Pilsen Liberation Fest

Every year in Pilsen, Czech Republic there is a liberation fest.  It celebrates the liberation of Pilsen by the soldiers of the 2nd Cavalry during WWII.  To learn more about the yearly fest check out this link http://www.liberationfestival.com/ .   Since this is Shayne's unit we decided to go with a group of friends.  It's a quick hour and a half drive from our house to Pilsen.  Pilsen is also the home to the famous Pilsner Urquell brewery so its guaranteed good drinks!  We picked up Mike and Lena Saturday morning in Weiden and then headed on our way to Czech!  After checking into our hotel we stopped by the Pilsner Urquell brewery to see if there was anything going on there.  They had a small band playing and some people hanging around but we decided to make our way into the city center to see what else was going on.  Pilsen is a relatively small city and very walkable so to was easy to get around from our hotel without having to drive anywhere.  As we got close we saw some static displays set up reenacting war time conditions.  There was a British WWI camp set up as well as an Afghanistan camp trying to display the current conditions.  As we headed further into the city we found lots of people dressed in US military gear.  The uniforms they were wearing were from many different decades.  They all seemed so excited to be wearing them and to celebrate the liberation day.  It was really cool to see how much of an impact US troops made on this city.  We enjoyed some beers and walked around for a while.  When we were in the main city platz there was a ceremony that began.  They were awarding a scholarship in George S. Patton's name and this was the first year that someone from the Czech Republic had won so it was a pretty big deal to them.  When they were announcing the names of the distinguished guests we heard them say that one of Patton's grandsons were there for ceremony.  For my armor officer husband this was pretty cool.  After watching the ceremony we continued to walk around and then ended up over by the side of the stage where everyone was standing.  We decided we were going to try to talk to Mr. Waters, Patton's grandson.  So after following him around from person to person for a little bit we finally got up to him.  When Shayne introduced himself and told him that he was part of the 2nd Cavalry and he gave Shayne a coin!  Coins are really popular in the military as a token of appreciation and recognition.  Shayne has a collection of coins already from different things he has done, but this is by far the most unique one he ever received.  He even got to take a picture with him.

After that we tried to find a spot to watch the incoming parade.  There were lots of old military vehicles driving into the main platz with veterans riding inside.  

It was so wonderful to see the veterans who had made such an impact in this cities' history coming back for his weekend celebration.  Unfortunately, the number of veterans that are able to make the trip each year dwindles but seeing the dedication of the ones who still do make the cross continental trip is heart warming.  After we looked at some of the vehicles it started to rain so we headed into a little cafe to wait out the storm.  It was nice to sit inside and chat with everyone for a bit before we headed out and found someplace nice for dinner.  We ended up a steakhouse and I had a burger, which was something I don't think I had eaten, besides at home, since I moved to Germany.  And it was actually pretty good!  After dinner we all headed back to the hotel and left early the next morning, after enjoying a great European breakfast of meats, cheeses, and breads of course!

Spring Break with Meghan

Better late than never…I guess that should be the theme of my blog!  We were so lucky to have our first visitor back in April!  Meghan came on her spring break and we picked her up on our way home from Garmisch.  I was so excited to see her!  It was also nice because my spring break wasn’t until the following week so this gave me 2 weeks off!  We picked her up in Nuremberg and then headed back to home!  Poor Shayne had to listen to her catching me up on all of the happenings back home the whole car ride back.  We ended up ordering pizza that night and chatting for a while before calling it an early night.  On Monday I took Meghan to Amberg, which is a bigger town about 20 minutes from our house.  Unfortunately, not only are pretty much everywhere in Germany closed on Sundays, but a lot of them are closed Mondays too!  I wanted to take her up to this beautiful church up on the hill in Amberg that has an incredible view of the city and a great little restaurant nearby too.  We got up there and soon realized that the restaurant was closed, and then when we got up to the church that was closed too!  I thought churches were always supposed to be open!?  At least we got to enjoy the view and take a few pictures. 

We then headed back down the hill in into the stadtmitte (city center).  We found a place to park and walked around for a while.  Amberg is a pretty city with lots of shopping so we just walked up and down the streets, enjoyed some Germany pastries and the nice weather!  After walking around for a while we headed back to the house to plan for dinner.  We decided to grill out that night so we went to pick up some things and then pick up Shayne from work.  Meghan got to enjoy her first German beer (in Germany) while we hung out on our balcony and planned for the rest of our week.

 The next day we headed down to Munich to meet up with another fabulous Parklawn lady, Francis.  We started out the day at the Olympic Stadium in Munich where Meghan and I took a tour.  Unfortunately, the tour was supposed to be in English and German. For every German paragraph the guide said he gave us one sentence of English.  It was neat to see and tour the stadium.  We met up with Francis after the tour.  We were really excited to use the zipline called the Flying Fox, but that was yet another disappointment when we found out it wasn't open.  Unfortunately the day started out less than perfect but we definitely made up for it.

  We then headed into the city to the Hofbrauhaus, the famous German beer hall in Munich.  We again enjoyed some traditional German beverages along with some great food.  It was great to catch up with everyone and enjoy a historic German landmark.  Although it is a super touristy place it was really fun.  After we ate we walked around the city a bit visiting the gardens and enjoying the sites.  We then said farewell to Francis and began the trek home, stopping at McDonald's on the way to show Meghan how much better it is in Europe.  It was there that she got to experience her first language barrier issue.  While ordering she was VERY explicit about telling them that she would like NO cheese on her burger.  The woman asked about the other condiments and she said those were fine and repeated NO CHEESE back and forth a few times.  Well, when the food came Meghan had a burger with ONLY cheese, ha!

On Wednesday we hit the road again to Prague!  Prague is a great city that I have visited 3 times before that I actually know how to get there without a GPS.  Pretty impressive for me if you know me, I am directionally challeged.  I was thinking since it was a Wednesday it shouldn't be too busy there, but I was wrong. Every other time I had gone to Prague I had parked in the same parking lot that was guarded.  In Prague, I've been told, you need to be careful with SUVs because they get stolen a lot.  So when we got to my parking lot (yes, it is MY parking lot) and it was full and I became a bit nervous.  We kept driving up the hill and were not lucky enough to find another parking lot.  At the top of the big hill there were some metered parking and since I didn't know anywhere else to go we just crossed our fingers and parked there.  We then were able to start our walking tour of Prague.  

We headed up to the castle where there was a big ceremony. There is a changing of the guard every hour but this was much larger. Never the less, we continued on to the castle.  After the castle we headed across the bridge and into the Old Town.  When we got there we visited the Easter Market.  I love all of the different markets throughout the year and the Easter one was no exception.  We both bought a few Prague Easter eggs for decorations, which are hollowed out, painted beautifully, and have a string attached to the top to hang.  We enjoyed some great fest-food and walked around and bought a few things.  After, we went over to the astronomical clock to watch it at the top of the hour.  We were able to cross the beautiful Charles Bridge, a pedestrian bridge which always has vendors.  When we made it back to the city center we stopped at Starbucks and then started our trek back up the big hill to the car.  The whole way up there I was PRAYING that the car was still there.  Believe me that would not have been a fun phone call to my husband telling him the car was stolen in Prague!  Luckily it was still there but that hike up the hill was MISERABLE.  By that point it was a bit warmer so that did not make it any better.  We were both pooped when we made it to the car but it was nice to finally sit down and start the drive back.  When we got back we picked up Shayne and headed to one of our favorite Italian restaurants in Amberg, Trattoria Rustica.  We love this little Italian restaurant because the pizza there is just like the pizza in Naples.  The owners are Italian so it makes sense.  The pizza is thin and delicious.  The type of pizza you really need a fork and knife to eat.

Thursday was Meghan's last full day in Germany and I was already getting sad about seeing her go.  We took the train down to Nurnberg to do some more Bavarian site seeing.  There are always great vendors out on the streets in Nurnberg so I love going there.  We found a store called Nanu Nana that I had always just walked by, but for some reason we decided to go in.  It is the BEST store ever!  They have tons of great crafty things for the home.  I could spend all day shopping there!  That day I tried to keep it low key so I only got a small vase, a canvas, and some paint.  (Sidenote:  I used the canvas to do a pinterest project using painters tape and it came out really well.)  We walked down to the center of the city and visited the Easter market.  It was definitely not as great as Prague but it was neat to see.  We then stopped for lunch and enjoyed some traditional Nurnberger Sausages!  Our plan was to go to see the castle which is up on the hill, but after our trek up the hill the day before we decided to forgo the castle and we just walked around some more before heading back on the train.  That night we took Meghan to another one of our favorite restaurants, Sai Nam, which is a Thai restaurant in Freihung.  I'm sure you are wondering why a German restaurant isn't one of our favorites, but there is nothing great about schnitzel, believe me!  The owner of Sai Nam is the best and she remembers us each time we go so its a great place to visit, and she gives us free Mai Tai shots!

The next morning Meghan and I got up bright and early to drive back to Nurnberg so she could catch her flight.  I was so sad to see her go, but cannot wait to go to Virginia this summer to see her!  It meant so much to us to have our first friend come out to visit us and be able to show her around.  And just think, if you come to visit us you too could have a blog post all about you!  

Tschüss!