The český Pivní Festival (Czech Beer Fest) ran for a full 10 days before we showed up. Criminal, I know. But, after our whirlwind few weeks with Nana and Grampa, we finally had a moment to rest so we seized the sleep. And then we jumped back into the fray.
We all dressed for the occasion in our own way...
Before we could even get inside to take a single sip, the girls spotted a face painter. I guess we knew what our first stop would be.
And then the Mercedes Benz salesman stopped over. I figured we should listen to the shpeil since it was their free face painter, so I braced myself for the sales pitch. But none came. He just asked me if I wanted to get in the Rollover Simulator. The what?
Seems that the car they had up on display, the one with the equipment all around it, was set up to be able to roll 360 degrees. With you in it. Why not? It's the only way I would ever want to experience any car I am inside, upside down.
Seatbelt on and ready to go.
It was fun - but does put a ton of pressure on your hips from the seatbelt when you are hanging from it. B wasn't so sure he really wanted to do it, but did anyway.
Now, it was time to find some food and some beer. We stocked our cards and got started.
Each beer was between 1 and 3 Tolars. With each Tolar running about $2.25, it was probably the most expensive beer I have ever purchased in the Czech Republic. Granted, that is still less than $3 for half a liter of beer, but that will usually cost about $1.50 in a restaurant. Spoiled, I know.
We found a space to sit pretty easily. It was just after noon, and I think everyone was still sleeping off their beer drinking from the night before. We found a server, ordered some traditional Czech food, and beer, of course.
Not what we ordered but someday I know B will - Pork Knuckle just doesn't seem like anything I would ever try.
Every one fed and full, we were off to explore. There were three halls and an open garden in the middle of it all. In each hall, there was a chalkboard, and lines of taps. Each chalkboard listed the microbrew they had (about 75 different beers total). You just picked a number, they swiped your card and handed you a ticket. You turned your ticket in and were handed a beer. A 1/2 liter of beer! This was my only complaint about the festival. If the purpose is to taste a large sampling of beers that you would not normally be able to taste, shouldn't the sample be a bit less than 1/2 L (about 17 ounces). Two samples and I would be done for the day. And was. Especially since the first beer they brought us with lunch was a full Liter.
We were smart about it. B and I both tried different things, so in reality we got to taste 6 different beers. But with 70 more still to taste we would have had to come back every single day the festival ran (15 days total). I love beer but I am not sure I could have handled that.
All in all, it was a fun way to spend a couple of hours.
The school MadHatter and Stinkerbell attend is a not for profit, private, international school that relies heavily on donations to keep it up to date and running smoothly. It also has a scholarship program for high school students who may not otherwise be able to afford to attend (let's face it, international, private schools are not cheap). The school has many ways to raise funds but their biggest event of the year is A Night at the Palace.
Each year, in mid-May, the Lobkowicz family, who have children at the school, open up their palace. Yep, their Palace. Which just happens to be located within the walls of the Castle, in the heart of Prague. Sign me up! Who could pass up the chance to dress like Cinderella, take her Prince to the ball and dance the night away. In a REAL LIFE PALACE...
The day came and I did all my chores like a good girl. Finally it was time to clean up, slip on this dress...
do my hair 4 times before ending up with this...
and hop in our hired car (not a pumpkin coach, but close enough).
Once there I headed straight to the powder room to make sure we were still all in one piece. It was pouring down rain outside and, even though the school provided transportation from the bottom of the castle grounds to the palace entrance, we still had to get out at some point.
All touched up, it was time to mingle.
I didn't take many pictures inside. I did snap this one of just one of the rooms that we were in that night. But that was about it.
There were rooms upon rooms upon rooms of food and music, foot massagers and cigar rollers. There was a silent auction, and bars set up everywhere. All the while surrounded by the artifacts of the museum (which is what the Palace is during normal business hours.
We even got to tour the private collections and hear the history of the Lobkowitz family. Impressive to say the least.
An actual Beethoven symphony - handwritten.
Our tour concluded, it was finally time to party. The lights were turned down, the tables and chairs pushed aside and the volume cranked to 11....
At about 3 am they brought out the french fries,
About 3:30 we changed out of our glass slippers into a pair of real slippers and headed home.
Nana and Grampa left Tuesday. By Thursday, we were missing the hustle and bustle, the travel and the sightseeing. I mean, it had been 2 days of being back to normal. I needed to plan something, STAT.
I kid. But only kind of. Even I knew we did need to slow down but we also had a beautiful weekend staring us in the face. It was supposed to be a day without rain, and with temps in the mid-70's. We had to get out and enjoy it because those days have been hard to come by lately. And I already had the perfect day trip in mind.
Mirakulum is an open air play space for kids (or those that are kids at heart) about 45 minutes from Prague. The area is 10 hectares of old Soviet training ground that sat unused since the Soviets left the country about 20 years ago. One man had a vision to turn this abandoned wasteland into something that would bring joy back to the area. He bought the land, brought in prison work crews and created something very unique, and endlessly fun.
We arrived just after opening (we learned something from our zoo adventure) and even then had to park out in the boonies. But parking is free and walking is healthy, so we didn't mind. The girls were still skeptical. We took a long car ride, parked and ended up in what looked like an abandoned strip mall. They were not excited. Even I was starting to wonder if the website was all hype. But somehow, behind all of the abandoned soviet buildings, there was a park full of wonder.
Yep, this surrounds the park.
I'm not going to write a lengthy post about the park and what fun it is. I have a lot of pictures that tell the story better than I ever could. What I will do is tell you that if you are ever in Prague for an extended period, this is a place that you should take the kids. It is an adventure, it is history and it is just downright fun. Except for the tanks - that is only an adventure and not a good one with little kids. And it is the only story I will tell in depth...so stick around for it. It is after a bunch of pictures...
There is a shrub maze that is absolutely perfect. It is just large enough, with just enough dead ends and twists to get you good and lost, and it is high enough that the kids can't cheat by looking over the shrubs (but adults can)
Lunch in the park. Stinkerbell's favorite! You can also bring your own food and have a picnic. I was lazy.
This castle is amazing. It has slides, tunnels, poles to swing from, underground tunnels and 4 levels.
The girls were too small. This leads from the top floor, down four stories and into the underground tunnels. The girls giggled when they heard him scream...Guess there was a reason for the height requirement.
A bit apprehensive about the tunnels...at first. My only suggestion - take a headlamp or flashlight with you because they are pitch black. And, as a warning, they can get pretty small. But I can't just let my 4 and 6 year old's wander old Soviet tunnels by themselves.
Was never so thankful for my flashlight app on my phone.
Look how big she looks in there and she is half my size.
Waiting to see if her Papa can actually get out...(I was on hands and knees trying to crawl out)
The climbing structures
Zip line!
This bounce pillow is huge (and there are 3 of them). It measures about 25m x 15m (approx. 75 ft x 45 ft)
GIANT swings (catching the theme here?). I think they are about 60 feet off from the top and swing in an arc of about the same distance. MadHatter loved it - Stinkerbell didn't think she could hold on so she didn't try.
And now - the tank story. Which, if you let MadHatter tell it to you, we all almost died in. See the picture above? This is the tank arriving back after a 10 minute journey around the old Soviet training fields. Everyone, even the kids, look like they had a good time. They aren't all smiling, but they aren't hysterically crying either. I saw this and told B we had to do it. He said next time. I countered with, "we always say that and then there is no next time. When are we ever going to get to ride in a real Soviet Tank, on old Soviet training grounds ever again?" He agreed and we got our tickets.
This is us while loading in. We picked a spot just by MadHatter's left elbow. We figured it was small enough to hold only the four of us (you can see it in the picture above better) and we were in the back. See those smiles - everyone was so excited. Until the engine started and the noise made Stinkerbell shriek in horror (given, she does hate loud noises - how did I not think about the noise factor?). And then we started moving. Slowly at first so we got thrown around with every bit of rought terrain we hit. And it was all rough. The tank picked up speed and I was being thrown into the sides of the space we were in with more and more force. All I was trying to do was not squish MadHatter. As a consequence, I was being beaten to a pulp by this tank. Finally, I pushed her down between my legs, inside the tank, told her to wrap her arms around my legs and hold on tight. Now I didn't have to worry about giving her internal injuries - I just had to worry about mine. Stinkerbell was being held by B, with her legs outside the tank so they didn't get crushed and he was holding on to her as tight as he could while not being thrown around inside the tank himself. It was the longest ride ever. The kids were both screaming and crying, I was in so much pain from hitting the tank with my hips and arms that I could barely walk and I realized that that was the worst idea I had ever had...I keep thinking about it now and I shudder when I think of what could have happened to the kids. I was bruised and battered (and would have the wounds to prove it for the next few weeks). I wonder why no one mentioned to us that the kids might be too little for this, or that it might be dangerous...I do not recommend this to anyone who doesn't have the ability to hold themselves steady in a moving vehicle that is going to pitch you at steep angles, very quickly.
We got off quickly and I apologized a thousand times. And then promised them ice cream. It was the least I could do. MadHatter will still shudder when I mention the word Tank. But enough of the horror...There was more fun to be had.
The little kids zip line. Much safer. In fact, there is a whole section for the littler ones.
There is an amphitheater for shows. We didn't go because it was all in Czech but it looked fun.
And finally, ice cream. What a great ending to an almost, if you take out the part where I tried to kill them in a tank, perfect day.
