-
a year of life & travels: 2017
today is new year’s day and it’s time for a recap of last year! it was another great year of being based in southwestern czech republic, feeling like home both here and back in my home country (and realizing that “home” is just a construct), and going to some magical places. let’s revisit them, shall we? i changed the title of this year’s post to “life & travel” because, as i learned last year, travel isn’t everything and it is also important to capture what else was going on in one’s life. although for this post, it still remains the focal point. (don’t worry) so without further ado…. in january, we…
-
christmas in the bavarian alps
i hope you had a wonderful christmas and are still enjoying the holiday season! as i mentioned in my last post, we zipped away for five days to enjoy christmas in berchtesgaden, germany which is nestled literally between bavarian alps on every side and has a lovely and historical downtown. i’ve wanted to visit this town for years… really only a couple train rides from our little budejovice. berchtesgaden is only about fifteen kilometers from salzburg (really, just over the austrian border). you can take a regional bus from salzburg to get to berchtesgaden in fifty minutes, which is what we decided to do on the way there – it was…
-
autumn moravian wine trip, take two
living in central europe, autumn conjures up feelings of, among other things, harvest with plentiful beer and wine. i am fortunate to live in a country that currently does both quite well, but you have to travel a little bit to get to the wine part, which is the south moravian region; essentially, the southeast corner of the country bordering austria and slovakia. after we returned from the united states, it was time to kick trip planning for the rest of the year into high gear, and i somehow managed to find a couple nights’ accommodation on late notice in an area we’ve been wanting to see for a little…
-
discovering (more of) oregon
i have severely overestimated the amount of downtime i would have on our big trip back to the united states this summer. i had quite enough last summer in iceland, isolated on a farm with no means of transportation in borgarbyggd (west iceland) and only my own two feet to explore the hills and tiny nearby villages, but this summer has been a different story altogether and so different than my trip home two years ago. then, there was a real abundance of time, but i’ve had to be so strategic with what i do each day or how many people i can visit over the past almost five weeks.…
-
this great american city
hello, all! we’ve been back in the united states for about three weeks now and it’s been a whirlwind through four different states; visiting family and friends, attending important weddings, and loooads of travel by air, bus, and train. now we’ve mostly stopped in one place long enough for me to write a little somethin’ – thanks for your patience. the days leading up to our flight to the u.s., i wasn’t as much of a nervous wreck as i was, knowing i was about to fly out on our big trip last year, but this time, the only hard thing was leaving behind our pup. i had no idea…
-
the vary many ways that i love you
at some point, going to the karlovy vary international film festival year became more than just a one year thing. now, after four years, it has become basically mandatory for us and one of my most favorite summer getaways. since i’ve never been to karlovy vary while the festival hasn’t been on (except for the day before and after which are always a bit sad, really), i am honestly not sure if i’d like to visit during the rest of the year. i’m not sure i’d like one without the other. what is the festival without vary, and what is vary without the festival? i love the buzzing streets, how…
-
in the heart of the spa triangle
on our way up to karlovy vary for this year’s festival (more to come on that later), we stopped by petite mariánské lázně (marienbad), only a handful of kilometers from the german border where we arrived by an excellent, fast pendolino train. in addition to karlovy vary which we know quite well by now, i consider mariánské lázně to be another town that makes up northwestern czech republic’s famed “spa triangle” (with františkovy lázně making up the third point). i had heard enough about this little town (called one of the most beautiful in the country) to want to make a little stop there… and i was fully dedicated to…
-
teresa’s valley in early spring
last weekend, we had weather over twenty degrees here in south bohemia. on the first few days of april. what a fantastic development! i am used to the perpetual central european winter that finally subsides sometime after the middle of april, but nothing like this! i think almost every single person that day was outside somewhere – especially in their gardens, if they had one. i saw these temperatures coming from a week away and i’ve been waiting to get back into that day-tripping spirit we felt so strongly our first spring here (for years ago), so we headed to teresa’s valley (terčino údolí) near nové hrady (a town a…
-
end of march things + spring cake recipe!
traditionally, i’m not a huge fan of march. for all intents and purposes, it’s still winter for most of it, and here in central europe the trees are almost all still bare throughout. this month however was so much fun with our very important visitor from michigan, loads of travel, parties, games, beer (!!!), and ending with the most beautiful spring weather. i guess it is true what they say about “in like a lion, out like a lamb”. some thoughts, stories, and happenings from the past couple weeks of life in south bohemia… – we have the best travel dog! after our first overnight trip with ferdie (to prague),…
-
ten years later, in bamberg
for the occasion of my mother in law’s visit, a little bit of travel was in order. not only was it her first time in the czech republic, but her first time in europe, so she was really eager to travel west to neighboring germany (a country of her ancestry) to set foot in the vaterland. even though we are really close to austria here, nope! germany it must be. but if you know me, you know that i had no problem with that. i also knew that she isn’t a big fan of major metropolises, and because bavaria is the closest region of germany to us, a specific city…
