Knee update...

For my family and friends, I finally had my MRI a few weeks ago. The results? Well, probably it is an osteochondral injury. If that made you think of arthritis then you get a prize. Okay, not really, but you're right on track. ;) See the tiny bit of shading on the right tip of the femur? The cartilage below it? That's what's causing all of my problems.





It could not be. The only definite way to find out is for the doc to scope my knee, which is the next step in this ongoing process. So, when I wake up, I'll know. If it is the osteochondral injury (and I wake up w/ the doc having done the microfracture procedure) then I've been advised by a couple different orthopedic surgeons that it's in the best interest of my long-term knee health to quit running. *sigh* So, I know what the best and worst-case scenarios are. I'm expecting worst, but hoping for the best. I haven't run since early June (I so miss running outside). I've been going to the gym to bike, use the elliptical or swim (getting into a swimming suit is pure torturous hell for me, just so ya know). I'm getting used to my new routine. And, it's all good. Not what I want, but I've accepted...zen, baby. :)

La Vie Boneheme...hee hee

Sunday morning we got up and headed to Kutna Hora-Sedlec Ossuary. It is a small chapel beneath the Church of All Saints. The Ossuary is known as the Bone Church. The short version is that an abbot returned from the Holy Land with dirt from Golgotha which was sprinkled in the cemetery. People heard this and wanted to be bured in this holy spot. Many years and deaths later (the Plague, wars, etc), new construction led to the bones being exhumed. In 1870 František Rint was given the job to organize the bones. The Bone Church is the result of these 40,000-70,000 bones. This was at the top of David's list of places he wanted to visit in Europe. I read an article in which an employee was interviewed about the church. She was asked if she was scared working there and she said no, it's the people who are alive that you have to worry about. LOL Amen, sister. ;)

We drove the hour and half scenic route to Kutna Hora-Sedlec from Prague. Crazy GPS.














We returned to Prague and Old Town Square to grab some lunch. There were a bunch of vendors set up and we took advantage of the convenience and price. We had
langos and shisk k bob on roll. The langos had a ketchup based sauce topped w/ cheese. The dough is fried. You just can't go wrong with fried dough.




We then located the Golem (a character in Jewish folklore). "The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel the late 16th century chief rabbi of Prague."



And, yes, I did purchase some Bohemian crystal.




It was a great trip. I really enjoyed Prague.

The never ending la vie boheme....

Okay, we headed to Prague Castle.



St Vitus Cathedral on the Castle grounds











Okay, Blogger is not letting me add any more pics. I'll start a new entry. *sigh*

La Vie Boheme continued...

I left off at lunchtime. Our tour guide Pavlina took us to have traditional Czech food.






Having the famous Czech beer. Although it was draft. I'm not impressed w/ draft beer. Must be all those nights of drinking cheap draft beer in college. LOL Czech Rep has the highest consumption of beer in the world. Hmmm....anyway, "The Pilsener style beer originated in western Bohemian city of Plzeň, and further south the town of Budweis lent its name to its beer, eventually known as Budweiser Bier Bürgerbräu thus Budweiser."



Pork and dumplings (boiled bread)



goulash and dumplings





Next was the famous Charles Bridg. Lining the bridge are 30 statues of saints and patron saints. One of the most well known statues is of St JOhn of Nepomuk who was thrown in the river at the request of King Wenceslas. Queen Wenceslas confessed to John and he refused to divulge her confession to the King. So, off the bridge he went. ;) Anyway, it's a tradition to touch the statue. Although, our tour guide said that locals don't touch the statue. There is a cross on the bridge at the spot where JOhn was thrown off and that is what the locals touch. So, we certainly weren't going to be so touristy as to touch the statue. LOL

King Charles and my own Charles (right before entering bridge)





On the bridge:





The cross of St John that we touched





Next we headed to the tram to go to the Prague Castle. It is the biggest in the world. We saw the changing of the guards.

Be back later....

La Vie Boheme!

With the hubby gone, I've been a little nervous about traveling by ourselves. I wanted to go somewhere over the long weekend, but was on the verge of chickening out. Until my friend Samantha emailed and asked if anyone wanted to do anything. So, I said "how about Prague?" At the last minute I made hotel reservations and mapped our way before I had a chance to back out. Should I even say that there was an adventure? Or is that a given? ;)

The directions said 5:15 hours to get there. We left at 3:15pm when we picked up the boys from school. We rolled into the hotel at about 11pm. The weather was awful. It was raining so hard that people were going 50 mph on the autobahn. There was construction in Prague. It was just a pain. I was so happy to get to that hotel...I can't even tell you.

Saturday morning we booked a tour to see all of Prague. It started in Wenceslas Square. St. Wenceslas is the patron saint of Bohemia which is the region of the Czech Republic that Prague is in. Wenceslas Square is the area of the city where people gather for important events. The Nazis demonstrated there. The Soviet Army rolled in in 1968. The Czech people protested here. And the people gathered there at the end of the Communist rule.









From there we saw the Estates Theater where Mozart performed. He premiered his opera Don Giovanni here.





We then (I think?) headed into Old Town Square.




Church of Our Lady Before Tyn





Astronomical Clock



We then headed to the Vltava River for our boat cruise.





Famous Charles Bridge in the background





After our cruise we headed to the Jewish section of Prague, Josefov.









Jewish Cemetery. The headstones are just the top layer. The graves are actually buried to the street level.



Okay, I'll be back. Such a packed day. I'll be back for lunch and the rest of the day.