last night in prague

We loved our time in Prague! We'll post more soon of our last day out and about in the city, but here is a picture from our last night. We had a great dinner out and then went to get zrmzlina (sp?) at Cream and Dream which was AMAZING!


Thank you so much Davis Family and Syvertsen Family for hosting us! We absolutely loved our time with you! It's amazing to see all that God is doing through you living there! We pray He continues to do so!

Turkey Bowl

Its beginning to smell a lot like Thanksgiving here! Laura cooked this turkey to perfection and in only 2 hours! Her oven cooks things so quickly so the 16lb turkey cooked in half the time. Also this morning we had a morning of football fun. We got together in the park and played football. Everybody played and Shanna and Melissa were the cheerleaders. Clark and Lucy tailgated on their stroller. It was lots of fun.

the perfect turkey

down, set, hike....Dave's deep study of Peyton Manning's play style came through when the other team was showing blitz and Dave dropped into shotgun, called an audible, and threw for a touchdown. amazing....

The last 15 minutes a couple of the guys spent time trying to get a old man's ball out of the tree that got stuck up there when we launched it for his dalmation. Note that Dave felt the need to bring over his JuPep jersey just for the game.

More around the city

More time in the town...

Yesterday the Hunts and the Kulps hit the road again to see more of the city. We went back into Old Town and to the outdoor market. There were lots of artists there and some great chocolate! Then we went to the communism museum and it was so hard but good to read about the history of the Czech people and get a feel for where they are coming from. It was just a glimpse but still was difficult to just hear what their lives were like and the effects of communism. Then last night we set up for the Thanksgiving dinner and then the guys played some cards...In the end it came down to Dave and Jake...It was getting late so Dave Went all in and Won!!!

A glimpse of the wall from in the Communism Museum

The fellas at the end of their night...

turkey for me and turkey for you

Happy Thanksgiving! We'll put more pictures up soon but just to catch you up on some things...We had been staying at the Davis' house but last night switched to staying at the Czech Inn. We had another day yesterday of being out and about on our own and feeling like we're getting it figured out about how to get around town. Shanna took Melissa and I to the grocery store and to a play place with her play group. Also we set up last night for the Thanksgiving Dinner we're having today. I think there will be 50 people at the Davis' home to share the holiday. We'll have more pictures up soon!

On Top of the Czech Inn...

This morning Jake and I went to breakfast with Phil at the Czech Inn...Chris joined us for part of the time but he was in and out because he is the innkeeper afterall. After a great discussion on the vision and mission, Jake showed me their room in the inn. It is really nice. In fact recently the Czech Inn was named one of the 12 best hostel's in all of the world in a story in the Washington Post! So far we have been staying with the Davises in their spare bedroom. It has been great getting some family time and getting to know Lucy and Clark better. Lucy reminds us a bit of a big Celia...By the way we miss our girls A LOT!!! Tomorrow we will switch spots with the Hunts. So...Anyway after breakfast (which lasted til lunch) Chris took us up onto the roof. It was a great view.

This is the latest picture of Lucy and Clark.

Out on the town...

Tonight we went out to dinner with the Davises and the Hunts, and we went to a place called Ambiente. It was a good Italian place with fresh pasta across town so we had to take the metro. We tried to get reservations at this good restaurant near the Davis' apartment but they were all booked up because when you make a reservation here your table is reserved for the whole night. Yep, reservations are not for times but instead for tables so when all the tables are booked, they stop taking reservations. These pictures are of the Christmas Market that had just opened for the season at the top of the Metro stop.

Check out the cool church in the back.

The guys enjoying some traditional Mulled Christmas wine...Dave not so much like a da wine so he refilled Jake's glass for round 2.

You may be thinking couldn't they just have waited until after Thanksgiving? But they do not celebrate Thanksgiving here. However we are helping the Davises put together a Thaksgiving dinner for 50 of their closest friends here in Prague. It was Phil's favorite event of their whole first year last year. We will post more about that later.

After dinner we went for dessert and coffee, and walked through square in the middle of the city on the way home. This is a picture of Melissa and Jake in front of the Jan Hus statue A 15th century Reformer from Prague who today is sadly only known as a political revolutionary here.

So much already!

We've only been here a couple of days and it has been so full! Sunday afternoon we joined the team meeting and had a devotional time with the team and then had a chance to share our stories, both the Hunts and the Kulps. Just to share about our lives and how we came to know the Lord and where we feel like we are now. Then Sunday night we got to share in a worship time with some of the people who attend the Tuesday night Bible study. It was wild because one guy there actually was a Clemson alum and grew up with Molly and Ryan! Crazy!

Today the women had a chance to just be together and we ate breakfast at this great French bakery. Then we shopped some and met up with the guys. Then it was our chance to see the city on our own. We went to the Castle and then over the Charles Bridge and ate lunch on the sidewalk at a cafe. The food was great and just being there was such a treat. I think we were all proud of how we managed to navigate the city!

This is Melissa, Mary, Shanna, and Laura at the bakery

We got to the castle just in time to see the changing of the guards. This guard that I'm standing with changed places with another and during the process marched straight at Dave totally staring him down. The guard has to remain completely serious and Dave just kept smiling!

This is a picture of us walking across the Charles bridge.

This picture is of Jake and Melissa, taken on the Charles bridge with a view of the river and the city. We are having so much with the Hunts!

Finally in Prague!

We made it to Prague! It was the hottest train ride ever but we successfully made it here. Dave had packed a ton of beer to bring home from SK and as soon as we got off the train one broke that he'd added last minute so it wasn't packed as safely. Thankfully that was the only one that exploded! We have had a great day of walking around this morning and grabbing lunch at Bohemia Bagel. Then we got to worship together with the kids and have a sharing time. We're loving our time here already!

3 Musketeers

On our last night in Bratislava we went out to dinner just the 4 of us at a place called 3 Musketeers. Then the guys went out on the town while Bran and I had coffee and hung out. We loved our time in SK and are so thankful for the big surprise of being able to see our friends!

the waiter gave the guys musketeer hats and I think Dave has a sword too

Chocolate

Today we met the guys after shopping at this chocolate place and look at the chocolate fountain! Wizzy you would be all over this!

Happy Kebab and Shop Street

Ok so this is our real first taste of Slovak food. We ate at this place called Happy Kebab. It was great. Its so fun to hear Brandy and Gray speak Slovak so well. After lunch we split up and did some shopping while Dave and Gray ate chocolate.


Bran, Jackson, and Mary waiting for a happy kebab!

this was our lunch!

Sarala opted for some corn

Sarala and Mary waiting for coffee

This was a fantastic store that Brandy showed us

Dave and Mary in the city

view of the city

These pictures were taken from the castle.

This is a view of Old Town.

St. Martins, this is where all of the Hapsburgs were coronated .

Bratislava Castle

Today we went to the Braitslava castle. It was beautiful! We could see the whole city. We spent a good amount of time here looking around and taking pictures.

the castle

Dave and Mary, how sweet

the castle gates

Precious Jackson

Look at this sweet sleeping boy!

Aulandia Spa

Brandy and I got to go to a Slovak Spa almost as soon as we got back to Bratislava. We left the kids with the fellas and went out on the town. It was so fun! To spend one on one time with Bran was so great because it had been over a year since we'd been able to do that! And to be at a spa! Hilarious too, we got these funny spa outfits and there were so many options there. We got massages and cinnamon wraps. Then we went and tried out all the saunas....there were herbal saunas and some with salt and bubbles. There was also this freezing cold sauna. It felt a lot like we were in a meat locker. Anyway it was so much fun for us to have girl time!

Here we are in our spa outfits!

Slo-bo

We brought Tae-bo with us to SK. Here are the fellas working it out.

finally to Bratislava

Brandy and Gray picked us up at the airport and we drove back to Bratislava getting to see lots of the Czech countryside along the way. Driving specifically was crazy to me because Gray was going 99mph seriously. But we made it!

This is crossing the border from the Czech Republic to Slovakia and these are the flags....Czech, Slovakia, and European flags

Bran fixing supper

Jackson hanging out

Reading to Sarala

Our First Cultural Experience

Our first taste of European fine dining was on our way back to Bratislava!

Landed

We made it to Prague! I don't love flights so I was kind of wigging out from Charlotte to Philadelphia but did well across the Atlantic. We watched the curious film the Da Vinci Code and then hung out and tried to sleep. When we landed we made it through customs quickly and all our bags made it! Look at our precious friends!!! I can't believe we are in Europe!

Airborne

In an attempt to not get sick(er) we got this airborne stuff to fight immunity. It was like a gigantic alka-seltzer and I thought it was truly disgusting but Dave actually liked it!

Fun with orange peels

Tonight we got a little vitamin C with dinner, and had fun in the process...