It's been over two months since we got home from our big adventure.  After (finally!) writing out the last few days of our trip, I have been reminded of so many wonderful things.  If you were to ask what my favorite part of our trip was, I would honestly say going to Josiah Venture's Strakonice English Camp in Bohemian SW Czech Republic.  I still can't believe we did that.  There we are, in the bottom right by the blue ball! 

Sightseeing around Eastern Europe was fun and exciting, but it didn't improve who I am as a person like English Camp.  Camp was amazing for me in so many ways besides helping me speak in public again.  The entire camp experience united Josh and I more as a married couple.  I thought we were tight, but I cannot express in words how we came home with a deeper oneness.  Our young family was united closer together in loving each other, loving others, and being on mission together.  Working alongside extended family (in this case my older sister Leah) was so encouraging, what an amazing woman.  Not to forget, watching young lives changed, amazing!  Yes, all those things can (and do) happen stateside but for some reason these things happened with our family in the Czech Republic.  I'm ok with that.

As I was looking back at my pre-trip blog post, I was so encouraged to see how things played out!  I know this is where my faith can seem over the top but when I think about the life I was saved from, I can't refrain giving thanks in all things, the "good" and the "bad," to the one I have faith in.

- We were ready to love, serve and sacrifice for those around us from the moment we got there, God blessed us as a family helping us to live in such a way to reflect Christ, and each of us connected with the students. Thank God!

- The boys were able to see the world through a new lense, love & pray for the students, and embrace a new culture whole-heartedly.  Being in a place to see teenagers in all places of life helped to open their eyes to things bigger than themselves.  And Miriam didn't get hurt, phew!  Thank God!

- Even though it is advertised as a church based English camp, a few camp kids weren't so jazzed about the Jesus part of camp and ignored that side of things.  However, a lot of kids were interested and asked some amazing and tough questions we all need to wrestle through.  Thank God!  Follow up is going on RIGHT NOW, so please continue to pray for the kids at Strakonice Camp.

- While we did have bouts of temporary sicknesses throughout the entire trip, from skin rashes to vomit, nothing took us to the ER!  We were safe throughout our entire trip, nothing was stolen like wallets, purses or laptops, the car didn't get scratched (VERY AMAZING) or stolen, we didn't lose any kids, and no damage was done, emotionally, physically, spiritually.  Thank God!

- Our employees did an amazing job holding down the fort!  While we were at camp Josh only worked a minimal amount and only during a scheduled free time, so it worked out perfectly and did not detract from camp or us.  I am so incredibly thankful for protection of our business! Thank God!

There were also little things that were blessings I am so thankful to God for like I have a crippling fear of bugs and our camp did not have bug issues, which I heard another one did have them.  The hygiene at our camp was not stellar, but they did have a dishwasher, which again, I heard another camp did not have one.  And though I made light fun of the food we had, there is worse food to be fed, food so terrible words cannot express.  As I said mentioned except for the idiot tax on our heavy suitcase, we did not go over in our budget, I am so thankful our finances were protected.

Another thing I didn't think to pray for but was truly a blessing from the Lord - I was very aware of my role as wife and mom at camp; I had my priorities in check.  This was a HUGE blessing to my family and me.  In the camp setting it would have been very easy to lose myself in the students, spending all my attention on them, to the point that I'd ditch my husband and kids, acting like I was single or without kids.  I was so thankful Josh and I had laid out a game plan for our family beforehand and then on our first day God made it very clear (in a good way) to Josh and I how important this (understanding priorities) was to our family's health.  Really, what a blessing!  When we were apart in our morning English classes, it was planned, well explained to the kids, and everyone was on mission together though we were in different rooms.  We loved on all of the students but kept it in balance.  Even Josh being the one to put the kids in bed each night was a huge blessing for him and the kids.  The whole time we were all united together in some way which in the end made us closer than ever.  No one was left behind, thank God!

Would I venture to take our young family overseas again?  You bet!  I don't know the hows or the whys, but I truly look forward to the challenges and joys.

Though... I think I'll start praying for my anxious heart to not be anxious about driving in Europe and the kids getting continual illnesses now.  And we'll buy more wine for good measure, too.

Our Cramer family adventure of traveling thru Eastern Europe had ended, though not without a couple moments of unexpected fun. 

We returned our VW to the rental car guys and they were SHOCKED (as shocked as we were) there was no damage or scratches to the car.  I mean, the car was dirty, inside and out and you'd think it would have a scratch somewhere, but nope.  Seriously, praise God!

The check-in line was LONG (since their website was down) and SLOW.  When we finally made it to the front the check-in woman was RUTHLESS.  Our 1 bag we checked was overweight and she was NOT going to wait AT ALL for me to rearrage the weight and said she was closing shop and we had to (in my words) SUCK IT and pay a HUGE heavy luggage fine.  Yeah, I'm still bitter about that one.  Josh says it is to be expected from airline travel.  But if it wasn't for that idiot tax, we would have nailed our trip budget... Yep, still hurts.

Even though we made it to the airport early, the long, slow line made us late.  From here everything was rushed, our plane was already boarding and we still had to go through 2 security checkpoints.  We quickly said goodbye to Leah... Wow... How do I even begin to express how wonderful it was to spend good times and hard times with her in Czech?... No time for that - Bye, Leah. :(!

The passport security guard made each of our kids go through one by one, vs. letting us go through as a family like they did when we arrived.  The guard sits raised up in this enclosed booth with a small slit to slide your passport through.  There is a gate and a line of people behind you about 5 feet and a gate in front of you and to the side 8 feet.  From the inside gate, I can still see just the top of little Miriam's head and watching her hand reach up to hand him her passport and confirming she is who she says she is.  She looked little, but what a big girl for doing that! 

We ran through the airport only to wait in a long luggage security line and finally made it on our plane just moments before take-off.  All that rushing just to sit on a plane for 11 hours of daylight, phew! 

The boys pooled their travel money and bought a wooden chess set while in Prague.  They had a lot of fun playing on the plane!

Unlike the rest of us, Miriam did sleep for a good chunk of the flight (6 hours!) but when not sleeping she was playing with her little things like this.  I am truly amazed we didn't lose anything!

By the time we landed in Atlanta and got through customs it was 4pm (our bodies thought it was 11pm) and our flight to Moline didn't leave until 9:30pm (when our bodies would think it was 4:30am).  We didn't want a 6 hr layover but it was the only available flight. 

Max was the first to go while sitting at dinner. 

Zeke, Miriam and I were next, and we fell asleep in front of our boarding gate.  Josh, thankfully was only partially last to fall asleep.  He was awake enough to hear them change our gate just before boarding.  We made multiple trips to get all our sleeping children and their backpacks to the new gate.  We were both so groggy, Josh and I are still not entirely sure how we managed to get the sleeping kids and our luggage onto the plane in one trip.  When we landed in Moline, Zeke woke up and said, "When are we leaving for Moline?"  Yep, no idea how we got on that plane.

By the time my parents picked us up, we took them home to D-port and drove home to IC it was 1:30am (our bodies think it is 8:30am).  Whoa.  24 hours of continuous travel from the time we left our hostel till the time we pulled in our driveway. 

Whoa.  24 hours prior we had been in Europe.  Thank you, God, for letting us have such an amazing trip, from camp to traveling in our VW, sicknesses and worries, everything!

This was it, our final destination and where we began our journey overseas - Prague.  We checked into our 6-bed hostel room at The Czech Inn and then headed out to catch a tram to take us up to the Prague Castle.  It was still HOT and even hotter on the tram.  (And crazily, the tram did stop by Gehry's Dancing House, it was not as big as I had thought but definitely cooler than I thought!)

What I forgot to mention since Cesky Tesin is what happened to Max.  Remember how Max was rolling around in the grass playing with the Ellenwood's dogs the night before?  Max ended up being allergic to the grass he rolled around in, leaving his body ENTIRELY covered in puffy, white, itchy hives.  Thankfully, I had my Burt's Bees Res-Q-Ointment and as soon as his hives would flare up, I would put on the ointment.  But still, Max was miserable, breaks a mama's heart.

We arrived to the Prague Castle and St. Vitus gothic church at 10 minutes to 6, just before they were suppossed to close (Hooray!) but sadly we arrived just in time to find out the church had closed 5 minutes prior for a private service (OH NO!).  I. was. crushed.  I tried with all my midwestern, Iowa-girl kindness to get us into the church, just for a peek, but they wouldn't do it.  Knowing we were leaving in the morning, knowing I'd be saying goodbye to my sister, knowing Josh really wanted to see the church's interior, having Max miserable, still recovering from our trip to Auschwitz, nearing the end of a fabulous 2 week family vacation to Eastern Europe, or maybe I was just sad we couldn't go in... whatever the reason, I ended up crying on the steps of the church.  My slightly embarassed family comforted me and I snapped out of it.  Goodness, my family is amazing.  Thankfully, even though we couldn't go inside, we all enjoyed the castle grounds and the beautiful flying buttresses to their fullest.

The long walk down the Old Castle Stairs to the river below was beautiful.  The stairs were at the edge/side of the hill and gave a beautiful above view of the city, and definitely too beautiful to fit our beautiful panorama photo of it on my blog, :)!

(Did you notice the beautiful roofs?  Now go back and look at the photo of communist era apartment buildings.  See why I used the sore thumb analogy?  Can you imagine those buildings, twice as tall as anything around and definitely not as quaint?  Ok, maybe it is just me.  However, I should also note that throughout Prague, the lower 6-8' of each of those quaint buildings is covered in some form of graffitti, mostly black spray paint.  Maybe it is the color "Quaint Black.")

We crossed the river at the most famous bridge in Prague, the Charles Bridge.

Even though we only had one night, we were not and did not rush ourselves at all.  We strolled and soaked in every minute of the remainder of our evening in Prague with Leah: eating at Leah's favorite restaurant, listening to the sounds of the Bohemian Jazz Fest in Old Town Square near the Astronomical Clock, shopping for gifts for kids (I would have bought gifts for adults but I had a dad moment after spending a small amount of money on gifts for kids I couldn't bear to spend any money on adults, not even for postcards, oy!), while we shopped Josh enjoyed taking photos of all the cobblestone streets and manhole covers, we got to drink yummy brews, let the kids enjoy souvenir shopping in the countless/repetitive shops, ate gelato at Leah's favorite gelato place, walked around Old Town, walked to St. Wenceslas Square, rode on the subway and one of the longest escalators in Europe (100 meters long!), then got on a tram and made it back to our hostel at 11:30pm.  Phew!

When traveling around Italy once, my friend and I had only 3 hours to spend in Venice.  We jumped off the train, ran through the craziest maze of streets and bridges to San Marco, ran inside the church and then ran all the way back to the train station.  Our tour of Prague was twice as long and there was no running, but we were merely skimming the essence of a city but not able to fully embrace everything it had to offer.  Prague is definitely on my "must go back before I die" (i.e. bucket) list cities and hopefully next time for more than one night.

Once again, we were back in our VW, rollin' our way back across the Czech Republic, this time on our way to Prague.  Gone were the worries of vomit from car sickness or heat stroke, though I did insist the Three still drink lots of water.  This drive did included a stop at Ikea for lunch and there was a little worry in me about the car getting scratched in the ever-so-narrow parking lot spots.  Then Leah told me I should be more worried about someone stealing our car from the Ikea parking lot than it getting scratched.*  I love my sister!  :)!

Here's my delicious reindeer meat wrap from lunch...

This was an all around fabulous drive though!  It included Josh and I having a great conversation with Leah, one I wish we could have continued forever.  It also had Max and Miriam accessorizing Leah and themselves with the things in her purse, which was hilarious!  Then they all had a rocking dance party!

In a mere four and a half hours we were in Prague, for our *sniff, sniff* final night in Czech.

*Btw, she was not joking.

Hotel #1: Hotel Central

Now some people when visiting Leah in the past did not find the accommodations at Hotel Central as "great" as we did, and not that there is anything wrong with that, ;).  Admittedly, we are rarely phased since our family of 5 has stayed in some choice accommodations in the past (The Big Inn outside of Lincoln, Nebraska comes to mind).  Besides providing a delicious, complimentary, authentic Czech breakfast in their dark and rustic restaurant...

The Hotel Central also had rooms where you entered directly into the bathroom from the hallway...

(Yes, Leah is sitting on a closed toilet talking on the phone.  It was the only "chair" in our room.")  The red carpet is the hotel hallway, the green carpet is just inside our room.  Even though you'd think there would be a second door between the green carpet and bathroom tile creating a small vestibule, there is not, just hinges where a door should be.  You open the hotel room door from the hallway and BOOM toilet!  And BOOM, you are also directly facing a glass, free-standing shower, too!  In order for privacy you have to lock the hotel room door with its room key and shut the sliding (but not locking) door that leads into the bedroom area.  We laughed about this set up constantly!  Hahahahaha!  :)!  Hotel Central was clean and had no bugs, so in my book with what some may consider negative quirks, like being across from noisy train tracks, noisy drunks on the street, and all the other sounds of downtown city life, we thought it was great!

Hotel #2: Hotel Malenovice

Hotel Malenovice is located in the mountains, a half hour from Cesky Tesin, outside Frydlant.  Malenovice houses the Josiah Venture headquarters, training facility, and English camps.  God provided this old hotel to JV and they have done an amazing job renovating it into an excellent, first-class facility.

Hotel Malenovice was yet another reason we wanted to come to this part of Czech.  Unlike everyone else who teaches at an English Camp, we were not able to come to the training at Malenovice before camp started.  It was great to at least see what training is like for JV camp leaders, short term leaders, long term leaders, etc, even though we didn't get to participate in it.  (We also got to meet a lot more of Leah's friends there, too!)

Hide Away: Selah

One of the things JV takes very seriously is missionary care.  JV works hard to provide a support network for all their missionaries, because like any mission field (at home or abroad), there is a physical, emotional and spiritual battle taking place.  God provided an amazing high mountain cabin for JV to buy, across the valley from Hotel Malenovice.  Mel named it Selah and it is to be (of course, renovated first then) used as a free vacation / retreat home available to all JV staff.

Wow.  I am so thankful to hear about this ministry within JV and how much importance they give to supporting the health of their missionary staff.

I'm sure you have been wondering, "Why Cesky Tesin?"  We chose to go to Cesky Tesin because it was where Leah lived for 7 years (before she moved to Strakonice three years ago) and we have always wanted to see where she lived, the people and the places.

We got to see her old apartment complex (Which, did mom cry when she saw them?  Maybe it was like when I moved out of that frat house and mom said, "Had I known this was where you were living, I wouldn't have let you live there?" Oh, Mom!).  Needless to say, the stories from Leah about living in this complex were always very entertaining. 

While they don't look any different than a 70's built apartment complex in the states, they do look incredibly different from other construction in Czech.  These complexs were built by the Communists in clumps throughout Czech's larger cities.  All of them are the exact same size and shape, unphased by city or culture.  They stick up like sore thumbs in bland Band Aid colors across the beautiful Czech countrysides and quaint cottages.  In recent years the Czechs have been covering them with thick styrofoam and then painting them bright colors and patterns.  They still stick out only now like decorative/themed Band Aids, much more fun and much less depressing.  This photo is of them before painting:

We Josh also wanted to stop by a Kaufland.  Kaufland translated in German means "Buy Land" and Josh had to go there for that reason alone (goodness, I LOVE that guy! / though we also needed to buy some wine).  Most store chains in Czech: Kaufland, Tesco, etc, are similar to cramming a Walmart, Fareway & Aldi into one small place.  The biggest difference is that beer is cheaper than water, literally.

We were also incredibly excited to join up with the amazing Ellenwood family & friends for dinner, swimming and a movie.  The Ellenwoods (Mel, Amy and their 3 kids) have lived in Czech for over 12 years.  Mel is the VP of JV, but more than that, Mel and Amy have been (and are) amazing friends to Leah since she's lived in Czech.  We have met them before (I designed the JV website circa 2000, hahahahaha! What was I thinking!) but we have never had the chance to spend time talking with them personally at length.

It was wonderful to listen to their stories about life in Czech, speaking the language, cultural differences, traveling around from camp to camp with the kids in their VW van, in general raising kids in the Czech mission field, and laugh!  The Ellenwood family's humor is absolutely perfect for our Leah, if you knew how funny Leah is, wo/man!, you'd think God hand picked them for her.

Happily too, Leah's dear friend Romana, who is a sweetheart, and her husband, who my aunts think is a cutie, were able to visit.  (Romana just got married during the floods and Leah, Lucka, and the bride and groom were stranded in a flooded field together, oy!)  And, since the Ellenwoods are constant hosts, there was also a pastor from California visiting, scoping out Czech housing for his young family to move into next year.

Mel and Amy wanted us, but more importantly our kids, to feel relaxed at their home.  They served up a fabulous "American" dinner of grilled BBQ chicken and pasta salad (Miriam had 3 large servings), had two big dogs that Max and Miriam loved playing and rolling around in the grass with, let the kids swim in their pool (with Noah their 14 year old son, who has a knife collection that our boys think is the coolest and who gave Miriam a gummy bear key chain some swooning teen girl had given him, ha!), and then snuggled them into the living room and put in "Over the Hedge" in English... Our three were so happy and right at home! 

Though admittedly, it doesn't take much for our three to make themselves right at home, anywhere, but still, they were loving it!

It was HOT, it was a rough day, we were done, and we had plans back in Cesky Tesin, so sadly we drove no further into Poland as we had planned (No Krakow this time and no pottery from Krakow for me, sniff-sniff!).  Happily, we enjoyed our last few moments in a great country, one that we definitely hope to visit again!

Just like our trip into Poland was short and sweet, here is a short and sweet photo recap...

We found an authentic Polish restaurant along our drive back to Czech.  They had you sit on sheep and goat skins laid on benchs.  (It was cool and creepy at the same time.)  The kitchen was in the open with one small wood burning stove where all the food was cooked. 

Not to forget the perfect Polish napkins.  For those unfamiliar with napkins in Poland, they are a single ply square, are thinner than paper, semi-transparent like a tissue paper and they are always presented beautifully.

They served delicious Polish dumplings as an complimentary appetizer and then Leah and I ordered more for our meal.  (Though they were good, they paled in comparison to Marta's mom & aunt's amazing dumplings!)

Miriam ate dumplings with us and the boys all shared the most expensive thing on the menu (ribs) which in dollars was around 5 bucks.  Josh ordered borscht and then, of course, ordered something that he didn't know what it translated into and it turned out to be breakfast (hahahaha, I LOVE that guy!).

And last but not least, the local Polish brew.

We arrived in Cesky Tesin (which technically could be in Poland but isn't) and had planned to spend one day going to Poland to visit Auschwitz and Krakow. 

We expected Auschwitz/Birkenau to be a rough trip, seeing something so tragic and learning more about the horrors that took place right where we were standing, explaining very difficult topics and sights with the kids, but with the dust, sun, dryness, coughing, smells, and heat, oh the heat... it compounded everything, it was a miserable trip, which I found fitting.

...

Ok, I have tried to write this exact post for over the last two weeks.  I could not get past those above paragraphs.  Every time I try, I end up crying or my heart aches so much I can't continue or my chest tightens and feels like it's being ripped out or my hands shake or I can't sleep from the thoughts and memories... from getting into the parking lot to getting out of the parking lot, this trip was incredibly difficult, emotionally, physically and very personally, so much happened and yet we didn't even fully experience it all.  God bless Leah for going through this with us. 

Do I think that everyone should visit Auschwitz?  Yes.  Do we want to visit it again?  Yes. 

I simply cannot write this trip out into words.  I'm going to skip past these details.

We spent the night/day in Strakonice at "The Leah Hotel," as Miriam so affectionately called it.  From there we would take turns nursing Zeke back to health.  Still, it was unbearably hot in Strakonice and no AC / fans, so we had to give Zeke frequent cold baths to lower his core temperature.  In the midst of it all, we had fun mini adventures around Strakonice.

Josh, Leah and 2 kids spent the morning at the bus station saying goodbye to our Czech friends and the American Team from Cherry Hills Church.  Then we had lunch with some of Leah's friends at her favorite restaurant, two of the women there were school English teachers and one of whom has been a huge support for Leah and her efforts at the high school.  The high school kids and Leah recently got permission to start spending time with some of the elderly there and it has been a great ministry so Leah, 2 kids and I went to visit a nursing home and one of the women Leah spends time with.  There was no AC and no fans at the nursing room and the heat in her room was intense but so was her and her daughter's love of Leah.  

When we were finally certain that Zeke had enough strength and was definitely on the mend, we decided to make an evening drive to Cesky Tesin, stopping in Pisek along the way.  Pisek is a half hour from Strakonice and where Leah's church, Elim, is located.  There we got to meet Lucie, an adorable gal who works with the women's ministry in their church.  Josh got to tour their building, which has an amazing sports ministry in Pisek.  We also had WAY too much fun at a Tesco buying food that we didn't know what it was.

Then we began the 5 hour drive across the entire country of the Czech Republic, from the southwest to the northeast, with all 6 of us loaded into the VW. 

Remember how I said I had been r e l a x e d when driving the entire trip so far?  Well, that was fading fast.  I was thankful for Zeke's healing but to be honest, by now my nerves were shot.  My back seat driver nature which, let me tell you, is known to be INTENSE had been rare up to this point of our trip but was now in full force.  Once, from the third row of our car I yipped out something driving related to which Josh and Leah in the front seats quickly laughed and scolded me.  I totally deserved it.  The entire trip to Cesky Tesin I was trying hard to keep my mouth shut but in all honesty, I was struggling.  Josh lovingly forgave me countless times during the drive.  (What a guy!) 

And as I mentioned, my phrases of "if you're going to throw up, use the blue bag" and "take another sip for mama" were said hundreds of times over the course of this drive (no more heat stroke!) and it was now a big joke for everyone because I said them SO much.  Goodness, I am thankful my whole family gives me SO much grace while I wrestle through calming my heart and trusting God! 

Even still, crammed into the VW, our three are THE BEST little road trippers EVA!  Zeke was content and quiet but definitely feeling better.  Miriam and Max were writing songs with dance moves / hand gestures, just like at camp.  They drew up all the dance moves on paper and even included Josh in their routine.  Here's a little snip it, can you see Josh's role?

By the time we arrived at Hotel Central in Cesky Tesin it was after 11pm the kids were actually tuckered and ready for bed.  (Once in their beds it only took a little extreme sports dubbed in Polish and they were out.)

We had to pay for our rooms when checking in and when I looked for my check card I couldn't find it anywhere in my wallet.  My heart started racing as I feared it was stolen or lost.  Josh went about paying for the room while Leah looked in the wine/beer cooler at the front desk.  They weren't as concerned as I was and quite honestly, I think they knew.  Josh picked out a local brew and Leah a local wine as I was still frantic, then searching in my wallet once again I finally found my check card hiding in a different slot than normal.  At this point both Leah and Josh were saying, "Dana, you need a drink." 

Now, I don't want to start any blasphemous rumors, but someone may have poured me a larger than normal glass of wine and someone else may have said, "Take another sip for mama" and someone may have said, "Take another sip for me" and then two someones laughingly discussed together and may have said, "I think Paul actually added in Timothy that along with drinking a little wine to help your stomach it also says, 'If your wife is freaking out, give her a little wine,'"... oh, and then someone may have said again, "Take another..." Hahahahahahaha!!!  :)!

*sigh*... I love that my husband and sister get along so well and that they love me enough to laugh at me instead of get mad at me and that they unconditionally forgive me more than I deserve.

We suspected the heat was getting to Zeke but it was confirmed once we got down from St. Peter's Cemetery to the Domplatz.  He was really excited to pick out an Austrian knife as a souvenir but immediately afterwards he made a disoriented dash to the nearest trash can and threw up all his breakfast.  Josh got him cleaned up and we sat under a cool archway.  Zeke was smiling and feeling much better after puking, but was definitely overheated.  The trouble was NOTHING indoors was open (even if it was open there was certain to be no AC) so we grabbed a snack and then retreated to the AC of the car.

We drove (a beautiful drive with a view to the south of the Alps for the whole drive, mind you) to Munich as planned, hoping the AC and rest for Zeke would help, then we could find dinner in AC to help continue to keep Zeke cool.  When I was a little girl I got heat stroke often so I knew what to expect.  It would generally happen after a long day of swimming, but when it would happen I'd throw up once, rest for a while, drink water and be better.  I was hopeful for the same type of healing for Zeke.

We got to Munich and went to the main square Marienplatz hoping to find an AC restaurant to eat dinner since Zeke was tired but hungry.  Sadly, it was the same unbearable heat in Munich as in Salzburg.  We found an ice cream joint that had indoor seating but no AC.  I ordered 4 waters but I forgot what country I was in and paid a hefty $3 for each small 8oz bottle.  Yikes!  They did bring ice, which I used to rub on Zeke's neck to help cool him down while Josh walked the square looking for any place with AC, but he came back empty.  Josh, Max & Miriam shared a fancy ice cream sundae (Zeke was no longer in the mood for food, and I was in trying-not-to-be-worried-mama-mode and couldn't eat) and then they went to a fountain to play.  But the fountain was filled with trash so they were quickly back. 

Our time in Munich was turning hopeless as within the hour there: Josh was finding nothing, the square and fountain were trash city, Zeke was becoming more tired, and to top it off, the restaurant said it was closing and they kicked us out on the street.

As soon as we were outside and on the Marienplatz square, Zeke said, "I think I'm going to throw up" and even though he says he missed the trash can, it was overfilled with trash a foot high (which was true of every Munich trash can) and would have been worse had he made it.  He ended up spewing water and chunks all over the busy sidewalk while I held him from falling into his own vomit.  A passerby was kind enough to hand Josh some napkins and thankfully nearby was a public drinking water spigot to wash the vomit off our feet. 

With that, we said goodbye to Munich.  Only 6 photos taken in Munich, and this one sums it up:

I suppose one would say we should have just headed straight for "home" instead of Munich.  No matter how you sliced it, things were not going to be "perfect" this day.  It was about the same distance to "home," aka Leah's apartment, adding only an hour more car time to drive thru Munich.  I was honestly hopeful he would have healed like I used to, but on a continent where AC is a novelty and fans are scarce, it was near impossible to cool down, even for us. 

When I think about it then/now, the timing of it all, it was either going to be puke in the car or puke in the main Munich square.  Quite honestly, I am happy it happened where it did.  Zeke, too, was the ultimate trooper.  Even sick, he was so excited we got to drive on the Autobahn and drive up to 105mph.  He loved seeing (/get passed by) SO many amazing sports cars he'd only seen pictures of before.  Max and Miriam were troopers, too, they were sticky but full of energy and just rolled with the spew, I mean flow, HA!  (Ok, that was kind of gross, Dana.) 

When I think about it then/now, it is all part of the adventure that we call "life."  I've said it before, even on vacation "life" happens and we have to keep moving.  Thankfully, Zeke didn't throw up again, but it did take 24 hours and a load of prayer to get him feeling better.  It wasn't how we had planned the vacation half of our trip but we didn't plan on a lot of things: me getting bit by a deer tick before leaving for Europe, me having a severe toxic reaction to the medicine, Josh getting strep throat the day before leaving, kids having sore throats and coughs throughout camp, Miriam throwing up donuts in the middle of the night, and now Zeke having heat stroke... and we still had 4 more days of "life" to happen while on vacation. 

Yes, more unplanned fun was to come!

OH!  But there were perks to our sidetrack to Munich as Josh found Faxe Bier, and this made Josh very happy!  Max and Miriam ate these German paprika flavored kangaroo shaped snacks called Jumpys, that they loved!  Max also got some German candy all his own that made him OH SO happy.  I was still reasonably r e l a x e d while Josh was driving an average of 95mph on the Autobahn and the soon-to-be-funny phrases "if you're going to throw up, use the blue bag" and "take another sip of water for mama" were born from my lips.

AND!  I would go back to Munich again, only I would do it on a not as hot day and pay to go on one of their 4 hour city tour bike rides. 

* In Salzburg, Austria, we ate dinner at an Italian Pizzeria, served by a waiter from India who was cooking himself curry in the kitchen.  His curry smelled amazing and I tried twice to convince him to share some of his dinner with me, but he refused to offer me any the first time and the second time said if I came back another time he would.  We did enjoy eating their pizza (Miriam ate a record 5 slices!) in a beautiful outdoor courtyard where the kids learned what second hand smoke was really like.  It had never occured to me that in their short lives, they've lived in areas where smoking is not allowed in most/all public areas.

* Home and residence of Mozart, and with three universities, one of which being the Mozarteum University, music is everywhere in Salzburg.  We walked around the Old Town and were drawn into a coffee shop area where a man was playing the accordian and a woman was playing the harp.  It was beautiful.  Walking around Mirabell Palace we were drawn in by the most amazing music wafting down to us from a beautiful gold leaf covered hall and concert above in the palace.  Walking around the Domplatz every collonade or archway had amazingly skilled musicians using the architectural acoustics to enhance their sound.  (They even waited their turn for their favorite spot in case it was being used by another musician at the time.)

* We walked up Linzer Grasse and saw a Swarovski store.  The sight of the Swarovski swan always fills me with emotion.  The day before marrying Josh, his mom brought me a beautiful Swarovski tiara she owned to wear for my wedding day.  Joy for my wedding day, happiness for her kindness, sadness that she is no longer with us, but I am truly filled with emotions from the simple sight of their swan.

* As we walked around the Old Town area with all its storefronts we could not help but think how much Josh's dad and step mom would love this area.  As we ate amazing German food I couldn't help but want my dad to try it off my plate.  As we walked the Mirabell Palace and Gardens we couldn't help but want G-Bob & G-Elaine to see the beautiful gardens.  As we sat eating breakfast outside a cafe, I couldn't help thinking about how much the older women walking past reminded me of my Grandmas, Great Aunts and Great Grandma, both in appearance and mannerisms (lots of German blood in my family!).

* Josh had been using his high school German skills as much as he could on our weekend trip and to help him remember he got a translator app for his iPhone.  When it came to ordering from a menu he would use his translator to help me order but he would just pick something at random for himself.  He always got food doing it this way, but what type of food was the surprise.  When we were having Sunday breakfast at Cafe Habakuk, he ordered something that way and ended up with a soft boiled egg in a martini glass.  Hahahahaha!

* But I finally received a "large" coffee at Cafe Habakuk which was the same size of a small US coffee. 

* In Strakonice, Zeke watched 4 motorcycles popping wheelies driving down the motorway while he was sitting and eating.  He loudly proclaimed, "That's the most awesome thing I've ever seen in my whole life!"  Standing close to a $400,000 Ferrari was probably second.  Being passed on the Autobahn by the Porsche Cayenne going 130mph being 3rd.  All the countless expensive & incredibly fast German cars he saw being 4th.  Zeke's fast lane nature hit the top four seen-with-his-own-eyes highlights of his short life in our two week trip to Europe.  Lucky boy!  Look at that excitement!

* It was inbetween the above picture and below that the outside temperature spiked and we were walking around in the gardens in the hot, hot, hot sun.  It was beautiful, but painfully HOT.  Josh and I were managing, Max and Miriam were sticky but Zeke was definitely overheated.  By the time we were walking up to visit St. Peter's Cemetery Zeke started feeling a little worse but was still a good sport.  He hung in there even though he was tired and would simply sit in shade and drink water while we explored around him.  He did make himself climb up into a 1100 AD cave/church carved into the mountainside (they call it a catacombs, but I think that name is semi-misleading as there are no graves up there, there are two small church rooms, and the tale about it being a hiding place for a marytr that has been discredited over time, though monks have used it for a place of solace... but I digress) because he thought it looked cool, but he had to rest longer in order to have enough strength to climb back down the steep stairs.  In the process, while we were waiting for Zeke, Josh took one of his all time favorite photos of Miriam.

Yes, I am one of those.  One of those who as a little girl, every year, watched The Sound of Music with Julie Andrews, falling in love with the entire story more and more every time.  It wasn't until later in life ("thanks" to the invention of the internet) that I learned the movie was only minorly true.  *sigh*  But that hasn't stopped me from loving the movie!

For those who don't remember, the Von Trapp family lived in Salzburg and for the movie, they filmed on location throughout Salzburg.  While there are a number of fabulous paid tours you can go on for both actual Von Trapp locations and/or movie locations, the little girl in me was happy to see anything related to the Von Trapps... that was within walking distance and that didn't cost any money. 

Here's the best movie clip I could find, pardon the remix (and I could not embed it due to copyright so you'll have to go to YouTube to watch it).  From 4 minutes till the end, all the scenes are of Julie and the kids dancing around the Mirabell Palace and Gardens which was located right behind our hotel, is free to the public, endless, beautiful and we played here for hours!

The Mirabell Palace & Gardens are a beautiful maze of an exquisitly designed garden masterpiece.  As soon as you begin to marvel at one section you turn the corner to find another beautiful section, and then you turn the corner to another.  The attention to detail in colors and flowers, the beautiful sculptures, the Hedge Theatre, the park, the water features, it is truly a garden lover's paradise!  (I thought of you, G-Bob & G-Elaine, the entire time I was snapping photos!  More photos here. :)!)

The Cramer 5 in the Mirabell Gardens in Salzburg, Austria on an incredibly hot and sweaty day.  If you happen to notice the look on Zeke's face, it is the onslaught of heat stroke, we just didn't know it yet.

We didn't finalize any of our Cramer 5 weekend plans for after camp until the last night of camp.  I had been looking for hotels rooms in Munich for the last two months, but finding one room for 5 was non-existent* and we would have to get 2 rooms for our 1 family, so I gave up.  Thankfully, the night before leaving Josh and his internet skillz came to the rescue!  He found an available hotel room in Salzburg, for a price we expected, and located in the center of town.  We flipped around our travel plans and decided to go to Salzburg first and Munich second.  (I am so glad we did!)

It wasn't until after he had booked the room that I thought to ask if it was ok for 5.  Josh said he didn't know either because they only had room for 2 kids so he just left it blank, but he did know it was located across the street from Mozart's Residence, :)!

It wasn't until we pulled up to the square that we began to realize that we would be staying in more than just a hotel, we were going to be staying in elegance... with our cutie Three.

Josh had booked us into the 5-Star Hotel Bristol.  Originally built in 1619 for aristocrat offices, it was transformed into a hotel just before 1900.  Don't let the age of the building fool you.  For over 75 years, the family owned and operated Hotel Bristol has done everything possible to make their hotel worthy of 5-Stars.  The interiors from the lobby to the room are ridiculously elegant and in wonderful condition, only to be outdone by the most amazingly attentive and dedicated staff.

When Josh was checked into our room, the receptionist was incredibly nice and helpful, spoke perfect English though was obviously Austrian, escorted him upstairs to the room, made sure it was to his approval, then escorted him downstairs to the doorman who came to our car and carried our luggage up to the room.

Now, the Three and I had waited in the car because we were planning on Josh checking in quick so we could continue our drive up into the mountains.  By the time we were driving away from the hotel we were truly wondering what we had gotten our family into.  We've stayed in fancy hotels before but not with the Three and not this style of elegance.  As we drove along the river we saw other hotels and considered switching, but our bags we there, so we decided to go for it and fit our family of 5 into a romantic room for 2.

When we got back to the hotel (and being in Salzburg and all) I instituted Von Trapp Family Law.  With our partially wet Three, quietly and on mission, we marched our family in single file line into the hotel, up the grand hotel staircase and straight into our room.

Did I mention our room had two sets of doors?

The hotel was booked but it was incredibly quiet and we never heard a single person or the loud street noise below.  Our first order of business was cleaning up the Three so we could go to dinner.  The marble covered bathroom was half as big as the bedroom and it was dreamy.  The bathtub was long and deep begging to be soaked in, and was made complete with a towel warmer on the wall. 

It got christened by the Three needing a foot scrub.

Out of respect and uncertainty, we continued to leave and enter the hotel in a quiet, single file line for the remainder of our stay.  When we returned to our room late, after a fun night on the city, our room somehow looked different.  It was the kids who first said, "Someone was in here!"  The curtains had all been drawn, the cover on the bed was removed and the duvets were turned down, foot mats were in place next to each side of the bed, and they even cleaned up the smudges the kids left on the mirrors of the bathtub... the room was cleaned for the second time and now ready for the perfect sleep.  Wonderful.

The below shots were taken just minutes before we finally checked out.  I attempted to make the bed for the shots, but did not do the hotel staff justice.  (See anything different in one of them? HA!) 

Did I mention the location was perfect, too?  It was the perfect location for exploring Salzburg's Old City.  We could take the secret Bristol Passage to the amazing Mirabell Palace and Gardens, or take a short cut past the beautiful baroque Church of the Holy Trinity to walk the Linzer Gasse, or walk over the river and see so much more.

It could have been that the night prior we were staying at a communist era built camp or it could have been that the 5-Star Hotel Bristol is just ALL THAT.  My money is on the later.  It was an absolutely beautiful hotel with the most amazing staff.  Even though we broke a "rule" by having 5 in a 2, there was nothing I would change about our decision to stay there as a family for one night.  Everything about it was simply perfect!

*Ok, there is a hostel in Munich that sleeps 6, but the cost is expensive enough to the point that if you're going to spend that much you might as well try and find a deal on two rooms for a nicer place kind of thing.  But everytime I'd think about having to get two rooms for our family of 5, I couldn't help but think how silly that sounded! :)!

When we were initially deciding where to travel/drive after English Camp, we used references like: Camp to Salzburg is like Davenport to Ames, or Salzburg to Munich is like Iowa City to Des Moines. 

But, OH, how the view was different!

Shortly after entering Austria (for reals this time) our horizon became filled with shadows of what was to come.  Similar to that feeling you get when you are driving through the plains before reaching the Rocky Mountains, their presence carried the most amazing anticipation and excitement.  With the foothills of the Alps drawing us to them, it was impossible to want to stop and walk around the picturesque little Austrian villages I was so looking forward to see.  I did look and admire each one along the way to Salzburg though!  They were adorable, clean and not industrialized, filled with cute concrete cottages with tile roofs, and the most beautiful gardens covering every yard!  But sadly, the best photo I took of them was this...

We arrived to the bustling city of Salzburg, waved "hi" to Mozart's home as Josh quickly checked into our fancy hotel (more on that later), and then we got right back on the road and kept on driving up the valley.  On this absolutely picture perfect day, we simply had to go as high into the mountains as we could.

We were driving along the beautiful Salzach River, located between two mountain ranges and known for its white water rafting.  While the mountains in this area don't top out higher than around 9K, the view from the valley to mountain top was good enough for us Iowa folk.  The water of the river is a mesmerizing aqua blue and the road we were driving on hugged and criss-crossed back and forth over this beautiful water.  We got to a National Park at the top and then turned around.  And once again, we found ourselves crossing a border and not realizing it until AFTER we were headed back down the river.  (Tricky, tricky, Germany!) 

Yes, we did not end up hiking up in the mountains because the aqua blue water was too much for the Three and they HAD to go in it.  We found a little off road, a lightly overgrown footpath, a family of locals and we were there.

And within our literal first two minutes there, Max had pinned down this...

Thankfully, we convinced him to let it go, phew! 

We played here forever and I think the Three will remember this as their favorite place in all of Salzburg.  They LOVED playing in the aqua blue water, walking along the rocks, pinning the water snake, and the only thing missing was us allowing them to get their clothes completely soaked, though they tried really hard to get as wet as possible.

They simply did not fully understand the fanciness of the hotel we were soon going to be sneaking them into.

English Camp ended around 11am on Saturday and at that point the Cramer 5 began our own little 2 day adventure alone.  We were planning to drive to Salzburg, Austria then Munich, Germany.  Within moments of getting into the car, leaving camp and driving along the beautiful countryside roads, I was completely and totally and utterly... r e l a x e d. 

Once again / ask my husband, that is always an amazing feat, but incredibly true.  Even Josh driving the windy, hilly, Bohemian countryside, I was completely r e l a x e d.  English Camp is TONS of non-stop fun that I can't wait to do again, but I think everyone would agree it is nice... that first moment of silence after camp is over, similar only to the *sigh* right before you fall asleep at night after an amazing day.  Being in the car, our three kids happy in their car seats, Josh driving wonderfully, a picture perfect day, no agenda, nothing to do but sit... *sigh* 

I was so r e l a x e d we drove right through a border crossing and didn't realize until 30 miles later that we had crossed a border.  After a quick search on the internet, we learned that it didn't matter anymore since Czech is in the EU and thanks to Schengen border rules.  (Phew!)  I was so r e l a x e d I thought we were in an entirely different country than we were.

Our first big, planned stop we programmed into TomTom Europe was specifically for our kids...

Yeppers, for their first meal after camp we let them eat at McDonald's!  Our kids were super champs with the camp food so we happily let them have this as their reward!  (I don't think we've eaten at McDonald's in over 4 years, whenever it was we saw Super Size Me.)  I did have a bite of Zeke's Big-n-Tasty, and I must say, it tasted like a real hamburger.  We heard this was because Europe has different standards on the quality of food in fast food joints, but whatever the case, it was surprisingly decent.  From a McDonald's?  Who knew!  Except for the fact that they only took cash, it was definitely a meal and surroundings that the kids recognized from "home" and really enjoyed!

Josh and I didn't have our celebratory meal at McDonald's, instead The Wirtshaus Beirgarten was where we ate our lunch.  We had our stomachs set on eating some delicious local food and me drinking local wine and beer.  Since we were unsure if other European countries had the same drinking rules that Czech has and since I wasn't authorized to drive our rental car, I got to do all the drinking, :)!  

(The city was absolutely covered in cyclists of all shapes and sizes and kinds, from the 65 year old decked out in gear from head to toe to the hippy-esque carrying their home on their bike.  Everyone parked their bikes, unlocked, around the city, and right in front of this beer garden.)

Maybe it was because we are novice foodies, maybe it was because we were hungry, maybe because of camp mystery meat, maybe because of the restaurant itself, whatever the case... With each bite we took of our food, we sighed the most happiest sigh, we yummed the happiest yums, we marveled how everything tasted so, so good it literally melted in our mouths.

I about cried when I ate this salad, I was SO happy to eat a salad.  If you know me at all you know how much I love, love, love eating salads, and OH how I loved this salad.  The dressing was different but delicious!  The veggies were normal veggies but they were veggies(!) and they were green, red and orange!  SO colorful!  OH, how I had missed color!

We knew we were in a city named Passau and this was their local brew.  It was delicious!  It's interesting how in the states the local brews are more common to be hit or miss.  As we would find in our travels around Europe, the local brews were always amazing.  Once I had this beer I started to question exactly what country we were actually in... I thought we were in Austria, isn't that south of Czech?  But maybe we were in Germany.

Once back in the car, I looked up on TomTom where exactly we were and it turned out we were NOT in Austria as I had been thinking (since the border crossing!) but we were actually in Germany.  Doh!  Obviously before leaving I hadn't looked at the map close enough to see the little jut in part of Germany.  In my defense, TomTom Europe did NOT have dark/obvious border lines on their maps.  They are this light gray, lighter than the below Google map.  Just saying!  (Oh, and if I could put this photo in quotes to prove my point, I would, :)!  But see, see how I could have been confused?)

When I realized we had been in Germany the whole time, I was SO happy!  See, the short little jaunt we did make into Germany, where I thought it was Austria, I was very bummed.  I have always had these very picturesque visions of Austrian villages.  Every little village we had driven through thus far was not like that at all, there was tons of advertising on buildings, lots of modern buildings, very industrialized.  Once I figured out that what I thought was Austria was Germany, I was tickled pink!  I had not missed seeing the cute little Austrian villages, we just hadn't gotten to them yet, hooray!