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Sopot, So Good: Poland’s North Coast Jewel
a real highlight of the entire three week backpacking trip to poland was getting to the coast, and one of the places i was most excited about was the small beachy resort town of sopot, only about a half-hour train ride from gdansk. but sopot isn’t exactly the sleepy little coastal town you’d think of: this place is happening. sopot’s famous for its history (both marlene dietrich and adolf hitler stayed at the famous resort hotel) and a reputation for a good party. apparently young poles (and others) flock here by the thousands in the summer time to take advantage of the clubbing atmosphere. but that’s not why i was…
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paris in the autumn
late october and the leaves are all yellow and orange… that sweet smell of fall is in the air… it really gets me reminiscing about how incredible it was to spend two weeks in paris this time of year two years ago. there was no agenda besides perusing the markets, snacking on brightly-colored macarons while people watching on boulevard st. germain, and maybe strolling through a famous garden or two. i may be closer to prague, but today i’m thinking about the other equally as historic and beautiful capital and i’m quite lucky to have sara on the blog today, an american transplant to paris who traded her new jersey bagels…
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adjusting
sometimes i feel content to live in my own little american paradise in my flat with peanut butter, popcorn, nintendo games, and banter about the latest john oliver video segment. there are some days when leaving the house and realizing that you are in a foreign country isn’t the first thing you feel like experiencing. although these are the same streets i’ve walked for over a year and a half, sometimes everything just feels too foreign for my mood that day.but then, when i find myself in a motivated and ambitious sort of mood, there are times where i think i should be adjusting better especially since i chose to…
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prahably, october
we were in prague for the weekend under the pretense to take in the signalfest– a newer festival in only its second year a little bit like berlin’s festival of lights. however, the whole deal with signalfest is that it’s only over a couple days instead of a couple weeks and the projections are actually short films (around 5 minutes long), projected on famous prague landmarks and incorporating the architecture playfully into the film as well as some almost 3D effects. so, signalfest was pretty cool. except that prague was packed. i mean, to the gills. thousands of tourists descended upon the city for the weekend and it was near…
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Solidarity Movement in Gdansk, Poland
august is an extremely historic month to be visiting poland. the warsaw uprising, ghetto uprising, and solidarity movement all occurred in this month, and everywhere i went, i felt like i was visiting a sight on the exact anniversary of an important event. besides taking in the beauty of the city center, the solidarity sights were by far the most interesting and powerful of my stay in poland’s most northern metropolis. there is so much to see and lots of information to soak-up about this historic movement that got it’s start here in gdańsk. while walking away from the city center towards the harbor, you eventually come across the solidarity…
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lovely blogs
last month i was nominated by the fabulous bailie of the hemborg wife for a lovely blog award, which was such a nice surprise! i thought it was kinda funny too because i can’t get enough of using the word lovely… so fitting! the rules of the lovely blog award? thank the blogger who nominated you for the award add the one lovely blog award logo to your post (or elsewhere on your blog) share 7 facts about yourself nominate some other blogs to receive the award – blogs that you admire for sharing stories in a “lovely” way. so here goes seven facts about this gal… 1) i’m fascinated by celebrating heritage and am officially…
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Gdánsk Magic Gdánsk
i deeply enjoyed my time in the most northern polish metropolis on the baltic sea, gdánsk. the photo above really says more than i could: we were just getting ready to head out to catch a boat when i deeply felt that i needed a raspberry-laden gofry (waffle), like right now. so my last couple of minutes in the city was spent gazing out at the harbor and scarfing down deliciousness. gdánsk certainly has some fascinating history, which i could go on about for pages. but i won’t, and i will leave you instead with just a select few facts: it was a major hanseatic league city, was designated a “free city” after…
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lately, october
i am in an adjustment period. last week was the first week of my new fuller, busier reality: a huge load of lessons that i happily took upon myself in a measure to save money for both our alpine christmas holiday, the big wedding, and associated costs with visiting the united states year for almost two months on the czech crown, which right now is even weaker than usual against the dollar after most european economies took a bit hit last week on the global market. sigh. on the plus side: now is a great time to travel in europe if you make north american money. the weather is good…
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ode to czech republic
today, it’s early autumn in the heart of europe on the verge of the weekend. many leaves are now shades of yellow and orange, it’s sunny with warm breezes at 22 ˚C. when i walk along the cobblestones to the old town square and and gaze around at all the architectural beauty and the rolling bohemian hills in the background, i can’t help but imagine all the great people who have lived here before me and walked the same streets. nowhere is this feeling of history in the air more pronounced than in the hlavní město of prague, especially on a wander on charles bridge, heading east towards old town. the…
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show me your neighborhood
have you ever wanted to take a peek into the neighborhoods’ of others all around the world? i do and i love seeing where other people live. finally it’s my turn to show you my current neighborhood in české budějovice, czech republic (where i’ve been since january 2013) through the show me your neighborhood around the world project. the rules state that i must include photos of these six things: a school, a typical method of transportation, a playground, a supermarket, a street nearby, and a typical house or building. the thing i like most about living in budějica is that everything i need is so central and that i can walk to work…
