Last Stop: London

We have no clean clothes left. Our legs are aching from constant walking. We have sampled so many different foods and beers that we don't know what else to try. We're longing for the quiet of a town rather than a city.

I'd say it's a good thing we're getting on a plane tomorrow!

We have loved the adventure but Minnesota is calling us home. And we're hoping it's warmer there than London!

We spent the last few days exploring the South Bank of London.

Anna visited London two years ago and only got a small sample of this part of the city. It's been fun to wander along the Thames. We've walked past The Globe Theatre nearly a dozen times. Each time, we have to remind ourselves that this isn't a normal walk. Shakespeare was here!!

Since we've flown in from Prague we've done a lot:

We explored the Tower of London

We saw where Anne Boleyn had her head chopped off (Sorry, Anne)

We tried very hard NOT to say "dêkuji" when saying thank you! Czech words are now a part of our everyday vocabulary if seems.

We got a peek at the crowned jewels (no pictures allowed...for a good reason)

We went inside the historic and awesome Tower bridge

We wandered through Westminster Abbey (home of a lot of important and historic English skeletons)

We even met up with some friends who Anna and Roger got to know through her friend Stephanie's wedding this past summer.

We've done almost everything we wanted to do on our Wencl adventure to Europe. We might squeeze even one more thing in tomorrow before we head to Heathrow. That's if our legs can carry us.

It's been fun to share our trip with you all! Thanks for following along with our silly blog. We can wait to share stories with many of you in person very soon!

Much love from across the pond,

Rog + Anna

Wencls with Class: How Prague Changed Us

Be warned! We are much more charming, educated and poised now that we've visited Prague.

We're classier people now. I know, hard to imagine. You're probably asking yourself: how could we possibly get any classier than we were before?

Let us explain. Now...

...we've listened to works by Dvorak and Smetana, famous Czech composers.

...we've sampled roasted duck, schnitzel, goulash, potato pancakes, dumplings and the best cabbage you will ever taste.

...we've traversed cobblestone streets in style. (Roger only strained his hip a little bit!)

...we've sampled even more Czech beer. 

Heck, we even stayed in the apartments Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart once lived in while composing his famous opera, Don Giovanni. 

We admit, we didn't keep it as clean as Mozart may have liked.

The point is:

We are cultured. We are cool.

At least, that's how we feel. We've enjoyed our time in Prague. It's the largest city yet on this trip. We'd be lying if we didn't say it shocked us a bit at first. All the traffic, all the hustle and bustle was overwhelming. We had gotten used to the smaller towns, the countryside vibes, the cheaper beer.

Though once we settled in, we were quickly charmed by the winding streets, vast history and beautiful views.

Now we are off to London: the last stop on this Wencl adventure!

Anna wore her England socks in preparation for the journey.

Rog has his "Weekend at Bernie's" glasses on and is ready for a nap on the plane.

We'll update once we've landed and had tea with the Queen!

Nashledanou (Goodbye),

Rog + Anna

Czech Republic Road Trip

It's been a while since our last post! We've been catching up on sleep. Traveling is tiring! (#firstworldproblem)

On Friday night we had a great time hanging out at the Privrat pub with Lucie and Ivos. We even met a few more friends and Vencls. It was a hilarious evening filled with new Czech vocabulary and lots of fun! We were so sad to leave.

They even let us hold their babies!! They were so dang cute.

We will definitely be keeping in touch with our new Vencl family!

The next day we had an early morning. 

We ate early and said goodbye to Litomysl and Vera, our guide Josef's wife, Vera. They were such good hosts! We enjoyed eating breakfast together each morning.

After breakfast, we began the four-hour journey to Cesky Krumlov, a medieval town and castle set upon a river. 

Roger says it felt like a fairy tale. You could go singing and dancing through the winding cobblestone streets and it would seem completely normal. The views were stunning. The weather was perfect.

We enjoyed exploring all the winding curves and little shops. Roger discovered a medieval torture museum that he couldn't resist visiting. It was in an old dungeon complete with creepy sound effects. Roger took pictures of every torture instrument. Anna screamed at every turn and made Roger go first.

After a lunch of chicken schnitzel, we headed for České Budějovice for some beer! We visited the famed Budweiser brewery.

No, this is likely NOT the Budweisier you're thinking of. This is the real Budweiser. This is the place Budvar (or Czechvar if you buy it in America) is created.

A young German man named August Busch visited here in the late 1800's. He learned all he needed to know about making good beer then promptly went to America and sold his own creation under the same name. 

They've been fighting over the name ever since.

Budvar will always be better than Budweiser however. One of their secrets is using pure water they can get in České Budějovice.

It was a great tour! We got up close and personal to much of the process. Of course the free sample was a highlight.

Another pretty incredible day of Wencl adventures!

Love,

Rog + Anna

Privrat Love

As I shared before, Privrat is the village both of Roger's parents (Anna's grandparents) have their roots. They didn't grow up in Privrat rather their grandparents emigrated to the US after the Industrial Revolution began and the money went dry.

Privrat's sign 

Fast forward to yesterday afternoon. After a morning spent at a paper museum and castle, we stopped by Privrat. We hoped we would be able to take a few photos or meet a few people from Privrat. 

What we got was so much better!

A relative of my dad's visited Privrat last year only to find the house he was looking for had burned down long ago. He did, however, find a house with a Vencl woman who he might be connected to. We heard that she might be someone Roger and I could meet if she was home when we came. We didn't know anything for sure.

Best case scenario, we would take lots of  pictures and leave. Our guide, Josef, knocked at the door and the woman came out. We shared some of our family history with her in the hopes that maybe it might trigger a memory. We didn't get much as far as genealogy. Only that in a town if 350 that's made up primarily if Vencls, we're likely connected!

However, before we knew it her grandaughters, grandson and their parents were outside with us. Roger and I even had a beer in our hands!

Enjoying a beer with new Vencl friends

Her 22-year-old granddaughter, Lusieje, spoke good English. She has never talked with a native English speaker so I think it was a bit of a shock having two Americans show up on her doorstep wanting to chat!

They shared with us about life in Privrat. We told them stories about Minnesota.

The way she described their family get-togethers doesn't sound all too different from our own family's Wencl parties! 

All in all, it was a grand time. Something we'll never forget.

Of course, Anna is now Facebook friends with them. She was yelling "we have real Vencl friends!" all yesterday afternoon. And we're going back to visit the pub in Privrat this afternoon.

BEST DAY EVER.

Joy & peace from Litomysl,

Rog + Anna 

The Privrat pub!

Nothing But Train Troubles

Yesterday was quite the day.

Every international trip Anna has ever taken has had at least one crazy day. You know, a day where strange things happen and you can't decide whether to freak out or to laugh?

We did both yesterday.

We left Kraków around 11am with two planned connections in Katowice, Poland and Hranice na Móravê, Czech Republic before our final stop in Ceska Trebova.

We arrived well at Katowice but our next train was already late by 15 minutes. As the train was ultimately headed to Bratislava and Budapest, there were quite a few foreigners who spoke English on our car. This didn't prove too helpful until later on.

Although the second train was late and our connection to jump aboard the third train was short, we didn't worry too much.

We did, however, start to worry when Anna looked out the window at one of the stops to see an auto repair guy pointing at something on the tracks below our window. He started flailing his arms at someone on the other end of the train to get their attention. Once he disappeared and the train lurched forward a few minutes later, we hoped the problem had been fixed.

At this point we were in Ostrava...just one stop away from getting off at Hradice. JUST ONE.

Anna looked out the window and saw 3 firemen rush along the platform. This was followed by the conducter screaming something in Czech over the intercom and running crazily through our car. We had no clue what was going on but most everyone seemed irritated but calm. So we stayed calm too.

Firemen at the end of the train!

That's when we met our saving grace...Anna Mari! (Great name, right?) She lives in Warsaw and was traveling to Bulgaria. She also speaks English quite well. Hooray for us as we speak Czech quite poorly!

Rog, Anna Mari and our crazy conductor discussing our tickets

As the conductor would scream in Czech over the intercom, she would tell us not to worry. She said, "The lady is acting like somebody is dying! She needs to calm down." That made us feel better and so we sat and waited.

At one point, they said the train wouldn't be repaired for 5 hours. The conducter started giving everyone different itineraries. We took our new plan and got off the train. A few moments later though, the train roared back to life. We all ran aboard excitedly!

In the end, it all worked out and we only arrived 2 hours late. We got to talk more to Anna Mari about life in Poland, current events, and growing up as the daughter of a diplomat to Yugoslavia in the 90's.

We exchanged emails so maybe we'll have a new Polish pen pal. Bonus!

The two Annas!

We are currently staying at the home of our guide, Josef. He kindly waited for us at the train station for two hours since we had no way to contact him.

We ended the evening at a restaurant down the road from his place in Litomysl. Both of our meals included crispy, perfect potato pancakes and a couple Bernard beers.

All in all, a hilarious, entertaining and happy day. We're excited to finally be in the Czech Republic!

Rog + Anna

Journey to the Center of the (Salty) Earth

After we spent Monday morning in Auschwitz we almost immediately got on a bus to Wieclizka Salt Mines. Just enough time for Anna to drag Rog around the neighborhood in search of food. 

The mines are quite close to Kraków, say 15 minutes. The mine was excavated for 600+ years but is now closed and only used for tourism. The place is simply incredible. The mines have been transformed over the years with sculptures, chapels and light shows to tell the story of salt and it's importance to this region. You may know that salt was once a valuable commodity, even used as a currency in some times. (Fun fact: the word "salary" is a reference to salt!)

The tour was 2 hours long as took us deep down into the recesses of the earth. On the way out, it felt like we're exiting the Metrodome as air swooshed past us and brought us back to the light.

The highlight for Roger was seeing the cathedral filled with famous Chrisitian art all made of salt! We got a picture by "The Last Supper". It's astounding to think how much time went into its creation.

Anna was amazed at the Chopin light show. It was set in a part of the mine that had water at the bottom. The ceiling was roughly 450 feet tall. We felt like tiny ants in comparison. The music of Polands famous composer echoed beautifully in that space.