the final countdown

So I figured a song by Europe, albeit cliche, would be the perfect way to title my final post from the previously mentioned continent. Confused yet? Good.

Wrapping up my final 24 hours in the Czech Republic could not have been any better. For starters, after a rough Saturday (the result of another night with the previously mentioned Australians who - apparently - followed us from Belgium), we got to enjoy an excellent restaurant meal with Tom and JoAnn Glenn. The parents of our buddies Jeff and Greg whom we have known for ages and went to school with in Irvine. We got word they were in Prague the same dates as our stay and through the magic of email (how did people ever do HALF of this before the internet?!) met up for dinner near their hotel. An excellent evening including dinner, drinks and travel stories. It is always unreal to see familiar faces in far-off places.

So anywho, Sunday being our final day of the trip, we decided to head on a bit of a day trip out to a little town called Kutna Hora. While being very remote, the town is famous for a certain 'bone church' called Kostnice. Andrew has posted a video of some of it on his blog. Basically it is a church where the interior has decorations made of human bones including a chandellier made using at least one of every bone in the human body. It was created after a mass grave was uncovered from the Plague. Really weird and unique experience.

But truly the most amazing part to me was the hour train ride to get to Kutna Hora. Here we are outside of the 'touristy' city of Prague seeing the true countryside and suburbs of a country still rebounding from Communism. Abandoned factories with all the windows smashed, miles of new railroad track wating to be placed, and smokestacks. To me, when I think of what a communist country would look like it would be high-rise apartment buildings that are all boxy and look identical to eachother alongside large factories with smokestacks with red and white rings around them pouring out white smoke. And this is EXACTLY what we saw. An unforgettable sight.

Some extra time back in Prague this afternoon was spent re-walking the Charles Bridge since the weather was nearly perfect today - much better than earlier in the week. We got our last fill of being photo nerds for the remainder of the trip. And to top that all off, Andrew and I splurged and had a nice dinner to top it all off and close out the trip. Actually at the same place we had eaten the night before with the Glenn's (thanks again Tom and JoAnn). They called it the BJ's of Prague... and we tend to agree.

So this will be my last post from the road. Hope this finds everyone well back home. A long day of traveling tomorrow and I will be right back into the swing of things. Prague --> London --> LA. See you all shortly.

welch