So we went to Stara Boleslav to attend the Holy Mass by the Pope on September 18. The celebration would start at 9:45am but pilgrims were advised to be there on or before 8am. We left home at 6am as we have to drop Caity at her grandma’s house and pick up a friend along the way to Cerny Most where the buses were deployed for the pilgrims’ use. There were so many buses lining up in the station, waiting to transport passengers for free!
We arrived early and had plenty of time to take pictures of the buzzing activities around.
Walking with the crowd.
More and more people arriving, while the police men are on alert mode.
The stage and the tall tv stands holding the wide screens for the crowd farther behind to see.
He’s coming! We didn’t know he will pass in our aisle!
Pope Benedict XVI blessing the crowd.
The Mass was in Latin, and his sermon was in Italian with Czech translations, I didn’t understand it at all but the choir was superb. Just being part of this celebration was already an experience to cherish.
Yehey! We haven’t been to Rome yet to visit the Pope so instead, he’s the one coming to visit us! On Sept. 26, the Pope will arrive in Prague and will be also be visiting the cities of Brno and Stara Boleslav.
We’re very blessed to have gotten hold of entrance passes for his Holy Mass in Stara Boleslav on the 28th. Even Caity girl has her own pass too!
1, 2, 3 entrance passes!
Here’s the official website of his visit for detailed information: Pope’s visit to Czech Republic
I had a friend from Brno who attended the party and stayed overnight to see some of Prague’s sights the next day.
We started our stroll almost noon already as we woke up late having been tired from the past days’ activities. Our first stop was by the Vltava River, at Strelecky Ostrov, a small strip of island under the bridge opposite the famous Charles’ bridge. There were several people chatting and sitting on the grass soaking under the sun’s heat; others were feeding the swans that stopped by the riverbank. From our spot we can see the National Theater at the right and the Charles’ Bridge brimming with people on the left. The calm river served as a pretty foreground of the architectural beauty before us.
Some pictures by the riverbank, not Outer Banks but still awesome… 
After taking numerous snapshots, we headed to Petrin Hill for a ride on the funicular to see the Rose Garden, the Petrin Tower (a mini replica of Paris’ Eiffel Tower) and view of Prague from above.
The Prague Marathon 2009 was held yesterday which caused several of the streets to be closed including our usual route to the church. Thousands of runners not only from Czech Republic but also from around the world join in this annual race. This year’s event started and ended at the Old Town Square covering 42.195 kilometers. What a long run! I first learned about this marathon from the Korean movie Lovers in Prague.
The empty Prague street. If you have a sharp eyesight, you can even spot the runners in the right.
Since we couldn’t pass through the streets, we parked the car in a mall about 1.5 kilometers away from our destination and walked to the church. The ballet flats I wore weren’t made for long walks so half way on our return to the parking, my toes were already sore. At night my legs were aching too not only from the walk we had earlier that day but also from standing for some time while slaving in the kitchen for my special project. And that was just about 3 kilometers of walking!
Walking can be a good way to lose weight, but you can also try Liporexall especially if you’re the couch potato kind. =) It contains nine patented ingredients that all have clinically proven results.
Our plan to snoop on the National Love Day at Petřín on May 1 was ditched because there was a little disaster that happened in our house that morning which forced us to make some changes in our work/play room (I’ll write about that in another post). We ended up cleaning the house, organizing our things and throwing unwanted stuff like magazines on sales training, real estate, etc. It kept us occupied till the afternoon which completely wore us out.
We went to Petřín Hill the next day anyway and there we met these walking cherry trees:
Love Day or not, there were still plenty of people in Petřín! Maybe it was the bright and scorching day that charmed them to vist the place. It’s location near the centre makes it a convenient escape for tourists and Czechs alike who wants to enjoy a relaxing time with nature in Prague without needing to travel far.
We spent the afternoon under the sizzling sun just watching our little girl having a good time in the playground. When she’s happy, we’re happy too!
The family went to the Dendrological Garden at the municipality of Průhonice yesterday. Fortunately, this garden is only 8 kilometers away from our place. It can be 3 kilometers less if we use the highway, but we should have a sticker for that (which we didn’t have).
Little C chasing the ducks with M running after her.
The idea was to bring little C to a wide open space where she can run freely. With 73 hectares of land area, this garden was an ideal location for that purpose. In fact if you have little children, it’s a perfect place for the whole family to unwind. The kids can exercise their tiny muscles by exploring and running around the area or sweat it out in the playground near the entrance while the adults can sit in the bench or on the meadow watching the lovely panorama before them. That’s what we did. We basked under the sun on top of a hilly slope overlooking the magnificent view of the lake while our daughter was playing within our view range.
This shot was taken from our resting spot. Beautiful view, right?
But most of the time, little C loved exploring the bushes and what’s behind them.
Gathering woods… =)
There are also lots of quite and private spots for a family picnic, either in a grassy land, under the trees or beside a pond. What I love about this place is that bicycles and dogs aren’t allowed so you don’t have to worry about your children being hit by cyclists or stepping into poops.
Sitting by the pretty lake all day can be a good stress-reliever.
Awesome!
An added treat for your eyes…. beautiful tulips!
Happy Easter everyone!
We went to the zoo yesterday as a treat for our little girl. She’s fond of animals and I know she’ll really be happy to see (the rest of) them in real. She has been seeing them only in videos and books; it was time she meets the creatures personally!
Colorful flamingos.
As expected, the little girl had the grandest time. She was delighted to see the animals especially the monkeys, the bears and the giraffes.
Little C and a new friend, with the tall giraffes behind them.
Polar bears!
She had the most fun in the children’s zoo where it is allowed to go inside the fenced yard and interact with the domesticated animals such as chickens, pigs and rabbits. She enjoyed fondling and chasing the goats there. The other children had fun feeding the goats with low-calorie granules which they bought at the slot machines. We could have stayed there longer but the zoo closes at 6pm and we even went out past closing time.
The Prague Zoo or Zoo Praha is one of the best places parents can bring their kids for a day of fun - with the children’s play area, the children’s zoo and the various animals around, they’ll never run out of things to see and do. It houses 5,345 animals with 674 species as of December 31, 2008 and it was named as the 7th best zoo in the world by Forbes Magazine in February 2008.
Crocodile.
Antilopes.
