Maryann's Musings

  We are living in the 21st century. Imagine walking on paths and in buildings that were built in the 10th century. Architecture and history that is older than the United States of America!     Tristan and I toured Vyšehrad, a historic fort that (according to local legend) was the first settlement in Prague that grew into the city itself. Very few of the structures from the Medieval Ages remain. However, the area is saturated in history, from the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV to the Hussite revolution (a very important precursor to the Reformation). It was even an Austrian army base under Hapsburg rule following the Thirty Years' War       Even if Vyšehrad wasn't so rich in history and didn't have meaningful sites, I would go just for the landscape and views. Whoever maintains the gardening and landscaping there deserves a raise. Tristan and I were very impressed!  Tristan, taking in the view A view of the Vl...

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 oth...

Our fourth day in Prague was very low key, but Tristan and I loved it. (Yes, I said fourth day, and this is part 3.  We spent our second day at Prague castle, but that was such a huge amount of stories and pictures that it is going to need some work. So, I skipped it, and you get to enjoy other days until I have it ready). This was specifically the day that Tristan's preoccupation with roses really took off. The weather had just changed from cloudy and windy to sunny fall with changing leaves and cool breezes. The roses bloomed and the trees began dressing up for their last hurrah before winter.   Roses. I spared you the majority of the pictures.     We spent the day with a dear friend who showed us around her neck of the woods in Prague. She made a point of showing us a special memorial in her neighborhood. The current inhabitants of a home had put plaques outside on the sidewalk in front of their house. It has the names of Jews who previously lived the...

   Over the last decade or so, our family has watched a lot of Christmas movies. We know the classics and the ones certain family members can watch without feeling sick. This year, I decided to take it a step further. Here is a compilation of our ultimate Christmas movie wish-list; it gets to be our watch-list! Some of these movies we have seen dozens of times. Others were recommended to us. (You'll also notice we have a thing for the Muppets).    I patterned the list to capitalize on variety. We have our 'Funny Friday' with the Santa Clause movies, and our 'Serious Sundays' with more meaningful movies, usually Christmas Carol themed.         We are especially excited to watch the new Grinch release because of Benedict Cumberbatch. Fridays in our house are Sherlock Fridays and we left off on a cliff hanger! You would not believe the patience this is going to take.  For all you How It Should Have Ended  and...

Have you heard of the Feast of Booths? It is a Biblical Jewish holiday celebrated between October 13th and October 20th. As you may have already guessed, the 15th was the very day we quite unknowingly chose to visit the famous Jewish Quarter in Prague. Even though most of the attractions were closed, that didn't stop Tristan and I from walking around and enjoying the gorgeous old buildings in the area. It's a door, Savannah!  ( Inside joke)   Since the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague was nearby, I decided that today was as good a day as any to visit. It was spectacular.  Since the museum itself is housed in a Neo-Renaissance edifice, the building and interior were almost distracting from the exhibits in each room. A stained glass window in the hall The ceiling in one of the rooms   The museum had several rooms housing glass-work from many Czech artists. Bohemian glass is famous, but I was especi...