All-Star Weekend!!!!

Last weekend we took a trip to Pardubice, Czech Republic where D got to play in the Polish vs. Czech All-Star Game! The best players in Poland play against the top Czech players and there's a dunk contest, 3-point contest and a lot of other events. I was so proud of D for getting chosen to represent Poland, and equally excited to go explore a new country.

The ride in was, well…interesting. It was one of those days on the road where absolutely nothing goes your way. Driving through Poland is an experience in itself. When looking at a map, you'd think going from our city to Prague would be a short trip and really it should be. I expected Poland to have multiple highway systems like we do in the states, where a trip to any big city is almost all on highway roads. However, this isn't usually the case. They do have a few highways, but they do not connect all of the big cities, and it usually takes going through an insane route to reach them in the first place. Whenever we travel throughout Poland, we always have three or four GPS going at once, hoping one will somehow route us to a better road. Our first time traveling, we thought something went seriously wrong as the GPS instructed us to turn into what looked like someone's backyard. I have absolutely no idea how people got around Poland in the pre-GPS/Siri days because some of these routes are far more frightening than those I've spent years mastering on Mario Kart. In fact, I would rather deal with banana peels and mushrooms on the road than continuously getting stuck behind a tractor carrying hay in the middle of what appears to be an abandoned yard. I kept fantasizing we were actually playing Mario Kart, wishing I could either throw the lightning bolt at the multiple tractor men to shrink and pass them, or find the star to be granted temporary invincibility to roll through my fellow travelers at top speeds.

Countless tractors later, we crossed the border into the Czech Republic. I've been wanting to go to Prague for a long time now and since Pardubice is just over an hour away, we decided to spend a night in Prague on our way. The drive in to Prague was absolutely stunning. We drove through some beautiful mountains and really unique small towns to which I instantly got the desire to belt out "the hillllls are aliiiiiiive"(meanwhile, foreigner husband has never seen Sound of Music and looked at me like I was crazy).  Anyways, we finally made it to Prague in one piece and I was literally blown away by this city. Prague is filled with awesome architecture, cool old buildings and some really great bars & restaurants. It's honestly unlike anywhere I've ever been before. We stayed right in the Old Town and spent that night and the whole next day exploring, and I still feel like I didn't come close to seeing everything the city has to offer. We had dinner at an Italian restaurant on a boat overlooking an amazing view of the city and I couldn't help but to think sometimes this crazy life that we've chosen turns out pretty fucking awesome.

exploring Prague Castle

Lennon Wall

Such a neat city.. 

 After spending the next afternoon in Prague, we drove to Pardubice. It's a really cute little town with a nice Old Town area and I was satisfied right away to hear that the Dunk Contest Qualifiers would be held in the middle of the town's shopping mall. Was this some sort of trick? Whoever had this idea is a woman (must've been) after my own heart. The qualifiers consisted of 3 players from each country going head to head with someone from the opposing team. The top 3 dunkers would go on to the finals the next day. D was the shortest in the competition, but definitely one of the best! White men everywhere should be indebted to him for breaking the stereotype because that boy can jump. He had to do 3 different dunks and unanimously, the judges voted him to the finals.

Qualifiers..never thought I'd see D dunking in front of Sephora...

love this one

The All-Star game was comical, like they usually are. No one takes it super seriously until the end. Unfortunately, D didn't win the dunk contest but we take solace in the fact he lost to an ex-NBA player. I sat by a Kurdish girl who was supporting her friend that was playing for the Czech team. She grew up in Germany and met the Czech player when she was studying abroad in the US. It was nice having someone to talk to and a reminder of how many cool people I've had the chance to meet from around the world.



Overall the trip was great and we were both really grateful for the experience. Prague, I can promise you that I will return. Hopefully by plane.

We stopped in the beautiful city of Wroclaw on our way home