Home is where the heart is

If that old saying is true, then Kathy's home is in Tikrit, while Ed's is in California. But for the last two weeks, home has been in two of Europe's most historic and architecturally beautiful cities - Paris and Prague.

So, to answer the two most common questions since our last post - yes, we had a wonderful time (details to follow momentarily) and 2) no we did not get married in Paris. The photo on the post below was taken from the spot where we eloped on May 20th, less than 24 hours before Ed left for his deployment to Iraq. Because after sixteen years of dating, doesn't an engagement of less than six hours make perfect sense? And then we had about 15 hours together before he left, most of which was spent moving out of and cleaning the old apartment. Not the wedding day most girls dream about, but our two weeks in Paris and Prague more than made up for it.

Despite well-grounded fears (see 11/17 post) that something would go wrong, Eddy's mid-tour leave, "Honeymoon Number One" as Kathy likes to call it, went amazing smoothly. There were some last minute potential crises - an early departure from Tikrit, a missed flight, a canceled flight, the annual holiday season French transport strike - but it all worked out in the end. We arrived within three hours of each other, the strike ended the day we arrived and jet lag for the both of us was minimal.

In Paris we rented a tiny apartment in the 2nd arrondisement - easy walking distance to the Louvre, Les Halles, the Opera, etc. There was a boulangerie just down the street that made the most amazing brioche sucree. The weather even mostly cooperated - partly cloudy, cool, occasional drizzle, but all in all, not bad for Paris en automne.

We spent six days in Paris - sleeping late, eating good food, visiting museums (the Louvre, Institute du Monde Arabe), castles (Versailles) and churches (Sainte-Chapelle), and just walking around the city. A well needed rest, especially for Ed. On the morning of the 7th day, we left for Prague, via Amsterdam where a 6-hour layover gave us the opportunity to visit the Van Gogh museum. Amazing collection!!!

We spent the next five days in Prague during which time we continued to eat, drank lots of good Czech beer, and again, wandered through the city, taking in the sites. Once you get off of Wenceslas Square, Prague is amazingly beautiful. We hit many of Kathy's favorite places from when she was a student there in '94 - U zeleneho caj for tea and apple strudel, Red, Hot and Blues for nachos, New Orleans jazz and good Czech beer, the Velopopovicky Kozel pub near the Loretto, and of course the Charles Bridge and Castle by night. Prague has changed a lot since Kathy first visited it in 1991 - just two months before she and Ed met. Some for the better (people in the metro no longer look wary), some for the worse (lots more pimps and hustlers). It made for a number of reflective moments on just how much our lives and the world have changed since we first met.

After five days in Prague, we returned to Paris, Kathy with an amazing cold. Which made tasting the exquisite food at the Cordon Bleu wine and food pairing course a little difficult. The last three days passed quickly, which was odd, because the first 11 didn't seem rushed at all. We stayed in a different apartment - this time in the 14th arrondisement- and did last minute shopping, dining, and tried not to focus on the approaching departure.

Monday morning, we woke up early (as in 4 am early). Ed had a 7:30 flight to catch. We put him on the RER, Kathy went back to the hotel to sleep and then left to catch her own plane. For anyone planning to travel to Paris - try not to fly back into the Dallas. Starting the morning off with a croissant and cafe au lait in Paris and then being in the Dallas airport for dinner is one of the most jarring, culture-shock inducing, depressing methods of re-entry possible.

So now we're back home, safe, back at work, counting down the days till the 115 MPAD comes home. Fortunately we've got lots of great memories to sustain us and a coming home "second honeymoon" to plan.

Kathy and Ed - Schulz and Vance

ps - The transit strike didn't resume until the day after we left! It really was an amazing trip.