After two weeks in the USA and a long weekend in Prague, we’re back in London and getting settled for the holidays. Last night we bought a little Charlie Brown Christmas tree. It’s only 5ft tall, but it’s perfect for our flat. Caitie hung the lights and did a masterful job of dressing it up with all the proper decorations. It’s a goofy little thing, but perfect in its own way. We bought Huckleberry his first ornaments: a snowman, a Mark’s & Spencer’s snowflake ball, and a little trumpet playing soldier.
This weekend we’re headed to the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. We’ll sip hot-chocolate and wander the markets in search of some more holiday knick-knacks we can collect for Huck.
Our Christmas plans are simple: We’ll spend Christmas Eve with friends, attend a midnight mass, and then on Christmas morning we’ll sleep in, open presents and make ourselves a little feast with inspiration from both families: pumpkin pie a la Dudley, flapjacks a la Tommy R (no, we won’t eat the pie and pancakes at the same time). Also on the menu: Ham, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberries and a jello mold shaped like a giant reindeer. Okay, no jello mold.
On Boxing Day I’m taking Caitie to see the play “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” at the Royal Haymarket Theater. It’s her favorite movie of all time, so hopefully the play lives up to expectation. On New Year’s day we’ll take the train from King’s Cross to Waverly Station in Edinburgh, where we’ll spend the first days of the New Year with our friends Liz and Jeremy in Scotland. So yeah, we’re really excited about the holidays, but we’ll definitely miss our families. Big hugs to all the munchkins. I hope Santa brings them everything they want!
The Prague trip was invigorating. We simply couldn’t get enough of the place. We stayed at the Hotel Ametyst in New Town, which was conveniently only two stops away from the city center on the underground. We explored Old Town in all its medieval splendor, toured the Castle, shopped the winter market in Wenceslaus Square, experienced the view from Vysehrad, stared stupefied at the magnificence that is St. Vitus Cathedral, immersed ourselves entirely in the new age ambience of the Kafka Museum, and wandered slowly across Charles Bridge soaking up over 600 years of history.
We also enjoyed the food. One night we dined in a restaurant called Peklo (the Czech word for HELL) which is in the catacombs beneath the Strahov Monastery. It used to be a wine cellar dating back to the 14th century. Now it’s a restaurant where tourists like Caitie and I can go for some hearty portions of Beef Goulash and Lamb Shank. Bonus points for the live jazz duo that struck up playing midway through our meal. Definitely recommend to any fellow travellers heading to Prague.
We also recommend these things called Trdlenik – “a sweet dough rope wrapped around a metal bar, which is spun over a flame until golden, then dipped in cinnamon and sugar”. They’re basically hot donuts and they taste like heaven. If you go to Prague, you must eat Trdlenik. Here are some photos from the trip:
St Vitus Catherdal:
Caitie eating the Trdlenik:
Dinner at Peklo:
Old Town Square:
Charles Bridge:
Caitie posing by the posters:
View from Vysehrad
And of course we had an amazing time visiting family back in the USA. It was great to see all the babies, and it was fun to see everyone make such a fuss over Caitie and her pregnant belly. Thanks to everyone for all the gifts. We had to buy a “mammoth-size” duffle bag to get all Huck’s clothes and toys back to the UK. He will no doubt be a well dressed (and well loved) little boy. Speaking of which: The last ultrasound went really well and the doctors say he’s growing perfectly. He was really active (again) during the scan. I think he knows he’s on stage and is hamming it up for us. He was in about fifteen different positions in twenty minutes, and the doctors were laughing because they kept on having to freeze frame images to measure his head and heart and kidneys, and then when they unfroze the image, he was turned upside down or sideways or any way but the one way they needed. My prediction: the kid is going to be an absolute hyper maniac. I can’t wait to cause trouble with him. Here's the best photo we got from the scan:
Old Town Square:
Charles Bridge:
Caitie posing by the posters:
View from Vysehrad
And of course we had an amazing time visiting family back in the USA. It was great to see all the babies, and it was fun to see everyone make such a fuss over Caitie and her pregnant belly. Thanks to everyone for all the gifts. We had to buy a “mammoth-size” duffle bag to get all Huck’s clothes and toys back to the UK. He will no doubt be a well dressed (and well loved) little boy. Speaking of which: The last ultrasound went really well and the doctors say he’s growing perfectly. He was really active (again) during the scan. I think he knows he’s on stage and is hamming it up for us. He was in about fifteen different positions in twenty minutes, and the doctors were laughing because they kept on having to freeze frame images to measure his head and heart and kidneys, and then when they unfroze the image, he was turned upside down or sideways or any way but the one way they needed. My prediction: the kid is going to be an absolute hyper maniac. I can’t wait to cause trouble with him. Here's the best photo we got from the scan:
Happy holidays to everyone back home. Drink some eggnog for us!
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