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of czechs & germans (a short history)
lovers of european history, i’m calling on you today! the town i live in may be called czechimpossibletosay české budějovice, but it used to just be known as budějovice or budweis for decades, especially in the 19th century when czechs and germans lived side-by-side and it didn’t really matter who was a czech and who was a german. people here at that time just considered themselves “budweisers”.* although rifts were there at the end of the 19th century, it wasn’t until after the first world war which brought about the end of the austrian-hungarian empire and the creation of the czechoslovak state that the division started rapidly deepening, although from the…
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the art and balance of treating yourself
i’m still figuring this ish out. it may seem like i’ve got it all handled, but it’s been and continues to be a process. learning how to budget for two people on teacher’s salaries has been a slippery slope, but i’m finally grasping it. then add a dog into that mix (ohhh, so that’s where the extra cash for the past few months has been going…), and a five week trip back to the u.s. this summer (across four different states), and well, there can be complications. i think i’m getting the hang of it, though, and our “seasons of poor” have been less and less frequent as i learn…
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a year of travels: 2016
2016 was (mostly) all sunshine and rainbows over in these parts: i can’t believe (unlike previous years) that we managed some travel in every single month of the year. it really goes to show what you can find in your own backyard if you embrace it. last january, almost a year from now, we experienced highly frenetic weather: the earlier part with a cold burst of snow (the only of that winter!) and in the latter part, temps around 12ºC, which made day trips to places like třeboň (above) ideal. we dined on “carp fries” at supinka restaurant (the best fish restaurant probably in the country – highly recommended!) and marveled in…
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loket? i love it!
it only took seeing one photo of this beautiful little town in northwest czech republic to get me to add it onto my trip, and i’m so glad i made it up there!we spent our fourth of july this year in loket, a sort of “český krumlov of the north”, checking into our cozy little pension facing the long main street. to spend one night here is the perfect amount of time, even more if you are planning to go boating on the ohře river or mountain biking in the lush surrounding forests. as castles go, this one was both beautiful to look at and fun to visit, housing many…
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lately, september
time for coffee chat & catching up! + last weekend (above) was so beautiful and warm that something particularly summery was in order… and what is more summery than a picnic! just to throw a big middle finger to fall and be all, hey, it’s not time for you yet… back off. (alright, i know autumn is creeping on us and i do actually embrace it!) + a strange a wonderful phenomenon has occurred with the changing of the weather into autumn and getting out the cold weather coats for the first time: MONEY! there have been two recent instances within a recent one week span of pulling out a good…
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A Local’s Guide to České Budějovice
When I moved to Budějovice (international alias, Budweis) in 2013, there was almost no information online about this place, save for an extremely scant Lonely Planet blurb (and thank goodness for that!). Moving somewhere sight-unseen without knowing any information or what is actually there is a little unsettling, which is why I have for you this “visitor’s guide to České Budějovice” (pronounced chess-kay bood-yay-yo-vit-suh), written by a “new local”. As tourists have started to discover this city, more and more info is thankfully online, but I still present to you this guide I have written and keep updated. Whether you are looking into studying here, moving here, or maybe even making…
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Czech Republic’s Must-See UNESCO Sites
sometimes it feels like you may have all but exhausted the travel opportunities in your immediate surroundings. when this feeling strikes, turning to a list of UNESCO heritage sites in your vicinity makes for some great trip (or even day trip) inspirado. i am unofficially trying to see all (or as many possible) of the UNESCO sites in czech republic. here are some that i’ve already checked off my list, and some more that i’m hoping to see in the future… PRAGUE’S HISTORIC CITY CENTER why is it UNESCO? it’s one of the most important and best preserved medieval city centers in europe! in few other places in the world…
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I Dyed in Szczecin
it was my last full day in poland and i was on a (very very full) train from the hel peninsula bound for szczecin, near the german border. i chose to visit szczecin because i’d heard a lot of great things in the travel bloggy world about this gritty polish harbor city and i wanted to see it with my own eyes. naively, when booking the trip i planned a handful of “one-nighters”, and this was one of them, my last hurrah in poland. but little did i know that one nighters aren’t such a great idea when you’re on a long backpacking trip. those days were such whirlwinds and admittedly,…
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a year of travels: 2014
you know those facebook “year in review” things where it shows you your year as if it knows you? (and how well can a social media website know you, anyway?) when i clicked on mine, a photo from 2013 popped up as the centerpiece and then a load of random photos: reggie watts (?!), a landscape shot of hel, poland, a still from big brother 16. just pathetic, facebook.sometimes, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. in that spirit, here’s my travel year in review of only my favorite travel memories… and it’s been a heck of a year and i’m feeling really thankful about…
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ABC’s of travel: travel tuesday
happy travel tuesday! it’s a very special one for me as i have been chosen to be a co-host for the next couple months (alongside the lovely bonnie, courtney & yalanda) and i couldn’t be happier about it. so thank you! i’ll do my best to make you all proud. for my first week abroad the #traveltuesday express, i wanted to share a little about myself and travel moments, and if you’re new around here, so you could get to know this orange-haired american in czechland a little better. i present to you, the good ol’ abc’s of travel, cynthia-style. (a)ge you went on your first international trip: age 9, on a family…
