First thing Friday morning, I was off to John & Colin’s place to kick off the next round of birthday celebrations. After a quick stop for doughnuts, John helped me decorate the apartment with all my swag from Flying Tiger. Lucky for me, Colin is a night owl and had no idea what we were up to!
Once we were satisfied with our work, we were off to K10, with a spontaneous stop along the way for John to get a haircut. This was the fanciest men’s haircut I’ve ever seen – and may have taken longer than my own! – but John will without a doubt divulge what an experience it was!
That afternoon, we had our first Prague track event – a design workshop where we got to print our own works of art! Prague is home to countless artists who have visited the city for inspiration. Carol, Colin, Jess, Tara and I learned the traditional craft of carving patterns into linoleum to be used in a print press. Being extra careful not to slice off any fingertips, we chiseled away to create our designs, ran a few test prints and then printed our own tote bags. Some of you may recognize my design!
Totes in hand, we were off for a round of birthday mini golf! Colin & I met up with Christian and Shea for an intense game at Tower Park. The course was, at least to my standards, very advanced and took far longer than we expected – we had to hit a fly ball across the course for one hole! After a dinner break with Ms. Carol following hole 9, we were back to it with our new commentator Erica joining in the fun. It was an epic battle, and I pulled out a second place finish to Christian the golf pro. We met up with the rest of our fellow Kairosians for a round of drinks to finish off our celebration of Colin’s 23rd year of birth. What a day!
Having (slightly) recovered from the extravagant birthday celebrations, I met with John for a trip to the…mall? Yep – it was time to do some shopping, having brought mostly beach attire to a major city. I had a nice stroll through the park to our meeting point before we stopped for caffeine to mentally prepare ourselves. We hit H&M, where John convinced me to try on an assortment of new styles. He even talked me into buying my first romper! I’m pretty sure we replaced John’s entire wardrobe that day too…
PSA: Ladies, shop with a man you trust. It did wonders for my body image!
After our very successful shopping spree, I was off to a ladies’ night at the opera. After donning one of my newly purchased dresses, Erica, Mary Elizabeth, Carol and I made our way to the Estates Theater to see Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Not only is this one of the oldest theaters in Europe, but Mozart also composed and performed there! It was quite a treat to witness in a place with such history.
Having made it through the first act, we were ready for some traditional Czech dinner before visiting the unique Black Angel’s cocktail bar. Located in the Gothic cellar of a hotel in the Old Town Square, the bar prohibits photos along with it’s other listed rules. Go to Prague and check out this bar – it was one of my two favorites in all of my travels! (Wait for my future post on Vienna…)
After sampling a few delicious drinks, we were off to meet the rest of the Kai-rew for a night of dancing. It was 80s & 90s night at Lucerna Music Bar, complete with cheesy music videos. We had a strong group turnout and danced the night away. We made some friends, blocked some unwanted suitors and stormed the stage. It was one big, hot, sweaty mess, but we had a blast and were not ready to end the night!
So it was declared to be Deb’s Track Event! I don’t know how this all came to be, but my best understanding is that Deb wanted to watch the sunrise over the Charles Bridge. To keep ourselves going into the wee hours, we moved our dance party on to James Dean. By 4AM we were starving, so we made a pit stop at Burrito Loco before walking to the bridge. It may not have been the best morning for a sunrise, but it did make for one of the most memorable nights of our trip. After a round of photo sessions and early morning conversations, we went our separate ways to get some sleep.
Sunday I slept. And slept and slept until it was time to roll on over to group process. It turned out to be an exciting and exhausting weekend, but without a doubt, was one for the memory books!
Reflection on the Hudson 