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the october spooky movie series
i love movies that get you in the halloween mood, so much that last year, alex (pictured above in our paris studio, 2012) and i started a spooky movie series every october sunday evening. i get to pick two, and he gets to pick two. (you can see what movies we chose for our first incarnation here)i love doing this because we get to see new films that we’ve been meaning to for awhile, it gets you in the halloween mood, and it’s such a nice way to enjoy a sunday night instead of those usual stressed “oh no, weekend is ending” feelings. here is what our series has been…
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říjen / rambles
goodness, i needed a day like today. when half of your classes cancel and so does your czech class, it was a godsend on a day like today when i just couldn’t wake up for several hours. i got in some good paris research (so excited to head there soon!) as well as research for day-trips and slight updates here on the blog, like the destinations page updated with all of the greece pages! you may have caught that i said czech lessons. yep, finally cynthia (and alex) have enrolled in private czech lessons. let’s hope this experience goes better than the first one, but i have every reason to…
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haunted by excess
there is a specter haunting [cynthia in] europe. (and no, this isn’t a spooky halloween tale, although that sounds like a nice idea) more and more, the longer i live outside of the united states, i am noticing a great widening divide. the divide between my political views and that of my family or other people i know. the divide between lifestyles that i consider excessive and that of so many other countries in the world. i have been feeling an increasing amount of animosity between those urban dwellers who live in a rapidly gentrifying area full of micro-breweries, yoga studios, hip new pubs, etc. alex and i had a…
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the bake off bake along, week 10 (finals)
you guys. it’s been a long road these past ten weeks, but the great british bake off bake along has come to an end. i went from a completely novice baker who only made cookies to a person who made biscotti, creme brulee, a frickin’ seven layer czech cake with no sugar in it, and so many more. i learned so many baking terms. i made custard at least three different times. i would say i am no longer afraid to attempt those recipes that seem a little out there; that this baking challenge has made me realize that i can do it. i mean, if i can do a…
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prague metro roulette: invalidovna
so, i think i mostly have the general prague thing pretty under control by now. i adore a stroll over the charles bridge (at anytime of year! at anytime of day!) and a wander through the winding streets of old town, and i think i always will, but sometimes it’s time to get creative to really get to know the city outside of the fairy tale center. enter: prague metro roulette. i choose a metro stop at random that i have either never gone to (or just once before) that i feel like i wouldn’t know the area above it if i was there. then, i go there, document it,…
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the bake off bake along, week 9
how funny– we all started bake off in the beginning of august and now instead of sundresses, i’m wearing hoodies to bake! i was pretty thrilled about chocolate week, because guys, i think that alternative ingredients week killed my baking mojo. i was such an ambitious, chipper little squirrel that first week with my madeira cake, but every week especially after that turning point, i have rarely liked my bakes. then i almost quit during victorian week, so it’s been a bumpy ride. and perhaps you noticed… i didn’t even post a bake last week! i really wanted to, but with a weekend in the city planned, i only had…
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hello, october + a woodland walk
hi friends, i was just reading an article in the local budejovice rag, milk and honey, about the lazy days of summer (it was an old issue!) that got me seriously jonesin’ for summer’s return already. no! not happening!so i am turning my face away from the hot, everlasting summer of two thousand fifteen that was to the pleasant autumn, recounting all of my favorite autumn things. first thing that comes to mind: pumpkin everything. along with the ubiquitous (or perhaps here, not so much) pumpkin spice lattes, it means pumpkin soup! pumpkin cookies from my absolute favorite recipe. pumpkin coconut curry.lighting a pumpkin-scented candle and a bubble bath. reading…
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prague autumn magic
i am totally down with visitors, man. i think if i was in a bigger or more well-known city, i would probably have more friends passing through, so i am pretty much ecstatic when someone comes to visit. enter, long-lost college buddy, monica, who happens to be a fellow seattle to europe expat living in luxembourg! we had so much fun taking her to all of the tasty nom-nom places, wandering old town at night just waiting for that fifteen second “morality play” at the beautiful astronomical clock. climbing major hills for some of the best views over the city. buying halloween costume implements at the costume shop. drinking our…
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the european grocery shopping experience
it all started in berlin, schlepping the goods back from my local kaiser’s at annenstrasse (which i later learned is generally regarded as one of the more fancier, spendier supermarkets in the city) in my canvas tote bag, feeling all so proud of myself for having shopped for myself and able to walk to the store whenever needed every so often to get those weekly or twice weekly groceries for dinner making. and oh, i do have fond memories of those cold, dark autumn months cooking away in my berlin kitchen, making chicken and dumping soup or maybe one of those dr. oetker mozzarella frozen pizzas when i felt lazy…
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things you have to explain when you’re an ESL teacher
a response to the all too true, “11 things you have to explain when you’re an esl (english as a second language) teacher”. number one: “our job is more awkward than yours.”well, if that ain’t the truth. being an english teacher can sometimes seem not so far away from prostitution. your services are in demand, you go back to your place, receive cash afterwards, they leave, the next client comes in. it involves acting like a total extrovert, and oh, there is a load of acting involved. it also involves telling a forty year old man , oh so gently, that the “n word” is not the most acceptable term…
