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The Holidays in Review
January 9th, 2009
Alright so now that the holidays are over and we are solidly into January with a bit more time on our hands, I thought I’d take a second to update you all on our holidays here in Prague.
Christmas Eve:
Christmas Eve is the big Christmas holiday here in Prague – it’s when people get together with their families and have a traditional Christmas dinner (carp and potato salad) and open presents. All the stores close down and the trams run on a different schedule – it’s kind of strange how quiet the city gets on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Anyway, this Christmas Eve we spent the evening at Sir Toby’s Hostel. Our friends Carrie and Mathias own this hostel and every Christmas Eve they host a big free dinner for all the guests. This year we helped them cook and get things ready and then hung out with them during the party and helped do dishes towards the end. It was a great experience and a lot of fun. I am always so impressed with Carrie and Mathias and this made me even more so. I think it’s so thoughtful that they would host a holiday dinner for their guests who are away from their family and friends on the holiday – truly a special thing.
Christmas Day:
Bryan and I didn’t give any presents this year so Christmas morning was a bit different for us, but really enjoyable none the less. We got up and made pancakes together – but not just normal pancakes, we put star fruit and pear in our pancakes for a delightfully yummy treat. We also read together and just enjoyed each other’s company for a while.
In the afternoon we went with a few other friends to our friend’s, Craig and Sarah’s, house and we all made homemade Mexican food for a non-traditional Christmas dinner. It was delicious and colorful and very fun.
After dinner The Lord of the Rings was put on and Bryan and I left early to come home and called our parents to wish them a merry Christmas. After that we cuddled up with some hot chocolate and watched The Grinch (the original) and Santa Claus is Coming to Town – both very enjoyable.
New Years Eve:
My parents were here for New Years Eve and it also happens to be my dad’s birthday, so we spent most of the day with them. We had a lovely lunch at a little Czech restaurant and then we went to dinner with them and another couple at a vegetarian restaurant that I really like here. We had our own private room at the restaurant and enjoyed a few different courses of yummy food before walking to the river at midnight to watch the fireworks. There were tons of people out at the river and lots of fireworks going off so we had fun being a part of the crowd wishing in the New Year.
New Years Day:
On New Year’s day Bryan and I had a nice relaxing morning to ourselves and spent a good deal of time talking about the New Year and dreaming about some goals and hopes we have for 2009. In the late afternoon we went over to Craig and Sarah’s house again and enjoyed hanging out there with a few other friends for a little while.
A little before 6pm we all left Craig and Sarah’s and walked to the park down the block were there was a great view of the national fireworks display (in Prague the fireworks on New Year’s eve are just put on by whoever wants to put them on and the one’s at 6pm on New Year’s day are put on by the city). The fireworks were beautiful and we enjoyed watching with friends. It was Isaiah’s (Craig and Sarah’s son’s) first time to see fireworks so it was really fun to see his reaction.
After the fireworks we met my parents for a special birthday dinner at my dad’s favorite restaurant in Prague, La Degustation. It’s an amazing restaurant where you order one of three menu’s (that change every night) and you get a number of different courses paired with different wines and with little tastes of things in between the courses – seriously delicious!
Hope you enjoyed this little peak into our holidays here in Prague. We hope your holidays were beautiful for you and that this year is filled with hope and joy for each of you!!
Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany