After a full day tour of Kutna Hora, our day ended with comforting food, 3-hour dinner cruise on Vltava River. 

Picturesque view, just rained weather, live music in the house, it was perfect! 

Eva arranged for everything, all we had to do is walk from our house after a change of clothes, show the staff our print-out booking and board we did.

We weren't super hungry, we were mostly exhausted and needing a really big rest. But how else do you wind down better a full packed day but to sit and relax and choose to eat or not in the next 3 hours.

We have seen Charles Bridge through Riksha tour on a bike, from afar when we dined at Bellevue Restaurant, now we passed by it twice, daylight on our way out and evening when it was fully lit, on our way back. Soon we will walk atop it! That ish zhe plan!

Although it was cold, we can't help but go outside. It would be a shame to miss the view. We saw everything that we didn't see (river side) for the last two days, and probably will not see for the remainder of our vacation here in Prague. 

The warm sunset, the clouds after it cried, Fred and Ginger (dancing house) building, the family of swans and ducks, floating restaurants, Kampa island up close and personal. The only thing we didn't mind missing were the huge battalion of mosquitoes. They were atop the wall where our boat has to wait in line to cross a higher part of the river.

Basically, boats go to one side, get locked in, the boat gets raised by flooding the section. Once we are on the same level of the next part of the river, off we go!

By the time we came back to the port, it was dark. We are fed, quite rested and now just need a 5 minute-walk to our house and then doze off time right after a cup of coffee for me and tea for hubby.

That wrapped our third night. Wonderful four days in this enchanting place.

Tomorrow's tour is Cesky Krumlov! Dying to see it!

When I finalized our trip to Czech, this is one of those "must" see in my list. Not just because it's unique but because I want to understand the reason behind it.

The very first day of our out of town tour was a good one hour and half drive from Prague center. An hour and a half drive and the difference in the way of living is pretty massive.

It is still touristy, but take away the tourists? It really feels like time stood still here. 

Kutna Hora started as a silver mining town. The silver rush happened and everyone in the guild settled wherever they can. There's no proper planning of town, it just happened.

We passed by their town center and it doesn't even feel it's the town center. All the effort and financing went into the churches.

The reason why Kutna Hora has so many churches for a pretty small town was because during the time of silver mining, miners understood their field as a very dangerous job. They can die anytime performing their work and they don't want to die without the last confession. So they asked for church to be easily accessible, they even financed some.

The trip was very educational, with a pre-tour video to watch for us and the boys while in the car en-route to the location. We also had fun-time with the boys as teams, having a friendly competition. 

In this trip, we had to stick our hand in a pretty tight container and try to collect as many nuggets of gold (pretend) mixed with hay. It wasn't easy, Alex and I lost over Jason and Daddio. It is to show our boys how hard a miners' job is, adults learned it wasn't easy too!

The second competition for the day was throwing the gold nuggets within three plates, each has a value. Every time the team wins, we get minted coins which used to be the coin of the town. In the end, because to the total, Alex and I won over Daddio's team with Jason.

Our guide is Eva of Sightseeing Prague. She is amazing. Our tours were a mix of education, fun and relaxing moments. It's never too much of everything.
Email: tours@sightseeing-prague.com 
Mobile phone: +420 728 880 367.
Website: http://www.sightseeing-prague.com/en

Our first stop was Sedlec Ossuary where the Bone Church is, which is actually St. James church.

The skulls are real and they came from different places. Churches before used to have big cemeteries surrounding them, when the cemetery has to be trimmed down to a much smaller scale for hygienic reasons, the skulls and bones were used to decorate the church.

Another source were the war between Catholics and Hussites and of course the plague that hit Europe.

It used to be a working church, even before the skulls and bones were added. Nowadays it is a museum.

The idea behind the bone church is not to scare or shock people. The idea was more pragmatic during the conceptualization of the church's architecture.

It is a reminder that at the end of it all, we are all just skulls and bones. What matter is what you have done before you reach the end of your life. Everything in this life ends, so make it count.

It was freaky but my boys understood the reason behind the design and they thought it was pretty cool. Boys will be boys :)

The second church we visited was Our Lady's church. Compared to St. James, it was pretty plain. Though it is in Gothic style, it didn't have the elaborate structures as the third church we visited.

The church residents believed that parishioners should't focus much on designs and distractions, but concentrate on prayers.

The highlight of this visit was when we were shown the loft. It showed how the vaults are held together. We walked the loft on the length of the church until we reached the balcony facing the altar on the other side. We also tested the natural acoustic of the church.

A solo singer can sing her heart out in that balcony and the whole church would be able to hear the song loud and clear.

An interesting shot was shown as well. One sunset in a year, during equinox, when the whole church is dark, the sunset's reflection goes straight into the altar, like a natural spotlight. Shame I didn't take a picture but trust me when you see it, it's awe-mazing. 

The thought that comes into creating a surprise like that must be great. Because the altar is always on the east, they have to calculate at a particular time of day and season when will the sunset create a spotlight effect to the altar.

There are also relics of Saints in the church, two of them actually, Pope's gift to them in one of the anniversaries.

The faces are of course not real but the important bones like ribs, hands and feet are intertwined with the clothing are real.

The last church we visited in Kutna Hora was the Cathedral of St. Barbara. My most favorite.

It's also a gothic church but the most elaborate of them all. The spires, the flying buttresses!!! It's an enchanting church, inside and out. 

The Cathedral was the miner's answer to the church of St. James. It is built by the hillside where the monastery's ownership ends. Supported financially by the miners, the original design was supposed to be bigger than what it is now. They wanted to show the Cisterian monks that they can do a more grandiose church design. 

Though it's not as big as planned, it already is humongous even in today's standards.

You know how important the miners are during those days when you see designs, paintings or etchings on the walls that are miner-related and not religious or bible related.

The vaults in this church compared to Our Lady's church is the total opposite. It is adorned with various coats of arms which is both symbolic and historical.

The interior is adorned with designs that are in harmony with the whole church.

It is a gargantuan structure indeed but what will make you feel so ordinary and small is the artistic flair that went into it, inside out. I would love to attend a mass in this church. It looks and feel so heavenly.

The outside balcony gave us a wonderful viewing point and photo op. It's high, scary and a little skewed on the floor but we cannot and will not miss it for the world.

We then walk around town, leading up to an al fresco place for lunch. But before that, there are a lot of viewing point to enjoy this lovely town. 

Streets are steep, houses are authentic, roads are cobbled, everyone is walking. Makes you think about period movies, ladies wearing traditional clothes walking back and forth in this road, bidding neighbors goodbye or greeting them hellos. Horses would be really useful in this road. 

For lunch, we stopped by a restaurace that offers a mix of traditional and international dishes. I went for the roulade which is pretty common in Czech, while Alex chose salmon, Jason chose chicken cordon bleu and hubby of course went for pork barbecue.

After lunch, we walked and walked and walked.

There was another church of St Nepomuk that has adam and eve on the facade which is unusual. Usually they don't adorn churches because their story is so basic, everyone knows about them, there is no need for a reminder. Because of this, this church is quite unique. 

There is the plague post which we found in a lot of towns in Czech Republic. It's a symbol that once upon a time, this town was hit badly by the plague.

During those times, they create post because they believed that plague is a punishment for the evil deeds committed by the community.

Offering a post like it will show how much they are repentant and that they ask for their patron saint to heal them and help their town.

On top of plague monuments will always be Virgin Mary. Her devotion to helping us his children in her intercession to God and the triumph of prayers over plague. 

In most of plague monuments is a Saint with a dog, always with his robe lifted showing his leg. It is St. Roch. His dog during his ailment, was the only one who comes close to him, bringing him bread to eat.

One of my hubby's curiosity is why are all the letters that we also consider Roman Numerals highlighted in gold?

Something to find out.

The last bit of find we saw was an old water dam. They used to keep clean water for drinking purposes. 1497 it says, that's how "4" used to be written in the old days. Even in the astronomical clock of Prague, 4 was written this way.

Then... [click here to find out how our day ended...]

We got lost enough on our first day that we felt we can finally venture a bit further and be lost some more.

Armed with a couple of maps and Rick Steves App and off we go.

Light showers? No biggie, it doesn't look so bad.

I said "let's just do the Old Town Square now and then do the Wenceslas another day". I was thinking about our dinner and the distance.

Sure enough we got lost again and actually ended up at Wenceslas Square. Apparently our house is no-kiddingly close to every single place that matters.

First things first, foodie call. We have to try some hotdogs, streetfood way, standing and while walking.

The sauce made the difference. It's a special mixture with lots of onions and a REALLY generous amount of mustard. I meant REALLY GENEROUS.

Chilly weather made me enjoyed it, Alex did and hubby too,,, Jason had to order another one of a different type because he had to run to his cola after the first bite!

So he got a very plain one with just bread, hotdog and ketchup. They have no mayonnaise!!! Surprising, but hey, welcome to Europe and welcome to something new.

Suffice to say I ended up eating his first sandwich.

Bravery is good but European weather demands smart wanderers. For which we were initially not.

Hubby had to go back home to get some more armour for the now becoming heavy drizzle. Our house comes with umbrellas and raincoats. How awesome is that?

An excuse for my boys to have their desserts, coffee for me and a shmoke while enjoying the square get damper and damper. People watching was also pretty nice. Some were so used to the cold drizzle that they don't really care... they looked like they were walking on sunshine.

We hang out at Kolkovna Celnice Restaurant, somewhere in the alley towards the Powder Tower/Gate.

Since we are gluttons, after a few minutes walk, the hotdog happiness wore off. We stopped at Como for a nice lunch. Did you see my dessert? (fine, I'm keeping it parental guidance!)

Delicious lunch, pricier than the usual Czech fare but reasonable for Dubai standards.

Its location with a terrace sticking out to the side walk, it's a fabulous way to people watch. Stalkers, guard!!!

THE HORSE'S A**

The start of our tour is in front of the National Museum, under the horses a**... I meant tail. That by the way is how the locals meet up at the square. "I'll meet you at the horses' tail"

King Wenceslas is a historical icon for Czech. A smart and benevolent 10th century duke who Christianiased and lifted Czech culture and who the Christmas carol fame refer to when they say "good King".

He was canonised as a saint after his death.

Next to him are four statues. The nation's patron saints with its focus on books. A symbol that enriching their culture is through thinking, rather than fighting.

National Museum is the imposing building overlooking Wenceslas square. 19th century Neo-classical architecture built to show everyone that they are unique and deserves independence from others.

We haven't been in, the facade is beautiful and apparently the interior is rich too but the collections inside are boring.

We will still visit to pretend we're the cast of Mission Impossible where the Museum stood for "the embassy". Where's my evening gown!!!!

I WILL SET MYSELF ON FIRE!

Just a few walk from the good King Wenceslas statue is a patch of green. Looking at it it says Jan Palach and Jan Zajic. Two students who were two of the many heroes who fought for Czech revolution.

Jan Palach in particular was the student who stood in front of the Museum and set himself on fire because he cannot take the oppression anymore and felt no change will happen (if people don't do anything drastic).

All throughout the square are remnants of Czech's period architecture. Neo-gothic, Neo-Rennaissance, Neo-Baroque, Art Nouveau and Functionalism.

The Grand Hotel Europa is the bright yellow Art Nouveau building on your left as you thread down the square.

The scene was set in November 1989. The Velvet Revolution happened here. Every night, people gather in front of this grandiose structure and jangled their car keys. Hundreds of thousands of them, Symbolically telling the communists to pack up and leave their country.

Velvet Revolution, no force were used, no blood were spilled. It was sheer boldness and standing tall and proud together as a nation while demanding freedom from the dictators..

The balcony of the now Marks and Spencer was the same balcony were the famous individuals of Czech, stood to greet and cement the success of the uprising. A rock star, a well known priest, a poet, Alexander Dubcek and Vaclav Havel to name just a few.

Following our guide to some secret nuggets spread across the city, we were brought to an art deco mall of the 1930s. The Lucerna Arcade.

We found Wenceslas riding an upside down horse. It was huge and funny and we're glad to be led to it.

The last side trip before The Old Town Square was a Franciscan garden hidden within another popular place to the locals. Svetnor Mall.  If you want ice creams, this is "the" place.

The Franciscan garden is from the 1600, boasting a playground for kids and offers a romantic rendezvous for couples or... as what we saw, two boys hiddenly smoking cigarettes.

Our tour was cut short because we have dinner reservations at Bellevue. We will resume our self guided tour on Saturday after a series of out of town tours.

Our night ended with a meal to remember. Dinner with a view of Charles Bridge.

The food were great but I think the captivating beauty of the bridge, lit or not, overwhelmed the gastronomic creativity.

That and the fact that for the first time I ate rabbit. There were the usuals but I wanted to try something new, so rabbit it is!


It doesn't really help that while I was eating, my two boys were making cute sad bunny rabbit faces. Aaaargh!

Grainy photos and all, this wrapped our second night in Prague. We are undoubtedly having a blast!

Aptly called frogs with all beautiful things and people surrounding us. We can easily get lost in this city, literally and figuratively.

We flew KLM, and so the journey was pretty long but it's all worth it. We enjoyed the adventure and are looking forward to our quickie tour of Amsterdam on our way back.

Let's begin from, well, the beginning!

*please bear with the photos and typos.. I am writing my updates via iPhone and let's just say I am all thumbs!

I'll fix the photo collage and typos when I come back to home base.

One back-pack each!

It was hard, a definite challenge but it's needed. This is a 10-day trip to 2 cities, essentially. In August we will be touring 8-10 cities and so it's good to practice now and not be stressed out later on.

Granted I and hubby still carry the boys' bags now and again, I still say it's a must to stick to the one bag each. No check-in luggage, no wheels to worry on cobbled streets. Rick Steves is correct when he said, "everytime you travel, do you say, I should pack heavier next time? It's always I should pack lighter, right?."

Really, you don't wear all of your clothes you brought for "just in case". The best strategy is to have a mix and match of attire for different occassions. I actually found out, 6 of the items I brought, I didn't use and 2 of the items I bought were used once. 

For ladies, the pack is longer but we can still trim down.

Knowing my bare minimum as a lady is the best gauge.

I was supposed to only bring 2 footwear but the weather is confused at the moment so I gotta prepare for yes, the "what ifs".

I got my blue suede heels for a dressy dinner we have booked tonight. I got my Timberland boots for those rainy days. Got my Keds for the sunny occassions and got my rubber slippers for the bathroom. However, I can count that slippers for my oldest boy, his feet is the same size as mine. I didn't bring him house slippers so we share it.

I only need it when I'm in the cold floor bathroom. All around the house is wooden flooring or carpet so I'm good.

My footwear then is a total of 3.

Different passengers have different experiences to tell.

With the big plane, from Dubai to Amsterdam, everyone was happy. Then we had to do the transfer.

But first, my loving hubby went to the women's washroom at Schipol airport. He dashed across to the men's side so quickly, I wasn't able to capture the Mr Bean moment :) "I was wondering, why are there women all powdering their faces?.. yikes!"

We transferred to a smaller plane, Fokker, it's called. The name made my boys' giggled a bit,,, fine! A lot! They're the ones who read the airline magazines and told me about it. 

It was a nice small plane, used specifically for short distances. KLM calls them City Hopper.

Jason got scared while Alex loved it. It was a lovely cloudy day.

Clouds are mesmerizing.

Of course my boys asked, if it is possible to stand on them?

The mustard ham, egg and cheese they gave us on the plane was so organically tasty that my boys (including the big one) actually wanted more. Of course I am a spoil sport, told them it's only a little over an hour flight, let's reserve our tummy for Czech treats.

The plan was to take the public bus to the train station and then take the metro to Namesti Republiky and walk.

It's true.. altitude makes you bloat! My face before boarding in Dubai was starved.. landing in Prague? Like I was fed really mercillesly!

But because we are tourists and the lady at the shuttle's counter was pretty with blue eyes, my hubby made me believe that's the counter for the ticket to the Public bus. Apparently not.

It cost Koruna 600 for the 4 of us, which is practically AED 30 each. Darn cheap compare to their European counterparts.

Shuttle bus was actually a saving grace because when we get off Namesti Republiky station and started walking, we got lost... for about 30 minutes.

Yup that was a loooong time searching for a small street. We were armed with 2 maps, but we were so disoriented, the map just didn't make any sense.

After the jet lag wore off, we found the street then the house, then the bed and we all collapsed!

Our home away from home was sourced from AirBnB. It is a very comfortable place.

Honestly getting lost at the start and walking in streets we are not familiar of, I was a little disappointed when we finally found the house street.

It was hidden. There were few grafittis on the street's wall, the main door looks old, we were tired and hungry and apparently I was dehydrated (from Dubai, I had a few sip of water, bad move!). I didn't fully appreciate how lucky we are to have this place.

We went up the stairs and were greeted by soft beds. It's clean and has all modern amenities and of really good brands. Coffee machine, washing machine, full size fridge and freezer, hot plate cookers, electric blinds, security camera, dishwasher, got my point, everything we will ever need while staying in Prague.

So one by one, we slept until 2 PM. We have to go out and buy groceries and have lunch.

As we walk along getting ourselves oriented with our temporary neighbourhood and as we venture out to other streets, we realised that our house is a short walk to everywhere. The house is a real gem. We cannot be any happier. 

There are graffitis everywhere in the city! It is their own way of saying, "we are a progressive and liberated society". Coming from WWII and going through communist era, the habit of writing their messages on the wall is ingrained in their souls. 

We ended up going to Palladium, which is a 5 minute walk to our house.

Unfortunately we have a tradition of having the first few meals in a good old fashion junkfood chain. It was a toss between MickeyD's or KFC... we went for KFC and enjoyed a different way of frying chicken.It was tasty.

I know it's bad and a sad thing to do in such a beautiful country, but it was so tasty. We discovered that chicken wings are a big thing here. They sell wings in buckets! And we witnessed buckets per person as a meal, everyone nibbling on them, no utensils, just finger licking meal. The way some people build pyramid using pizza crust, I saw in Czech were wing bones. 

We will have to do it too, tomorrow. Probably SHARE a bucket.

For our groceries, we got them from Alberts. It's connected to another mall opposite Palladium and it's in the basement. It looks like it used to be a train station or something, I will find out in the next few days!

We are fed, we have supplies and so we head back home to wait for our tour Riksha.

It's way better than hop-on hop off bus because we were not in an enclosed van. We can feel the breeze, there's a feeling of no barrier from the vicinity at its most natural setting. It was worth it.

We had them pick us up from the house which is really great as getting lost again on still tired body was not ideal. And they dropped us off to the restaurant where we have a booking for dinner. Perfect!

The owner is a half Sudanese, half Czech entrepreneur who personally lead our tour. His name is Arman.

Riksha cost 850 per bike, 200 per drop off or pick up so it cost us 2500 Koruna in total.

1 and a half hour of light tour with a few bits of history and introduction. So ideal for first timers in Prague. Not diluted with facts we can get from books and frankly speaking, we weren't ready for information overload.

We went to important places to get oriented to. We even went further across the bridge and got some tips of more things-to-do in Kampa Island.

Look at where they even brought us, right next to Vltava river to understand how high the last flood of 2002 was! It was a whoaa moment... I mean I know I am small but even a tall person will have a hard time with such high water?

The dropped of point is at Wenceslas Square, Vytopna Restaurace (that's restaurant in Czech). Our drinks are delivered at our station by a miniature train.

I was the supercool mom who researched and booked it.. my kids love me!

We enjoyed our meal to the brim and went walking home. 

On our way, a light drizzle accompany us until we reached home. As I drifted to a supposed to be light nap... apparently the rain became heavy. 

The plan was we'll rest a bit and then hubby and I will hit the streets at night. I fell totally asleep, missed night altogether and woke up past 5 in the morning with make-up still on, unbrushed teeth, unshowered me and contact lens sticking to my eyes!

That's first day for you! Knackered but totally happy.

I hope to write a food review of Vytopna . Their food deserves a full post, if only I can find the photos!

1. Plan - why did you want to visit it in the first place? What can you get free, cheap and which are the ones that you need to spend on and are a must.

2. Research - what are the good, the bad and the ugly? Surprises are for birthdays and are only welcome if they're good surprises.

3. Calendar is your best friend. Plot your day. From the time you arrive at the airport to bed time. Possible activities, restaurant you've heard off where you want to dine at, the whole nine yards. It's your drawing board, make it as messy as you want. It's easy to trim it down later.

4. Mix and match. Weigh what activities are possible. Mixing high involvement to low so you maximise your day but keeping it real, you're only human who needs to rest. And accept it... you don't have 48 hours in a day. Selfies alone takes 5 minutes ;)

5. Plan the payments. They are all booked, now get back in there and make your first review. Time to pay for the ones you're dead set on. Either you pay it in advance or you pay them later, you want the experience or the food? either way, you will pay. Pay them in advance if you can, that way you don't have to worry about it in your trip, you can just enjoy.

Booking and paying in advance means you're locking in the amount. Fees become expensive the closer you are to the date. So pay/book early and save money.

6. Pay according to capacity. You should have a payment schedule along with your calendar. Set aside the usual monthly cost and the savings then use 75% of the surplus. That way you have 25% buffer for any incidentals or sudden urge to splurge. Then carry forward the remaining amount to your next month's surplus.

Make it fun. Look forward to it every month. Make a colourful chart, reward yourself every time you're able to stick to it and settle an amount, give yourself a free pat on the back or a lollipop or a bucket of ice cream,,, GET YOURSELF REWARDED, DAMN IT! YOU DESERVE IT!

7. A month before the trip. List your "what to bring". Our challenge is to carry one knapsack each. So check the weather, change of clothes for 3 days, laundry day on the third (that's why we preferred renting houses than hotels), who will carry what? One set of smart casual (for those dinner dates). Go simple... solid coloured tank tops and a cool looking jacket sounds like good options. Tank top with shorts and walking shoes are ideal for day out, add a jacket, change shorts to slacks and smart casual shoes and you can dine in anywhere in town. We ladies can just add heels and a chic jacket or a shawl and they'll let us in.

8. You have forgotten your favourite shampoo or your toothbrush? Don't fret,,, wherever you are going, chances are, those people also brush their teeth and shampoo their hair. Duh? Get out of the house and buy it from the local shop,,, be a local for a few days, it's a good excuse to chat the small shop owner or talk to him in sign language.. that can work too.

If you think those are essentials, other people in other part of the world also think they are. BEAUTY OF GLOBALISATION, eh?

9. Plan some more. Because you have lots of time to spare before the trip, (that's for doing your homework early), if you want to splurge on some areas of your trip, do it but don't overdo it. You still need to live the real life after your vacation.

10. Download an audio tour app. If you are going to Europe? Hands down, Rick Steves. A friend of mine who hated me for talking about the guy non stop (RS said this, RS said that), went to Amsterdam and is on her way to Belgium and Antwerp messaged me and said "sorry, I am marrying your boyfriend RS! I am in love with him!!!! our trip was amazing because of his app!" mind you she's been going to Europe for the last 10 years, 2x a year.

11. Dry run your packing strategy, your walking shoes (try them a day in the mall, if your toes don't turn black and you have no sprain after 10 hours, they're good walking shoes), your clothes. Dry run everything possible.

12. Don't be shock if nothing goes into plan. This is life. If it goes according to plan, fabulous! If some or all goes haywire, it's an adventure! A story to tell and a darn good memory to last all of ya a lifetime. So what if you left your son up to the next train station ala home alone? Hope not :P

13. Enjoy! When you set eyes on a trip, you are already in one heck of a journey. From planning to budgeting to the actual trip including the jet lag and the wanting for another vacation after the vacation. They are all priceless time of your life, non-refundable, one time only. So enjoy and live your life!

Let's discover the world!

It felt like the longest 7 months of working, planning and working some more non-stop. 

There were days I cried, days I fell ill, days I felt, "I pushed myself way too far this time". There are days when I got cranky as hell for just being tired and hungry or got seriously depressed ... oh for the same reason!

But as the saying goes, never give up. So I didn't. I pushed myself and pushed myself and pushed myself even further. I believe our elasticity can be compared to a rubber band, the only difference is... if we rest a bit and plan a bit more when the tension starts to build up, we divert that tension to strengthen our core. Then like a kid, as if the tension didn't happen, we stretch our reality even more, bordering it into a dream and fantasy.

The idea hatched in November, one fine (boring) and very eventful (NOT!) day. I thought of how our lives here in Dubai have been and what explorations have we done so far. Almost 15 years and we have not really ventured out. We haven't really seen much of what the world has to offer. The only reasons why we were able to see other countries were either because of work, because it's along the way to the Philippines or because of relatives.

Then I thought, where's the closest place to visit? Somewhere different, somewhere we are purposely visiting and touring for the sake of history, culture and adventure. Somewhere my kids will be just in awe because it's something they only see in movies. I thought of Europe. Very few places in Europe where it seems like time stood still... then the idea hatched... "what about Prague?".

And the birth of multiple travel bug bites happened. I got totally infected by it and 7 months from its inception, I don't think I'm close to getting cured.

By January this year, the first trip's ticket and accommodation were paid for. Every month, during pay day, I enjoyed seeing my personal account full to the brim, just like a full figured woman who has just eaten a feast. Her bosoms spilling over, her waist a bit wider, she looked a little heavy but a lot happy. Then like having a food disorder, the same account gets depleted massively and without mercy as I settle payments and secure bookings every 2nd day of each month to be exact. 

Like a child, I enjoyed ticking the boxes and colouring cells as I settle scores. Seeing how my "to pay for" cell gets smaller and smaller and smaller. What joy!

I planned for two months, last two months of 2013 passed me by without me even noticing. I studied my monthly income from work and my part-time worksssss. How much is plausible per month, where can we splurge and where should we be a smart traveler? Formulating a full spreadsheet with rainbow colours, comparing each and every possible transportation and routing, for trains and airlines, comparing travel dates against each other, non stop. When I cannot compare anymore and my head hurts like it will break, I sleep on it and continue the following night after a long and toxic day in the office. 

Two months, I look forward to each late night studying the best places to see, the free places to see, the food we can try, connecting flights, hotels versus houses, if it's a possible scenario, I would have considered it.

Seven months down the line from that fine (and boring) day, Prague trip became a trip to 9 different cities spanning across Europe and the Americas. Bidding adieu to work every other month takes convincing management with a magical potion. Researching and projecting possible public holidays takes some awesome instincts. 

I am super proud to say that whatever happens next in these trips, they were laid out so beautifully by moi,,, It is all my hard work, missing out on weekends consecutively with the worst recorded history to be 3-weekend gig. Working for 26 days straight was not joy but it's a job that has to be done. 

I am not delusional. Something is bound to get screwed up sooner or later. But traveling is an adventure so I can just easily blame it on that :P

Join us in our adventure as a family, wander with us as we explore places we have never ever seen before, eat dishes we have never tried before or sample authentic ones we didn't know existed. 

Get to know our journey, tour companies who assisted us, restaurants we have tried, hotels we stayed at or houses we rented. 

I am beyond excited! Four days to go and we will get to see Prague and its old world beauty.