The World Isn't as Big As You Think

Iveta offered to drive me to another town to catch the train to Moravia, with a stop at Babicka's apartment for lunch. This was far too good of an offer to pass up, so I moved my travel plans around a little bit to leave Trutnov a day early. Babicka (Iveta's mother, my host grandmother) is a little crazy, but one really cool and really sweet adopted grandma. She was my 'baby-sitter' when Iveta didnt want to leave me at the house alone for too long. So it was great to go back and be dotted upon for a couple hours. She made lunch while I caught her up on my life and a couple neighbors dropped by to say hello. The food she makes is always amazing typical Czech dishes, but heavy and prolific. We had spinach and cheese crepes, potato dumplings with sauerkraut and pork, and cookies from one of the neighbors before Iveta rescued me and we drove to the next major town. In Pardubice, I caught the train to Olomouc and checked into my favorite hostel in the world. The Australian owners still remembered me from the other year, plus there were new Aussies there to work for a few month. We went out to a hockey game to cheer the home team to victory. The next day I killed time in the hostel and local Internet cafe before I rode the train to Frydek-Mistek, where Vendy lives. Vendy was the Czech exchange student who lived with us last year, and now one of my many adopted sisters. On the train, my fellow compartment passengers struck up a conversation, and I found out that the guy sitting across from me was going to be studying in Lusaka, Zambia, in February. Its not every day that you meet a Czech that is going to the same obscure African country as you are! Vendy met me at the station and after dinner, she and her mother gave me a tour of the town. Vendy skipped school the next day to show me the second half of town, and we had lunch at the restaurant where her boyfriend works. I then had to hop back on a train to Prague, and find my hostel for the night. I had to take care of business in a local Internet cafe again, then went to bed early for my early day of travel. I woke up at 4 in the morning and quietly pulled my stuff together to take a taxi to the airport. I got there with plenty of time to check in for my flight to London, and settled into a quiet wait. The flight went smoothly, and I found my bus from Luton to Heathrow.