European Adventures - Part 4

Another low-key day in Europe? Yes, please! How about an afternoon spent with picnic lunches, boating on the Vltava River, and eating gelato ice cream?

Once again, the perfect weather called for a special day out with dear friends. We four kids had promised Aunt Amy that we would wear life jackets, then promptly forgot as soon as we walked onto the dock. The boys posted themselves as the paddlers of our petite ship (thankfully, Tristan didn't call anyone "Mr. Christian" like he normally does on mini-vessels; it's a reference to The Mutiny on Board H.M.S. Bounty). Everyone liked the boat we selected because of it's peculiar seating. It reminded us of beach chairs.

Breathtaking architecture meets God's wonderful design in nature

Posing for a group selfie taken by a so-dubbed "fake Go-Pro." One of these things is not like the other...

More than one swan swam up to our boat and expectantly floated around us. We concluded that other tourists feed them regularly.

On the Vltava River with Prague Castle in the background

Aunt Amy met up with us once we finished our adventure. Together our party crossed the illustrious Charles Bridge in search of an ice cream shop. But we weren't questing after just any ice cream shop. We were going to eat gelato.

Gelato may be the Italian word for ice cream, but the two desserts are distinct. Each uses a different ratio of milk and cream, and gelato has little to no egg. When prepared, gelato is churned more slowly than ice cream, making it more dense.

I don't know why the whole world isn't crazy about the stuff, especially because gelato is healthier. I found it smoother and tastier. While I got the impression that the gelato didn't melt as quickly as regular ice cream, I do normally live in a tropical environment and don't have a great point of reference.

Tristan chose Strawberry and Vanilla, so I went for the Chocolate and Caramel.

The day ended with fun and games (and perhaps a fun movie or two) back at our host family's lodging. I had slowly been learning the ins and outs of Yahtzee, a game I had never played before. So far, I had won twice to pros, but it turned out to be beginner's luck. We then began gearing up for our (literally) cross-country trip through the Czech Republic, Austria, and Germany. Aunt Amy took Tristan and I to the library and we checked out books to keep us occupied during the long drives. Apparently, no one in our party got car-sick while reading. Well, most of us....