Carnival Gone Bad

I know I said that I'd done my last post from Europe, but this, I could not resist! To all my American Fork locals who think the Steel Days carnival is a nightmare, and to Cortney, who witnessed the most frightening circus with me at the McKay Events Center (where the same three circus performers performed in the WHOLE show, the women wore thong leotards, and the equipment nearly killed the spectators when it crashed to the ground), you haven't seen ANYTHING yet.

Let me just start by saying that Simon and Rostya's flat has an amazing view of Prague in all directions. They have a park on one side of them and the view from the flat is beautiful because it's so green. In the middle of the park, there is what Simon, Rostya, and George called the "fairgrounds." You can see the roller coaster and the farris wheel sticking out from the trees from the flat and you can hear the music until about 1:00 am...sounds like a happening place where there is a party going on all day and all night.

WRONG.

The kids wanted to go so we set off on a beautiful ten minute walk through the park. We got to what looked like an abandoned Expo Center and could NOT figure out how to get to the "fairgrounds." There was a cafe with a lady sweeping off the outside patio and she had NO customers. This place was so empty, she looked so lonely.

So, we continued to wander around, looking for this carnival/fairground. All along we could hear the music but by this point, the fun carnival music was sounding a bit "horror film" ish. The below picture is us searching...do you see the ferris wheel?
Found it. OH MY GOSH! I'm not kidding, I have NEVER experienced anything so funny in my entire life. George and I were laughing so hard, it was hysterical. This place was an over-grown, trashy, old, and incredibly questionable fair. There was a total of about eight rides and each one had it's own ticket booth. The workers were M.I.A most of the time...check out this ride...
And if they weren't M.I.A., they were SLEEPING! I am laughing OUT LOUD as I sit here posting this. WHAT? We walked up on this roller coaster and I asked George if he was sure these rides were safe and if he was sure we should be riding it. That's when we saw this man taking a nap instead of controlling the roller coaster. Of course he was napping, there was only one other family at the fair besides us. Yep, you read right, ELEVEN people at the fair and SEVEN of them were part of our group. LOL.
He finally woke up and we rode the roller coaster. It was fun but to be honest, I'm thrilled we made it out alive.
This is actually sad. This is the home of one of the families who run the carnival. This mobile home in right across from the bumper cars...right in the middle of the park. This family had two little boys that just rode their bikes around the park all day...I wanted to take them home with me. But I didn't.
Yep, this too was part of the beautiful park. So random.
Mitchell's first carnival ride. It never would have happened in the states, no way. I asked if he was too little and the guy looked at me like I was crazy? What kind of a question is that? You're NEVER too little for a carnival ride at this carnival. Scary.
Check out the man running this ride. Yep, the one without a shirt.
Ticket booth.
Concessions. So different. Gingerbread cookies. BIG gingerbread cookies...
and squishy, fruity, looking things. No cotton candy here my friends.
Another residence.
This is the best. A Beverly Hills 90210 trailer. Awesome. And one last detail, we had to pay to use the bathroom. Not that unusual in Europe, but the lady handed me a roll of T.P. when I went in because they didn't have it in the stalls. She sat out front of the bathroom with a little card table, taking money and handing out toilet paper. Classic. An experience I'll be laughing about until the day I die.

The City of a Hundred Spires

This is the last post I will be doing from Europe...we come home on Thursday! We have been in Prague the past four days and it has been an amazing experience. The above picture is of George and Brie in front of Simon and Rostya's apartment building in Prague. Looks shady, I know, but it is actually very nice inside.
This is the elevator in the apartment building. So strange. It has no door on the inside of the elevator so as you go up all you see is wall and an occasional door when passing each floor. It reminds me of Monsters Inc.
St. Vitus Cathedral at the Prague Castle.




Mitchell eating his snack at Prague Castle :) It has been SO hot but this little guy has been such a trooper. He flirts with everyone and sits in his stroller for 6+ hours a day without making a peep. Love this boy!
Entrance to Prague Castle.
This is the view from outside the Castle...Prague is such a beautiful city.
There was something very comforting about seeing the American Embassy. It's been a while since we've seen this flag...

Charles Bridge.

The clock tower in Old Town Square.

Jewish museum.
The Old Jewish Cemetery. The oldest tombstone in this cemetery dates back from the year 1439 and burials took place until 1787. This cemetery has almost 12,000 tombstones, but the number of persons buried there is much higher. I couldn't believe how these tombstones were just packed in on top of each other. They are beautiful too and HUGE...this was one of my favorites.

Old Town Square.
What a view. You can see Prague Castle in the background...this picture was taken at one of the entrances of Charles Bridge.

We have had such a great trip. We have seen and learned so much and have experienced a taste of what George's childhood was like. It was fun to hear different memories of his childhood as we visited various places. There's still a piece of him that feels at home in Europe and it's fun to see that side of him.

Now it's home on Thursday, my sister's wedding on Friday, and moving to Atlanta on Monday.

The adventures never end :)

Monasteries, Monks, Slugs, Shrines, etc...

I just got through writing all the text for this post and it all got erased. It's late so this time around is going to be brief. The above picture is a Monastery George, Simon and I went to.
Slugs and snails. Simon told the kids he would pay them a few crowns for each one they found. They found 105 little creatures...so nasty.
This is Rostya's naked lady statue. Yes, the poor woman has slugs on her breasts. Drew wanted to give her a bikini...it's a bit too much coverage for a European woman but it was thoughtful of him :)
Walking the streets of a spa town called Marianske Lazne.
Man in a speedo in a park in Marianske Lazne. Kind of a random place to tan.
Monastery.
A monk from a different Monastery. We went to Mass there last Sunday...such a good experience for the kids.
Charming village near the Monastery.

One of the many shrines we've seen...this one looks like something from a fairytale. Love it.

More to come soon...Prague is our next stop :)

Roasting Kinder Crossiants

This is Honey, the Czech dog, who lives next door and comes over every time we roast dinner over the fire. EVERY TIME! Mitchell loves dogs and especially loves Honey because she'll take his abuse.
Here's the low down on roasting dessert in the Czech Republic. They don't have mellows or twinkies so we had to roast these...
Yep, Kinder Croissant.

What is that you ask?

Crossiants filled with cream, it's the best we could do.
They burn really easily because they have so much butter in them but if you get one golden brown...they are so DELICIOUS! Neal and Stacey, we're bringing some home for you to take on your next camping trip :)
Just had to throw this one in. The Chalupa has a total of five hammocks hanging around and the only thing better than reading or napping in them is being attacked by my kids in them. Good times.

Tree House

George and Simon worked so hard while we were at the Chalupa on this tree house.
Welcome! Come on in...

The tree house turned out AMAZING! The kids planned a party the day it got done and put a "welcome" sign on the front of it. We had dessert up there and Drew and Max are sleeping up there tonight...as they should be :)

Thanks Simon and George for all your hard work!