Monday, June 27, 2011

The Motherland with my Mother

Hey all!  Ok, so with true Des fashion, this post is coming a tad late.  I mean only a month behind.  Better late than never.

At the end of May, right when I was finishing up the last of my exams and projects, my mom and her friend came to visit me!  Mom and Lori were flying in to Bilbao (a city about 2 hours away from Pamplona) and they were just going to call me from their hotel in Pamplona when they made it.  I decided to go and surprise them at the airport.  I said it was all to surprise them, but in reality I just couldn't wait any longer to see them!  I couldn't go into bag claim, but I waited behind this glass window a floor above them.  I stood their waving like an idiot, until they finally saw me.  I can't even describe my feelings when I finally got to hug my mom after 5 months.

The first night they even got to meet a majority of my friends here at a going away dinner for a few of the girls!  The next few days in Spain we visited San Sabastian, where there is a gorgeous beach, and Olite, where there is a castle.  I think that both Lori and Mom enjoyed the mini day trips.  However, I could tell that they were both shocked from the amount of walking!

After experiencing Pamplona for a while, we headed back to Bilbao.  We had a flight for 6 am the next morning to Prague, Czech Republic.  My family, as well as Lori's family, have Czech heritage so it was a trip that hit close to home for all of us.  Whether Lori and I were piecing together what Czech we did know to talk to locals or walking around the city taking in the sights,  there was barely any down time.  I absolutely fell in LOVE with Prague.  And a trip with my mom couldn't have been more perfect.  Carly, my friend from Pamplona, also came with us.  Needless to say there was NEVER a dull moment. 

We did a sightseeing bus tour one day.  I really enjoyed this, because we also got to do a tour of the Prague castle, which is the biggest castle complex in the world!  We also took a day trip to the Moser Czech Crystal factory.  It was so neat to see how crystal objects were made!  The pieces were so beautiful, and I never imagined that so much work would go into every single piece!  We also did a day trip to Terezin to the concentration camp.  It was very interesting, but so sad.  Actually being inside a concentration camp goes beyond what any book or movie can portray.  We also did a dinner night cruise to see Prague at night.  Our days were filled with so many activities, that the trip went by far too quickly.

 The famous "Flower Puppy" at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.  This was just the beginning to our trip!

 The Prague castle during our bus tour.

 Lori, Mom, and Naile, our favorite Irishman.  He was the manager/owner of the bus tour company.  When we ran into him later that night, he proceeded to buy round after round for us :)  Between our night with Naile and a night with Absinthe shots, Prague's nightlife was definitely an experience!

 Part of the view during our dinner boat cruise.

 Camp Terezin
 Carly and I on St. Charles Bridge

Mom and I in the center of the Old Town.


Being in Prague was like being back home.  I am from Prague, Nebraska.  Mom and Lori never failed to give a stranger one of our hometown's postcards to prove that we were really from Prague, too. haha.  Between the food, language, and just the familiar last names really was like a taste of home for me.  It made me realize that I will actually be home in Prague (the one in NE, of course)  in just a few short weeks.  It's such a bittersweet feeling. 

Thanks for reading! :)
 

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