Spike's Visit

We had been looking forward to Uncle Spike visiting us for months, and he was finally here.  We got to the airport a bit early so the girls practiced what they would do when they saw him.  They each pretended to be Spike, and the other would run up and wrap their arms around him, squeezing tight.  They did this over and over again, only to take a break to look at the arrival doors to see if Spike was actually coming out.  And then, he did!  It took everything they had in them to not just run past the red line (a no-no) and hug him the second they saw him.  

We loaded his luggage in the car and drove over to the other terminal, where Nana and Grampa would be arriving in less than an hour.  We went inside, checked their arrival time and saw that they were running about an hour late.  Which would give us time to take Spike and the girls home, and for me to get back and pick them up.  But, when we got home and checked the flight boards again, it said that their plane had actually landed early.  Which meant that we left Nana and Grampa stranded at the airport!  We tried calling and texting them but couldn't get any answer.  Finally, Grampa called us and we told him what had happened.  It would have taken me half an hour to get back to the airport to get them, and a taxi would have them at the house in half of that time, so they hired a cab and were at the house in 20 minutes.  Not an auspicious start to their vacation, but thankfully that was the last major hiccup.

We got everyone settled in and a place to sleep.  The next morning we were off and running right after dropping the girls off at school.  We decided to walk and see the highlights of Prague - the castle complex, Lennon Wall, Charles Bridge, Old Towne Square, Kampa Park etc...  I won't bore you with pictures of it all, as I have posted them all before.

Saturday - we headed to Plzen (the post is here)...

And Sunday/Monday  we hit up Oktoberfest in Munich (that post is here)...

Before saying see you later to Spike, Nana and Grampa on Monday, we hit up the showing of the Rahaus-Glockenspiel in Marienplatz.  Consisting of 43 bells and 32 life sized figures, it re-enacts two stories from the 16th century at 11 am each morning (and at 5 pm in the summer).  The top half tells the story of the marriage of Duke Wilhelm V (coincidentally the founder of the world famous Hofbrauhaus).  In honor of the happy couple, there is a joust.  One house dressed in the colors of Bavaria, blue and white, and the other in the red and white of Lothringren.  Not surprisingly, the Bavarian knight wins each time.  This is then followed by the bottom half and second story.  In this scene, we are taken back to 1517, the year the plague hit Munich.  In order to keep spirits up, the coopers took to the streets and danced the Schäfflertanz (now known as the coopers dance).  Because of their loyalty to the Duke, their dance came to represent perseverance and loyalty.  By tradition, it is now danced in Munich every 7 years, with the next being in 2019.  In all it takes about 12-15 minutes and the end it signaled by a golden rooster at the very top chirping 3 times.  Pretty cool spectacle.

We parted ways soon after the Glockenspiel adventure.  Spike, Nana and Grampa were off to Venice and Salzburg for a few days and we were headed home.  The girls have school and all, but don't think I wasn't tempted to follow them to Venice.  They all arrived back in Prague late on Thursday night.  In time for Spike to pack up for his morning flight the next day.  We were all a bit sad to see him go, but were so glad he came!  And it's only a few months until we see him again at Christmas!