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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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rainy wachau valley
phewww, still out of breath from the weekend. mainly, because i said YES to everything. yes, i will go to a concert of a legendary 1980’s czech punk rock band! yes, i will go to the easter market in the square and eat all the food! and when my tour-guide landlord came and knocked on my door at 8:30pm saturday night and asked if i wanted to go to the wachau valley in north-central austria at 7:00am the next morning… well, of course i did! so we set off bright and early, crossing the border into austria about forty-five minutes into the car ride. as soon as you cross the border,…
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springy, pt II
i am bursting with love for this spring weather and the new greenery that’s popping up around me every day. it’s the time to start waking up and do all the things you’ve been wanting to do in the long winter months. i love that it’s when things start to happen: the first day of spring, alex’s birthday, easter weekend, the may 1st holiday, and then my birthday. this year i also got to add in a visit from my dad into this line-up. killer view of the square from my dad’s suite at hotel zvon looking at the north entrance to knezka street, the black tower greenery along the…
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what i do differently now
since i’ve recently passed the year and a half abroad mark, i thought i’d share a collection of things i do differently now than back home in the states. some of it is completely out of necessity but some of them are things i might decide to adopt if and when i return. so let’s have a look…. FOOD/COOKING I used a counter-top “dorm” refrigerator for over six months until we upgraded to a medium-sized one last fall. there really wasn’t a freezer so anything frozen had to be consumed immediately. it has been nice for reducing waste- you have to really look at your food more! generally, i have to…
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what a week
they say the hardest part of doing nearly everything is taking the first step, which was last week. this week feels as though the first steps are starting to bud: my first german lesson since 2008 will be next tuesday (!!!) and we met with our chill and laid-back engagement shoot photographer to talk plans for the end of the month. last time i’ve had professional portraits taken was over ten years ago at age 17, so what better time than now to have a go at it again? even if we don’t use these photos for really anything, they will be such a special keepsake of our time living…
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krumlov-ing it, pt II
there’s something about tiny český krumlov that makes me really happy. of course it’s beautiful and a unesco world heritage site (also the second most visited town in the czech republic) and its geography is quite unique (the vltava river makes an “S” curve through the compact center), but it could be other reasons. it was the first place i ever visited in the czech republic, way back in 2006. it was one of the reasons we moved to budějovice, because i knew how great south bohemia was already. or that i’ve taught kids there. but maybe it’s just that it’s a laid-back place to be with relaxed people and a…
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springy
some photos above from last weekend’s “spring fest”: a 20C day that was spent taking strolls around the neighborhood, eating ice cream (and a delicious breakfast of apple oatmeal, as you can see above), and loving life. there is something about the first couple warm days of the year that really instills that life loving feeling in you. this week has generally been really exciting and busy. i bought my wedding dress on monday evening, and the entire dress process was so ridiculously painless that i thought i might be doing it wrong. many ladies go to bridal gown salons with all their best friends so they can help them…
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a conversation
so, i’m standing in the kitchen at my language school, washing a tea mug when a fellow teacher (czech) enters the room. Her: (something in Czech)Me: …….. ?Her: You don’t speak Czech?!?!?Me: No……….. not really.Her: HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN HERE? Me: Well, it’s been over a year now…. [By now, it’s safe to say I was feeling extremely sheepish]Her: Well, are you going to learn?Me: I would like to, it’s just… I don’t know how long I’ll be living here for.Her: When will you know?! [She’s kind of a ball-buster, this one]Me: Sometime this spring.Her: It’s spring now!Me: (start to slowly back away) Err… well, definitely by May or…
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march noms
a low-key, windy weekend here in south bohemia: i focused most of my time and effort on planning the epic slovenia trip in june. and have realized, dang, slovenia is AMAZING! a country half the size of switzerland with so much to offer: alps, adriatic beaches, caves, glacial rivers, countryside, karst plateaus, national parks…. i am really looking forward to it. and with the recent acquisition of a blender last month, i tried my hand at making delicious creamy almond milk– a drink which i would buy exclusively instead of milk while living in the states but never have been able to find it here. fortunately, it is so easy…
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weekend, unplugged
i went offline this weekend, not entirely by choice. the internet was down (or rather, “the landlord’s wifi we’ve been leeching has not been working”) which initially would bum anyone out that just wanted to sit in bed and read some blogs on a sunny saturday morning, but it was somewhat of a blessing in disguise. i picked up wild by cheryl strayed (whose earlier book dear sugar i had previously enjoyed) and plowed almost 70% through that baby… and i almost never do that kind of thing! what a great novel to get you in the mood for a) nicer weather and b) a hiking trip, preferably along the…
