PLZEN - NAMESTI REPUBLIKY

There are some angel heads that people who visit the town square touch for luck.

 Some local company decided to dress the angel heads in tiny, colorful hats and scarves this winter.

 I wore the same outfit as the angels...how embarrassing.

Just kidding. It's adorable.

Don't worry - nobody rubbed my head for luck.

WE MAKE THE MOUNTAIN LOOK GOOD

I probably haven't been on ski slopes for at least 10 years, but when your little "Czech brother" needs to test out his new skis because his school is taking a week long trip, you one-piece suit up!

Ivanka and I were warming up the mountain temps with our matching outfits.

 The guys didn't look too bad either.

First run on the bunny hill to boost my confidence.

Check out the Czech ski lifts in this video. It was like riding a frisbee on a stick.

I appreciate the bum tap at the end from the attendant.

I still don't know what to do with the poles when I go down the mountain so I ditched them.

Tomorrow we are going to try snowboarding in Germany.

I have a feeling that might be more my style.

All I now is we sure made that mountain look good.

Mikuláš

We were in Prague for Mikuláš this year. St. Nicholas (Mikuláš), the Angel (anděl) who represents the Good, and the Devil (čert) representing the Evil were walking the streets. 

All three characters are supposed to walk the streets, stopping children to ask if they were good in the past year. Most kids say yes and sing a song or recite a short poem and are rewarded with sweet treats handed out by the angel. Bad kids are supposed to be put in the Devil's sack and taken to hell, or would only get a sack of potatoes or coal instead of candy. They are here to scare the kids to behave better.

Sounds a little creepy, eh?! Trust me, it is...but maybe a little like our creepy Halloween traditions.

For some reason, we mostly saw the Devils roaming the streets this year. Uh oh.

MACARONS

You can take the girl away from Italy,

but you can't take the Italian cookies away from the girl's hands.

Don't. Even. Think. About. It.

I love these macarons.

ITALY Day 2 - FLORENCE

I think I have travel ADHD. I usually only need one day in a city and then I'm ready for the next. That being said, we woke up early this morning and took a high-speed train to Florence.

 My room at the hotel had THE best window to view the streets! It was perfect. I could hear accordion players below as I went to sleep.

Everything about Florence was magical.

 The gelato was scooped perfectly.

The sights were fabulous.

 The art was plentiful.

And the people were amazing.

It even had a charming bridge and everyone who really gets me should know I LOVE a good bridge!

PLASY - Czech

I discovered a place called Plasy during my last visit to the Czech Republic. I found photos of an amazing staircase on the line and decided I HAD to go see it! I drove to it in November and found out most Czech places are closed in Winter. I'm here during summer months now so I made the trip on a Monday and found out it's only open on the weekends. I couldn't let it win!

 Friday came. Three 40 minute drives later and I finally made it to go inside this Plasy church.

 I had to endure an hour long tour all in the Czech language to be able to see it. But I didn't mind because it's gorgeous!

 The interior rooms are super fancy.

Little details made it even more fab.

And then you can't forget to look up!

And finally, the staircase!

It was a beautiful day of exploring.

NEW PLACES AND NEW FACES...in GERMANY

I made a friend in Germany.

He offered to give me a free tour of the city Bayreuth so I took it!

We went to the top of some building for a view of the entire city and found a cute little German graphic design exhibit on the bottom floor.

 We walked down the town center to see the famous May Pole

and dinosaur.

We walked through the canal gardens at the new palace. Germany loves their baums!

Next, we went to the Hermitage.

 I can't imagine how long it took to get all of these stones put up, but it is seriously so gorgeous to see!

We stayed for the fountain show in the pond.

As we were leaving, I spotted the most adorable little field where people are welcome to come and pick flowers and leaves money in a bin for what they take. So cool. So I had a Mariah Carey moment and danced among the sunflowers!

 We then grabbed some food at a Bier Garden.

That's my hefty mug of German water!

The sights were nice, but my favorite moment of the day was probably when we bought pretzels and then sat on this random playground (actually just these two springy animals) to eat.

Ok ok then we had some gummibaren.

Best Pretzel ever!

Mikulás

In a few countries in Europe (the Czech republic being one), people celebrate the arrival of Mikulas. Mikulas is a version of Saint Nicholas and he comes on December 6th and leaves before Christmas.

 Micelles comes to visit children with 2 assistants: an angel who delivers presents to the good children and a devil who punishes the bad the children. 

I think the idea is to scare your children to be good.

 I was able to witness this celebration twice.

 The first was on a special tram ride for children in Plzen.

Hold on tight because the devil is driving!

The second night, we went to Prague where the costumes get a little more spooky.

Europeans are weird, but I love them.