Europe 2013 Trdelnik, deliciousness

This yummy treat we found in Prague deserves a post of its own! This sweet pastry is made with rolled dough wrapped around dowels that cooks over this grill thing. Then it is rolled in sugar and you can have other goodies on the inside! I of course went with the sugar rolled nutella one and Rob had the sugar. The best place we found was on the way up to the castle on the left hand side. Delish! 

Rob waiting for ours to be made

Europe 2013 Prague, Czech Republic

I have always dreamed of going to Prague but it has always seemed a little "out of the way" on our Europe trips. This time I knew with our itinerary I had to go. Rob wasn't too excited for this leg of the trip and now he is so glad we went. Prague is gorgeous and such a romantic city. I can't wait to return someday. 

We spent the first day exploring the Jewish sites because we knew the next day, Saturday, the Jewish Quarter would be closed for their Sabbath. So, remember that if you find yourself in Prague around a Saturday, you don't want to miss these amazing sites. We had a wonderful tour with Kamil from Prague Extra and I highly recommend using them. Here is the Jewish Quarter tour we did, it was so so so great! 

Maisel Synagogue 

The cool gate in front of Maisel

You couldn't take pictures inside here but it had a powerful memorial to the 80,000 victims of the Holocaust with all their names inscribed on the interior walls. It also had drawings done by children while in the camps. It was incredibly sad but neat to see as well.

This cemetery is Europe's oldest surviving Jewish cemetery. It was beautifully unkept 

It was crazy how they were piled and stacked in there. The plants and moss growing throughout added a beautiful color

We were told that placing a little stone on the headstone was, in Jewish tradition, a way to show respect and remembrance. I loved it! This particular headstone was that of Yehuda ben Bezalel known as the Maharal Rabbi Low 

The Old New Synagogue, Central Europe's oldest and it's still active. It was so unique inside 

Klaus Synagogue housing tons of things about Jewish customs and traditions

After a long day touring we ate at this amazing place! You have to find it if you go to Prague. I believe it was called Krcma....delicious, great prices, wonderful atmosphere, not touristy, and just perfect!!!

Crappy iphone picture of the perfect moment for me

Dancing in front of the "dancing house"!

 Prague Castle. You MUST get there early. This place gets crazy busy. It's free to get in but only to the front of the cathedral. Instead, buy a ticket that lets you in the whole cathedral, I promise you'll love it!

It's a hike up to the castle so keep that in mind for time. Enjoy the gorgeous views from up top too! 

 You have to, right?! I wish I would have brought home a Czech marionette. Guess I'll go back! 

The worker was teaching me , trust me, its hard!!! 

See the rooster?

 What about the little rectangles with starts on them?

See all these people? Well they are looking up at that rooster and those rectangle doors waiting for a little show. Kind of like "it's a small world" at Disneyland. We opted to climb up the tower for the view instead of watching the little guys come out of the doors! 

 This is the view we had instead!!!! 

 We sat in the square and people watched 

 and performers, plus a Native American dancing to the beat! 

 all while eating this deliciousness!!!!!

My favorite view was of my sweet man, reading us Rick Steves tips!

One step closer

                      This may not look like much to you but if you follow me on insta, you already know. We finally finished our paperwork to adopt! There has been so much time, effort, emotion, and love put in this envelope and we are thrilled to have it mailed out! There is still lots to do but we are getting there! Please pray for us, our future child, and their birth parents. We can't wait to have a sweet little tootsie to raise and love the heck out of! Feel free to spread the word and share our info with anyone and everyone! Loves

                      

Europe 2013 Salzburg, Austria

What do you think of when you think of Austria? I think of The Sound of Music, duh! When planning our trip I knew we had to stop in Austria, a beautiful country I had never been to. After lots of research, I found getting to Hitler's Eagles Nest was best done from Salzburg. Sadly, due to weather, The Eagles Nest is not open year round. We literally missed the opening of it by one week, sad. Rob was really bummed but I promised we would come back for a visit when it is open. It's a win win for us actually! Salzburg was so great and hadn't saved too much time for the city. We knew we would take a tour out to Berchtesgaden, the little town below The Eagles Nest. This tour also had an unexpected stop at SalzWelten that ended up being super fun and awesome! Check them out here. We had fun sliding in the mine, looking for "white gold", hearing the history of the mine, taking the train/mining car, and crossing the salt lake. We quickly enjoyed Berchtesgaden and a peek at The Eagles Nest on the mountain! While back in Salzburg we did Rick's walking tour catching all Salzburg's major sights. Again, I highly recommend getting Rick's travel books and downloading his audio guides for the European city you'll be exploring. 

A statue of Mozart in the square. He was born in Salzburg and they sure are proud of that! 

Grandma and Gary in front of an awesome fountain

Residenzbrunnen fountain is the biggest Baroque fountain outside of Italy

Salzburg Cathedral, originally built in 774 but rebuilt a few times due to fire and war

I loved all the horse and carriages waiting out front to catch a tourist and take them for a "romantic" tour of the city

I loved the inside of this beautiful cathedral, especially this amazing interior of the dome

Organs amaze me

This little "hole in the wall", literally, bakery spelled and tasted divine

This was at St. Sebastian cemetery. I loved how all the graves had beautiful flowers planted on top.

Mozart's wife and father are both buried in this cemetery.  

The coolest cheese slicer around! It actually worked too, I tried! 

This is Getreidegasse, a shopping street that was HUGE and all the shops signs were these cute wrought iron signs.

Hahaha, even McDonald's 

I loved these! Reminded me of downton abbey

The most amazing view of Salzburg from Hohensalzburg Fortress 

Rob was trying to make the coin in that little tiny thing sticking off the side of the fortress. 

Can you see it?

This is below looking up at the fortress on the hill

Grandma on our way up to the fortress 

My hottie! 

 How gorgeous is this view?! This is looking out from the salt mine

 I loved the mining car/train we rode into the mine on

 Our awesome get-up to keep us clean in the mine...

 and now for your viewing pleasure...our sound of music moments in Austria!