Dresden Day 2

Our second day in Dresden was incredibly hot and a bit windy!  We decided it was best to leave the hotel right after breakfast for a walk. While crossing the bridge I noticed Amaya had lost her hat.  Leos didn't think she did, but I checked our recent photos and she really had JUST lost it.  I retraced our steps and looked everywhere.  Who would steal a baby's hat?  I did notice there was a group of toddlers behind us so I ran after them and asked one of the mothers if they saw a pink hat.  She said yes and that they put it on a stone on the bridge.  I thought I checked everywhere the previous time, but I thought I might as well check again.  Still no hat.  Then I saw another group of kids I remember seeing behind us, so I also went to them to ask.  The teacher said he didn't understand English.  I was determined to ask them so I asked the kids if any of them spoke English.  One said she did, so I asked if she saw a pink baby hat.  She said no.  I went back to the spot I thought the mother may have put it on the bridge and looked down.  Sure enough the hat was in the river. The wind blew it down.  There was a bench that would have been protected by the wind.  Why did they put it on the bridge when it was windy?  Anyways, at least it wasn't stolen and just lost by someone trying to help, but not thinking clearly.  My dad wanted to buy Amaya a souvenir from Dresden anyway, so we bought her a new hat.  I also got her a swimsuit that matched the hat.  We walked around a bit, but since it was too hot we went for some ice cream and did very little sight seeing.  Luckily, we had been to Dresden before so we weren't pushed to see everything.  We enjoyed a little bit of shopping and eating some bratwurst. It was a nice mini trip for Amaya with her grandparents in  Europe. 

                                                    Amaya loved looking out of the window

here she has her hat on

                                                          I noticed Amaya's hat was gone

                                           Amaya's hat in the river..... can you see the pink and white?

                                                         my parents went for a closer look

                                                                    yummy bratwurst

                                                    cross walk had a boy and a girl symbol

                                                                chocolate ice cream on a stick

                                                            a bit over rated

                                                           unusual flavors from Germany

                                                                        currywurst

                                                           egg from the hotel breakfast

Dresden Day 1

My father has really good discounts with Hilton hotels, so we looked at the map to see where would be the best place for all of us to visit.  My father first said Budapest, but I thought the drive would be too long for Amaya.  Plus I would not be comfortable squeezed in the middle seat for so long.  We thought Dresden would be a good option because when we were in California and went to Santa Barbara, it was a bit too long of a drive for Amaya.  Dresden was perfect because it was just 1.5 hours from Prague.  We didn't hit much traffic, so it was quite smooth to drive there.  The city parking lot was right across from our hotel, so it was perfect.  We got to see a different part of the city, so that was nice.  Everything is pretty much walking distance which was great because it was such a hot day.  We ended the day with a very tasty German dinner!

                                                      the Hilton where we stayed last time

                                          both were exhausted with walking around in the heat

                                             spinach and cheese bratwurst with mango salad

                                                        mango coconut bratwurst

New Orleans Cooking Class

Wow!!!!! What an amazing cooking class we had today!! Chef Alexandria went over and beyond for the class and set classes to an impossible level! We were welcomed with sweet tea and appetizers she made ahead of time: fried pickles with ranch and hush puppies. Then she told us what we were going to make and gave us the recipes.  Next we moved into the kitchen and were assigned different duties. The corn maque choux and shrimp etouffee were amazing and she really wanted everyone to get their hands in it and taste as we cooked.  Some participants were even lucky enough to cut and chop things with Alexandria's expensive knives.  For dessert Isabela got to play with fire for the Bananas Foster. It was such a great way to finish off the meal.  I wanna say a HUGE thank you to chef Alexandria for hosting and teaching this amazing class. Your Southern hospitality was at another level!!!Thank you Assem for helping me take photos (he took over 100 photos). Plus Paul and Kim for sending me photos and videos. I had to go over 300 photos so it took a while to edit which ones to keep.  Also thank you to all the participants for having a wonderful time and help with the clean up afterwards.  I didn't realize how many dishes we used until it came to clean up.  It was a wonderful Sunday and am looking forward to see what chef Alexandria can do in the future.

                                                            welcomed with sweet tea

                

                                                                            hush pupppies

                                                 helps to keep the cutting board from sticking

                                                                                USA

                                                                            Czech  10,690

                                                         Isabela drew a cute picture for me

                                                                         all of us

                                                                             fire!