Mom and Dad's Visit!!

9 Months. That's how long it had been since I had seen my parents. Yes, I was happy to see them, but it was strange adjusting to being around them again. They arrived in Prague on May 14, and had a few days in the city alone while I was forced to stay in school. On the Thursday, I met them in Wenceslas square and ran around Old town all afternoon. That evening, we had dinner at a 'boatel' (boat hotel and restaurant) before going to the National Theatre to see 'The Secret'. On Friday, we met and had coffee with my mom's coworker who happened to also be in town visiting family, then had lunch with a fashion designer friend who I met in Branson last year. Next, we caught the train back up to Trutnov, where my first host dad picked us up and took us to his/our hotel in Pec, half an hour away. We had dinner with my first host family (only one family member short) and had fun talking in Czech-lish. Saturday we hiked up the tallest mountain in the country, Snezka, and rode the chairlift back down in time for dinner and a dance show of traditional folk dances. Sunday we went hiking again, explored the town, and went back to Trutnov. we checked into my 3rd host dad's hotel, then went to dinner back at my first host family's house. They had the BBQ up and going for trout and veggies, and it was another great evening. Monday I put Mom and Dad on a train to the local 'rock town' and went to school for the day. That evening was Rotary, and my big presentation. I had a 25 minute speech/PowerPoint, a discussion time, and a very quick trombone concert for everyone. Then we went out for drinks with my second host family. Tuesday morning, we met my dad's Polish colleague , and he drove us to his research spots all around south Poland. We were out and about all day, mainly looking at rocks. But, we also saw the only Norwegian church outside Scandinavia and an interesting old Abbey. We stayed at a research lab, and went up into the mountains on Wednesday. Back in Trutnov, we had another BBQ, this time with my second family. It was such a fun evening, everyone laughing and joking together. Thursday, my second host mom picked up my parents and took them to another town, Pardubice, to catch the train. I was a little worried, because I had no heard the woman say more that 10 English words in 3 months, and she always said that she didn't know any English. I went off to school, and later talked with Mom and Dad, and they said that the talked in English the whole morning!! Friday, I joined them in Olomouc, my favorite town, and we had a nice evening exploring the cafes and restaurants. Saturday morning we rode the bus to Telč. We were lucky that there just happened to be a festival going on to celebrate the 15 years of being a UNESCO site, so the town was filled with historic dancers and bands. After lunch and a castle tour, we saw a parade, but were rained out as the first band began to play. So, we went back to the train station, collected our bags, and waited for the hail to stop. When it did, we went to the bus station to catch our 4:00 bus. It never came. I though there was a 5:25 bus, but it never came. Finally, we ended up taking a taxi to Jinřichův Hradec. This was the town were I had language camp, and I was happy to be back. We had dinner in the best Pizza place, and I showed them all the favorite places in town. Sunday morning, we took a tour of the castle before taking trains to Cesky Krumlov. There, we were 15 minutes too late to tour inside, but we walked around outside and explored before eating dinner at a restaurant overlooking the castle. Monday, we rode buses back to Prague and I put them on a plane back to Brussles.