April 6: Coming home

We started our return journey at 1 a.m. (European Central time) on Saturday morning and arrived home at 7 p.m. (B.C. time). We drove from Prague to Munich through the night and stopped twice to sleep for an hour both times. When we arrived at the airport, we were already exhausted and the journey was just beginning. We arrived early and returned the car without a problem and then went to check in. Check-in was easy and we even had enough time to be able to eat breakfast before our departure for our first flight.

Munich to Frankfurt was less than an hour and an easy flight but we knew the long one was coming. We had to run through the Frankfurt Airport to make our connection and it felt like our departing flight was on the complete other side of the airport. We made it through security and, although they were waiting for us at the gate, we made it just in time. 

The Frankfurt to Vancouver flight was 10 hours 10 minutes long and it seem to go on forever. I was so thankful to get off of that plane. The flight attendants were very nice and kept us comfortable and well-fed but sitting on a plane for ten hours really can't be that enjoyable. Vancouver was a welcome arrival! 

In Vancouver we had plenty of time to enjoy a good meal, charge our phones and get re-connected with the world! Turning off airplane mode on my cell. phone after two weeks was great! Also, returning to Canada where free wifi is common was nice, too. 

I fell asleep waiting for the flight to Comox and the short flight was really nice after such a long one. Arriving in the airport was great; our bags were there very quickly and we were on our way home! 

Although it was an amazing trip and I could have explored Europe for another year, it is also nice to be home. The trip was an experience I will never forget. All of the little things come together to make an entire experience  The stressful times, the exciting times, the scary times (like on crazy roads), the times when I felt so lucky to be experiencing what I was and all of the amazing people we continued to encounter made for an experience that cannot be forgotten. The details of what we did each and every day may be forgotten in the future (although I can always refer to this blog) but the overall sense, emotions and feelings, as well as the incredible memories, will not be forgotten. 

April 5: Czech Republic

This morning we said goodbye to our hotel in Berlin too early for both of our liking. Then we got in the car and headed toward Bílina, Czech Republic where the Canadian Explorers were playing in a tournament. We arrived in Bílina with no clue of where the hockey arena was. Mom went into a bakery to ask for directions and ended up receiving them from a ten year old Czech boy who did not speak any English (but we got there!). She also turned off all of the lights in the bakery on her way out but that's another story.

The arena was quite nice and we were happy to see that they were only five minutes into the first period when we arrived. The boys played well and won 5 -1 against a Russian team. After the game in Bílina, the bus headed back to the hotel in Most (ten minutes away) and Mom and I followed in the car. We were able to eat lunch with Dad and Matthias which was really nice. It was the birthday of one of the team members so there was a cake (that his mom bought at a bakery) and we all sang to him. After lunch, the team members who wanted to go shopping headed to the mall, so again we followed the bus. At the mall, there were these hilarious large toy animals (horses, zebras, unicorns, etc.) that you could rent for ten minutes and ride around on in the mall. They were on wheels and you pushed them by bouncing up and down. Anyway, most of the members of the team rented one at one point or another (including Matthias); I couldn't get over how ridiculous but fantastic these toys were! We finished at the mall around 4:30 and headed to the arena in Most (same tournament) for the skills competition and opening ceremonies.

Once at the arena, we discovered that they were behind schedule (as has happened a lot) and so we (Mom and I) didn't stay for very long. We said our goodbyes and gave good wishes to all of the team members and their families as well as to Dad (who will come home early Monday morning in time for work) and to Matthias (who will return Monday evening). Then Mom and I were on our way to Prague!

We drove just over an hour to Prague. During our drive, the GPS took us on a country road to avoid traffic which was fun as we got to go through some small villages, which were very different from those in Germany and Austria; it was interesting as well as passing the many farm areas. When we first arrived in Prague I was so amazed with the beautiful architecture of the city. One of the first things you see is the National Museum  which looks like a castle. The building is stunning! Driving on the streets of Prague we got to see so much, from the cobblestone bridges overlooking the river to the many old buildings on the crowded streets of the downtown core. We were driving around searching for the Prague castle for a very long time and we got very lost. It was the first time we got directions (as we couldn't use the GPS (we didn't have an address) that we weren't able to use - pretty good for two weeks in Europe. All of this driving and being lost lead to us seeing a lot of Prague, many different streets and bridges and amazing buildings. The history that is in this city is wonderful. Another thing that happened while we were driving around was driving directly into the walking area, or Pesi Zona. The police were very nice, though, and let us turn around and exit the area, which was a big relief.

Finally, we decided that we would just find a parkade so that we could explore the Pesi Zona (this time on foot) and hopefully see the castle later, as it was dark out by this time. We did finally find something and got a parking spot and headed out onto the streets of Prague. The people, the stands, the shops and the buildings were indescribable; I really loved the Prague experience. With me not having much interest in Czech food, we ate at a T.G.I. Friday`s (an American chain that we had never eaten at so we decided to try that). It was fun to be in there because, on the streets everything is in Czech, but in there, just a step away, everything is in English and an NHL game was on TV. We walked around until about midnight when we picked up our car and went on the lookout for the castle again.

Although the castle is a huge tourist destination, there are barely any signs and the only directions local people can give you are for the subway. We never did get to the point of being right in front of it; you can't really though as you have to walk up to it. The only times we saw it were in the distance - but it was beautiful in the distance. As it was already 1 a.m., we decided that we would have to look up pictures online (and visit it on a future trip to Europe) and got in the car to head to the airport.

The pictures aren't that great for today because some were taken from the car and my camera doesn't take very good pictures at night when there are lights but here they are regardless...

 Matthias riding one of the toys in the mall - we should have these here! 

 Matthias and friends! 

 The only photo of our family together in Europe.

On to the pictures from Prague (please ignore the poor quality)...

Prague was an amazing place to visit and I recommend it to anyone going to Europe. I loved our night in Prague; it was special to see at night, too, because of all of the lights and excitement. It was another amazing place to see - what a great way to end our trip!

April 4: Berlin, Germany

We decided that we just had to see Berlin while we were here in Europe so we checked out of our hotel early and drove seven hours to arrive here mid-afternoon. First we checked into our hotel, which is very nice, and then we got on the subway to head to Alexanderplatz where we were hoping to find a city bus tour. Figuring out which subway track we needed to be on was the first challenge but with some time spent looking at the map and the help of some nice people, we got on the U8 to Alexanderplatz (a large main square in the middle of Berlin). The subway was a great ride and much faster than driving our car and there was even a clarinet-accordion duet who played while we were riding on the subway.

Upon arriving in Alexanderplatz, we ran around, going a little crazy, trying to find the bus tour. We knew that we had to be quick or we would miss the last trip. By luck we walked out of Alexanderplatz onto the right street and were able to quickly board (the last trip) of one of the many tour buses. On our city bus tour, we visited many of the most famous sites of Berlin including the Brandenburger Tor, the Hauptbahnhof, the Reichstag, the Aquarium, the famous Unter den Linden street, the Berliner Dom, the Spree River and others.  We ended up on Kurfurstendamm or Kudamm as it is commonly called, the biggest shopping street in Berlin. There were so many people on that street and there was such a high-paced energy; I really felt like I was right in the big city.

We returned to our hotel by subway (this time on the U9). The subway was much fuller on the return trip and there were no performers but it got us where we needed to go. We went to "Ristorante Sara", right next to our hotel where we really enjoyed our meal. I am blown away by the prices in most restaurants here - I had a large plate of yummy spaghetti (I couldn't even finish it) tonight and it was only 4,60 Euro or about six Canadian dollars.

 The Jewish Memorial 

 Brandenburg Gate 

 Jewish Memorial 

 Bundestag (the parliament building)

 An old palace that is now the president's home 

 The Victory Tower 

 The Euromall 

The Parliament (again) 

Now we are in our hotel and will go to bed shortly. Although I could spend the next two weeks exploring Berlin and would enjoy every second, I am still really glad that I got to come here during my trip and see some of the famous landmarks of what used to be part of East Germany. Albeit the short time frame, Berlin has been absolutely amazing and I am very excited to watch the hockey tomorrow and to go to Prague!!

Hockey Update: The Canadian Explorers and their chaperones toured around Prague today, then played another exhibition game just outside of Prague this evening. They won 5-0 and tomorrow will start their final tournament in Most.

April 3: Liechtenstein and the Bodensee

Today we drove an entire country! We left Oberstaufen in the morning planning to drive directly to Liechtenstein but ran into some problems when we encountered that to go there we would need to drive through Switzerland, which would be nice to visit but only has a one year vignette available and we didn't want to purchase one (approximately $50) just for an afternoon. We ended up stopping in a town called Kolbach, in what we thought to be Germany but was actually in Austria (there are so many borders in this part of Europe and there is rarely any indication of which country you are in). In Kolbach, we spoke to a very nice gas station worker who gave us directions straight down to the road to Liechtenstein - without passing through Switzerland!

Although it may have been a complicated start to our day's journey, once we passed the "Welcome to Liechtenstein" sign, we were very happy to be there. We drove to Vaduz, the capital city, where there is a castle that the prince currently resides in as well as a nice area with lots of tourist shops and cafes. Liechtenstein seems like a very nice country - so nice in fact, that if you would like to become a citizen, it would take about 35 years to do so. Another interesting bit we learned from the friendly young woman at the information centre is that on your 18th birthday, you are invited to the castle to meet and have champagne with the prince. While in Liechtenstein, we visited the postage stamp museum, a small art exhibit and the prince's castle. All of the people we encountered in Liechtenstein were so friendly; it seems like a very nice place to live. I even got to use some French with the woman at the art exhibition as it was her first language.

After driving to the western border of Liechtenstein and driving back into Austria, we headed to Meersburg, Germany which is a small tourist town on Lake Constance, where we had dinner at an Italian restaurant and went to the new castle as well as the old castle. Both were very beautiful and I really enjoyed standing on the balcony of the new castle looking out onto the vast and pretty lake. We wish the clouds would have cleared, but despite this, still really enjoyed our short visit.

After Meersburg, we continued down the Bundesstrasse to Lindau, also on the Bodensee, where we ended up going to a shopping centre. After our shopping, we found a restaurant (after much searching) to finally have one of the fancy desserts that we have been seeing everywhere. Filled with yummy food and the photos and memories from another good day, we returned to our hotel in Oberstaufen which we will say goodbye to early tomorrow morning as we depart for the long drive to Berlin.

Hockey Update: The Canadian Explorers played an exhibition game in the Czech Republic today and won 4-3. They also got to do some touring of a castle and a UNESCO protected village!