Czech Republic - the Motherland! I have not visited in 15 years. Thanks to the generousity of my dad and step-mom, Nicolas and I were able to have the most amazing vacation ever. Two weeks of seeing the most beautiful places - exploring castles, eating gourmet, and living large in general...(sigh) But alas, it seems we were having too good of a time and the real world had to give me a good sucker punch: my bag was stolen on the train the day before we left. In it was my new camera along with 600 pictures I had lovingly taken. Also gone: Nick's Gameboy and $300 cash. Ouch. Now - if you know me - you know taking pictures IS MY THING. It's what I do. I was devastated but am over it now. My dad felt so bad for me that he ran around Prague taking pictures after we left (we were there 2 weeks, they were there for 8 weeks). Thanks Dad! You're the best! So, I've pieced together a bunch of pictures - some from my dad, some from relatives and some downloaded using my new favorite search engine: bing. We took a full-fledged whirlwind tour. We conquered 8 castles (a drop in the bucket in the land of castles), 4 palaces and 500 ice cream shops ;) We visited relatives, went to parties and were treated like royalty everywhere we went. My step-family are the finest bunch you'll ever meet. After 20 years, I saw Katka and Martin - my cousins. They were great. Well enough babbling - take a peek at some of the glory that is the Czech Republic!