Makin’ Plans

although it may seem too early, january is an excellent time to begin travel planning! the weather’s pretty crap (ours is hovering just above freezing with never-ending slush rain) making it both tough and undesirable to venture out on day or weekend trips around the region. best thing to do: trip research with a nice steaming mug of tea. and try not to hide out in the house… too much.

the first item that is looming over our heads, or at least mine is THE WEDDING: when the heck is it going to happen? planning a wedding when you live abroad is daunting and really almost impossible when we don’t know where we’ll be eight months from now. and since we already had visions of summer trips and plans dancing in our heads before the engagement happened, we decided the best course of action was to plan a wedding in the U.S. for early summer 2015 (city still undisclosed). this way, if we are still teaching, we know we’ll have the time off to dedicate to this venture.

(above, a 4:30pm january sunset)

however, this means……….. it is quite likely that we will not be coming home for a visit in 2014. which is SO WEIRD, i know. i feel strange about it because obviously i would love to spend some time soaking up home and visiting friends and family. i never could’ve dreamed i would still be living here this long. but life is good, friends! one must seize the opportunity, ya know? however… we have some great travel plans already in the works in 2014! a few of the already planned trips and ideas tumbling around in the old noggin’……

berlin in february for the berlinale! my birthday weekend in leipzig! a weekend jaunt to karlovy vary for KVIFF! still figuring out the kinks on the big summer trips: we are going to make slovenia happen this year– a place that has been on my mind for a couple years since i flipped through a conde nast one day and saw the most stunning photos of lake bled (below) and ljubljiana.

i would also like to make a big ol’ trip through poland a reality– to really spend a good amount of time in this country and get a sense of how life is there and also to make the most of our great location making a bus or train trip to krakow an achievable reality. also, to eat all the pierogies.

in local news, everyone in my yoga class goes out to the pub for a beer after class. okay, i realize i’m in the czech republic after all… but what is thissss? i can’t seem to wrap my mind around it! how about some ginger tea, guys? wheat grass smoothies? anyone? apparently these two things don’t have to be separated, but it will take awhile for me to process that fact.

also, this week is our ONE YEAR anniversary of living in české budějovice! (such a sucker for anniversaries) i still remember the nerves and apprehension the morning we left prague in a snow storm and pulled up to our new house. and how it didn’t take long for both the snow and the uncertainty to melt away. looks like the good times will keep rolling on, as we are quite satisfied with making this city our home base in europe. however, after one year in this city, i think it’s probably time to start learning a bit more czech. i am positive it can only improve our experience and lead to so much less awkwardness… which is of course, an almost daily feeling even after one year.

i leave you with photos from earlier this month from one of my favorite joints, pivovarsky dum in prague. my mom and i both ordered our OWN beer samplers: eight 4oz mini-glasses of various flavors of beer that they brew onsite with flavors such as banana, sour cherry, wheat, nettle, coffee, dark, lager, and beer of the month (which was a sort of IPA). a fun accompaniment to a big ol’ czech meal…. or a little one (i had the fried mushrooms, yummmmm).