-
A Little Post about Olomouc, Czech Republic
We took a little “hello fall” trip at the end of September to Olomouc – a city in the Moravian region of the country (about five hours by train from Budejovice) that has long been on our travel list – a very handy thing to consult when you’re not sure what your next destination will be. A city break made the most sense seeing as the epidemiological situation at the moment wasn’t not bad and just in case it goes sideways again, it would be nice to spend time in a city. Also the fact that it is in a completely different area of the country was exciting – it’s…
-
Where to Stay In Prague
You may know that accommodations are now open again all over the Czech Republic – we’ve even had our first overnight stay (in eight months!!) in nearby Český Krumlov last week which was just luscious. In the spirit of the re-opening of travel, I thought I’d put together this list of recommendable hostels and hotels I’ve stayed in on my many stays in Prague, from super budget to splurge plus some details about why you might want to stay in that specific neighborhood, whether it’s your first time in Prague or tenth. HOTELS The Archibald (Kampa Island, Mala Strana, Prague 1) $$$ What I like about the Archibald is that…
-
Croatia in a Pandemic Summer
Hi, friends. How have you been enjoying the summer? It’s funny that the biggest hindrance to writing new posts these days involves the photo part — uploading them from my finicky phone (or rather, from my new phone to my finicky old computer), editing them, rounding other random snaps from Google Photo. It’s 2020 – you’ve got to think there’s a better way? (or likely there is, and I’m far too stubborn) But regardless, here we are! We spent much of August in Croatia this year. Like many who were able to travel this summer, I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to post about it on social media. In…
-
May, Lately + More Thoughts of Traveling “These Days”
What a beautiful spring we are having this year! Unlike other years where it’s been like winter winter winter SUMMER and maybe one week of spring temperatures, we’ve really seen spring this year. April has been full of warm days and sun, trickling into May, even though we’re in a couple days of a cold snap right now (a good excuse to sit down and write something), I have really been enjoying it (ughhh, I probably say this every year, so here it is). I just actually learned about the days May 12-14 here called the “days of the ice men” (Ledoví muži). This is because those days are the…
-
Our Germany Travel Wish Lists
The Corona Age is heralding in a new phase of travel — domestic and local. No longer are we dreaming of going abroad this summer (okay, maybe just a little as there are rumors of the borders to Austria and Slovakia opening by July in some capacity – eyes are peeled) but it seems much safer, if you’re planning to do any travel this summer, to make that trip one of a local variety. What a great opportunity to start dreaming of places to go, then? My imagination had already started running wild when I made the 8 Places on my Czech Republic Wish List. But then Heather, a former…
-
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…
-
Language Progress + Thoughts on Solo Travel
“That was a really good lesson. I felt like we sort of… are getting it now, you know?” A moment Alex and I shared after our Czech lesson today. We started taking Czech language seriously in autumn 2015 – that means it’s been now over four years of really studying the language. Before that, I had taken a couple classes sporadically the year I first arrived although they didn’t amount to much as I was a total beginner in a class with people who clearly had some sort of grasp on the language and a teacher who couldn’t explain Czech grammar in my native tongue. Four years of serious study!…
-
the villages of the drôme provençale
this summer heat has got me thinking about one year ago on our holiday in provence. i wrote a little bit about the stay at our cottage in the drôme region and a day in arles, but nothing much about the many, many provençal villages we visited. the most known area of provence is perhaps the luberon, thanks to the popularity of a year in provence by peter mayle (a book which i highly, highly recommend if you’re going to provence at all), but we ended up staying in the northern drôme (southeastern france about halfway between marseilles and lyon) which was even more beautiful than i ever could have imagined. every day we would…
-
a spring wander around brixton, london
what is it about blogging, lately? i have a theory that other forms of social media is slowly killing off blogging (do you agree?) and i am taking staunch measures to prevent this, at least for myself. in the past, if i haven’t written, it meant i couldn’t think of anything to say. nowadays, over six and a half years into my life abroad, if i don’t write, i’m too busy with life or my personal studies (language or herbalism). but! i can’t let spring fade sweetly into warm, sun-drenched summer without talking a little tiny bit more about our spring day out in brixton at the end of april.…
-
travel, living abroad, and a more ecological lifestyle.
travel + an ecological lifestyle – can these two things belong together? it’s a hard thing to reconcile for any traveler – how to lessen your personal impact and be a more responsible traveler? there’s carbon offsets you can purchase, either as you make your flight purchase or separately from a few different organizations. there’s booking a trip from a company with a ecologically-responsible policy. (in the past week, rick steves just announced all his tours will be certified carbon neutral) there’s opting to take the bus or train more vs. flying. we live without a car here and do almost all of our errands on foot (including grocery shops, hoofing it…
