-
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…
-
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,…
-
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…
-
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…
-
autumn, unplugged
when you’re so excited to spend many a morning in bed reading blogs, a three day internet outage really isn’t timed so perfectly over a leisurely five day weekend. times like that sometimes make you wonder what your other hobbies are. (i just know that they exist… i think) let’s just say my german got a decent amount of refreshing and i made loads of headway on a book i wasn’t so sure about but finally got into. although annoying, those periods of unplugging are good for the soul. and yes. i said five day weekend. tuesday was czechoslovak statehood day: the day in 1918 when czechoslovakia because an independent…
-
Whimsical Toruń
toruń, poland (a UNESCO heritage designated city) was just a hop and a skip away from warsaw on polski bus (which was actually early. what?!) and we arrived to this cute little town with the whole afternoon ahead of us! toruń is sort of a smaller kraków. the česky krumlov of poland, if you will. it’s incredibly tourist friendly and is the kind of place that invites lingering with an ice cream cone on a bench and people watching. there is ample signage all over and a couple of museums dedicated to the two things toruń is famous for: its gingerbread (piernika) and its famous scientist, copernicus, who was born here. but if you’re…
-
i was inspired to take part in the day in the life project because i’m one of those curious individuals that loves to take a peak into the daily routine of someone else. also, i think it would be really nice to look back on sometime and hopefully, interesting or insightful for you! for this day, i chose friday, july 25, 2014, the last day of summer camps. all events take place in either české budĕjovice or český krumlov in south-west czech republic. … 5:40am: the alarm goes off. since it’s summer, it’s light enough to get ready without having to turn on a lamp. shower & get dressed in red…
-
best commute
honestly the best commute to work i ever had and probably will ever have. i worked in nearby český krumlov this week (like last year– summer camp!). all the czech food and bus ride combination is starting to make me really nauseous (very easily car-sick) but my days are full and good. and the walk to work is pinch-me beautiful. oh, south bohemia, you’re so lovely.it’s the end of week three (my last week at camp) and i’m starting to seriously lose my mind. i love kids and playing with them, and i’m a bit convinced that there aren’t very many better jobs than hanging out with some kiddos, but the…
-
from the church to the palace
on sunday, we took an excursion for the day to the south-south-south of south-west czech republic near the border of austria to a little town called vyšši brod with the intention of hiking 10km to rožmberk nad vltavou. both of these towns are situated on the vltava river, both are meccas for rafting and canoeing enthusiasts, and both have tourist value, so it seemed like a perfect idea, especially at under an hour and a half by train from české budějovice.we landed in vyšši brod around 9:30am and headed up to the monastery. you can visit the monastery complex and go on a tour every day except sundays, so instead we lingered…
-
spring, lately
happy may, all! this week was rife with student cancellations (more than half of my students cancelled, for real), odd occurrences, and happy times. i chose this week to participate in daily diaries because of all the weirdness and happiness that has surrounded this week. on monday i had the strangest experience. i went to the university as usual in the afternoon, where i was about to have two lessons in the same building. unfortunately, there was a GIANT puddle of water on the floor in the lobby and the receptionist spoke very limited english, but enough to tell me that no students (and apparently, myself) were being let in. however,…
