Monday, March 05, 2007

Prague







































Last month my very good friend Steve and I descended upon Prague to celebrate his 50th birthday. It was widely expected to be a long weekend of incessant liver damaging behavior. While we did happen upon that periodically in our agenda, we spent a tremendous amount of time in museums, cultural exhibits and even a couple of chamber music concerts (which I was prescient enough to photograph to provide evidence to unbelievers).

For those who have never been - GO! Prague is truly a treasure. My one caveat - go in the winter if possible. It was still somewhat busy, but having previously visited in October when it was measurably busier, I imagine summer is pretty unbearably crowded.

In any event, here are a few photos to give you some flavor of the city.

More Skiing













This time we stuck to photos since the previously posted movie hasn't worked out as planned. The trip was to a Swedish ski resort called Salen, right next to the Norwegian border. Swedish resorts are at all like those in the U.S. or Canada. Not nearly as glossy, nor luxurious. However, they are much much more child-friendly. You can let your kids roam around, which is the norm.

This particular resort features a long green slope roughly translated into the "Troll Path". There are a variety of amusing wooden sculptures with sounds effects etc. The photo of the kids is in front of a troll in an outhouse. Given all kids seeming obsession with all things "toilet" this was a big hit with the crowds of youngsters.

On an unrelated note, Sofia and I were able to enjoy several lovely meals in the restaurant attached to the building our apartment was situated in. We'd sit down with the kids as they plowed through their buffet meal, after which we were able to calmly nibble away at various gourmet dishes on offer.

All in all a relaxing week.