The Happiest Place on Earth

Our plan this Fall was to head to Spain.  Procrastination is my worst enemy at times.  As we looked for airline tickets using our frequent flyer points, we realized it was NOT going to happen.  Between black out dates and the kids having to miss too much school we would only be able to stay for 5 days.  Yep.... not worth it. All was not lost for this traveling mommy!  We found some wonderfully priced tickets to California.  We could save our points for the summer and still have a lovely Fall vacation.  Whoohoo!!!!

You cannot go to California with kids and not go to Disneyland, right?  After looking through the Disney website at park entry prices, I decided I wanted to find a deal.  After asking around to friends who have already been to Disneyland, I discovered you can actually get packages through Costco.  Did I mention I LOVE Costco?  I saved hundreds of dollars as well as received lots of perks.  First, we saved by staying in a partner hotel rather than at one of the Disney hotels.  We stayed at the Hilton which is a few blocks from the park.  We also received an ART pass which allows you unlimited access to the tram/shuttle that picks you up and takes you to the park.  The package also included 4 nights in the hotel, a three day pass to both Disneyland and the California Adventure, a character dining experience, VIP seating at several shows, free pin and lanyard, a collectable figurine, discounts rate for parking at hotel, and early admission to the park one day. ( We sooo did not use our early admission.)

We ate at the park a maybe two times.  Anyone who has read my blog KNOWS we like to eat.  Eating at the park was VERY disappointing.  The food was not very good, even in the fancier options.  However we found lots of yummy places to eat on Yelp.  One of our most memorable was Mas Chinese Islamic restaurant.  If you get a chance to go there, do not pass up the lamb and noodles.  Portions were huge and the bill was the smallest we had our entire stay in Cali.

More on the trip to come......

Random pics from Prague

I just want to mention that we used the Rick Steve's Prague and Czech Republic guide book.  I really found it useful.  The Czech :Lonely Planet Phrasebook was also helpful.  Most everyone spoke English, but I fooled a few locals with my awesome Czech greetings.  Well...that is until I could not answer them back.  Ha!  I did find it useful to know how to say the numbers when asking for food and beverages at a deli, bakery, or street vendor.  Knowing how to say please and thank you in the native language will always endear you a bit more to the locals.  It also helped we had two cuties with us :)

Old Town

The Fam

Street performer

A few peacocks from the park

Little Princesses

View of Prague Castle from afar

Entrance to castle grounds

If you have young girls, they are, have, or will be into princesses.  What could be more princess-y (made up my own word there maybe) than a trip to Prague Castle?  We decided to walk there because it looked way closer than it actually is.  Um.....I don't recommend that with or without kids.  We were EXHAUSTED!  Upside you will pass a lot of cool shops and artists selling their work along the streets.  We also discovered a park filled with peacocks just roaming around.  Also on the hike up to the castle there was a vendor selling waffles on a stick.  Genius!  Once we made it back to Old Town Square we decided on a nice carriage ride to top off the night :)  Now that is what I call a day fit for a princess!

St. Vitus

Royal Guard?  I may have made that up but they look official

St. Charles Bridge

Pastries cooking on a wheel outside

Walking about the city was so much fun with kids.  The old cobbled streets lined with modern shops was a cool contrast.  I loved being able to stop at a corner and buy hot chocolate (the GOOD stuff) and hot spiced wine.  Most days we would walk over the St. Charles bridge.  There was always a really cool jazz band playing and lots of artists and vendors selling their wares.  Once over the bridge was a pastry shop just to the right.  We would smell the delicious smell of the pastries wafting up the bridge before we even crossed over.  The ladies were right outside cooking.  Of course we stopped and had some.  It would be rude not to, right?  After stuffing ourselves with pastries we went just under the bridge to the wonderful park.  Mommy and Daddy got a nice rest on a bench while the kids burned off some energy!

New Orleans style jazz band that played on the bridge.

The girls getting their groove on.

AWESOME view from the park bench.

The Astronomical Clock and Clock Tower

The Astronomical Clock- 1410

 

 

 

 

Bugler from the top of the clock tower

View looking down from the clock tower

Looking out from tower

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a must see attraction!  Not only do you get a show from the outside, but you can climb up to the top of the clock tower and look over.  There was also a docent there who had literature with a TON of information about the history of the clock.  I loved the significance of each detail.  Have I ever mentioned I am TERRIFIED of heights?  Luckily there was an elevator which helped getting up and down a bit easier.

Prague Zoo

While abroad with our kids, we always check out the local zoo.  Prague Zoo is a fantastic zoo and a ton of fun.  The best part for our girls was getting up close to the lemurs as they can come right up to you.

They also has a little baby gorilla at the gorilla exhibit.  The gorillas are behind a glass enclosure obviously, but you can really get a good view of them interacting with one another......as well as one of the zoo keepers.  A large gorilla kept knocking on the window trying to get her attention while she was working.  Kids LOVED seeing this!

Going to the zoo is definitely worth the effort of getting there.  We researched online the best routes for the bus and train to get there.  I believe it took about 45 minutes.  Make sure you keep your train/bus/tram tickets on you because randomly someone will get on at a stop to check.

Pivo...Ano, Prosim (Beer, yes please)

You cannot go to the Czech Republic and not try some of the best beer in the world.  The best part.....the beer was actually cheaper than WATER!!!!  I'm not exaggerating.  My large mug of beer was about $1.50us while the bottled water for my kids was closer to $2.00us.

You also cannot drink a delicious Czech beer and not partake in delicious Czech goulash with potato and bread dumplings.  So YUMMY!!!

Every restaurant we went to seemed very accommodating to our children.  Our very favorite place was called Local.  The service was great!  As soon as the kids sat down, the server would place crayons and coloring pages for the kids.  The food and beer were fantastic too.  We went back several times.