spring stories (from our czechpat life)

a big ol’ smattering of a spring update is here, now that it’s suddenly may and things are really happening! starting out freezing, peaking mid-month with warm temps, and ending on a cold rainy note, april in budějovice

came and went.

we postponed our “cabin in the nature” trip until the end of summer due to this, below left, from alex’s birthday. (second out of three birthdays of his spent in czechland that have snowed!) spring definitely got a slow start here in europe this year. funny that now spring has sprung, everything has exploded with greenery and you’d never know it was like that at all. (see photos, at right)

prague over easter weekend?

really ain’t much’ to write home about compared festivities being celebrated out in the country, but i did love walking around exploring nooks and crannies of staré město that i hadn’t bothered to see before. walking until my feet absolutely ached. enjoying a night out with some fine belgian beer. working on my night wanders.

also, working on our brunch. brunch is not really a thing in czech republic, but we still manage to have really fabulous ones weekly in our kitchen. mmmmmhmmm. however, one day i walked by one of my favorite budějovice

cafes to see a new sign in the window: neděle brunch! we returned a week later and order two brunch platters. the waiter seems a bit put off by this and somehow, non-verbally manages to convey that it wasn’t a good idea. okay, one platter then, sir.

he brings out the platter a short time later, and we both look at each other like, nuh-uh. this will not do. i’m still not sure what and how much the czechs eat for brunch, or if they even do brunch really, but we are americans, and this little brunch platter ain’t gonna cut it for the two of us. needless to say, after two platters we were both stuffed to the gills. what a strange experience: one platter being not enough, two platters being too much. maybe we should just stick to brunch at home! (below, baked beans, yogurt with muesli, one egg over easy, a chicken kebab, a homemade scone with strawberry jam, hummus, carrot salad, and a spread made with beets… the most random assortment i’ve ever seen for a brunch platter)

do you like to have weekend brunches, wherever you are?

also on the food front, the other day i finally tried courtney’s brilliant recipe for recreating kraft macaroni and cheese with ingredients you can buy from your local discount supermarket. what you need: macaroni noodles, milk, butter, and…… ewhhhhh, kraft singles type individually wrapped cheese slices. i’ve certainly never purchased this sort of cheese before (shudder) and never thought i would start now. but it seemed as though it was this cheese or the highway, so i tested it out in all of it’s plasticine glory.

and my……… it actually worked like a charm. really, the consistency of the sauce is almost exactly like boxed mac & cheese. BRILLIANT! if you are missing american boxed foods like i do, do yourself a favor, man. (warning: plastic cheese alert. sorry vegan & otherwise sane friends)

and the finished product… not bad, eh?

an update to our ongoing nesting process: we recently got these sweet cath kidston cushions to help “beef up” our couch and make our living room more comfortable. now that the bike is repaired and the flowers and herbs have all been planted, this had become priority one. we’re still not sure what the future holds for us here and for how long, but after two years, it’s time to make some updates!

it must be mentioned that mid-way through the month, i get a text one afternoon that alex is on his way to the hospital (!!!), as he fell and broke a bone in his hand. good news is he’s really putting his czech health insurance to work! he will be in a complete hand/upper arm cast up until the end of this month, hopefully before we head back home and prepare for a deluge of wedding photos. he is doing well and we think the healing process is going as expected.

on the last day of the month, april 30th (witches’ night), it is our tradition to spend the evening with our friends, this year at their neighborhood block party / campfire, drinking many glasses of champagne and wine to celebrate our friend eva and my coming birthdays– born on the same day! in the photo (below), you can see the two majkas, or maypoles… one belonging to the neighborhood gathering, and the other belonging to a distant neighborhood gathering. in some villages, the men attempt to cut down a rival party’s majka, which brings shame and misfortune to the village for the coming year if the rivals are successful. but everyone here typically plays nice.