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wedding planning from abroad: four months to go
i’ve only been to about five or six weddings in my life. because of this, it’s strange to plan something that i have so little experience with. on one hand, i am able to create a vision of my own that doesn’t exactly follow all of the normal traditions (mostly because i don’t even know what they are!) but on the other hand, some things are kind of baffling. the dresswe are now into the fourteenth month of our engagement. i bought my wedding dress online at about month three. it seemed like a fine idea to me… however, people have since told me i am absolutely crazy for buying…
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třebíč, please
as i briefly touched upon the other day, the days before a holiday are tough. the anticipation. the getting through whatever stands in the way. when friday finally came and went, i gave a hallelujah and was excited about relaxing in a new town that’s been on my list for a little while– třebíč, recognized by UNESCO for having one of the most preserved old jewish towns in europe as well as a jewish cemetery that dates back to the 17th century. i was looking forward to a nice leisurely three hour train ride through the snowy highlands of the middle province of vysočina on the way to this western…
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liebster time, pt II
hello friends! i hope you’ve been enjoying this lovely valentýnska weekend. i have been so burnt out the past couple days of the week. on wednesday, i completely forgot to plan any and all lessons for thursday… and i never do this kind of thing. organized and prepared is always my m.o., but guys, i was just losing it. i cancelled one of my lessons just to get my act together. thursday evening, i set my alarm clock for the time i was supposed to leave the house instead of wake up (however managed to catch this error in the nick of time), but something was just not right. i awoke friday in a…
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exploring ostrava’s vítkovice
i was curious about passing through ostrava, czech republic’s “third” city, on my way to poland. it has long been known for being a polluted industrial and mining center of the country for most of the twentieth century, and also as a place that milan kundera writes about sometimes, for example, in his novel “the joke”. i can’t say this city has had the most shining reputation historically, but i’ve talked to some people about it who feel that ostrava has the potential to become a really hip city. it’s home to a steelworks and mining center called dolní vítkovice, located in the heart of the city, which is now…
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zima
zima (winter) thoughts… // since i’ve cooped myself up for the entire month of january planning our honeymoon, i feel ready to get back out into the world and out of my hibernation! the only problem: it’s too damn cold. weeeee’ll see how that goes shortly. twenty one degrees farenheit doesn’t exactly scream “day trip” to me, as much as i’d love to. // finally getting my wedding dress tailored and looking at rings, thanks to a lovely student of mine who has a seamstress friend and knows all the best jewelry stores in town. with the czech koruna the way it’s been lately ($1 = 24.5kc… dear lord, please…
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My Three Week Poland Trip Itinerary
planning to visit an entire country in three weeks’ time is sort of daunting. the first step i took was to think about the obvious, unmissable places i needed to see on this trip. that would be kraków (my triumphant return!), warsaw (really jonesing to see it!) and gdańsk (love affair with this city ever since seeing it on the amazing race). with three major cities, i started to see a path forming in my mind: working my way up the country from south to north (or vice versa). the next logical steps were to fill out the other areas. i polled all of my facebook friends with polish connections…
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my valentine to you (giveaway)
happy february, friends. i appreciate you, and because of the recent milestone of 100+ bloglovin’ followers, i feel inspired to outwardly thank you wonderful people for your readership and for following along with our adventures with adventurings’ first real giveaway: a personalized valentines’ package from me with the theme of “winter coziness”. as much as i love those warm, sun-drenched summer months, winter is that time when you don’t have to feel guilty about curling up with a good book, blanket, and a mug of tea, probably my favorite winter activity besides a walk through falling snow. i’ve been wearing these unisex scandinavian-style slippers (below) from danish brand tiger pretty much non-stop since…
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january noms
//i have been continually surprised by the amount of excellent meals i’ve been cranking out these days, if i do say so myself. i haven’t even felt particularly inspired or full of ideas, but day after day i’ve found myself plating up some serious photo-worthy meals. woohoo! (unfortunately, the photos aren’t turning out so worthy of the meals)the beginning of the month took us on a trip to globus where we stocked up on some serious mexican ingredients. oh, refried beans! cilantro! real salsa! how i’ve missed thee! i cranked out this huevos rancheros type meal one sunday brunch and felt pretty dang proud. so full of flavor… and enough…
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travel fails & how to fix ’em
travel is a learning experience. when anything goes wrong, it always comforts me to know that that is one thing i will not be doing again in the future anytime soon, and these experiences have helped to make me a better traveler. i don’t even mind thinking about or revisiting them because it helps refresh the moral of the story in my mind and it’s that that’s made me wiser.this week, i’m talking my biggest travel fails and what i learned from them… and what i hope you too will learn so you don’t make these same mistakes that i have. mistake #1: accidental fare-dodging on the prague metro system……
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panic at the supermarket
this is one of those everyday life expat stories. except this story has three endings. two are made up, and one is what actually happened. i was cruising down the aisles at our local LIDL, it was my usual weekly late afternoon grocery shopping trip with alex. we don’t have a car, so we have to figure out a time that works for us and meet in the town square and walk across the bridge, south to the store, and then schlep it all home in our fabric tote bags until our shoulders fall off. we like LIDL the best because it’s uncomplicated, it’s got bargain prices, the cashiers are…
