Thursday, November 29, 2007

Prague vacation

We returned from Prague last night. Our flight was delayed, so we didn't get home until a little after 2 am. In any case, the parrots woke up when we entered the house, so we got most of them up for a few minutes of attention before we went to bed (both of us had to work this morning!)

Max was so happy to see us. She has this whistle she does when she's really excited about something, and she just kept doing that; both when we got home and when we were getting ready for work this morning. I was pleasantly surprised to see she hadn't plucked at all when we were gone. She is working on building a nest in the bottom of her cage, apparently.

Calypso always gets angry when we leave. It will take him a few days to get over it. He didn't even want to come out of his cage this morning! He did take food from me, though. I guess his anger at being abandoned is selective.

Daphne ignored us last night (perhaps she needs her beauty sleep), but was very happy to see us this morning.

Rocky was so excited last night! He kept saying "Hi Rock!" and whispering gibberish. Then he made his excited noises. This morning he was singing a lot and calling our names. He was sticking very close to Thomas this morning.

Beeps started beeping the moment we were within ear range of him. He continually repeated "Pretty baby, pretty babycakes" and "Hi Beeps" last night and this morning. He did not want to go back in his cage this morning and gave me a little nip. I promised he'd be out all evening!

The lizards survived and are still brumating. This morning I counted 9 Australian Rainbowfish and 3 Clown Loaches and didn't notice any dead bodies, so I believe everyone survived our absence there as well.

Thomas and I are so lucky to have the most wonderful person come over and take care of our animals while we're gone. Of course we missed them while we were gone, but knowing they were in good hands meant that we didn't worry at all!

And here are a few pictures from Prague. This is one of the many picturesque views of old buildings. I was quite surprised to see the variety of color in the facades. There were times when it almost felt like we were in a Caribbean country due to the colors of the houses (the freezing temperatures kept us in reality!)

Inside St. Vitus Cathedral in the Prague Castle complex, you can climb the steps to the top of the tower. I can't imagine the line when it's full tourist season! We were able to climb right up there, and were rewarded with some beautiful images of Prague. You may notice how dark and dreary it looks. The sun didn't shine for the first 3-4 days we were there, and after that, it was only intermittant. During the 7 days we were there, we probably saw the sun about 3 hours total. The tradeoffs you make with off-season travel! We are happy about our timing, however, as we've heard the tourist crowds during the summer are enormous.
And here is a view of the famous Estates Theater, where Mozart premiered his opera Don Giovanni. This is also seen in the Oscar-winning film Amadeus.
I'll be able to post more parrot updates next week; maybe tomorrow. We had a fantastic trip, but it's sure great to be back home!!!

2 comments:

Erick said...

Prague is a truly charming city. It is full of beautiful squares, beautiful architecture, and beautiful art. It is impossible for me to define my favorite sight in Prague, as there are so many and they are all worth seeing. We booked a room in one of the Prague hotels right in the center of the Old Town - wanting to be close to everything. The Charles Bridge, the Old Town Square, the Castle, and Malastrana are the major attractions, but you'll find historic sites and amazing architecture around every corner in this wonderful city. And you’ll find there one of the best beer in the world!!!

Mary said...

I completely agree! We had such a wonderful time there. We're trying to tentatively plan our next European trips and are having a hard time not going back to Prague even though there are so many other places we want to see. I loved Prague and would definitely recommend it to everyone!