Machaks of Ohio visit Berlin, Part II--Prague

Mom and Pop and I trained to Prague on Tuesday and spent a couple days exploring and walking everywhere. These are some of the sights we saw:


The water wheel near our hotel

The manger scene out front

Mom and Pop at the Charles Bridge

The National Opera House

Great view of the Prague Castle

We had a great lunch at a 14th century resturant under the city

Me and momma at the Czech National Museum

Great Walking city, with the castle in the background

We walked a lot

Inside the St. Nicholas Church

Changing of the guard at Prague Castle

4 Fathers checking out the view

Mom and Pop in the Golden Corridor

We Three outside St. Vitus' Cathedral

Maybe I am too tall to be a Slovak

Inside St. Vitus

He was not as amused as I was

Mom and Pop outside the Prague Castle

Gates of the Castle

View from the Castle Wall

We walked up lots of steps :)

On the Charles Bridge

Inside our fantastic restaurant Tuesday night

Christmas in Prague

Amazing Views Everywhere

On the train to Prague(they are so European)

The Machaks of Ohio visit Berlin!--Part I

David's parents arrived Saturday and hit the ground running.... we set off to cut down a Christmas tree! We went back to the "selbst schlagen" place (you cut down your own tree).

We found a tree in record time.



David was the expert with the saw.


carrying it back to the car was not so fun


but we remembered to bring our own rope this year!


all decorated and leaning just a little bit :-)


Sunday we went to church.

the American Church in Berlin


After church we enjoyed brunch at Cafe Einstein, and then we headed off to the Christmas markets! We started with a small one in Dahlem.


ok so "Pferd" means horse... we did not buy anything at that booth.

but the waffles were awfully good!

The second Christmas market we went to was in front of Schloss Charlottenberg--the best one so far, in Christy's opinion.

approaching the market

German wooden figures

typical booth with Christmas ornaments

Schloss Charlottenberg itself was all lit up

this is the top of a Gluhwein hut--the traditional German pyramid

David found his dream food--Germknoedel. It is a ball of dough with plums in the middle, covered in vanilla cream sauce and fresh poppyseeds.




Monday night we enjoyed dinner at our neighborhood brewery, Brewbaker.

Tuesday David and his parents headed off to explore Prague. Part II of the visit coming soon!

California

We had a wonderful visit to Christy's parents' house for Thanksgiving. We started off with a weekend in San Francisco, where we got to see Sue Ellen and Scott and Becky. Then we headed to Rancho Murieta for some relaxation, family time, and sunshine! We spent a day in Merced so David could see Christy's old haunts and we could reconnect with Jerrimy and Susan, and Friday night we took a trip into Modesto to meet Liz and Craig for dinner. Wednesday through Saturday Katie and Jeff were home as well so it was a full house. We saw a King's game Wednesday night--they lost in overtime but it was still a good game. All in all, a wonderful trip spending time with family and friends.




Buck in our parents' neighborhood that we saw during our golf cart ride

Thanksgiving family photo

Katie and Jeff

us

Christy driving the golf cart

one of the buck's 12 doe

David and a view of the Golden Gate bridge

stop on the Dave Rhodes' tour of San Francisco

Mom and Dad

view of San Fran

Top of Lombard Street

David and Scott bonding over beer samplers

Ghirardelli Square

the sea lions at Fisherman's Warf

The girls--Becky, Christy, and Sue Ellen

Alcatraz

Enjoying our obligatory clam chowder in a bread bowl

trolley ride

We found an Ohio State bar to watch them beat that place up north at 9 am Saturday morning

and enjoyed our bloody mary's.

Now we are safely back in Berlin and Christy has jumped full-swing back into work. We brought up all the Christmas decorations from the storage unit and are slowly starting to decorate and write Christmas cards. We also scoped out some Christmas markets in anticipation of David's parents' visit starting this Saturday! We know it's the Christmas season because the Brewbaker, our neighborhood brewery, has Christmas beer. Happy Holidays!

Marine Ball

Another busy weekend for us. Friday night we had dinner with the Office Director of EUR/PRA, where Christy interned when she was in DC. Saturday was the big day, the Marine Ball. Happy 223rd Birthday!!!!

Getting ready to head out

the girls
the guys... aren't they handsome?

the marines had a good time

hanging out

love a guy in uniform!!

hanging out with Susan and Margaret

our table

Christy and Paula

Sunday was a busy day too.... Christy cleaned and David cooked, and we pulled off our early Thanksgiving dinner with friends and neighbors.

random band on a boat that went by our apartment this afternoon

The table with the Rosenthal china, and the centerpiece from the ball last night

about to dig in! The Kitchenaid makes great mashed potatoes, by the way!