phew! on to praha and dresden

wow. vienna was long. i'll try to contain myself a little more. now no one will read it. haha. 

i showed mom and dad around

 prague. the city and it's charm haven't gotten old yet. this was my third time there. 

mom and

 dad's favorite stories from the trip include the 2 times i got them lost - one time, we just went out of the way for like half an hour. the other time. we got on a tram to nowheresville. literally. it was the 18 that 

we got on. we all saw it. and the 8 didn't come to that tram stop. but it did on this night when i was you know, reassuring mom and dad that their little girl was safe and sound on her own in the big scary continent across the ocean. so a 30 minute ride to nowheresville, a frantic call to frank and then gina, broken czech i couldn't understand and 30 minute wait later, we were back on the tram headed the exact path we had just come - just parallel - down to the proper tram and another 30 minute ride home. WHAT?! trams in prague are retarded. and it was not my fault. i swear. it was funny though. 

new years eve we toured the city more, enjoyed a starbucks w/ bean and cat.

 mom and dad went off to find a hotel for the next week and bean and i went to the flat, showered and headed back out into the tundra which is the czech (did i mention this vacat

ion was the coldest i have ever been in my life? there were times i had on 2 scarves. there were times i wanted to take the wind and slap it and tell it to knock it off. there were times i whimpered bc it was so cold. i would bury myself in layers and puff and scarves and hats and still be hating my life.) to try to find somewhere to dance - shocker - lyd and bean dance? neh. so we found somewhere. with a long line. but didn't want to miss the fireworks, so after a 30 minute line, we hopped the fence

 and rushed onto charles bridge - aka - mosh pit. and people were humming the white stripes - 7 nation army - yeah, we didn't get it either. and we moshed. bc the people move like a current and you just go with the flow. and giggle. at midnight i got hugs and kisses on the cheek from strangers. and saw fireworks. on the charles bridge. in prague. and ran into cat again. so we took pictures and giggled some more bc it was 2009. and were going to dance - but it was stupid expensive so we started to walk around - you know - bc everyone was out and so excited about it being the new year and all - but the cold was eating gina's feet off, so we darted in the fir

st cafe we found, had a beer, then went home. found frank, aaron and britt there and hung out for a bit and slept. 

next day - dresden - 

much more baroque than gothic. pretty awesome. saw, ya know, more good architecture. had coffee and pastries w/ mom and dad. saw a chinese art exhibit comparing european kingdoms in the 1700s to the chinese empire. headed to herrnhut. i'm not even going to blog about the catastrophe

 which was getting to herrnhut. bc it really wasn't a catastrophe - moreso just my irresponsibility of leaving my phone charger in prague and not being clear enough w/ lizzy burkhard about our plans. but we got there safe and sound. mom loves that story though. and loves to point out that i HATE asking questions and looking like a tourist. it's all the dang stigmas attached to stupid loud americankas that i steer as far away from as i can. i'll ask questions if so necessary, but i hate it and would rather be lost and in circles for a bit then run up to people like mom "ENGLISH?" she drawls out in her cute sou

thern accent that i tried to put behind me several years ago "ENGLISH? WE ARE AMERICAN - WE KNOW NOTHING - ENGLISH?" i will give her props though - we got more accomplished i'm sure with her being like that and arrived at destinations in germa

ny. it would have taken a lot longer w/ me and my pride in the way.

herrnhut is adorable and we had really yummy pizza. you know the shepherds and our pizza. and we walked around and dad got his fill of all the zinzendorf things - the guy that started a massive movement of prayer and a revolution of sorts. i got my fill of lizzy burkhard. and got to see raeann and ellis. all delightful. and we talked more about thailand since raeann and i had both been and we kind of compared experiences a little bit and that was awesome. bc i hadn't talked about it in a long time. and i miss talking about it. bc talking about it stirs things in my heart that can get buried in the day to day jargon of life. thailand was super impactful and i hope i never never forget the things i learned and experienced there. so i stayed w/ lizzy that night - parents were at the ywam place and the next day we drove through candyland headed back toward ostrava. 

it had been snowing for a couple of days and it had snowed an immense amount in the part of germany and czech that we were going through. like the forest had been dipped into white icing and was set against a cotton candy sky. and then there were the trees for those who don't have such a sweet-tooth - the ones dusted on top with powdered sugar. it was mucho mucho bonita. i didn't even read. 2 hours of staring out of the window, smiling, at how creative creation actually is. if you don't see God in the mountains and forests, then my friend, something is so wrong w/ you.

back to prague then on a train to ostrava. showed mom and dad around town. started teaching again. they left wed. it was delightful for them to see and experience my world. and to travel together. they travel a lot. but i hope these travels were special and all that. they got to meet some of my ostrava lovelies. they got to stay in my flight. i got to talk to them about europe and books and all their silly habits that they make fun of each other for. i am very very appreciative that they took all the time and effort and money to come here. and they got me new boots and jeans bc mine are all getting holey :) k. now that holiday is blogged about.