The Luck of the Draw: Honeymoon!

Both Mr. Tartlet and I love to travel, as evidenced by our bucket list being composed primarily of places we would like to visit (and places we'd like to eat). The month of May is an amazing time for us with our wedding, Mr. Tartlet's M.D. graduation the following week, and as luck would have it--the longest time either of us will be free from work obligations. Two whole weeks, my friends. I'm dying inside just thinking about it. When it came to our honeymoon, we entertained a couple of ideas, the first being a jaunt to Europe to revisit our study abroad haunts as a couple. I lived in Aberdeen, Scotland for a little over 6 months:

Image of Kings College via the University of Aberdeen

While Mr. Tartlet spent around 3 months in Madrid, Spain:

Image via photos4travel 

The other equally enticing option was to take a cross-country, feasting on asphalt-esque road trip with some natural wonders mixed in (Miss Carousel and Miss Jam--here's lookin' at you!). Anyhoo, we were stuck in the roles of Mr. Undecided and Miss Indecisive when we attended the Medallion Ball, a fundraiser for Henry Ford Macomb Hospitals (where FIL Tartlet works). Normally large crowds of people make me awfully skittish, but I couldn't help but go to a themed Ball where we could dress to the nines:

2009 - "International" theme - that's one of my Mom's qipaos I'm wearing!

2010 - "James Bond" theme - posing with an Aston Martin

Every year at the Medallion Ball various prizes are raffled off to raise money. Now, I'm definitely not the person who has a knack for winning things in a random draw. And, even when I do I tend to win completely useless items. Example: in elementary school, I won a charcoal grill from a local grocery store because my Mom had me practice my penmanship on an entry ticket while we were waiting in the checkout line. That's right, eight years-old and I won a bright and shiny new grill.

Image via Amazon / Modified by moi

At any rate, we literally put all of our eggs in one basket at the raffle by filling out our tickets and dropping them in a single jar. I was ready to leave the party early that night, but Mr. Tartlet was insistent that we stay (just in case). And wouldn't you know it, at the end of the evening there it was: my name up in thick sharpie pen glory on the winners list. I let out a bloodcurdling shriek in the middle of a gigantic banquet hall filled with extremely dignified staff from Henry Ford Hospital and proceeded to do a celebration dance that bore a resemblance to the cha-cha slide. Now, what had we won?

Image via Flickr / Photo by Christopher Woo

Ladies and gents, we won trip to Prague that included a 4 night stay at a five-star hotel, the Hotel Palace Praha.

Image via tripadvisor

We didn't know this at the time of the raffle, but thanks to a very generous benefactor it turns out the package also included:

• Complimentary roundtrip transfer from the airport in the hotel limousine
• Chilled sparkling wine, a fresh flower arrangement, and a surprise gift in our room upon arrival
• Breakfast for two each morning
• A romantic candlelight dinner for two in the hotel's restaurant
• A two-hour sightseeing tour of Prague
• Admission tickets to the "Alfons Mucha" art exhibit

As if this wasn't enough to blow my mind, enter Brother Tartlet who travels a ridiculous amount for business (think Up in the Air amount of flying). When he heard the news he generously offered to let us tap into his wealth of frequent flier miles as a wedding gift. Holy crap. And, since Prague only covers a portion of our two week hiatus from the real world, we had some happy decisions to make about where else to spend our time in Europe.

Where are you headed for your honeymoon? Any tips on places to see/things to do in Prague?