Move to Prague (in word only...I forgot to bring my camera, so I'll upload the photos later)

Wednesday was the big move day. We had help from Nate and Jessica (Brian’s brother & sister-in-law) to transport our house, minus the kitchen sink, to the airport. We met Grandpa & Grandma Armstrong there. Grandma packed just one bag, which brought the total number of bags to 23! We arrived nearly 3 hours early to allow time for any problems or hang-ups. As it turns out, we had none! Grandma had already enlisted the help of a “Skycapper” before we got there. So, we unloaded bags; the skycapper took our passports and credit card to pay for the baggage fee; he returned with our boarding passes and baggage tags; and we were headed to airport security in just 20 minutes (I think that has to be some kind of a record)! Security took a little longer with all of our carry-on stuff, but we didn’t stress and the people behind us were graciously patient. In fact, the lady directly behind me said, “bless you for what you are doing,” at least twice. We grabbed some pizza for lunch, and the kids got to play in the airport play area before we boarded the airplane.

Our flight to Paris was not full, so the check-in lady blocked the seat next to Rebecca and I. Cam, Grandma and Jess sat in the row in front of us. It worked out great to have the extra space next to us. The flight was between 9 and 10 hours long. Cam and Jess did very well, including getting nearly 5 hours of sleep. Rebecca was entertained in her car seat for about 3 hours, slept for about 3 hours, cried or whined for about 3 hours (if we were not walking around the plane), then fell asleep 3 minutes before we landed in Paris! A very nice couple (obviously “Mormons” because the guy wore a BYU hat) offered to help us off the plane and through the airport with all of our gear, which consisted of 3 bags, 3 personal items, the kids’ backpacks stuffed to the max and weighing about 25 lbs each, the car seat, the portable high chair, the violin, and the jogging stroller. The husband carried Rebecca in her car seat as she was sleeping, while the wife, Grandma and I transported everything else.

The Paris airport is huge, so we did quite a bit of walking to get to our connecting terminal (and I actually heard a guy on the airplane, explaining to another guy, how the partner airlines were in the same terminals and everything was in close walking distance!). We got stopped just before security by the terminal manager who, obviously appalled at the amount of stuff we were carrying on, insisted that we must go to check-in first! We explained that everything with us was carried on the previous plane, and tagged as such, but he rudely (probably kindly for a Frenchman) took us to a special check-in counter where we were relieved of the 3 larger bags, the car seat, and the jogging stroller. At first I was frustrated by the guy and the situation, but in the end it was a blessing; we were not charged for the extra checked baggage, and getting on the next plane was much easier! Since we no longer had a car seat for Rebecca, she had to be seat-belted to me for the next flight; boy was she unhappy about that! So she screamed and struggled then fell asleep, and so did I. It was just over an hour from Paris to Prague.

Brian was at the airport with a “taxi” van ready to pick us up. We just had one small hang-up getting from the baggage claim area to Brian, since the outside area is separated from the baggage area by a customs security door and partition. The problem wasn’t that our luggage didn’t arrive, because all of it did, amazingly, but that we had so much of it, with only 2 people to carry it all outside! You see, once you go through the customs door, you cannot re-enter, and I went through the door with the kids, leaving Grandma behind with the luggage! I had to ask the information lady to get someone to let me back into the baggage area. Once back inside, Grandma and I “inchwormed” our way with 9 loaded baggage carts from the baggage claim area, through the customs door and around the partition separating the areas. The customs guy didn’t seem too annoyed; he even helped push the last two carts through the doors for us. (I can now see why Americans try to take everything in one load, and Europeans take many loads, at least at the airport; it’s because the carts are free in Europe and they cost an arm and a leg in America!)

The taxi service guy was unprepared for the vastness of our luggage, and he had to call another driver to help with the load. Our driver was crazy, or very good depending on how you look at it, since we are in a big city! He almost hit a biker who he didn’t see, gave us a few tidbits of tour guide info as we passed some historic sites, and in general was one of the nicest Czechs I’ve met. Once we got to our apartment, we had to take everything up to the 3^rd floor…luckily there is a lift in the building (that’s European for elevator). However, we still had to do some carrying since the lift only goes to the half-floors (it was installed on the outside of the building hundreds of years after the building was originally built).

The total “move” time from Lehi to our apartment in Prague was approximately 20 hours (this accounts for the 8 hour time difference). Needless to say, we were all exhausted, so we ate McDonald’s for dinner (just down the street from our apartment) and then slept until 12:00 noon on Friday!

Funnyisms by Jessica

When we were in the Salt Lake Airport Jessica told Grandma, “We are going to Francis.” (We flew to Paris, France)

On the airplane we went through some rough air while Jessica was not in her seat. With big eyes she jumped up on her seat, proceeded to buckle her seat belt, and then asked Grandma what happened. Grandma explained what turbulence was, to which Jessica replied, “I think the airplane hit a cloud.”

On the drive from the airport we crossed the Vltava River which runs through the center of Prague. Jessica asked, “Where is the Charlie Bridge?” (The Charles Bridge)

Our new apartment building has an entryway with two mirrors on opposite walls. Jessica says we have “Temple” mirrors.

Jess told Grandma that she knew some Czech words, so Grandma asked her what she knew. Jess said, “no and yes.” Grandma asked, “How do you say no?” Jess promptly answered, “Ne.” Then Grandma asked her how to say yes. This time Jess got a puzzled look on her face and replied, “I’ll have to think about that.”

Shopping in Prague

I’ve done quite a bit of shopping in the few days I’ve been here, trying to get our apartment set up. On one of my trips to the store I purchased a vacuum. You might wonder, how does a person get a vacuum home when you don’t have a car? I just figured it would be an awkward walk carrying the box home. Well, I got a little surprise…after I purchased the vacuum the store clerk passed the box to another clerk who proceeded to wrap the box with some blue twine to make a carrying handle for me. I just stood there grinning while he did it, and then said “Dekuji” (which means thank you).