Getting in the Christmas Spirit!

     It has been about 3 weeks since our last blog post so there is a lot to tell. I wanted to wait though until we had a substantial amount to tell you all. Our lives have been CRAZY! We haven't been busy in the sense that we're used to, but there have been many developments, some of which I will not go into yet on this blog post. Gotta love the suspense!

Christmas Market and the Christmas Tree Lighting 

     Prague is famous for their Christmas market. They have little wooden huts all around Prague that are decorated with Christmas lights and they sell all kinds of Czech cuisine. However, the most famous, and the one that you will see in pictures if you Google it, is in Old Town Square. They have a massive Christmas tree that they light every night at 5pm. The first lighting was a couple of weeks ago, and Mariah and I were crazy enough to go to the first lighting. 

     I hate crowds. HATE THEM! So this was not a good situation for me haha! There were a couple of thousand people in the square for the lighting. We were squished together like sardines and it was the closest I have ever been to being pushed over and trampled by a crowd... seriously. Let's just say, I got to know some people pretty well. Even though the crowd was a little annoying, the experience was really cool!

     When the Czech light up something, they go all out. You know how you watch the Rockefeller lighting and we count down and it just comes on? Nope. Not the Czechs. They set the lighting to music and it is quite the spectacle! It was so cool! The tree looked like it was dancing with light! Really worth the wait and the cold! 

Christmas Tree in Old Town Square

Christmas Decorations in Old Town Square

The market

The Great Tram Shutdown!

           We were part of history! We have not had snow yet, but we had ice one day. It was very unexpected weather. So unexpected and so quick in fact, that the transportation department was caught off guard and the train and tram electricity lines froze, causing Prague to shut down their transportation systems for the first time in history! You can imagine though that it made quite the mess for everyone trying to get to work!

Karlštejn Castle

            Last weekend we went out with friends of ours, Jaïr and Tamara. Jaïr is from Holland and Tamara is from Switzerland. They came to the TEFL program and were the "other couple" :) We were talking and they mentioned going to Karlštejn (pronounced Karlstein or in the proper Czech "Karlshtain") Castle. We had been wanting to go there as well, but there is no easy way unless you
have a car. Luckily Jaïr does! Saturday we went to the castle and it was so cool!

     The castle was built in 1347 (yes THIRTEEN) by the great King Charles. It was a retreat for the king. His main castle was already here in Prague. It is extremely remote, located on an very high hill surrounded by a valley, and over 600 years ago very difficult to penetrate. 

     We didn't get to go inside the castle because it is closed for the winter, but we did get to walk around the grounds for a bit. It is a huge castle (though I guess pretty small for Europe). It is beautiful with its early Gothic architecture. The street leading up to it has a very charming old-world feel to it. Enjoy the photos!

Karlštejn Castle

Christmas Decorating

     Mariah and I have been decorating up a storm in our apartment for Christmas! It may not look like
much but when you have to make everything by hand, it is a little more difficult. I have pictures below :)

Our Christmas Tree! (We're still working on making more ornaments for it) :) 

The Advent Calendar I Made!!!

Our Personalized Stockings

Cut-out Snowflakes (The one on the right is Olaf)   

     It is officially 7 days until the Seymours land in Prague! WE CAN'T WAIT! Until then we will be here, working, planning, decorating, and always learning. I will be back very soon with much more news and exciting updates... stay tuned! :)