Well we made it home from our European extravaganza.  I have to say, it was amazing.  When I look back at our pictures, I realize all we saw and did over our four weeks away and we wouldn’t trade that time for the world.

The jet lag we would willingly trade, but if you want to dance, you’ve got to pay the band, eh?

In order to catch you up to now (which is exactly 4:36am might I add) I am going to give you a super fast forward edition of the rest of our trip.  Buckle up, we are going to cover some miles.

PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC

We spent nearly a week in Prague, which was beautiful, but honestly a little too long.  Prague is B.U.S.Y.  Like shoulder to shoulder, pushing, sweaty people in certain areas.  Not our thing.  Once you get away from the major sites, it loosens up a bit makes for a more enjoyable experience.

Prague has an interesting Soviet history which gives it a different feel than other European countries we’ve visited.  Tourism is still new(ish) to them and they are working out some kinks.  The mix of architecture was fascinating and spoke volumes about the different eras the city had been through.  Their not so long ago independence is really something interesting to read up on while you’re there.

RIGA, LATVIA

This little stop over was a pleasant surprise.  Baltic Air allows its passengers to extend their layovers up to 24 hours, so of course we jumped on the opportunity to see Latvia and we were not disappointed.

We stayed in the Old Town area which is full of lovely buildings,  outdoor restaurants, and live music.  We were told they only have about a month of warm Summer and let me tell you, they enjoy it while they’ve got it!

We definitely want to return to Latvia and now know it is worth the extra effort to go off the beaten path to get there.

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

From Latvia we flew onto Denmark where we spent the last few days of our trip.  We didn’t end up covering as much ground here as we would have liked due to extreme fatigue.  Four weeks of travel caught up with us here and when you have your kids in tow, you can not push on through fatigue.

We really enjoyed the feel of the city though.  Bikes are a major source transportation for its citizens and it puts our chronic US driving habits to shame.  We are definitely going to make some transportation changes after seeing Copenhagen.

I slipped away and did a tour of the Royal Palace, which was one of my favorite parts of the trip.  The boys wouldn’t quite have enjoyed it as much as I did, so going back to play Legos with Dad was a win-win for everyone.

From there, we made the ten hour flight home, which was a breeze.  It was an amazing four weeks and we are already talking about doing it next summer.

Now back to reality…