Planes, Trains and Automobiles

I am writing this blog at the dining room table in our wonderful apartment in Brno while my hubby is trying to teach me some Czech words from our guide book. Hold on let me sigh, life is good right now.

Our trip to Brno was so very long, but we both had high spirits and after each leg of the journey we couldn't believe how fast it was going. It took us 18 hours to get here. I kept thinking about the movie 'Trains, Planes and Automobiles' and wondered between my hubby and myself who was Steve Martin and who was John Candy?


When we did arrive in Prague the excitement really started to build. No problems what so ever with bags or customs. The only problem we had the entire journey was in Paris when we had to go through security again and they wanted to see a doctors note for all my medication. (thank goodness I had one). But in Prague they just asked us why we were here. No stamps for the passports which bums me out. We got into a taxi and off to the train station we went. We had about an hour and half before our train to Brno and of course the train terminal wasn't enclosed and we were freezing! Of course the train was running late so we had to stand in the cold even longer.

I was going to be doing my medication on the train but since the train was running late I had to do it right there on the platform. I know this sounds crazy but the doctors our super strict about taking the medication at the same time everyday. So there I was in the freezing cold doing fertility injections. I think I scored badass points from my hubby, he seemed impressed. Pardon the picture below if you don't like needles or some belly fat.

The train ride to Brno was great. We had a whole cabin to ourselves. Three seats per side and luggage racks above our heads. The only issue was trying to stay awake so we wouldn't miss our stop and also to be able to sleep when we got to the apartment. We went through the country side of Czech and saw some very remote towns. It was beautiful with all the fresh powdery snow that seemed to just be a blanket over a sleeping town. Everything just has this very fairy tale look to it.. I feel like every building or town started by someone saying "Once upon a time..."

When we arrived in Brno we were met by a very energetic and spunky girl named Barbra. She drove us to the apartment and gave us the run down of what to except in the next couple of days. She seems really happy with us. We told her we didn't need much from her in regards to help around the city. We have been to Europe before and aren't afraid to explore. She seemed relieved by this, I guess most couples are more demanding then us. After she left we went to the local restaurant next door. Had amazing beer and even more amazing local food! And then put our heads down on our pillow and slept off those 18 hours of travel.

This afternoon we just walked around our neighborhood looking for a place to have lunch. There really isn't any English to help you out and the Czech language is SO different. It's not like when you are in France or Spain and you can remember enough high school French or Spanish to get by. Not here. It feels a little scary at first but my hubby puts in a real effort in trying to learn the basic greetings and beer lingo. The restaurant we tried, no english, no pictures to point at, nothing. But it wasn't a total loss, we could order the local beer. So we left there after our beers and found a place that had pictures.

We ordered two hamburgers and fries. While I was eating the burger, I was trying to figure out the meat inside. It was literally a HAM burger. This made me laugh, DUH!, "ham"burger. It was good and so were the fries. The guy behind the counter spoke no English but smiles are universal. I think he was just as amused by us as we were by the experience.


After our 'ham'burgers we did some more walking about the city. Climbed up a hill to look down over the city and just took it all in.


Here's a picture of the hubby trying to make sure we knew where to turn to next, plus you can see just hold cold it really is here.


I wish I had the nerve to pull out the camera when we went grocery shopping. First off it was really busy because this was the "super"market. So the American in me thought supermarket, BIG. Nope, it was about the size of our apartment here. Best thing about it was, when you buy fresh produce you weigh it and then the weigh machine prints out a coupon and you take that to the check out stand. SO COOL! We bought some stuff for a couple dinners and breakfasts. Felt very proud of us afterward.

Tomorrow, Friday, is my first appointment at the clinic. Looking forward to meeting all my doctors and seeing how the injections have been working. Then afterwards Barbra is going to give a tour of the city.

Now, international CNN, dinner and bed. Maybe we will sneak away and go to the pub next door.. why am I saying maybe on that one?