Cruisin'

As we neared the end of our time living in Prague, I wrote a bucket list of things I wanted to do.  Near the very top was to take a river cruise up and down the Vltava.  It's one of those things that is very cheesy and extremely touristy and not necessary in a city where the sights are walkable, but if you know me well you know I like a bit of cheese in my life.  I do have Wisconsin blood running through my veins after all.  So, a river cruise it was.   And when I found out that we actually knew someone that had parents that owned one of the longest running river cruise boats in Prague, we signed up for the full package.  Private room, private deck, private buffet and alcohol for two hours. The biggest problem was finding a night B was in town and that we still had available because other things from my bucket list were already crowding the schedule.  Finally, we nailed down a date - the Friday before we left - and we lined up a sitter (or I should say sitters as the girls had to stay at two separate houses seeing as we no longer had a house) and my good friend H handled all the details.

Late Friday afternoon, the girls and I gussied up and headed to the dock.  We were meeting our men there as they were coming straight from work.  And we were sure to be on time because even though we had a private room for our party, the boat had other tourists aboard and it had a schedule to keep. 

Once aboard, we proceeded to have one of the best times I have had in my years in Prague.  Maybe it was because we were leaving but I think not.  We just enjoyed good company, good drinks, and spectacular views.  And I couldn't help but snap a few pictures...But only a few, because I was having a great time just enjoying my friends.... 

Miss H.  How I will always love this woman!

And this one - #11.  I didn't know I needed to make any more friends my last year until she came along...So glad she changed my mind.

We had a photo bomber or two (you'll have to see if you can spot B doing his best photobomb later)

But mostly we just had laughter.  And hugs.  And music.  And friendship.  And some amazing sights for our 2-hour cruise...And a very memorable great time. (Keep reading for what happens after the cruise...)

I love that I have taken these pictures before, but never from this perspective.  And isn't that what life is all about - seeing things from new perspectives?

We docked at about 8 pm and decided it was way too early to call it a night.  We had sitters, after all.  So a large group of us headed over to have our favorite Mexican food (Agave) and a few Gin and Tonics.  We lost a few after that as it was nearing 11 and some had to go relieve sitters...But 8 of us still had caught our second wind so we headed out for another drink and then to an 80's bar to dance until the wee hours in the morning...

And in those wee hours, B and I walked our way home after saying goodbye to some very dear friends...And remembering why it is we don't stay out until the wee hours...

Tivoli

After 9 days of popping in and out of the Baltic capitals, we had come to our final port.  Our bags were already on dry land, our room had been vacated and we were just awaiting word that we could disembark for the final time.  This time we were going to catch a bus to the airport.  But the catch was, we were not going home.  Not quite yet.  We had one final day full of surprises for the girls.

One final picture on board before we go.  (How cute are they?)

We caught our bus, left our bags at the reception desk at our airport hotel (so super convenient) and hopped the train.  The girls were none to happy with us because we wouldn't tell them where we were going or what we were doing so they thought that we were, once again, going to tour the sights of Copenhagen.  And that was what we let them believe.

We walked out of the main train station and across the street.  We bought day long tickets from the line and we got our wristbands.  The girls were really curious now, but we still hadn't really explained what we were doing.  All they could see was that we were going to a place called Tivoli Gardens and the Garden part did not seem to excite them.  Until they saw the rides.

Tivoli Gardens is a large amusement park smack dab in the center of Copenhagen.  It is visited by almost 4.5 million people a year and is the largest seasonal theme park in the world.  Built in 1843, it is also the second oldest in the world.  Tivoli's founder got Kind Christian VIII to grant him the land and permits to build the park by telling him that when people were out having fun, they were not thinking about politics.  So he built his oasis in the city and opened it to the people.  It follows a certain oriental theme, but is ever evolving and constantly changing.

We had arrived just before lunch time and decided to get the food out of the way while we planned our day.  I say we, but I mean they...

First things first - the fairytale ride.  It took us on a tour of the most famous stories by Denmark's own Hans Christian Anderson.  Many of which the girls are familiar with in their Disney forms, as they may still be a bit young for their true stories.

The Snow Queen - the first Elsa.

From then on it was rides, rides, rides.  We played all afternoon and into dinner.  Finally we had to call it a day.  We had a hotel to check into and a flight to catch the next afternoon.  But what an ending to such a great vacation.  I would chalk this up as one of our top family vacations to date.

This building is a restaurant!

Concentrating on driving her boat.  And then she gets a gleam in her eye - which means we are about to go after Papa and MadHatter...though they got to us first.

The boat is another restaurant.

Notice the guy in red, sitting on the chair what is row 5...He is actually braking the coaster.  By hand.  Around each and every curve!!!  It is the oldest, still running, wooden roller coaster in the world.  We didn't ride it, but we did ride the one below (that got you wet)

Dinner.  You got a basket, picked out your food and drinks and essentially had a picnic in the park.  Such a great idea.  And the perfect way to end the day.

We took the train to the hotel.  Stinkerbell tried to tell me that she was able to read Danish :)