First of the Many Firsts - Czech Trip

First time to...

• be highly and obsessively organised. I was never a fan of making plans. I was all about spontaneity and winging it. But I learned from my boss that planning is one of the keys to success. And by success, means, on anything we set our minds into. I finally realised that planning is my best friend. Through experience, not planning only cost me more money, stress and lots of headaches. Back-ups for eventualities makes the stress a lot less. As one of the Podcast I was listening to yesterday said, "when you plan for something, it is easier for your inner critic to accept things when things eventually happen, rather than forcing your inner critic to accept the situation on the spot." It makes sense!
• surprise my family with a big gesture. I love surprises, they give me such a high. It is totally selfish... hahaha! But really, it makes me so happy to make my family happy. The joy it brings to my kids are priceless. My hubby as manly as he is, he likes to be spoiled and I would like to do that for the rest of my life if I can. The only time they knew what we were doing wass, "we are going to Czech Republic during these so and so dates." The tours, itinerary, fine dining all unravels either on the day or 2 days before. I told them to "wear what you want to wear but make sure you have a nice jacket, decent jeans and shoes that suit some where fancy." That alone made my kids' eyes twinkle.
• travel to Europe as a family. What an experience. to bond with the people you ought to be the closest, it was amazing.
• travel with just one knap-sack each. As Rick Steves said, every time you travel, do you tell your self, "next time, I'll pack heavier" ? Of course not!
• eat rabbit. prolly won't ever again. All I can think of while I'm chewing it is a cute faced rabbit. my kids were merciless, they were giving me rabbit petrified look the whole time I was trying to eat it.
• eat goulash. I enjoyed this tremendously. I can see myself totally immersed in it during winter weather... brrrr! So comforting!
• have a traditional Bohemian Feast. I would love to eat some more of these when we come back to Krumlov.
• candlelit dinner like old times. I know it sounds romantic, just like other candle lit dinners but the dinner we had in Krumlov is because of necessity. There's really no light inside the tavern apart from the firepit where the meat were being cooked and the candles on tables. We found out it used to be an old jail house in the old times. Epic!
• eat beef tartare. I'm supposed to try this in Paris, where it's a normal dish to enjoy. But, I couldn't stop myself when I saw it in the menu. It was served rare as it could be, then mixed with raw egg, spices, worcesterchire and bam! Everything was fresh, it was delicious!
• to travel to a place out of the way. A country not along the way to visit home or relatives. It has to be done and I am so glad that we planned it and it happened the way it happened.
• to leave in someone else's house. Never thought of it before but being a family of four with the expenses that comes with it, a 3-star hotel is a luxury, and don't get me started with laundry. We felt excited to make someone's house our home for a few days. It was one of the best choices I made in prepping for this trip and for sure the one I will make in our future trips.
• visit a hospital for an emergency. It was terrifying but felt so triumphant when I came out of the hospital feeling all better! The language barrier was terrifying but as they say, action speaks louder than words. The doctor and nurse who attended to me tried so hard with hand gestures and sign language to communicate, it was almost animated. The nurse looked burly but she is good. The doctor has a very warm facial expression that I felt at ease. They might look all stern but I'm sure they are not. If anything I was assured of their competence.
• venture out of my comfort zone. There are so many things that I don't know about this country, Europe is alien to me. Send me to UK, US, AUS, anywhere in Asia and I'd be just fine. I couldn't be any happier with my choice. We had a lovely time discovering a culture that is so unfamiliar to us, we had fun!
• have Alex fly with us as a young man (which means full fare!) :D. It's nice to expose kids at a young age to traveling and understand different cultures but it's also so much nicer to have them appreciate what they are seeing, eating, hearing, like an adult. Alex was 12 when we travelled to Czech. He's in that borderline of childhood wonder and adulthood's wisdom. Fantastic companion.
• use audio tour app to explore a city, Rick Steves, you are a genius!!! With a tour guide, it's amazing but self-guided tour is also great. It's like it's nice to have a nanny when I used to have one but without her, on our own is also wonderful. We get to roam around at our leisure, not worrying about time, stopping to eat or drink as we please or continuing the tour after a few hours or another day. Flexibility is priceless.
• explore a city on a stopover. We have never done it before. The hassle of understanding what happens to the luggage in between if we go through immigration is too much to think of. But Amsterdam is just the place to do our very first city exploration in a few hours stopover. They have their own luggage section, fully automated to rent a small or big locker. Transportation is great. City centre is small. We'll be back to try the water cruise.
• ride a double decker train. My kids were so happy to be in one, secretly, I was too. Nice to be so up there.