Still, the feeling is the same, that of freedom and spirit of adventure.
This is the first holiday since the kids were born that we've donned backpacks and went travelling with just a guidebook and a passport. Admittedly we've not gone far - only to Slovakia, the neighbouring country, but it feels like a real trip away without hotel reservations in place, and more importantly without The Car and all the trappings of life we bring with us when we have 4 wheels.
Everything we need we are carrying on our back, and if we ain't got it - tough luck.
Our first thrilling stop was the overnight sleeper train from Prague which arrived at an ungodly hour in some ungodly deserted train station in the Slovak Mountains. It was definitely less Orient Express and more Intercity, but that didn't stop the kids from being high with excitement, practically bouncing off the walls until the lull of the train on the tracks rocked them to sleep about midnight. We felt like the Famous Five - cos now we've got our own Timmy the dog (ok....a less well behaved version) and hubby took us on all sorts of treks through meadows, along streams and up mountains.
Luckily he was astute enough to pepper this with trips to hot springs and waterparks to keep the kids and wifey happy along the way.
....he always found a way around it....
Woof Woof!
The weather helped. I'm sure we (read I) would have given up and headed straight for the nearest town and hotel if we'd been squelching through mud, but the sun made it all more doable, more romantic, more fun....
And we definitely all felt a sense of independence and spontaneity as we conquered fields of wildflowers drinking in the panoramic views and sweeping valleys.
And then all too soon it was time to wait for our night train to Prague again...to slowly take us back to reality.
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