Hello?? Is anybody there??

Well, I'm certain that my readership has plunged into the abyss over this past week, but I'm back now. And I was gone for completely legitimate reasons!

My dad arrived last Saturday at about 10:30 in the morning. There was much hugging and joyful crying in the Prague airport. It was just so good to see him. We rode the metro into Prague, got him settled in his room at the hotel, and just walked around the centre. He was pretty zonked, but wanted to stay up as late as possible to try and get onto a Prague schedule.

Sunday, we went to church in the morning, and then spent the afternoon wandering around, just hanging out. I don't think we did anything too exciting, but it was just fabulous to be with him. I remember now - we went to IKEA. Dad bought me a lamp and some socks and a fan, and we had lunch and looked at everything. He also bought a warmer coat, because damp cold feels so much chillier than dry cold! In fact, it's about 10 degrees warmer here than in Edmonton, but it feels much cooler. We had a great time just window shopping and chatting. It was wonderful. :)

Monday was day 3 of my intensive course. I didn't see dad at all until 4:30!! :( But he came to my evening class and observed, which was fun. My students all seemed Ok with having a visitor there, and we had a fun class. It was great! (In case you're wondering, the intensive course went alright. It was exhausting, but I think that the student gained some skills that she needed, and hopefully feels it was all worthwhile!)

Tuesday was day 4 of the intensive course. Dad came out to Hrdcanska to have lunch with me, which was lovely! That night, we went to a movie (Brothers Grimm - it was weird, but Ok), and then picked Lucy up at the metro. She'd just flown in from the Isle of Wight, and spent her first night in Prague at my place. It was lovely to see her again!! Bonus for her: my dad carried her suitcase. :)

Wednesday was the last day of the intensive course (hallelujah!). Dad met me for lunch again, and then Lucy came out and met up with us after I was done work, and we went to the circus! We had seats right on the edge of the ring, and it was incredible. There were horses, bears, camels, llamas, elephants, acrobats, jugglers, clowns.... It was one of the best circuses I've ever seen. It was a bit surreal to watch a llama running round a ring jumping over camels... but that's Ok!! The circus even had cotton candy, so it was an all around great experience. In fact, it's on my list of "The Best Things I've Done in Prague."

Thursday was a holiday (hurray!) and Dad and I went to Dresden. The first half hour or so of the train ride was lovely - the sun was shining, and the countryside looked very pretty. Then it got cloudy. Then it rained. It rained all day long. Dad and I arrived in Dresden at 11:30-ish. We ate lunch at a nice hotel, wandered through all the shops and up and down the streets, and then caught the 4:09 train back to Prague! We aren't terribly exciting, I know, but the weather was too wet and cold to spend much time outside, and we didn't know of anything else that we really wanted to see. We were going to see Frauenkirche, but the lineup was a mile long - outside. A warm train ride back to Prague seemed like a much better idea! We met up with my mates at the pub for a bit, and chatted with them, and that was it!

Friday I only had one class, so dad I had most of the day to ourselves. The sun was actually out, so we walked down to Old Town Square and watched the clock, then across Charles Bridge to look at the statues and the vendors. We caught a tram up to the castle, and did a little sightseeing up there. It was pretty cool, I must admit. We only saw parts of it, though, so mum - you have to come visit so we can look at the whole thing!! :D We headed back to the center for a hot chocolate, and picked up some tickets for one of the many baroque concerts you see advertised around the city. It was a wonderful concert. The quality of music was amazing, and one of the versions of Ave Maria actually brought me to tears. It was just lovely. Again, mum, you need to come visit!! After the concert we went to see Broken Flowers (a movie) that wasn't very good. A little boring. But it was fun nonetheless - just because dad was there!

Saturday dawned cold, snowy, and not very nice. We spent a portion of the day inside, playing crib and backgammon and rummy. We actually spent quite a lot of time playing games together, which is something dad and I love, so it was wonderful to just hang out like that. We decided we had to get out of the house, though, so we went for a walk around the market at Hrdcanska, and then walked through Wencelas Square. Dad said that he'd like to see a blacklight theatre show, so we went looking for one of those. There are quite a few choices for these shows, but we settled on one set to Beatles' music, since dad and I both like them. The show was exactly like what I imagine an LSD trip to be like. Everything glows and is floating and there were giant dancing eyeballs. It was so much fun!! I've never seen anything like it before, and I doubt I will again (unless you come and visit and I take you to the show!). It was crazy, but good.

And then Sunday. We got up, cleaned up, played some cards - and then went to the airport. It was rough saying goodbye - a few tears were shed on both sides. Finally, I had to walk away and let dad go through customs. I cried most of the way home!! Luckily Lucy was around to cheer me up. Now dad is back in Canada, and I'm still here in Prague. I start 3 new classes this week, and I'm a little bit behind on lesson planning, so I imagine I'll have lots to keep busy with. I hope you all are well, and that you'll come back and start reading again now that I've returned!

Love,
Elizabeth