For our last week of summer we headed over to Germany to visit Lydia. We flew in and out of Prague so we also spent a few days in Czech. Both countries were really amazing.

We had one small snafu before leaving the US. The girls had a dentist appointment that day – about 4 hours before our flight was schedule to leave – plenty of time (we thought). When we got there a cavity that we knew Soph had had actually turned into an abscess and she needed to have it removed, ASAP. Our dentist jumped into action, extracted it in about 10 minutes, and we were out of there and to our flight in time. Soph was a trooper. She was really upset when she found out she had to have it out, but she did it, and then flew with a mouth that didn’t stop bleeding for almost 12 hours.

We flew overnight Friday, arriving mid-morning on Saturday. The girls both slept about 5 hours on the plane, but unfortunately Dave and I did not. When we arrived we rented a car in Prague and drove straight to Leipzig, which is about a 90 minute drive. We stopped for lunch in Czech right before we hit the border at a little restaurant on the side of the road where little English was spoken. We got our first taste of Eastern European food, which is mostly meat, gravy, and potatoes.

In Leipzig we stayed in an apartment, which was the third floor of a house. It was perfect – 2 bedrooms, kitchen, dining room and living room. It also had a back garden that we could use, complete with a trampoline.

After we unpacked Lydia arrived and it was so great to see her again! The girls were especially happy to see her. We went to her apartment where she made us a delicious traditional German dinner. That night we crashed and all slept for 12 hours! The next morning we headed back to Lydia’s apartment where she put together a traditional breakfast and we finally got to meet Stefan.

After breakfast we took the train to the center of Leipzig where we met Lydia’s parents and sister and they showed us around the city. That night they took us to a traditional German restaurant located in an area surrounded by private gardens. People who live in the city can buy these little plots to grow their own gardens. Most also have little huts where they can stay for a night or two.

The next day we hopped into the car and drive about 90 minutes to a little town called Erfurt. It was the quintessential German town with traditional architecture and small cobblestone streets. It’s also home to the Merchant’s Bridge, the longest series of inhabited buildings on any bridge in Europe, and beautiful cathedral.

That night we had dinner back at our apartment. The next morning we headed out again, this time to Karlovy Vary, a city in Czech known for their hot mineral springs. It was a bit of a hike to get there, but very worth it. The town is built on either side of a little river that bubbles up in places with hot springs. It’s also filled with spa hotels, none of which we actually went into, much to the dismay of the girls. People walked around the town with these little cups with built in straws drinking the water from springs around town.

That night we did dinner again at the apartment, and also packed up because the next day we needed to check out. We left early the next morning to go to Dresden, about an hour car ride away. It’s a bigger city, closer to the size of Leipzig (thought not quite so big), with a beautiful central square, in the middle of which is the Church of our Lady, which was bombed during WWII and rebuilt in 2005.

It also has the Fürstenzug, a large mural of a mounted procession of the rulers of Saxony, and is the largest porcelain artwork in the world.

That afternoon we said goodbye to Lydia, who took a train back to Leipzig, and we headed on to Prague. We stayed in a Hilton right in the center of town, so didn’t need the car for the remainder of the trip (which we were all pretty glad to be out of).

We spent the next 2.5 days exploring the city. The main part of the city has two squares: Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square. Old Town Square was very crowded and touristy, but had some cool things, like the Astronomical Clock which was installed in 1410, making it the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest clock still operating. Every hour it still chimes. The square also has the Church of Our Lady (popular name over there), and St. Nicholas church, both built in the 14th Century.

Wenceslas Square is more known for historical events, such as demonstrations and celebrations.

We also walk by two famous buildings, together called The Dancing House because they look like they’re intertwined in a dance.

One day we crossed over the St. Charles Bridge, the only pedestrian only footbridge, to explore the other side of the city. We took a tram to the top of a hill where we climbed up to the top of the Petrin Tower to get a great view of the whole city. We then walked back down to Prague Castle, where we saw the changing of the guards. A very formal, if not small, ceremony that happens every hour. Inside the Castle grounds is St. Vitus Cathedral, which was beautiful from the outside, but unfortunately closed for visitors when we were there.

And no vacation trip blog post would be complete without a look at some of the food we ate. Lots (and lots) of meat and ice cream.