Christmas and New Year's Eve 2017

Happy 2017!

I meant to prepare a birthday & holidays post and the big NYE celebration on time, but the schedule kept me from being able to do anything on time lately.

What was meant to be a relaxing December turned out to be quite the opposite. Unintentional last minute plans, plenty of guests, and a fully packed travel schedule prevented all that. Not that I'm complaining, of course - boredom kills, you know.

Looking back on 2016, it's treated me very well. I celebrated 4 years of dating with the boyfriend, now reside in two of my favorite cities in the world, and maintain healthy relationship with family and friends. The only regret perhaps has been breaking my vow to less travel, more studying/working on blog - not exactly something to complain about.

So here is my little recap of my month before I get started on the ultra-summarized Holidays post.

December
Week1 - Arrive from Dreamhack Winter in Sweden
Week2 - Birthday, EPT Prague
Week3 - Seat Story Cup in Germany
Week4 - Family visit, host week long Christmas party
Week5 - Friends visit, New Year's Eve celebration


Christmas 
I'm not exactly the religious type, but I love celebration in any shape or form. Christmas happens to be one of the biggest excuses to throw a party - I could settle for Halloween, but the shops are bigger for Christmas in Europe.

It's also a nice way to have a family gathering. The boyfriend's entire family came to stay with us. On my side, I only had my mom over. Unfortunately due to a suddenly ill family member, my family has to take separate vacations (if any) to remain home and care for the sick.

I love planning events and cooking and didn't want to burden guests with any chores. So I took it upon myself to prepare a complete 2 day 3 course feast for the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day plus a tree set up and gift shopping for 8 people - all in one day. I bought plenty of fresh meats and veggies. The boyfriend had a quick Paris trip and brought back 20kg worth of smoked salmon, foie gras, chocolates, cakes, and more sweets.

Day 1 first course - appetizers

Foie gras, tarama, smoked salmon

10kg turkey with stuffing

Fork for scale?

Macarons for dessert

Day 2 first course

Ham, olives, cheese, more foie gras

Duck for main course

Duck stuffed with orange and baked apples

My favorite Hugo Victor for Christmas buche de noel cakes

New Year's Eve
We were invited to a party at King's Casino in Rosvadov. About 90 minutes by car from Prague, the casino boasts Europe's largest poker room where the party was hosted from. We invited another couple, Nani&Forsen, to join us for the celebration and their first trip to Prague.

It was a large venue filled with fireworks, entertainment, and open bar all night long. Some photos and videos from the night:

Bar lounge area

Stage

Tables

The trip ended with us staying the night in Rosvadov at the host's place and getting a private sunset helicopter tour of the entire city. The host even let us borrow their dog to keep us company for the ride. Needless to say, it was an amazing start of 2017!