Amsterdam

Thursday, September 25, 2014

We flew to Amsterdam and arrived safe and sound. Here is our AIRBNB! Elly was our host and she was super sweet.

Our view from the front steps....ummm yes please!

We didn't do anything the night we arrived except grab some food. It was late and we were tired bears. Sleepytime!

Friday, September 26, 2014

Amsterdam is amazing! We absolutely love it! Honestly, Venice was not quite as I had pictured and Amsterdam made it all better. The canals are everywhere and bikes rule the city. Seriously, you have to look out for them constantly or you'll get run over! There's tons of awesome shopping and it doesn't feel touristy.

Crepes for breakfast! I hadn't had a crepe before Europe and they are super amazing!

We had the most perfect weather! Chilly for Fall!

Vlaams - best fries in Amsterdam told by some...

  

Waterloopleinmarkt Market - an awesome Vintage Market! We discovered that pretty much all the markets are vintage and there are tons of vintage clothing stores all around the city. My kind of shopping. YESSSSS.

Apple pancake! Pancakes, or pannenkoeken, are a common Dutch food but are not usually eaten only for breakfast...you can get them all day long!

Magere Brug - last operating drawbridge in Amsterdam.

Paws! Kittens with Courtney!

Travel tips from Cody: "If you're short on luggage space, skip the swimsuit and go to Barcelona!"

Presents for the babies!

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Vondelpark!

 

Albert Cuypmarkt in De Pijp District. Location of the famous stroopwafel!!! Oh my goodness I want one of these every day of my life! They are like super thin sugary waffles with sugary filling inside...I have no idea what it is but it's fantastic!

Kibbeling - pieces of white fish (cod) dipped in batter, then deepfried.

Poffertjes (small pancakes served with powdered sugar). Delicious doesn't begin to describe it!

Roemer Visscherstraat – street with houses from 7 countries

Hannah!!! Look what I found!

All our goodies from the day :)

From Elly!

Prague III

Wednesday, September 24, 2014 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

I woke up at 5:15am with an extremely swollen face again and felt pretty worried. My cheeks and under my chin were puffed up and my skin was very tight and swollen behind my ears. I felt slight pressure on the sides of my head from the swelling behind my ears. I didn't have any pain or pressure feeling directly under my chin, no sore throat, trouble breathing or swallowing.

I couldn't believe it...I was going to have to see a doctor in Europe. What a downer and something unexpected and unfortunate to deal with. I was pretty bummed this was interrupting our trip, but was also worried something was seriously wrong.

We tried to buy tram tickets at the place we were the day before (where we bought the funicular tickets), but it was not open yet. We had no idea of where else to buy tickets besides the train station a few miles away, so we walked 2.5 miles to the outpatient clinic Cody found online covered through Blue Cross Blue Shield.

This is totally embarrassing, but necessary to see the swelling!

The Czech doctor I saw eventually told me she thought I had the MUMPS! (yes, I was vaccinated as a child). However, she was not 100% confident because my symptoms did not match the mumps diagnosis to a T. I did not have any pain, malaise, or a fever which are common symptoms for mumps. She didn't test for antibodies because I did not have time to get the results back (we had plans to fly to Amsterdam the next afternoon) and she said it would be very expensive. So, she asked for a urine sample and drew some labs.





She sent me away with a prescription for Vitamin D in liquid form, vitamin C, echinacea, ginger tea, and another prescription for a "sugar pill" which was an alternative medication I never filled. I also took an antihistamine and decongestant. I was told to be on bedrest as there is no cure for mumps other that to boost my immune system and rest. Hmm...bedrest in Europe?  Not sure about that...
I never felt sick and was not in pain, so we decided to continue our adventure.











I called for my CBC results which showed my WBCs were elevated with everyting else normal. I had to wait until the next morning to find out my thyroid blood results and was open to the possibility of having to stay in Prague. I thought I might be hospitalized for continued tests and monitoring, or even possible surgery. I just didn't know what to think or expect. 

The next morning I felt like I had a lump blocking my throat and it was super hard to swallow. I called for my lab results and found out my thyroid levels were normal. Eventually the difficulty swallowing went away and I thought I would be OK to fly. I made an appointment in Amsterdam at another outpatient clinic in case I needed a doctor when I arrived.

The flight was fine and I didn't have any issues. When I woke up in our Amsterdam apartment the next morning, my swelling came down a lot which was such an incredibly unexpected surprise! I canceled my appointment and decided to wait it out some more. The great news is that my swelling never came back or my difficulty swallowing and I've been fine ever since! Praise the Lord!

We continued on our adventure and headed to Pivovarský Dům for lunch and enjoyed some sour cherry and banana beers! Yum!

Garlic soup again!

We wanted to show everyone pictures of the streets in Prague. They were very memorable as the whole city was covered in cobblestone. No pavement! Some of it was difficult to walk on but it was fun since it looked so awesome!

Goodbye Prague! I'll forever think of the mumps when your name comes up :)

Prague II

Tuesday, September 23, 2014
 
I woke up with a super swollen face. I looked like a little chipmunk. It continued throughout the day and I was embarrassed of my puffy face so I hid it in the pictures with my scarf!

Garlic pizza with little pepper balls! 

 

PRAGUE SHENANIGANS - notice our shenanigans are always related to transportation! We were trying to find the funicular (a train device that brings you to the top of a hill). There were no clear signs or any way to find where to go so it took a while to hunt around until we found the ticket office.
 
The ticket booth inside only took coins which we did not have. We bought candy at a grocery store to get some. The 1st machine we tried did not accept the change we had. It requested EXACT change. We were about to give up and skip the adventure to the Petrin Tower but then decided to try another machine...which worked thank goodness! 

Petrin Tower - Prague's mini version of the Eiffel Tower!

There was a pretty rose garden which made me think of you, Rose :)

Kampa Island!

 

Lennon Wall

 "I need money to repair my time machine to go back to the 60's!"

 Super rad lock bridge by the Lennon Wall

Charles Bridge - yay! my swelling went down a little!

We took a break and each got a treat. White hot chocolate and an iced coffee with ice cream in it! This place didn't have "take away" cups which we thought was pretty funny considering it was a coffeeshop. 

Prague Castle and a pretty cathedral.

Fun Prague street food

Cinnamon dough roll made over coals!

I'll bet this place is pretty awesome! :)

Paws! Kittens with Courtney!

Travel Tips with Cody: "When using a portable map there is no "you are here" symbol."

We met up with James and Jackie again for lunch and then finished the day off right with our Beer Spa! It was incredible!!!

Cody went first and the masseuse asked if he wanted his "back" rubbed. Cody said yes and soon found out that meant his toosh! I thought the guy said "lay down on your back and I'll rub you" and was super confused...since my outfit consisted of a sheet. I just stood there staring and scared looking for a second. Soon after we realized he said "lay down and I'll wrap you!" (we were wrapped in warm blankets on a heated bed!) 

 Our sweet bath with hops, malt, oil and other crazy ingredients.

Romantic walk back to our apartment through Old Town and across the Charles Bridge.

Prague I

Monday, September 22, 2014
Train to Prague! We got another doner kabob but it was not nearly as good as the one in Venice.

We met Jennifer and Jessica on the train and rode the six hours to Prague with them. They're sisters and Jessica is  PA in the ED in the Chicago. Jennifer just graduated from nursing school in Dallas and is taking the NCLEX in October. I felt so grateful to be done with that part of my life!!

PRAGUE SHENANIGANS
We arrived in Prague and followed the directions given by our AIRBNB host which was to walk to a certain area and get a tram to her place. We found the tram but didn't see any place to buy tickets and the driver was surrounded by glass so we couldn't ask him or even buy a ticket on the tram.
So...we walked back to the train station only to discover a giant line to buy tickets. Cody waited in the line for a while and then decided....hmmm maybe we should just walk there! So we did! We treked 1.5 miles on cobblestone streets with our Tom Bihns and finally arrived!

It was totally worth it though. Our AIRBNB is awesome! We have it completely to ourselves which was so needed after Munich and it's CLEAN!

The guy who let us in was so friendly and Barbora (our host) was on the phone with him because she had to work and couldn't be there to check us in. She even got us a bottle of wine!

So...the bathroom and the kitchen are all the same room! Haha we thought it was funny!

For the 1st time in over 2 weeks we had a real washing machine!!! I was SO happy!!! The first thing I did was dump all our stuff out and make piles that would soon be clean and fresh!

We wandered around looking for a place to eat for dinner. We came across this adorable cafe that was perfect! There was a futbal game on and we got our meal started with some yummy beers.

The dark one had a caramel aftertaste and was super delicious. We ordered garlic soup to share which was really fun. We've never had anything like that before!

Mushroom risotto (what's happened to me mom?!) :) and Cody's meal which was outta control fun. It was beef tenderloin with some sort of yummy sauce, cranberries, dumplings, and WHIPPED CREAM! what the awesome.

Look! We're rich! Yay for crowns! Good thing too since our bill was 400 bucks! ...I mean crowns :)

Snacks for the apartment. All things we've never tried! The pink Fanta on the right made me miss you Rachel Molina! :)

We met up with James and Jackie (our friends from Canada we met at Oktoberfest!) They didn't have specific plans for the rest of their trip so they met us in Prague to hang out! We went to Karlovy Lazne (a 5 story club) which was pretty fun.

The 5 levels were all different and we spent all our time in the oldies part. ABBA was on a lot which was awesome and made me think of my dad and Mamma Mia. Then...after  a while, Backgreet Boys and The Spice Girls started playing and we realized oh crappers...we're kinda old. How is that considered oldies? 18 years old? Rut row....we are old. I totally guessed right the year Wannabe by the Spice Girls came out. 1996 baby. Yup, I was 10 years old and remember listening to it on my discman on the playground.