I Said Yes! Prague New Years 2016

I know this is a long-awaited post (4 days to be exact), so I'll get straight to it!

December 28th, my best friend in the entire world, the one and only Kaitie Clouston arrived in Ktown to begin what was to be the shortest week in the history of weeks. Naturally, Bruce and I tried to make her as comfortable as possible.

Yes..that's maple syrup...

The first day, we took her out to have some real German cuisine at Spinnrädl where she tried some spätzle and beer. Also, the Christmas market was still up downtown so we wandered around and had her try some glühwein as well! 
I didn't let her rest too much, waking up early the next day to head to Heidelberg with another Bucheon, Korea friend, Angela!

Heidelberg is such a beautiful city, and I LOVE showing it off to people! (So it wont be a surprise when anyone comes to visit...). We wandered around, checked out the castle, saw that our favorite Korean place was closed (threw a fit...just kidding), then met up with Doro and Aaron for some dinner and a few drinks at the market before catching the train back home. 

The next day, December 30th, it was the day of travel! We hopped in the car with Bruce and Ryan to start the journey to our New Years celebration location, Prague! I have to say that this trip was probably the least planned/researched of all my previous trips. I usually have some sort of itinerary for each day with photos, maps, and plan B's. The only things that WERE planned was 1. New Years Eve, because planning anything for a group of 11, especially a holiday, is one of the most difficult things to do the day of. and 2. a Food and drink tour of the city (more on that later!).

When we arrived, we found our apartment, which was a perfect location close to nearly everything in the city. 6 of us would be staying there, which caused it to become the hub of activity and main meeting point for the group. That night we grabbed dinner at a local place around the corner. It was there I realized that being a vegetarian might be interesting. The only dishes served there that didn't include meat were fried cheese and potatoes. So-When in Prague! It didn't taste bad, but I knew it wouldn't be good for the waistline. Kaitie and I decided on an early night that night to prepare for the next day of New Years craziness.

The next day we just planned on exploring the city a bit, including the castle and church on the top of a hill looking over the town. Some of the buildings in the city are so ornate and gorgeous, despite going through some tough times. Others have a super simple, uniform style. 

"Kejdy" and "Braien" with their Starbucks

"Laura stop there for a picture! It looks like Harry Potter!"

Bro Love

"If you come closer, the space behind you gets larger. Move your feet and your body will follow. Don't be worried ladies, I am tied to this contraption."

The church in the castle walls is gorgeous inside, but super crowded so it was difficult to move, let alone take a good photo. Bruce brought out the nice camera for one, but decided against it.

Prague is a super walkable town with tons of stores, bars, and restaurants to look at as you go. The people there are friendly for the most part, barring the Chinese place across the street...(don't ask Ryan).

Dressed to the nines (after making sure we didn't get any Chinese food on our clothes) we walked into town to meet up with the Party Boat Prague pre-gaming party at a club called Coco. We booked this part of the trip a few weeks ago, and I had hoped it would be successful! They guided us from the bar to the boat, where we danced the into the night while floating up and down the river under the bridges. Our large group took over the bottom of the boat, despite everyone upstairs telling us that we were missing the party. We were having our own party enjoying each other's company and taking goofy pictures!

From the boat we were brought to a bus which would take us to the last party of the evening, "Church Club". The bus ride was a party of its own, with people belting out popular tunes ranging from Queen to Taylor Swift. While mostly everyone participated, a few (including the bus driver) weren't overly enthusiastic about the karaoke session. We danced the night away and counted down together as snow fell outside, ending a fabulous evening with amazing people! 

The next day, January 1st, 2016, the group woke up and started planning for the day. Kaitie brought up the Prague Library, which was supposed to be gorgeous, and after some research, turned out to be right across the street from where we would get breakfast that morning (this turns out to be an important piece of information for later). The breakfast was delicious, for anyone traveling to Prague! Check it out- La Bottega di Finestra. 

After eating our full, Kaitie suggests that the girls go and do some shopping while the boys check out the library and book us a tour for our group (another important piece of info, if you're keeping track). So, blissfully unaware of any secretive planning, the girls and I head off to wander around town once more.


We walked to the Jewish quarter and met the boys there after their side adventure to learn that we would have a tour of the library all together at 5:30. Fabulous!
The library, called the Klementinum, is one of the most beautiful libraries in the world (if I do say so myself). Photography is not allowed once you get in, so I'll put one up from the internets--

We get to the library and meet our guide, an elderly man, who began talking to us about the history of the library and what we would be seeing on the tour, including the astrological tower.

As we walk next to the library doors, the lights are off and we are listening to the guide talk about the old clocks that we will see in the room. He turns on the lights as he talks, and as soon as he does he loses the attention of every single one of us on the tour. I was in awe and just how beautiful the room was. Despite half of the books not being there due to the process of digitalization, the room was still magnificent! The globes and clocks, our tour guide said, would soon be online in an interactive 3D format to get a closer look. 

Once he completed his speech about the room, I moved to the back to let some others get a closer look (as I had sprinted to the front to see it first haha). I heard Bruce call me back to "check something out" and wondered what I had missed. When I walked back in the guide is standing there holding a large blue book, which doesn't look as old as the others by hundreds of years. As soon as he says "Hmm...what could this be?...I think it is for you!" I knew what was about to happen. As I take the book, I turn and find Bruce there on one knee waiting for me. Opening the book I see that he had cut out a square in the middle, the perfect size as a ring box. My hands were shaking as I handed them to him, and he opens the box to show me the most beautiful ring. Asking me to marry him, I of course said yes (as you all have probably seen on Facebook). Looking up to see the entire group of friends (and strangers) cheering and crying (Kaitie), I'm not sure if I have ever been so happy in my entire life. Endless hugging and crying and "congratulations" later, we realize we still have the rest of the tour to go! I can honestly tell you all that I have absolutely no idea what the man said for the rest of the tour. If you are interested, you should definitely book one for yourself!

At the top of some very precariously steep stairs, we reach the look out on the top of the tower which overlooks the entire town, lit up for the night. As we walk around we hear our friend call to us saying that there are fireworks, and sure enough, we look out over the city and watch fireworks explode in the sky. Bruce claims he planned this part (I'll give it to him). I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful evening with the man I love and my closest friends there!

[Apologies for the blurry pictures! Flash wasn't allowed...you get the gist though!]

 "She said yes!"

At least the library looks great!

Steadying my hand from the shaking

When we made it back down to street level, Jon and Julie pull out the champagne and we begin the celebrations! How better to celebrate then with an arabic feast for dinner?

How do you one-up a day like that?? I still get butterflies even just thinking about it. A completely wonderful surprise <3

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The next morning, waking up and pinching myself to check that last night actually happened (it did!), we had a relaxing breakfast in before Kaitie, Bruce and I went off to do something that is a top recommendation for when you're in Prague, the Beer Spa. When you go in, you change into a bathing suit (if you want), then get into a large wooden tub, and soak in the hops and warm water. It is apparently supposed to be really good for your skin, nails, and hair. Kaitie and I opted to keep our hair out, because we had the food tour right afterwards. Between the tubs is a beer draft where you can self-serve the local beer, Bernard, into a giant glass.

After 20 minutes soaking in a tub, we move to a small room with heated beds, pop music, and disco lights...we didn't think those things went together either, but oh well! It was a very relaxing afternoon, and after 30 minutes of letting the hops soak into our skin we definitely noticed that it was much smoother! As we left, they gave us a certificate of completion ( to be framed and hung next to my diplomas), and a free beer!

That evening we met as an entire group for the Taste of Prague Food Tour with our tour guide, Jan. He began with a quick, but insightful history lesson about Prague cuisine and its influences, and then we started the tour with a shot. as you do.

Luckily, after the tour, you get an email summarizing the entire tour, where we went, and what we ate! Less work for me--here you go!
"To sum up where we went today:

1. We followed with meatloaf on bread and sausage with mustard on bread at the Nase maso butcher shop."

Jan and his wife do an incredible job at planning for any dietary differences and personal preferences of the group. So I had a little tray of my own! One was a grape salad with goat cheese, and the other was some cheese and egg.

"2. We had beers, Kofola, pork schnitzel or fried cheese with potato salad, Prague ham with horseradish cream or mushroom goulash, at the Lokal pub. "

"3. We continued with wines at the Vinograf wine bar."

4. We went to the Cestr steak house in the old Communist Federal Parliament building. We had beef knuckle with mushrooms, beef golden muscle in goose fat, slow-grilled chicken with truffle stuffing and sauce, potato mash boiled in milk, potato dumplings, carrots, spinach, escargots in mushrooms with Sabayonne mousse, pickled fried carp with dill and shallots, and beer ice-cream! You also had the hard-boiled eggs with dill sauce, eggplant with spinach sauce, zucchini with red pepper and tomato sauce, and the sheep cheese salad."

"5. We finished with Becherovka shots and four Czech sweets: “rakvicka” (sweet “little coffin” with whipped cream), apple strudel, “venecek” (chaux pastry with vanilla cream and sugar glaze) and “laskonka” (two coconut merengues with a rich chocolate ganache filling) at Cafe Savoy. "

We couldn't decide whether we liked that we ended our incredible trip with the tour or whether it would have been better to start the trip with it, because he gave us so many cool ideas and tips! If anyone reads this blog, go to Prague and take the tour!!

That night we said our goodbyes to Jon and Julie, Rachael, and Scott and spent the rest of the evening playing cards before drifting off to sleep in a food coma. I want to thank all of you on the trip who came along and made it that much more special! I couldn't have asked for a better group <3

The next morning, Bruce, Ryan, Kaitie and I took off for home, stopping in Nurnberg for a quick falafel and some Mexican food (weird combo) before getting stuck in a crazy amount of traffic, therefore making us go straight to dinner with Harry, Beate, Tina, Rainer, and the gang! It was a fabulous dinner, but we were definitely zombies (sorry guys!).

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The next day, it was back to work for Bruce, but Kaitie and I still had a day for exploring! I decided we should get one more country checked off her list, and we drove to Wissembourg, France for the day! A quiet but beautiful town we walked around the streets, taking a peak at the pastry shops, cheese stores, and the church, before getting home.

Wedding diet starts tomorrow...

 For Grandad

Kaitie's trip came to an end when the shuttle came for her this morning at 4:20 (oof!). It was such a fast trip, but I'm sooooo glad she made it over here! She made the engagement so special and it was like no time had passed since we were taking over Korea together. I love you so much and hope you get back safely! (Luckily you'll be much more comfortable in BUSINESS CLASS!!).

To my friends and family- I love you all too!! To answer any questions- no, I have no idea where or when the wedding will be haha

Until next time!

German phrase of the post:

"Would you just look at that??""würden Sie nur Blick auf den!"

Oofta Doofta Midwest Christmas

I was surprised when I logged in to write this blog and saw that my last post was 2 months ago for the London trip! Not to say that the past few months have been lacking in bloggable material, but I just haven't sat myself down to write anything! Notable mentions before getting into the bulk of this would be the Halloween party at Tom and Rich's place, where Bruce and I dressed up as Cecil the Lion and the Dentist (too soon?). And Thanksgiving, which Bruce and I hosted at our apartment for 25 (!!) people! That evening we spent time catching up with old friends and making new ones all while eating a ridiculous amount of food (plus a spoonful more). We were surprised not only that everyone fit in our place, but that we had enough to feed everyone (and we definitely did). A hugely successful holiday spent I think! As for the next biggest holiday...yep, my birthday, good guess, I spent it in Minneapolis/Wisconsin with Bruce and his family.

December 11th we flew out to Chicago where Bruce's sister, Yun, her two daughters, Ellie and Emma, and his mother picked us up and drove us back to her place in Wisconsin where we would call home-base for the next two weeks. Stepping out of the airport, I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't need my coat, hat, gloves, and heat warming long-underwear, for in-fact it was a super warm winter there with a balmy 50 degrees. The house is in a new neighborhood and fit us cosily! I knew I was going to enjoy the trip even more with Bruce's mum cooking up delicious Korean dishes. 

After a few days of getting over the time-difference and catching up with family, Bruce and I headed off on our side trip to Minnesota where we began with a stop at the Mall of America. Now..for my fellow East-Coasters who thought King of Prussia was big, the Mall of America is #1 on the Largest Malls in the US list (KOP is #2). The main, and most obvious difference between these two shopping behemoths is the entire theme park located in the center of the MOA, complete with a rollercoaster and other rides the one usually expects to encounter outdoors. Yes, of course we rode one. Bruce got me to go in the Log Flume ride, which was just as far of a drop as I remember when I didn't enjoy the ride when I was younger. But hey, now I can say I did it. 






Moving on! From the mall we drove to Faribault, MN where his aunt, uncle, and cousins live. They welcomed us into their home for the night before we headed up into the twin cities for the weekend.

On the way we dropped by Mankato to get a personal tour of Bruce's Alma Mater, Minnesota State University. A tad bigger than Hood, MSU enrolls about 15,000 students. My favorite part was the fact that nearly the whole campus is connected by underground tunnels so that students don't have to walk outside to get to most places. (I don't ever really want to live in a place that gets SO cold that people build tunnels underground...)

After talking with some of his old mentors there and getting a feel of campus, we got back in the car and made our way into downtown Minneapolis to find the hotel and meet up with some of his friends out on the town. One great thing about big cities (not in Germany...) is UBER! Honestly, for those of you who are used to having it, you should consider yourself very lucky. It is so easy, and makes getting around the city stress free and cheaper! (ok, Uber plug is over). 

That night we had a ton of sushi with Brandon (BJ, who appears in the New Years post from last year!) and John, then met up with Jason later on for some drinks. The cold weather definitely came in that night and maybe we were trying to warm up internally with drinks because we had a bit too much...leading to a bit of a rough morning the next day. Luckily, the downtown area of Minneapolis is connected by the "Skyway" which is above ground walkway that bridges between buildings and is like a mini-city within the city. Shops, restaurants, and businesses line the pathway as you stay warm and enjoy the city at the same time. Again...not sure I could handle a city that gets that intensely cold that they build a whole indoor walkway...

That day I received some beautiful surprise flowers from mum and dad! THANK YOUUU! xo

That night Bruce took me out to St. Paul for my birthday dinner. Not just any time you turn 26 right? He booked at a place called W. A. Frost and Company. Arriving a bit early, we sat down in the lounge area for a few cocktails. If anyone travels out to the Twin Cities, this place is a really cozy place to go, especially around the holidays when it is all decorated! The food was great and the service was super! The plan after dinner was to check out Rice Park and see the lights, but that was soon changed as we stepped outside and found that 6 degrees might be a bit cold for someone wearing tights (not Bruce...). We opted for a night in, enjoying the peace and quiet. 

Saturday morning after a workout and breakfast, we hopped in an uber to explore Northeast Minneapolis across the river. Doing some research that morning I found a local farmers market above the Indeed Brewery (perfect activities for both Bruce and I to take part in!). The market turned out to be a great little exhibition of booths set up around a huge room where people from the area were selling their wares, whether that be drinks, food, clothing, and/or other trinkets! We went around sampling delicious chilies, baked goods, and even kimchi (not as good as mama Voelker's). It was here that I tried my first Switchel which is a natural energy drink made of water, vinegar, ginger, and honey. The taste is surprisingly not too vinegar-y, and is quite refreshing! I sipped on that while Bruce tried some beer down at the brewery. Something I noticed very quickly about Minneapolis is the high number of local breweries. Seems like a fun place if you're a beer connoisseur. 

 

From there we walked (a very long and cold walk) to the next area where we stopped in a small bookshop, of course, and another brewery, of course, called Dangerous Man. 

To be said with a Minnesotan accent

 

For dinner we met with BJ again and Bruce's friend from highschool Damien, at the Korean-fusion restaurant The Rabbit Hole. 

After some bibimbap we uber-d home to get ready for a live music show at The Fine Line. We didn't know any of the musicians playing but we listened to a few of the songs on the website before booking and decided it would a fun night! The venue is a little bit like The Queen in Wilmington (for my Delaware friends and Family). The opening act was Sammy Brown, a young artist, who had a good voice, but it sounded EXACTLY like another artist and Bruce and I spend the rest of the evening trying to figure out who it was...if anyone checks out her music, and knows who we are thinking of, pleassseee let us know!

The next act was Dan Rodriguez who we both really enjoyed (more than the main act actually...). Not only was he incredibly talented but he had great stage presence too! Check his stuff out too! One of my favorites was "All I Want for Christmas is Whiskey"  .

The next artists were Chris Koza and Matt Hires, who were both good, but Bruce and I definitely liked Dan's performance the best. After listening to a few of the main act's songs, we snuck out and walked back home to get ready to head back to Wisconsin the next morning (my birthday!). To celebrate once we got back we went and watched little Ellie in her ballet recital, which at 5 years old, consisted of 2 minute songs of kids either following the teacher's movements, or disregarding them completely out of intense stage-fright or simply being distracted by shiny things. Ellie did a fabulous job and was one of the few in the foremost of those categories! 

That night Bruce's mum cooked an incredible birthday dinner of past with shrimp and spinach, and a mouthwatering chocolate cake. At 26, I think I need to stop putting in a candle for each year! It gets a bit dangerous. It was a fabulous way to spend my birthday and wouldn't ask for anything more!

Tuesday, Bruce, Bob (his brother in law), and I drove down to Chicago to pick up Bruce's Grandma who flew in to visit from Pheonix. Before scooping her up from the airport we stopped by a shopping area to find some coffee but instead we found a game center, not unlike Dave and Busters. Bruce and Bob's eyes couldn't be any wider, so we spend an hour and change playing around and enjoying being kids again. From there we stopped by "The best place to get Chicago pizza" according to Bob, "Lou Malnati's", which Bruce so fondly named "Illiminati's" and proceeded to find triangles everywhere. The pizza was delicious, but was definitely a ton of food! We picked up Grandma G and drove back to the house.

Wednesday was cookie day! Yun and I dipped pretzels and ritz cracker peanut butter sandwiches in melted chocolate then decorated them (quickly, so the boys didn't have time to eat them all, though they tried). Yun also made some delicious shortbread cookies to decorate! These had trouble staying on the counter and out of people's mouths too...

The next day, Christmas Eve, we decided to have our Christmas day because Bruce and I were leaving and Bob had to work early. We told the girls that Santa knew about our plan and would come early too. Yun set up the living room for the girls to find the next day. Sleeping in the basement, I woke to some running feet and squeals, notifying me that they had found and liked what was there for them! Everyone groggily sitting around the tree clutching coffee, we watched Ellie and Emma open their gifts, and opened our own as well! It was the year of bathrobes and socks in the Danforth house that year, everyone would be cozy and warm that's for sure!

Bruce's mum was at it again the the kitchen making a delicious christmas dinner for us all! We started with a cream cheese, spinach, and water chestnut dip, some crab rangoon (which she taught me how to make!), roasted veggies, and some ribs (for the meat eaters...aka everyone else). To finish we had mini cheesecake and the assortment of cookies from the week.

We ended the night watching Martian, which despite being over 3 hours long, was completely worth it! The fact that I stayed up for it should tell you just how great it was. I bought the book before the trip, so now I definitely want to read it! 

Yun was kind enough to drive us back to Chicago airport the next day to catch our afternoon flight back to Germany. The trip flew by, even writing this makes it seem even shorter! I had such an incredible time getting to know his family more, as he has had plenty (maybe too much) of time with mine this past year for better or for worse! I can't wait to see them all again soon <3 

For now, it is getting late here, the jet lag is still definitely in full effect here. But it also could be me being SUPER DUPER CRAZY EXCITED to see Kaitie in like...9 hours!! She's currently en route and I cant waiiittttttttttt to start our reunion week. Keep your eyes peeled for a post about New Years 2016 in PRAGUE!

Until then xoxo

German of the post: 


"Minnesota nett zu Ihrem Gesicht , aber , sobald Sie sich umdrehen wir sagen, etwas wirklich bedeuten."
Minnesota nice to your face, but as soon as you turn around we say something really mean.