Thursday, December 12, 2013

Christmas Has Been Delayed ...

While I have been touting that we are "skipping christmas" this year, it may be a bit of an exaggeration. There are no Christmas decorations inside or outside here at Shingle Creek Manor, not so much as a wreath, but we're not skipping Christmas. It has however been delayed... well, at least for us.

We have always had to plan our holiday rituals around our careers which have never allowed any vacation time during this time of year, so our Christmases have been somewhat limited to whatever festivities we could squeeze into Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and of course the pre christmas battling of the shopping hoards. This year though we planned way early to get away from our normal Christmas routine, visit our family on Christmas Eve and then leave the country on Christmas Day. So while everyone else is exchanging gifts and celebrating with friends and family we'll be cramped into over priced airline seats. Our arrival date to Prague on December 26th will begin our holidays this year.


While this might not seem like it should be a first choice for a Christmas getaway, by all appearances and reviews it is one of the few European destinations that continue their christmas festivities beyond the 25th. It has far less tourism than most other European destinations, plus they have lots of "old stuff" there. Not a century or two of old stuff  like here in the U.S., but that kind of old where they have to put BC or AD on the date to help distinguish how old it is. I'm all about exploring historic stuff and having lived here in Florida for so many years, if we can have some fresh fallen snow a bit while we're there, well, that would be okay too.



While it might be a bit optimistic, we hope to capture the feel of an old world kind of Christmas with a little less corporate influence and instead, concerts in centuries old churches or cathedrals, street markets of hand made goods, street performers, and savory new cultural foods and spirits.

 Of course this isn't a Christmas blog, and it would be inappropriate for two people that dedicate so much of our year toward making a Halloween experience for our neighbors not to to spend some time exploring historical sites of a more macabre nature. Several of Prague's beautiful Cemeteries and the Sedlec Ossuary (The Bone Church) are in our plans.

Seen so many photos of the Old Jewish Cemetery and read the history behind it, this is a must see in person

However you chose to celebrate Christmas, we hope you will find the joy that you seek with time for family and friends, and of course time to reflect on the true meaning of this season.  Merry Christmas from Shingle Creek Manor!


7 comments:

  1. And a Merry Christmas to YOU sir. I hope you have a wonderful time. It looks beautiful!

    (And don't give a second thought to those of us who will have "An In-Law Christmas" this year. Complete with hard of hearing conversations, dry turkey, and gifts we pretend to like.)

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    1. I've never had an In-law Christmas Jim, sounds like a great tradition! LOL! Merry Christmas!

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  2. I'd rather spend time with my mother-in-law instead of the loonies I am blood related to! LOL!
    Prague - how exciting! I fully expect to see 100000 photos posted here when you get back!

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    1. What's left of our family is pretty much spread out across the U.S. except our son, so in-Laws or blood, at least they are there to share the holidays with! Merry Christmas Lisa!

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  3. Oh, I'm so thrilled for you, Mark! You'll love Prague - we've been twice (and also to the Sedlec Ossuary twice!) Be sure to buy some of the nice skulls there - but try to pack them better than we did when you bring them back. Ours ended up missing a few more teeth than they started out with! We didn't get to see the Jewish Cemetery because we were there during a holiday and it was closed. I bet it will look fantastic blanketed in snow!

    I can hardly wait until you post about it - our family has often talked about doing Christmas in Prague one year, but I'm interested to know whether it will be crowded or not. It's so beautiful in the summer and the fall, I imagine it will be breathtaking in winter!

    Oh, and try the Goulash and Glühwein in as many places as possible. And if you love meat, order one of their meat platters. We have a picture of our son with one in front of him and it covers practically the whole table. Good times!

    Yay - best Christmas ever, in my opinion! :o)

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    1. Skull souvenirs ?! Yes! That'll give me something to declare to customs! Lol! We've been watching streaming video of Prague and the crowds don't look bad although the Weather Channel isn't giving us promising reports on any snow... Thanks for the insight, we have yet to hear from anyone that went there and didn't love it!

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  4. Ha! Jetting off to Prague... if you're going to skip Christmas, that'd be the way to go! How fantastic, Mark! Have a wonderful time and I hope you'll share some stories/pics from your trip here. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

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