandering through the castle district. We arrived at the front of the castle at a quarter to eleven, so we decided to hang around for a few minutes and watch the changing of the guard. Mom and Dad wanted a picture with the Castle Guards, so we went to the gate and had our picture taken. As we were standing looking at how stoic the guards were, never smiling, we noticed a group of girls, who were trying to get their picture taken with the guards also. They were being crazy, trying to touch the guard, so he took the butt of his gun and slammed it on the ground, causing everyone to look. I had never seen the guards do this (or anything) before, so we kept watching. The girls were not discouraged, but kept at their antics. The guard again slammed down his gun. Again the girls did not get the hint and kept trying, so the guard one more time slammed down his gun, but this time spoke in Czech while doing it, and both he and his partner stepped back into their little guard houses. We started listening to a tour guide who was explaining to her group that this was very unusual and that we would probably see some action. Strangely, the girls had not taken this retreat as a clue that they had overstepped their bounds and should leave, but continued to hang around, still wanting to get their picture. In two minutes three more guards came, talked to the guard who the girls were pestering, and marched up to the girls and told them that their behavior was not appropriate and that they would have to leave immediately. They did, and within a few minutes, the guards came back out and it was back to normal. After wandering around the castle for a few hours, we headed into the old town. We took in the astrological clock and had fun just wondering through one of Europe's oldest and most unique cities. The next day we traveled to the old castle, just down the river from the newer Prague castle. I really like the old castle as it seems more out of the way, has less tourists (and more Czechs), is less touristy, has an old cemetery and is just a great place to stroll and enjoy a few hours at a slower pace. We wandered up and down and all around Prague, soaking up all the culture. We took a train back to Bratislava later that evening and were able to enjoy a good night of sleep at home.

Days 8 & 9
After sleeping in some, changing dirty clothes for fresh ones, we headed off to the last of our countries, Hungary. We arrived in Budapest to a cloudy, slightly drizzly afternoon. We went to my friends, the Ballentyne's, house and dropped off stuff before heading off to the castle. We walked down Andrassy Ut, the most famous Hungarian street, a wide avenue with trees lining either side. We walked all the way down this street, stopping to admire the opera house and national bank, then on to the chain bridge, with its stoic lions guarding the way to Castle Hill. We strolled across the bridge, and hiked up to the castle. We wandered around the castle, and all around, leaving only when it started to rain. We enjoyed dinner at a nice restaurant with Susan and David. The next day, we went to the indoor market where Dad found a wallet and we enjoyed some yummy Hungarian sweets and Mom got some authentic Hungarian paprika. We walked down the shopping street and when we got caught in the rain yet again, decided to call it quits and head back to Bratislava. We made it to the train station in time to catch the 3 o'clock train, only to sit on the train in the station for 2 hours. A Greek man informed us (and the rest of the train) that there was a tree on the tracks and they were working on removing it. When we finally did get going, it was stop and go for an hour. Mom and I went to the dining car to get some tea and the waiter didn't speak much English (so incredibly, my Slovak was better than his English). We played cards and enjoyed riding in a train (the last train trip for Mom and Dad). We arrived home much later than we expected, but safe and sound.

Days 10 - 14
Sunday we slept in and had a lazy day wandering around Bratislava. Karin and Becky made a yummy dinner and we played cards and talked and laughed and had a great time. It was fun for me to have my parents get to know my new "family" here. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, we headed off to school. My students thoroughly enjoyed questioning my parents, asking them everything they could think of to ask in English (favorite everything). On Tuesday and Wednesday, I put my parents to work. On both mornings, my dad did openings, for 4th and 6th graders, which is kind of like a 15 minute devotional/discussion time. He talked about running the race well. On Tuesday, my mom shared a writing game with my 6th graders that is a favorite with her students. On Wednesday, we made insects out of wire, which Dad was wonderful at assisting with. Later on Wednesday, we played Apples to Apples (my favorite game to play with English language learners. Thursday morning, it was a bright and early taxi ride to the bus station and a bus ride to the Vienna airport. Everything went very smoothly and after a tearful (and quick - I can't take the long goodbyes), I headed back to Bratislava.

It was amazing and kind of unbelievable to have my parents here. This side of the world and time of life for me is so far removed in so many ways from my life back in California that when the two collide, it is a little strange. Wonderful, but strange. It was so great to get hugs from Mom and Dad, to catch up on all the little things in their lives and to get so many treats from home. To all of you, if you would like to come for a visit, I love to play hostess and tour guide, so just let me know when you want to come!

Central Europe in a Week... Almost