Okay Katy, so I am about 1-2 months late on this - but it's finally here :)
Here's how to play the game. Post these rules on your blog; List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 4-6 people at the end of your blog by leaving their names.
3 Joys:
-My friends and family!
-Kurt has a saying he says to me every morning when I wake up. I can't help but start my day with a smile when I hear it.
-Watching God at work
3 Fears:
-Sushi
-Emergencies at work
-Having someone I love die, before accepting Christ
3 Obsessions:
-Chocolate and pineapple, though not necessarily together
-Cuddling with Kurt and watching movies (even if we'd seen it a hundred times before)
-Cleaning - yes, my name is Connie and I am obsessed with having a clean home... I got this from living with my brother Jim for 6 months
3 surprising facts about myself:
-Normally, it would surprise people that I hunt, operate large farm equipment, sky dive and scuba dive... but you are all well aware of those things because of this blog... :)
Prague, Czech Republic
We went to Prague for the long, holiday weekend with some friends of ours, the Fitzpatricks. Once we crossed the border, we had to stop and exchange currency. For 200 Euro, Kurt and I got over 4000 Czech crowns.... which seems like a lot of money... until you go to buy dinner and the bill comes to 800 Czech crowns for two people (which is really only equivalent to about $40 so it isn't that bad for downtown Prague... but you feel your heart sink when you hand over a 1000 crown bill!) Here I am in one of the squares:
Here is a picture of the Charles Bridge. In the movies, whenever the spies are racing through Prague, they usually are running across this bridge or racing under it in a speed boat. As you walk across, you see huge statues on all sides, artists selling their paintings and hand made jewelry and musicians playing accordions and violins. It was really pretty at night when all the oil lamps were lit up, fog rolled in off the water and there was a bad playing jazz form the 50's while people danced. I loved it!
Here is a picture of the Prague Castle. We hiked up a VERY steep hill to get there. It was dusk once we got to the top but you can stand at the gate and look out over the entire city, it was beautiful. This is where the Czech president resides and we were able to get there in time to see a changing of the guards ceremony. Very neat! 
There is a big cathedral on the palace grounds but there was a wedding party taking photos on the steps so we didn't go inside. I'm sure every bride and groom wants to have Kurt and Connie in the background with their cameras and backpacks... but we decided to start charging for that :)
Here is a picture of the Charles Bridge. In the movies, whenever the spies are racing through Prague, they usually are running across this bridge or racing under it in a speed boat. As you walk across, you see huge statues on all sides, artists selling their paintings and hand made jewelry and musicians playing accordions and violins. It was really pretty at night when all the oil lamps were lit up, fog rolled in off the water and there was a bad playing jazz form the 50's while people danced. I loved it!
Here is a picture of the Prague Castle. We hiked up a VERY steep hill to get there. It was dusk once we got to the top but you can stand at the gate and look out over the entire city, it was beautiful. This is where the Czech president resides and we were able to get there in time to see a changing of the guards ceremony. Very neat! There is a big cathedral on the palace grounds but there was a wedding party taking photos on the steps so we didn't go inside. I'm sure every bride and groom wants to have Kurt and Connie in the background with their cameras and backpacks... but we decided to start charging for that :) This is "Old Town Square" at dusk. It's bustling with people and music. It seems the life of the city only increases as the sun goes down! All the shops stay open and the restaurants all have outdoor seating with musicians playing and walking around the tables. A typical Czech dinner consists of a very tender, boneless meat (either pork or beef) on a plate covered in any number of gravies (coming from Wyoming, I only know how to make one gravy - the one for biscuits and gravy... but apparently there is a whole family of gravies!), cranberry sauce and a number of Czech dumplings (which are a very heavy, but sweet bread). You won't leave the table hungry!
Here we are on our last night in Prague. We walked down this one part of town with very narrow streets with a lot of stores. In Prague, they make a lot of wooden puppets on strings and they dress them in these beautiful costumes. They are pricey and you wouldn't exactly buy one for your 4 year old nephew... but they have theaters and you can catch many plays on any given night. They also have a big concert hall where they have on stage musicals and concerts playing on a nightly basis.
Here we are on our last night in Prague. We walked down this one part of town with very narrow streets with a lot of stores. In Prague, they make a lot of wooden puppets on strings and they dress them in these beautiful costumes. They are pricey and you wouldn't exactly buy one for your 4 year old nephew... but they have theaters and you can catch many plays on any given night. They also have a big concert hall where they have on stage musicals and concerts playing on a nightly basis.
Oktoberfest in Munich
We made it to Munich for Oktoberfest! On Friday morning, Kurt and I piled into a car with some of the nurses and doctors I work with and we made the supposed 4 hour drive (which took 6 hours due to construction). When we arrived in Munich, our hotel didn't have our reservation and they wouldn't accept our confirmation number. After 2 hours of trying to convince the manager we had rooms there and we had already paid for them, calling the US (having the manager tell us in his best english "this phone number is closed for the year"), having a bank in the US fax a copy of the transaction deposit to show that we had already paid them, etc etc... we were a little nervous. How difficult would it have been to try and find a hotel room in Munich in the middle of Oktoberfest for 6 people? Hmmm... camping in the gas station parking lot anyone? They upgraded us to a suite in attempt to apologize but only to have further complications arise from that. To make a long story short, call to confirm your reservations you make through an online site, before leaving. Thank goodness it all worked out!
Steps to a good Oktoberfest: Wake up at 5am, grab a brotchen (German bread) for breakfast at the train station, get on the subway into downtown Munich and follow all the liederhosen and drindels to the fairgrounds.
Find the tent you wish to spend the day in and note the mass of people at 7am in line! Find a back door entrance that no one else seemed to notice.
When the beer tents open at 9am and the mass of people shove you so hard against the crowd in front of you that it's a wonder anyone survives to make it into the tent, stagger your bruised and battered body inside and locate a table and sprawl across it, claiming your territory. Beer thirsty Oktoberfesters rush past you in search of an empty table. Talk about madness!
When your waitress comes to your table and asks "how many of you are there?" what she really means is "how many beers am I bringing to you?... not "what kind would you like?" or "do you want an espresso since it's 9am?" She'll fool you with her appearance too because even though she's in a drindle and probably has 5 grandkids at home, she'll come back carrying all 6 LITERS of beer... I felt very feable and weak at that moment... I notice Kurt shrank back a little too ;)
Steps to a good Oktoberfest: Wake up at 5am, grab a brotchen (German bread) for breakfast at the train station, get on the subway into downtown Munich and follow all the liederhosen and drindels to the fairgrounds.
Find the tent you wish to spend the day in and note the mass of people at 7am in line! Find a back door entrance that no one else seemed to notice. When the beer tents open at 9am and the mass of people shove you so hard against the crowd in front of you that it's a wonder anyone survives to make it into the tent, stagger your bruised and battered body inside and locate a table and sprawl across it, claiming your territory. Beer thirsty Oktoberfesters rush past you in search of an empty table. Talk about madness!When your waitress comes to your table and asks "how many of you are there?" what she really means is "how many beers am I bringing to you?... not "what kind would you like?" or "do you want an espresso since it's 9am?" She'll fool you with her appearance too because even though she's in a drindle and probably has 5 grandkids at home, she'll come back carrying all 6 LITERS of beer... I felt very feable and weak at that moment... I notice Kurt shrank back a little too ;)
After a few hours, make the wise decision to get a gigantic pretzel to get something else into your stomach...
German homes and buildings are beautiful when they deck the windows out in overflowing beds of geraniums like this... BEAUTIFUL!
After admiring the women in drindels walking past you all day, make the decision along with your friends that you should all buy one too. Don't have any logical rationale for doing so. Look in 5 different stores and return to the first one you saw (kind of like shopping for a wedding dress!) 
Wine Festival 2008
We went to the town of Bad Durkheim for this year's wine festival with one of my co-workers, Lora. If you are anything like me when it comes to wine (I get tipsy off of one glass), you have to order your wine "shorle" which means "with water". This way, you get to sample many wines of the region, as opposed to one glass.
Kurt and Lora enjoying the festival:
I used to go with my youngest brother, Geoff, on the rides that spin your cart while the whole platform spun in bigger circles at the same time. I saw this ride at the festival and got to reminicing. Kurt and Lora agreed to go on it with me... but only to regret it later. Each time around, the ride kept getting faster and faster... until the only thing I could do was stare at Lora across from me, which was the only stationary thing in sight and pray the ride would end. Kurt and Lora didn't volunteer to go on any rides with me after that . In fact, I didn't volunteer to go on any either. I guess I'm just not as young as I used to be ;) Here is Kurt and I BEFORE the ride:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)