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this bohemian life
i had one of my landlords over for tea the other day. she’s real sweet– in her sixties and working part-time as an english teacher at the czech-english high school here in town. i love her curiosity about english and english speakers, and how she always wants to know what textbooks i’m using to teach or what methods. she’s the reason we got this great flat in the first place… and the reason we pay much less for it per month than the list price suggested. she often says that she would never “kick us out on the street” and that there would always be a place for us here,…
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american in a czech german class
it might seem a little strange but i’m taking german classes in the czech republic… even though i’ve lived here for a year and a half and speak very little czech. but it to me it makes perfect sense, and here’s why. when we moved to czech republic, we decided to play things by ear, and even now, we re-evaluate every six months what we would do for the next six months. unsure of how long i would stay here, i never wanted to commit to any long-term czech classes, even though i love language learning. i was a bit concerned about the usefulness of knowing czech after leaving the…
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liebster award
i have to be honest that i had no idea what a liebster award was before amy bestowed it upon me. (thank you!!) it’s a blog award given by other bloggers to highlight quality, entertaining blogs (usually, that have less than 1,000 followers). and with this honor, i get to nominate a couple blogs that fit this description that have been on my radar for awhile and deserve recognition. then, the nominees can choose to answer eleven questions from me on their blogs. you can also choose to pick eleven random facts about yourself, but i figured answering eleven questions was good enough for me. my nominees? on the road…
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may noms
normally i like to write travel related posts on tuesdays. ah, but not this week. i’ve been concentrated more on blowing my nose and drinking “fizzy drink” (vitamin tablets). herbal tea with local czech honey has been a mainstay the past weekend… then i ran out of herbal tea. i purchased this aptly named herbal tea (for 10czk!) yesterday, and it’s been doing the job alright. may has had some great noms, so far. on my birthday, a stop at starbucks inspired me with one of the breakfast sandwiches on offer: a fried egg on belgian toast with ham and gravy. yes, yes, and yes. what makes the dish is…
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food for thought
one of my friends posted this inspiring blurb today. i deeply felt energized from it, and i hope it will inspire you this weekend. now, i’ll be lazing around on this cold cloudy day trying to rest and get rid of this sore throat. and maybe we’ll stage another bed-in for peas like we did two weeks ago. happy sunday. … “Is it okay with you that you blow off your writing, or whatever your creative/spiritual calling, because your priority is to go to the gym or do yoga five days a week? Would you give us one of those days back, to play or study poetry? To have an awakening?…
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budějcá history
i was born on the “last frontier” (that’s alaska, y’all) and lived all of my life up to this point on the west coast… an area not particularly known for rich history. sure, seattle has the historic pioneer square district but you’d be hard-pressed to find beautiful old buildings in any other area of the city. which is why i’m so enjoying living in europe– being the living history of this historic continent. of course, not all history is positive, but i do think all history of a place is fact (we can’t choose it) should be observed, considered, and learned from if possible. i came across a fascinating article…
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mein leipzig
i spent the first half of my birthday busing to leipzig via prague and dresden. i’m not sure at what point i thought that booking 5:40am bus tickets outta ČB was a good idea, but on the morning of my twenty-eighth birthday, it did not feel like one. (fortunately a pitstop at starbucks helped!) i’d never been to leipzig before but because alex and my mutual favorite band was playing there on my birthday night, so the plans were made for us! i quickly settled into our gorgeous flat in südvorstadt near connewitz, a neighborhood that i immediately took a great liking to. it felt strange to be somewhere so like…
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restaurant i love: kitchen ramen, prague
after reading the inspiring new york times 36 hours in prague article, i realized i hadn’t been to prague in a minute and that it was time for a little restaurant and cafe research of my own, as well as visiting this giant antique fair that was going on at the new town hall (below) on karlovo namesti. the interior of the town hall is gorgeous (still kicking myself for not snapping any photos!) but as it was an antiques show, we quickly noticed that we were the only non over sixty or gay couple around. the fashion market was much more my thing! i persuaded everyone to try this new…
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castled out
eventually after living in a new place for awhile, what was once a novelty can become downright tiresome. and friends, i am almost ashamed to admit, that after touring castle upon castle upon castle, i am officially castle’d out.i realized this as i was planning our little easter getaway to somewhere in the czech republic, which was one of the most frustrating trip planning experiences i’ve had to date. i was trying to plan a jaunt across south-central czech republic stopping at many lovely small towns with great historic value. but i just didn’t feel interested. and why shouldn’t i? these cities are beautiful! some were UNESCO world heritage sites!…
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a few of my favorites from our first engagement shoot on friday morning, which took place in the pretty city center of the town where we live. it was two days after our third (dating) anniversary so it felt like a great morning to celebrate love. spring is love. (click on a photo to activate a larger slide show) all photos courtesy of the talented jan pirgl.
