Fighting the rain in Prague

June 2oth--We were certainly prepared for the rain yesterday, but not today. When we checked the weather before leaving the apartment it did not mention anything about rain. So, we headed out in hopes to ride on a paddle boat. On our way walking down to the river, we stopped at the Dancing House. This house is built on the Vlatava riverbank and depicts a pair of Czech patriots...or Fred and Ginger. The architecture has really captured us during our travels. We have become big fans of the different styles of buildings and the amazing colors used too. While walking along the riverbank, the kids spotted several playgrounds and begged us to take them to one. Well, there was one right by an area where a band was setting up and starting to play music. So, we figured that the kids could enjoy the playing while we enjoyed the music. All was great until it started sprinkling...we left the playground to figure out where to go next. We started walking and the rain got heavier and heavier. We hovered under the awning of the National Theater and realized there was a cafe right across the street. We ran into the restaurant and enjoyed coffee and hot chocolate while waiting for the rain to stop. The rain let up about 30 minutes later so we decided to head for the Charles Bridge before we didn't get to see it all together. We fought the crowds all the way across the bridge, but it didn't keep us from getting some wonderful views of Prague. Once we got on the other side of the bridge, we were hungry for lunch and saw a restaurant called Bohemia Bagel. The restaurant served breakfast food and that sounded really good to all of us. It was very Americanized so we all enjoyed a good American breakfast. With our bellies full, we exited the restaurant to blue skies. We thought the rain had past, but by the time we did a little window shopping and started walking back towards the river, it was sprinkling again. We continued walking though knowing that it would stop eventually. By the time we made it to the paddle boats, the rain had blown through and we had beautiful weather for our ride around the river. It was so nice and relaxing plus we could hear a band playing music on one of the islands. As we found out, it was United Islands weekend. All different bands were playing at different locations along the river. So, the playground we were at earlier, that we returned to again after paddle boating, was having a United Islands celebration. We let the kids play for about an hour before heading back towards the apartment. We weren't really hungry for dinner, but didn't want to miss out on our last meal in Prague. So, we went to our favorite restaurant (that makes 3 times in 5 days) and had more great food. The kids had chicken skewers and the adults had beef goulash. Yummy! If anyone ever goes to Prague, just be ready to do some eating and put on some pounds. It's amazing how good the food is there. After dinner, we returned back to the apartment and put the kids to bed. Mike left right after that to go to a concert in St. Nicholas Church. He had been wanting to go to a concert/opera while in Eastern Europe so I encouraged him to go tonight. The concert was only an hour long, but he enjoyed the music.