springy, pt II

i am bursting with love for this spring weather and the new greenery that’s popping up around me every day. it’s the time to start waking up and do all the things you’ve been wanting to do in the long winter months. i love that it’s when things start to happen: the first day of spring, alex’s birthday, easter weekend, the may 1st holiday, and then my birthday. this year i also got to add in a visit from my dad into this line-up.

killer view of the square from my dad’s suite at hotel zvon

looking at the north entrance to knezka street, the black tower

greenery along the canal

krásné květiny

as i mentioned before, sunday was alex’s big thirtieth birthday. his orders for the day were strictly to relax and NO PARTIES. i cooked a surprise traditional british breakfast complete with fried eggs, ham, broiled tomatoes, baked beans, and buttered toast. he is a big fan of traditional english food, and i have never actually had a full-on british breakfast before myself, although i have cooked it a few times, even for an elderly british couple who took no complaint. (phew, that was nerve-wracking) who knew baked beans with toast in the morning is actually a pleasant combination?

later in the day it was his wish to visit, hadog– home of the best american style burgers probably in the entire czech republic. these are seriously better than many i’ve had in the states! they even have cherry dr. pepper and a&w cream soda! (although they were out of the latter) my burger included a giant onion ring, cheddar, bacon, and other delicious accoutrements. the bun alone is worth it.

after a late lunch, we started the birthday film: ikiru (1952), directed by alex’s favorite, akira kurosawa. i’ve been wanting to see this one for years, but the longish run-time (approx 2.5 hrs) always put me off. of the four other kurosawa films i’ve seen, this one was my favorite… an incredibly touching commentary on living life to the fullest. life is brief.

and there was time for some homemade birthday cake during “intermission”: vanilla cake with raspberry cream cheese frosting topped with berries. the inspiration for this cake was princess peach’s cake in paper mario. video game cakes always look the most delicious!

….but now we have enough cake to last us months. who wants to help eat some?