-
Week 27 & 28 of 2024 (In Review) – Karlovy Vary Film Festival with a Two-Year-Old & Dog
A few weeks ago the 58th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival that takes place every year at the beginning of July, always encompassing the July 5th and 6th holidays here in the Czech Republic. We first went to this festival over ten years ago and this time was our seventh festival! Most years we make it into a little end-of-school-year holiday in the most beautiful place in the entire Czech Republic. A film festival holiday may not appeal to some but as I have a long history of working with SIFF (Seattle International Film Festival), there is almost nothing better to me than getting totally immersed in…
-
What My Czech Republic Travel List Looks Like These Days
And no… I’m not going to call it my Czech list. It’s been interesting to see that different people are coping with this pandemic situation in different ways. Some people are writing and communicating a lot more than usual. Some people prefer not to mention it and have pretty much stopped posting on social media. Everyone’s confused. Nobody knows how to plan anything anymore. I mean, when this headline came out (“Czech borders could be closed as long as two years”) came out earlier last week, many of us were bummed. Upon discussion with a few other people about this terrible two year announcement, most people think that the borders…
-
So, You’re Going to Prague? (A Mini-Guide of my Favorites)
prague is now europe’s fifth most visited city as of 2016, surpassed by only london, paris, istanbul, and rome. so chances are, if you haven’t already been, you might be planning on going to prague soon, especially since summer’s coming up. i get a few emails and comments about what to do in prague, and man, that’s a hard question to answer in an email, let alone a comment! so! consider this post my e-mail to you about my favorite things and places to visit in the city. this is by no means an exhaustive guide (hah) but rather just my favorite places that i’ve been to loads of times and like…
-
expat’s dream: the dutch pub, prague
this is the land of beer. czech republic makes it’s famous claim as both home to pilsner (from plzeň) and the original budweiser (from here in budějovice, international name budweis). so don’t hate me for going to prague’s new dutch gastropub near národní třída . it’s just…. i love belgian beer way too much. czech beer is wonderful, but since the last time i was in the benelux region was about eight years ago, i am really missing my favorite belgians right now. (i’m talking about the beer) the dutch pub is a huge complex, yet somehow manages to feel really homey with its wooden round tables, football playing on…
-
so, you’re listing your space on airbnb
chances are that by now, you’ve definitely heard of the uber-popular apartment and room rental service, airbnb. (and if not, why?! you can find much nicer properties at a fraction of the price of a hotel) maybe you’re even considering dipping your toe in the hosting pool, or perhaps you are already a host! way to go, you! but during my extensive, exhaustive, and still on-going searching process to find the perfect rental for my mother and i in paris, i’ve noticed some serious airbnb crimes. alright, not so serious, but there are so many things that hosts do that lessen the chances someone will want to book with you.…
-
how TEFL changed my life
i never thought that i would feel supremely confident that i could hold down a job in many different countries on any continent, especially with the economy still in recovery. having a TEFL certificate gives me this freedom.i decided it was time to stop struggling to pay rent in expensive seattle and see the world while working– something that has always made sense to me. since i was in high school, i would think about how people work so they can go on vacations and stay in exotic locales. but my line of thinking was always just, “why don’t you work where you really want to be?” whether that’s in…
-
travel fails & how to fix ’em
travel is a learning experience. when anything goes wrong, it always comforts me to know that that is one thing i will not be doing again in the future anytime soon, and these experiences have helped to make me a better traveler. i don’t even mind thinking about or revisiting them because it helps refresh the moral of the story in my mind and it’s that that’s made me wiser.this week, i’m talking my biggest travel fails and what i learned from them… and what i hope you too will learn so you don’t make these same mistakes that i have. mistake #1: accidental fare-dodging on the prague metro system……
-
what to do in český krumlov
kicking off czech week with a spotlight on everyone’s favorite (myself included) little medieval czech town, the UNESCO heritage protected and perfectly picturesque český krumlov (chess-key kroom-loav), located in south bohemia. a czech friend once told me that all visitors to the czech republic should check out both prague and krumlov before heading out– how can you really get to know a country without visiting a different region and a piece of small town life? i also have to credit it with the main reason we decided to move down to this region– i had been here before and i knew south bohemia was beautiful and probably a good place to live in.…
-
how to live abroad (short-term)
the most exhilarating thing i have ever done was quit my day job of four years. it was four very important years of my life, but still four years grueling early mornings and late nights that i am happy to have moved on from. a couple months later, i found myself living in scotland (temporarily) and had no end-date, besides when my money or visa ran out. before this, i desperately wanted to live abroad. so much that i knew i couldn’t even think about doing anything else before that dream was accomplished.but did you know there are ways to live abroad (from anywhere to a couple weeks to a…
-
A Bit of Wroclaw & Bus Madness
and now, for the continuing saga of cynthia’s polish odyssey. after pulling ourselves away from the wonderful tatras region, it was time to move on to bigger and busier places. and the best way to do this: polski bus. i’d heard a bit about the quality of poland’s roads and was eager to find out for myself first hand. polish rail is pretty affordable, but polski bus tickets are half the price of the train, sometimes lower. with comfortable seats, a toilet and free wifi on board, the decision was made. what i didn’t expect was the mad rush that occurred when the bus pulled up to the station in…
