summertime, pt II

happy august, friends.

this week off for me has been so necessary have a enough trip research time for my big backpacking trip around poland… which i leave for in a couple days! although it wasn’t the dazzling sunny summer week i had been hoping for (more like humid, cloudy, and scattered showers) i have enjoyed it immensely. for the past two years august has been my month to play! (never for the life of me could i ever figure out what lana del ray sings about in “summertime sadness”) it’s always been an optimistic and exciting season full of fun and possibility.

to support alex while he’s still working, i’ve been trying to make veggie packed meals almost every evening. ‘cause when you eatin’ czech food on the regular, you need a little detox! my favorites are good ol’ roasted veggies (with a side of cous-cous or rice) and this tortellini caprese salad . i’ve also been down with continually stocking a refreshing cold beverage in the fridge for those weird sweaty humid days. last year i made ginger lemonade, this year it’s been blueberry lemonade, thanks to my large harvest of blueberries over the past month. so good! (links way down below)

i’m starting to sort everything out: what to bring, how to pack for three weeks, how to use up all the perishable food in the fridge… i haven’t had a backpacking trip like this since university days but i am trying to embrace the “on the road” mentality.

i like to stop by marks & spencer to pick out a couple travel treats for the first day on the road of a big trip. alex likes the pita chips, i am in LOVE with these rice crackers. they are CORIANDER & GREEN CURRY flavor (but they only stock them in spring & summer, so stock up). it’s the best to have something like this packed in a bag that you know you get to eat sometime on the train that first day! debating whether or not to make my carrot cake breakfast (travel) cookie– i’m a bit sick of em! anyone have any other uber-healthy cookie suggestions?

i’ve had plenty of time to read some great things while procrastinating my trip research this week! here’s what i’ve found interesting…

« munich technical university switching over to english-only masters programs
« make blueberry lemonade!
« i adored this article about living in the east berlin district of marzahn
« alex has been deep in the deluge of new weird al videos. his favorites. my favorite.
« fascinating book about north korea i’m half-way through
« summer bliss bowl: caprese tortellini salad recipe (ready in 20 min!)
« pasta with sardines: a pantry meal i’m trying this week
« the day in the life project that i’m participating in. can’t wait to read about everyone’s days!
« a DIY all-purpose natural cleaner
« polly’s got a sweet road trip playlist for your summer enjoyment
« twenty fascinating things about parenting in berlin– loved this.
« a beautiful time-lapse video of my alma mater campus
« one swedish woman seeking to break down racial boundaries in her neighborhood (NYT)

…

in recent expat news: about two weeks ago, i told our landlord’s wife about a job opening to be alex’s boss. we needed to find a czech speaker willing to run a childrens’ english franchise, mostly because the main office in prague is way too lazy to do this, even though it means losing this region if they don’t find someone willing to take over as director. if we didn’t find anyone, alex would have to go rogue in finding new employment and we would surely be on uneven financial footing for awhile. well, our landlord’s lovely wife was in need of a job and just today, she said yes! you heard that right, alex just got one of our landlords to be his boss. ever thought you’d ever go around asking people to be your boss? us neither. but yay– we are stoked! there are many perks to working for a company rather than go solo.

and finally, some nice czech photos for y’all: a glimpse of last weekend: we went to the holašovice festival in a very tiny nearby UNESCO heritage awarded village. the village is famous for it’s typical southern bohemia farm house facades from the 19th century in wonderful condition. unfortunately it was hard to take good photos because of all of the vendors, but i’m stoked we finally made it there and crossed it off the long-time SoBo wish list. 

below a mythical czech pond guy called vodník whom old gregg seriously resembles. i don’t think it’s coincidence!

next time you hear from me i’ll be posting from the road! but you can follow along on twitter if you like. and a pair of general travel related posts coming this week! cheerio!

life is so good! linking up with belinda & elizabeth