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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 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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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…
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Mrhal Pond Days & Kofola
sunny warm day at mrhal rybnik (pond, also known to us as small lake) lounging about after a short hike and drinking kofola, everyone’s favorite communist era beverage! actually, kofola was czechoslovakia’s answer to coca-cola, which wasn’t available here until the revolution in 1989. it tastes like coke but much more herbal. really delicious. summer weather is now upon us after that heinous flooding period. feels like a NW summer already, except i have already been witness to a handful of thunderstorms. nothing like walking in the countryside and hearing that booming thunder! and hoping that the skies don’t open up and drench you in the next ten minutes, but…
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A Whole Lotta Rain
it started raining saturday morning and it has not once stopped as i write this late monday afternoon. nuts! people are like, “oh but you’re from seattle so you’re used to this”. errrrg……. not really, right guys? in case you haven’t read about it, the central europe floods are making international news. i think today will be the worst of it and the rain is supposed to let up. in prague, the city is paralyzed. schools are shuttered, transportation is at a halt. the animals from the low-lying zoo near the river are being rescued. the metro station near our old ‘hood (malostranska) is closed. here in budejovice, we are…
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Blustery June
june came in all blustery-like. i can’t remember the last time the rain started in the day and rained all night into the morning without stopping. reminds me of my favorite, “winnie the pooh and the blustery day”. south bohemia really isn’t well equipped to handle this quantity of rainfall. in cesky krumlov the river is starting to flood into the city and transportation problems abound all over the country and in austria. i don’t really bat an eye when thinking about all the rain but then i realize i’m in a place with very different geography, and the water can’t just flow to the sound. i don’t expect it will…
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Linz-erdays
took a weekend jaunt to linz, austria… just over two hours south of us by train and even faster by car. it’s the third largest city in austria and twice the population of budejovice. it doesn’t have the tourist draw of vienna, salzburg, or innsbruck but it was a medium-sized city in austria that was relatively close to get to. that’s mainly why i wanted to go, even though i found out later that linz does have a rich history but it’s just not quite talked about or as exciting as the other cities. who can compete with ‘the sound of music’, anyway? it’s also where people in budejovice go…
