Day 2 - what day is it????

Hi all, today has been a day full of adventure but we seem to be having a hard time knowing if its Sunday or Monday and what time of day it really is. Sad to say but with none of us having cell phones with us, its hard to keep track.

First the hockey....
The boys started the day with an early morning practise at 7:15 am. From all reports, it was good for them to get moving and helped the boys get used to really hard ice. A few of our siblings joined in and they were back bright and early by 8:45 for breakfast and to jump on the bus. I promised not to name names but anyone who might be related to #17 might want to give them a hard time for missing practise due to "the alarm not going off"! We have had lots of fun giving them a hard time...but a special note to #17 and family...you only tease the ones you love.

We played Hungary this afternoon at 2:30 and unfortunately suffered a 3-2 loss. The raiders were not at the top of their game and it took a period or so to get into their grove. I am sure their bodies were suffering from jet lag, a very unpopular lunch (curry chicken pasta), playing on a big ice surface with 3 20 minute stop time periods. That and we had 2 goals called back as no goals. Garth would not have been happy...one goal the goalie had no idea where it was and the ref found it buried in the netting at the back of the net. The puck could not have been more in. Another, the goalie pulled it back out of the net while our boys had their sticks up in the air in celebration. Tough luck for the boys but they took it in stride. Hungary sure celebrated that they beat the "Canadians"! It was really nice to see the Bockmann jersey skate by us and I am sure a thrill for the team to have all those injured back on the ice again. Gino scored a beauty of a goal to put us on the board, followed by Yusf. Adrian assisted on both goals.

The rest of the day....
After practise this morning we jumped on the bus for a quick 1 hour ride into Prague. What a beautiful drive through many small towns with homes that are hundreds of years old. Again a lot of yellow, peach and blue buildings with tremendous character...its almost like going back in time. Everywhere you look there are restoration projects under way and I am sure, never end.

We stopped for lunch within the city and had a quick, prearranged meal of pasta which everyone was looking forward to. It was a curry chicken pasta and not a crowd favourite - especially for the kids. This was preceded by a ministrone type soup and bananas instead of bread..(that was a little odd). Needless to say, the bananas became pretty popular after the pasta was brought out. I am not a fan of curry but found it quite good.

From lunch we high tailed it over to the rink, and the gang didn't have much time to get ready before they hit the ice.

Our warmup was extra special as Evan, Kyle and Sam hit the ice waving huge Canadian flags attached to hockey sticks. They did a few laps much to the delight of the raider fans.

Following the game, we jumped on the bus to go to Prague Castle, to begin a 2 hour walking tour. Luckily for us the weather was quite warm as we made the rounds. In one word the sites we saw were ....astounding. Prague Castle covers about 120 acres in total and its early construction was in the second half of the 9th century.

Walking up to the castle area, we were met by 2 guards standing in front of small structures. Their job is to guard the castle...think of the guards at buckingham palace. They aren't allowed to speak, smile, react...they just stand there. We were on our best behaviour and didn't try to get them to do something they shouldn't but had a few pics taken with them. Dusk fell as we were starting the tour and the lighting is spectacular. You miss seeing some of the detail but wow was it impactful. A number of us plan on heading back in the daytime to get some better pics and truly be able to appreciate the detail on all the buildings.

I won't go into detail on all the different buildings we saw on the tour but one of note I will make...St. Vitus Cathedral. It was begun in 1334 and has had 3 different rounds of reconstructions which were completed in 1873. The Cathedral contains various chapels and crypts including that of St. Wenceslas - who we know as "Good King Wenceslas" in the popular christmas carole.

We wandered through cobblestone lanes which twist and turn every which way and ended up in old town. Again, the architecture...incredible. The statues and gargoyles even caught the kids attention. We were fortunate enough to pass by the astronomical clock which depicts not only the time but everything astronomical related to time including zodiac signs, position of the moon and the sun...not sure we could figure it all out but it was pretty impressive. Some of us who went back to old town for dinner tonight had the pleasure of watching it chime at 9 pm and were treated to a mechanical parade of saints and sinners who perform for the crowd below. There are 2 wooden doors on top of the clock which open and the parade of men pass by. It was pretty neat and definately a treat to see. I will leave more details of the "what" when we can post more pics than the few below. This gives you a good sense of what a great time we had.

Following the walking tour, it was back to the rink to meet our billet families. Our brave young men were introduced to their families and off they went for 2 nights. I think each and every one of them were looking forward to heading off to parts unknown and a new adventure. Some moms got a hug or a kiss and others received a wave as the boys set off loaded with gifts from Canada. We will see them at the rink tomorrow bright and early for a 7:45 am game. I hope they have a great time...and I really want to know if Chili and Mitch are going to milk a goat!

The rest of us were finally able to check into our hotel, the Hotel Beranek. Surprizingly spacious, it is centrally located and an easy walk to anything you might want to do. We were on our own for dinner tonight so we split off into smaller groups and I know our group enjoyed a lovely italian meal in old town. The hallways were as quiet as a church when part of our group came back so that either means an early night after a good meal, or the party is on somewhere. I actually can't get over the number of casinos that are just in the middle of shops and malls. I don't think the city shuts down till the wee hours - the stores were open till 11 so the bars must be around 4. Hope everyone makes it back safe and sound, and up for the bus to the rink tomorrow.

Thats it for tonight. Will post a few pics which will show up above this update.