Praha, Pivo, Prosim

This has certainly been the longest I’ve gone without posting something. Anything. Bad me. I know, I know. Six weeks. Ouch.

But unfortunately, I have nothing really interesting to report.

Bus, bus….who has a bus? I did an overnight to Bratislava in February. But since it was a quick trip and I only brought a change of clothes, I didn’t want to bring along a camera & camera bag; therefore, I have no interesting photos of Slovakia. Nothing. Zip. Not even a stamp in my passport to show that I’ve been there. Sigh. Oh well.

I can report that Bratislava seems like a lovely town. For those who don’t know, Slovakia and the Czech Republic were formerly known as Czechoslovakia. In fact, many people still think it’s Czechoslovakia. Nope. Not since 1992. The bricks of communism fell in November of 1989 (The Velvet Revolution) and the country split a few years after. They are separate countries with separate flags, capital cities, currencies & languages.

The language part is interesting. Czech & Slovak look almost identical. And, most of the language is very similar. Many words are the same. However, there are other words that are completely different. I’ve been told that children of either country/native tongue can’t quite understand each other but adults are so used to hearing the differences that it’s not a problem. In fact, there are many Slovaks/Slovans that work here and the communication ‘barrier’ doesn’t exist. Well, this isn’t confirmed from my non Czech/Slovak speaking ass however, the two seem to get along quite well.

Messing with my emotions….Spring is coming. I’m ready. For those of you living in/at a more southern latitude, I am jealous. The upcoming season has been teasing us here and for that I tell her to fuck off. Damn. One day the sun will be shining and for once I won’t need to wear extra clothes. I will have happy thoughts of pivo and the beer garden only to be brutally rebuffed by the cruel bitch of winter. She slaps me in the face and then tells ME to fuck off. Damn. Fucking seasons.

Time….. But alas, the time change is soon and having daylight begin at a reasonable hour is nice and makes it much easier/more comfortable when required to wake up at early hours. I currently have a 5:30am wake-up (Monday, no less) on the roster and it ain’t fun. I don’t mind so much setting the alarm and getting up and doing necessary things but when it’s dark it’s just a bear. And doing it in the dark makes it more difficult.

Speaking of getting up early….I’ve now been waking up at 7:30 on days when it’s not required. Anybody else? I know it’s good to get a regular schedule and that acclimates your body to routine, blah bah but man, on Saturday?

Clockwatcher….. I have a have always had a (bad) habit of looking at the time when I wake up during the night. The reason for this is unknown to me but nevertheless, it happens. Additionally, there is the mental math that occurs when I determine exactly how many more hours/minutes I am permitted to sleep until the alarm is set to jolt me from my slumber. So, when I roll over to examine the clock even on the lazy days, Im not surprised to see that the display reads 7:27am. Shit. Damn. I do sometimes feel guilty for sleeping too much or sleeping too late. And, generally, I don’t do this. My schedule doesn’t permit it and I certainly can’t stay up late enough so that I’m still in bed at 4pm. Somehow, I feel obligated to GIT-R-DONE and not just lay around and not accomplishing anything other than widening my ass. Anyway, I’m not saying I want to sleep until noon however, I’m saying 8:30 would be a bit more respectable on those days made for nothing.

Facebook assholes….. A few things on this topic.

What’s up with random friend requests? From ‘friend finder’–what the hell is that? I assume it’s some random programming thing but it ain’t my thing. If I don’t know you, it’s unlikely I’ll accept the random friend request of some douchebag ‘looking for fun’ with ‘conservative’ political views from Saskatoon.

What’s up with the people who post about how awesome they are, how much their life sucks or are generally miserable/depressed and post their doom and gloom into the feeds of others? Jerkoffs. I get that people want to vent about a bad day–everyone does it. But, at some point you just start sounding like a whiny baby who is bringing down the mood of others who are reading the incessant bitchyness. The negative energy isn’t appreciated. There are numerous motivational factors behind these kinds of posts. Sure, maybe it’s done to get a ‘reaction’ out of others or maybe it’s just some kind of reaching out for attention/help. I’m no princess of sunshine but I’m aware that other people read what I post. Facebook isn’t my psychiatric sounding board. So, bottom line–these people have been deleted. Goodbye. Your outbox is empty.

Random food….

Sloppy Joes & Kraft Mac & Cheese!! It’s American food that when you can get it anywhere and everywhere, you can take for granted. This is my Euro version with my Euro beer backdrop.

Cheese omelette with bacon & tomatoes! Some oven roasted taters & a nice slice of toast with peanut butter & jelly. By the way, PB is quite pricy here so this is my contraband American version sent thanks to my Mom. **I was also photo editing while eating breakfast. So, here’s a trivia question–can anyone tell what the image is on my computer here? Be specific.

Salad!! Big green salads like this are hard to find and really don’t exist here. This was my version: spinach, mixed greens, salami, tomatoes, roast onions/potatoes,carrots, bleu cheese crumbles, cucumber, hard boiled egg, deli ham & a creamy orange vinaigrette. Sorry, this photo is underexposed.

Random breakfast casserole/concotion! I don’t have a name for this so you can call it what you want. Since I have to live on a budget and throwing away unused product is cost prohibitive, I try & develop recipes/ideas that can use everything I buy. Because I DO cook, it’s not difficult to do this but my limited funds and resources leave me with fewer ways to adapt the ingredients. This was my breakfast idea…. Initially, I wanted to make a quiche. Quiches are great. If you have never had one, go buy one now. Eggy goodness with a crust. Perfection. But, when I was thinking about a quiche I didn’t really want to make a crust and I have yet to see a premade frozen crust anywhere in any market here. There are, however, some ready-made dough options in the refrigerated food cases but I didn’t want to roll one out and par-bake it, etc. Call it lazy–that’s a fitting word because it’s true.

The process…

So, instead of the quiche crust, I decided to do a potato crust.

First, in a saute pan I cooked up some ‘English’ bacon (the words on the packaging, not mine). It’s similar to ‘American’ bacon only not as thick and this is much wider.

2. With the leftover and tasty bacon grease in the pan, the potatoes*** were cooked (or at least partially) with some salt & pepper.

3. I lined a pan (approx. 7in x 9in) with wax paper and then arranged the sliced potatoes in the bottom. The greasy & beautiful bacon went on top of that.

4. There was leftover spinach and mushrooms in the refrigerator so I sauteed those in the same pan as the potatoes & bacon.

5.In a bowl off to the side I mixed 4 or 5 eggs with some heavy cream, salt/pepper, thyme, rosemary, basil and cubed bleu cheese.

6 The spinach mixture went on top of the potatoes & bacon and then the eggs were poured on top of that.

7. The oven was preheated to about 200C an in the stuff went. Sorry, I don’t have a conversion handy for this temperature.
Cook until the eggs get fluffy and increase in size. You should be able to tell when it’s done just by looking at the stuff.

8. Near the end of the process I topped it with sliced tomatoes, sliced Eidam (yes, Edam–they spell it differently here) cheese and a nice sprinkle of paprika. Why paprika? I’m a woman and a nerd and I want my food to look pretty. Also, I knew i would be photographing it so it gives a nice aesthetic.

I was surprised that this held together and actually came out of the pan in recognizable squares. I was wondering if the potatoes would function as a reasonable base and if the potatoes/eggs would ‘stick’ together. They did.

***If you choose to do something like this, it is important that the potatoes are cooked first. Eggs cook quickly–potatoes do not. If this ‘casserole’ was baked until the potatoes were done, the eggs would be shit. And because everything else in this pan is already done, the actual oven cook time is quite low.

It’s a new year so you shall get a new blog…..

I spent New Year’s Eve in Old Town Square. Fireworks everywhere, tons of people and lots of broken bottles. Quite an experience! Pivo and Becherovka made the rounds. It wasn’t too cold and there was a blue moon eclipse. According to the news articles I read, it was a once in a millennium occurrence so voila! How did you spend your NYE?

Because of the holidays I’ve had little work over the past two weeks so I was able to travel. And travel I did!

Day 1: Christmas

I took an overnight bus to Zagreb, Croatia. Departure 9pm from Florenc metro. Holla! Because of the Schengen Zone there is very little border control between nations in Schengen. As most of Europe is in the SZ, it makes travel easier and little traffic is stopped/inspected upon exit/entry within the zone. Therefore, passport control was only exiting Slovenia and entering Croatia (a non-Schengen country). Entry into Schengen usually gets you a fancy stamp in your passport but going from say France to Germany to Belgium probably won’t add any bright shiny stamps to your travel documents.

Day 2: December 26

The bus arrived an hour early to the main bus station. 7am is mighty early after an uncomfortable night on a bus. Ah yes, the glamorous life of bus travel! I hit the ATM for some local currency and managed to buy a few tram tickets. The main square of Zagreb was only a few blocks away and the hostel I had booked was a few blocks past that.

Check-in at the hostel is noon. What is a girl to do until then?

Croatians are into their coffee. I mean REALLY into their coffee. There are cafes all over the place and they fill up quickly. Living in Prague I’m used to seeing bars on nearly every street corner (if there ISN’T a bar on a block in this town, something is very amiss). Sure, there are pubs in Zagreb but I’d say there are more cafes than bars. Coffee is the thing to do in Croatia–or at least Zagreb. I went to a cafe in the main square and ordered a very expensive coffee. When first using a ‘new’ or unfamiliar currency it’s easy to spend freely as the mental conversion rates never really kick in and you don’t realize the true expense of anything. That said, I ordered an Irish coffee (yes, with alcohol at 9am!) and a chocolate croissant. Upon leaving I was 60Kn lighter (approx. 12 USD). Oy vey!

I continued from the main square and snapped some shots of the main cathedral in town. The sun was shining and the clouds opened up. Considerably nice weather for December! Hooray!

Unfortunately, because of the official holiday of the 26th, many places were closed as was the Dolac market. If you didn’t know, I’m all about some markets. (But I was able to visit the market the following day so I’ll get to that later.)

A main spot for drinking/eating is Tkalciceva ulice. More time to kill still yet so I went there….. more cafes. Oy, these people are caffeine freaks!

I checked into the hostel and I gotta say the ’staff’ guy was a total flake. Although check-in was noon, this guy was clearly unprepared as the first thing he said to me was how he had just woken up and blah blah. The beds weren’t made and the place was a mess. Nice. But hey, expectations should be low for a cheap rate.

In the afternoon I went to the Mirogoj Cemetery. Not only do Croatians love their coffee, they also love their dead people. For real, y’all. Graves & headstones are decorated or ‘upkept’ with good care in this country but the Croatians certainly outdo the Czechs. Perhaps because it was Christmas the locals really did up the graves to the 9s.

On the bus up the hill to the cemetery there was a lovely babuska lady (I don’t know the correct term) with a mustache. A SERIOUS mustache. Although I live in the Czech Republic there are surprisingly few (if any) of the stereotypical babuska ladies here. Not getting the imagery? Think Communist Russian old ladies with their scarves/kerchiefs tied around their heads. Yes, yes, THAT look.

All these dead people made me hungry. Food. Needed it. Where to go? According to my ‘In Your Pocket’ online PDF guide (AWESOME travel resource), there was a local place I wanted to check out for CHEAP EATS. Traveling on a budget sucks but you gotta do it. It was quite a long walk down the main street but alas my sense of direction is usually pretty spot-on so I didn’t have any problems finding the place. I had the lunch special of goulash–delicious! It was served with some freaking delicious bread that I’m still trying to Google to find out what it is so I can make it at home. (Random: I think it’s Pogacha bread so I will be experimenting this weekend!) Since I’m sure many of you travel to Zagreb regularly, you can eat at Zalogajnica “Kod Duje.”

Day 3: December 27

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! What to do today? The weather on Sunday wasn’t as agreeable as the day before so I decided to hit up a museum. Culture and education! Yay!

The museum didn’t open until 10am so I found and easy-to-find cafe for some java. Moving to Europe really threw the ‘no caffeinated beverages’ thing out the fucking window. This cafe (and I noticed this elsewhere in Croatia) had a little something printed on the menu. It clearly stated the ‘book of complaint’ is at the bar. Yes, book of complaint. I didn’t investigate this further but it’s an interesting idea.

The Mimara Museum is really quite nice. It comprises of works all donated by one wealthy collector. It’s an art museum so I don’t know what else to say. Sculptures, paintings, Christian artifacts. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

I headed back towards the main square because I wanted to hit up the Dolac Market today. In true form (as Judie’s offspring), I enjoy going to markets and discovering new and funky foods. Add in the new country/Euro factor and it’s even better. In the lower part of the Dolac market there were many vendors selling all kinds of meats, cheeses and breads. Additionally, there were even a few stalls with ladies selling these giant fresh sheets of pasta. The meat shops had all kind of funky cuts of meat as well as proudly displaying the carcasses of pigs about their stalls. Dead pig heads = awesomeness. In the back of the market were the cabbage ladies. The entire back half of the food hall smells of the soured cabbage-y mixture that sits in big buckets waiting to be purchased. It’s one of those smells that certainly ‘wafts.’

For lunch I found a place on Tkalciceva that was open. Before my main meal I ordered some Trappist cheese and bread. Those Trappist monks are busy guys: beer, chocolate and cheese. It was also served with that freaking delicious bread again. Man, I have GOT to make this stuff pronto. If the supermarket was open now I’d go buy supplies immediately. As a main meal I ordered the cevapcici. Cevapcici is one of many national dishes. It’s basically finger-length hand-rolled sausages. Really good! This particular meal was served with raw white onion and a Croatian condiment called ajvar which is a paste made from red peppers and eggplant. I imaged you could slather this stuff on a dirty shoe and it would be good. It’s that kind of thing.

Dinner was at Nocturno–a place recommended by the flaky American guy from the hostel. Reasonably priced food is always a plus. Croatia is known for their beaches (tons of Europeans flock to them in the summer months). So, if a country has a lot of beaches, there’s probably going to be a lot of seafood as the cuisine. Although I wasn’t on the coast, I wanted some fairly fresh fish for dinner. Grilled calamari stuffed with ham & cheese is delicious!

Palacinky (sorry, that’s the Czech word for this item–I don’t know the Croatian one) was my dessert. Sometimes a girl wants her chocolate! Anyway, palacinky are basically crepes. They’re easy to find in this part of the world and I can confirm that they are delicious. I had the chocolate variety.

Day 4: December 28

While checking out of the hostel, the flaky American didn’t remember me paying him two days before. Nice. Vince from L.A. is an aspiring rapper (yes, really) and he informed me that he has mad skillz, yo. At this particular hostel there is a ‘key deposit’ but once you check-out and return the locker keys, you naturally get your deposit back. Well, idiot Vince the shitty rapper asked me who I paid and I had to remind him that it was him. He had told me the previous day that since gambling is legal in Croatia (as it is here, too) he got into some money problems and was broke until Jan. 7 when he got paid. He then proceeded to tell me how my ‘key deposit’ was the only money he had until that time. Babe, I wasn’t born yesterday and I’m not pitying you and your West Coast Broke-Ass Rapping Self and I’m not giving you my deposit. I work for a living and am actually required to be responsible. They’re good attributes to have. Yeah, it sucks that the dude has no money but he’s not my responsibility. Get it together, dude. So, as I was leaving in the morning and he was digging through his stuff for cash (I don’t understand how this $ somehow became ‘his’ during this process but I didn’t ask), he then again emphasized how he had literally no money. At all. Needless to say, I took my money back and let him beg in his pathetic way to the next traveler to come through. End rant.

I decided to do an on-the-fly trip to Budapest. Why not, right? I had some extra money and the time off work so I said fuck it, I’m going. There was a 10am train so no worries. A ticket was purchased. I had some time to kill–I wanted breakfast. Ah ha! How about another national dish? Breakfast was a juice from a vending machine and burek bought from a little bakery inside the train station. I suppose you could say burek is pie-shaped but it’s not a pie in the traditional sense that you or I would consider a pie. It’s a round layered dough creation either made with meat or cheese. Mine was the cheese one.

The train to Budapest was a bit long and boring. Train travel is super easy and accessible in Europe; I don’t get why Americans don’t utilize it more often. We’re lazy gas-guzzling automobile whores. Anyway, Lake Balaton (Hungary) is quite huge and the train followed the lake parallel for the length of the lake. It appears to be a resort area of Hungary as most of the towns/villages on the lake were ‘closed up’ for the winter.

Upon arrival at Keleti station I changed over my money to Hungarian Forints and I was off to find a hostel I had Googled the night before. Because this was an unplanned extra trip, I didn’t have any physical maps to use as a guide nor did I have any real ‘tourist’ information so navigating my way from the train station to a downtown hostel could have been interesting. I bought two tickets for the bus/metro/tram from a newsstand inside the train station and I hoped I could find a bus or tram that would take me where I needed to go. A bus stop around the side of the building listed the stop I needed so on the bus I went. The Budapest public transit is heavily policed. (Way more than here in Prague.) A guy in unofficial-looking attire promptly pulled out his metro cop identification and began checking that passengers had the appropriate tickets.

I found the hostel I had researched (although I had not made a reservation) with relative ease and I can proudly state I didn’t get lost. Not bad work for someone in a foreign country with no knowledge of the language and no map or other information to use as a guide. The Goat Hostel (great name) gets a huge thumbs up from me. The place was really quite nice and I had a room to myself! Although I was paying for a ‘dorm’ type room, I was lucky to have it to myself. Ahhhh… The staff was super friendly and they’re going to get a glowing review from me on Hostelworld.com

Being a good Hungarian girl, I had a food objective that night: real legit paprikas. My Mom and Grandma have made this stuff for years (and it’s always been one of my favorites) but I wanted an authentic experience. Because I had inquired about a close place to eat dinner, the girl on staff directed me to a place down the street. The For Sale Pub served out a giant heap of veal paprikas. It wasn’t cheap but when in Budapest…..

You might be wondering….what is paprikas? It’s basically considered a ’stew’ but it’s not exactly something your slurp with a spoon. First, some dumplings are made–there are several varieties of dumplings in Europe. Here in the C.R. there are flour and potato dumplings. But these dumplings are made into a big ‘loaf’ and sliced off individually and served with meals. The Hungarian (and Croatian version from what I could tell) dumplings are the flour variety but they are much smaller and ‘individualized’ rather than made from a big loaf-like object. On top of the dumplings goes the meat/stew mixture. I suppose various meats can be used but my Mom only ever made a chicken version. Anyway, it’s a paprika-y/onion-y/red pepper-y thick reddish base with chicken (or misc. meat) and topped with sour cream. Trust me when I say this dish is freaking delicious. One of my all-time favorites. You will always win points with homemade dumplings.

The atmosphere of The For Sale Pub was actually pretty cool. Imagine a woody rural pub or lodge–that’s what the interior looked like. The floorboards were uneven (intentionally so) and there was actual hay on the floor. Small pieces of paper were tacked all over the walls (various notes from former patrons) which really kind of add to the overall feel of the place. It wasn’t the cheapest way I could have eaten dinner but I had little time and this was the homeland!

At this point I’ll mention that Budapest is fucking beautiful. I’m so going back. Seeing all the big fantastic buildings illuminated at night was a great first experience.

Day 5: December 29

Free breakfast at the hostel! I got a room to myself and they offer to feed me–most excellent!

I only had a few hours before getting a train back to Prague so today was going to be a quick one. From the hostel I walked down a main touristy street that has lots of souvenir shops and miscellaneous cafes & restaurants. As is per the norm with souvenir shops, everything was overpriced and in some of the shops the sales assistants were pushy and a bit aggressive. I’m not a fan of that tactic; it doesn’t work for this girl.

If you have ever seen a photo of Budapest it’s most certainly been of either the Chain Bridge or Buda Castle. Because the Buda part of Budapest is on a hill, it makes the sights that much more impressive. The castle sits above the city and when it’s lit up at night, it’s pretty awesome. There’s also the Matthias Church and the Fisherman’s Bastion that round out the impressive landscape. I walked across the Chain Bridge and took a funicular up to the castle. Frankly, my ass and legs were killing me from the crazy walking I had been doing and I was not interested in going up a steep hill. Sure, it would have been a healthier choice (and free) but it just wasn’t happening. Obligatory photos were snapped outside the castle and I walked over to Matthias Church and Fisherman’s Bastion. The FB has great views of the city, by the way!

Back down (on foot this time) and back across the Chain Bridge. St. Stephen’s Cathedral is just on the other side of the bridge so I got a bit of my Jesus on while in Budapest. I passed through the Christmas markets and smelled all the wonderful food. Ahh yes, food! There were many kinds of sausages & mixed meat/veggie combos none of which I know the names too. There were also large knuckles or joints of various animals all cooked up and brown and crispy-looking. Sorry vegetarians, that shit is good, yo. There’s something just so wrong and so right about seeing miscellaneous meat cooking on the street. God bless the animals that feed us! There were also lots of handmade crafty items for sale such as traditional Hungarian clothing, ceramics, hats, tablecloths, etc. I couldn’t justify getting more money from the ATM to buy said stuff so I skimped out and only bought something for my 95-year-old Hungarian grandmother.

 

Back at the train station I had a ticket for the 3:28 back to Prague. I arrived home around midnight and I took my ass to bed.

Today: I wrote this blog yesterday but I managed to find a recipe for the Croatian bread mentioned early in my post.

A picture of sandwiches. Big deal, right? Most of the time I’d agree with you and admit to the ‘uninterestingly high level of blah’ there. However, allow me to explain.

Thursday 10 December

There’s a bit of a set-up first. Since I’m so awesome and have three jobs at the moment, I wanted to prepare a nice edible treat for the holiday party. No, actually contributing food or drink for this party was not a requirement but I was feeling generous this week and I had a plan. I wanted to make chocolate chip cookies. Wow, big deal–snoozefest. Not exactly.

You see, although Czechs go apeshit for their chocolates and sweets (as is evident by the size of said departments in the supermarket), they do not have chocolate chips. And to expand that idea, they do not have chocolate chip cookies. While they can be purchased (Marks & Spencer has them but M&S is a British chain), it’s a largely unfamiliar sweet treat for the locals. As all my dedicated American readers know, chocolate chip cookies are just fucking delicious. Czechs seem to be really interested in our culture (and food as one friend asked me what we eat last week and I forwarded a big list of typically ‘American’ food items). I thought chocolate chip cookies would be a great foray into the American food genre. Plus, free food (laced with butter, sugar and chocolate) is a good way to win people over and get them to talk to you.

Expats.cz is a great resource for all of us living abroad. The site is really a compendium of all things necessary and not-so-necessary for surviving here. It ranges from flat shares, restaurant reviews, movie listings and holiday guides and local events. The forum on expats.cz is also a great place for really specific and random questions you just can’t find the answer to otherwise. It was there I posted about where to locate chocolate chips in this town. I was given three options but of the three I chose Robertson’s. Robertson’s is an importer of British products–food products. There are two shops in town so I hopped the 8 tram to Dejvicka and began my search.

Robertson’s is a small-ish shop but I wasn’t necessarily expecting a huge high-ceilinged warehouse filled with scones and crumpets. I asked the woman behind the counter if she had the chocolate chips and she quickly plopped down two bags. Nice work! Robertson’s also has other goodies unavailable elsewhere in Prague: Dr. Pepper, root beer, Duncan Hines boxed mixes and lastly CHEDDAR CHEESE. Cheddar cheese is pretty much non-existant here. It’s mostly Eidam. And when I say mostly I mean to say about 90% Eidam. When shops have other cheese options, it’s not cheddar. It’s a mild light yellow cheese that is delicious in it’s own right. I’m not here to knock the cheese; the cheese didn’t do anything to me. But again, like the chocolate chip issue, we Americans love our cheddar cheese. We do. The bright orange refrigerated wheel was staring at me from behind the glass case. I had already paid for my purchases but I wanted some fucking cheese.Therefore, I bought 100g of the stuff. Ok yes, that’s metric. I know. It’s nearly impossible to make the mental conversion so here’s a gauge on how little 100g really is…… 1000g = kilo = 2.2lbs. I knew 100g wasn’t going to be much (nor would it last very long) but I needed a fix, bad. If I could mainline the stuff, I would. Yum.

So, continuing on the food train… another item that we Americans really love is peanut butter. While peanut butter is available here it’s some random Euro brand and a small (6oz-ish) container sells for about 80-85Kc (USD 4.50 or so). I’d venture to say that unless there’s an allergy, most American homes have some PB somewhere in the cabinets. We love it that much.

On the way home from Robertson’s I knew what I was going to do. I was going to buy some slice white bread. Yes, I said WHITE BREAD. Sorry, I know all the mutli-grain stuff is better for you but white bread is WHITE FUCKING BREAD. When I got home I was going to slap a shitload of cheddar on buttered white bread and make a grilled cheese sandwich. AND, because I was feeling frisky, I would make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, too. Yes, I know–the rebellion is jumping off the page here.

Friday 11 December

The cookies were a hit with my Czech colleagues and fellow teachers and they were gone in a hurry. I buy my friends with sugar and sweets. That’s how I roll. But perhaps I’ll make some more for the office staff to keep myself in their good graces and maybe get myself some more work out of the deal…..

Saturday 12 December

The Christmas markets are here. They’re pretty fantastic. The Christmas markets are an annual tradition in Prague. They really do give a nice Christmas-y feeling with their red roofed huts and smells of roasted chestnuts and spiced wine floating in the air. Old Town Square (a 5-7 minute walk from my flat) has the biggest markets as well as the busiest. Other markets are all over town; they’d actually be quite difficult to miss if you were strolling the streets.

The markets in OTS have a huge Christmas tree that is lit-up to the 9’s. It’s beautiful. I don’t wax nostalgic or poetic often but this a beautiful giant tree from the Krkonose mountains. The lights on the tree are everywhere and it blinks and sparkles for all to see.

Other Christmas Market pretty stuff.

Food at the markets:

(Various markets pop-up several times through the year and some food/drink is a staple while other items are seasonal.)

Trdelnik…. I have yet to experience these but they look smell delicious. First some kind of dough is made. It is then rolled over a steel/iron pipe and turned over hot coals. The cooked dough is then rolled in cinnamon and sugar (and I think nuts).

Langose... Another dough-based item. I haven’t had these either but I have it on good authority that they are delicious. It’s a circular baked crusty-looking thing on which you can choose your toppings. The most popular seems to be cheese with ketchup (yes, I said ketchup). There are also sweet options as well but the savory is the preferred.

Roasted chestnuts… Yes, we have the famous Christmas song but do you know anyone that has ever had a roasted chestnut? Yeah, me neither. This is certainly a seasonal item and I had to try some. The stands are all over and a bag of about 6-8 chestnuts sells for 50Kc. The chestnuts are roasted in the shells but the moisture of the roasting softens them so removing the contents is quite easy. The taste? It’s ok. I thought they should be sweeter or saltier. By no means gross or nasty–just rather bland. The chestnut ‘meat’ was about the texture of a slightly firm potato and the color was similar as well.

Medovina.... is delicious!!!! This is a honey-based alcoholic drink. It’s diluted with water and either served hot or cold. The markets sell the hot version and I will confirm it’s awesomeness.

Hot spiced wine…. (svarak) served red or white it tastes as you would probably expect. It’s quite delicious. Imagine the flavors of clove, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, etc. all swimming around a steaming portion of wine. Nice.

Grog… Rum with hot water. It tastes like rum with hot water. I didn’t notice any additional flavorings added to the serving I had so I can’t give a wordy (and bullshit) flavor profile as if I was drinking a 1964 Chateau Lafite.

Miscellaneous stuff in my brain today….

Architecture–Panelaks… remnants of a Communist past. Panelaks are classic Socialist architecture in every way. They are huge buildings of flats that still pockmark the cities here. There seem to be areas of town that have more than others. Czechs generally dislike panelaks not only for the past that they represent but also because they are ugly. Since I live in the center of town, I live in a ‘regular’ building so I cannot confirm the crappyness that is a panelak. But, I know some people that have lived in panelaks as well as inhabit them presently. They are not spoken about favorably. Here are some examples…

Dinner–Chicken was on sale yesterday. I bought some. With minimal ingredients I made a marinade of olive oil, orange zest, fresh-squeezed orange juice, brown sugar, salt, pepper, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg…. Said chicken was marinated and roasted with an onion. A cheap meal!

Work–I have two weeks of holiday time coming up and my flatmates will both be out of the country. Bethany is going to the UK and Olga will be in Romania. It’s times like this that I wish there was a common room in this flat; I would so have a party. I am planning a ‘roll your own’ sushi night with some friends so we’ll see. I suggested heavily boozing it up and hitting the Christmas markets, too. Does someone want to contribute a big bottle of Becherovka for the occasion? I’ll thank you later.

Living in a city of over one million has it’s advantages. Living in a European city of over one million has more advantages. Of course, this is coming from my American perspective but still…..

There are often festivals throughout the city. I don’t keep up with these (free) events as much as I should. A budget-minded person should research all the low-cost or freebie options available. Yesterday, I got an SMS from a friend that told me about Refufest. Well actually, the SMS said ‘Music festival at Kampa.’ When she said it was free I put on my shoes and headed out the door.

Since I live in a very central location, I figured I’d walk over; it was a nice day and it’s not that far. Take a look the map.

My place is on the right near Namesti Republiky. Kampa Island is on the west side of the river just below the middle. So, I walked through Old Town Square (which never gets old) and continued through Old Town and across Charles Bridge. However, I really didn’t consider the tourist traffic yesterday. The area in front of the astronomical clock in OTS is always crowded. Everyone stands around and waits for the little guys inside to do their magic. So, navigating around hordes of people can be quite a task. Crossing Charles Bridge is also quite interesting. With added construction on the bridge, that makes for less walking space for the same amount of people. I could have easily taken a tram across and would have been there in less time. Alas, I was on my way to a free event so all is well in the universe.

Kampa Island is a really nice part of town.

It’s located in Mala Strana (Little Quarter) and many embassies are located there. Architecturally, it’s rather unspoiled as many structures have remained largely untouched for years. The Kampa Museum is located there, too. Outside there are a few of David Cerny’s huge creepy slot-faced babies outside. Cerny is a rather famous Czech artist responsible for the babies crawling up Zizkov TV tower as well as the controversial piece, ‘Entropa.’

A real baby for scale!

I joined my friends in the grass near the stage and was able to enjoy the scenery/music/beer. Refufest is (as the name suggests) is a gathering that supports immigrants and refugees. Prague is quite multi-cultural and multi-ethnic so it’s really cool to be able to experience so many different kinds of music/food/people in this city. Living in an isolated tank of ‘white’ isn’t realistic to how the rest of the world lives. There were several tents for various non-profit type organizations that promote the plight of refugees and assist in their transition to new & safer productive lives. There were also a few tents for various vendors selling their wares as well as some areas for miscellaneous baked and fried treats. But, there was only one beer tent. This is Prague, people. We demand more areas for the sale of beer. Twenty-five korun for a beer isn’t too bad; the show was free so I didn’t complain. The kids at the event were all drinking some bright red carbonated drink that I still can’t quite figure out. It looks like one of those drinks that will immediately stain your face and give that ‘Kool-Aid moustache’ look.

Some of the entertainment was more interesting/better than others. I enjoyed the authentic stuff with the people wearing traditional clothing. It can be a bit eye-opening.

The woman on the left was very much feeling the music. I think.

Ok, a Buddhist monk AND fairtrade coffee. Just by posting this image, I declare that I’ve done my part for the day.

Tibetan singer woman….but also notice the person ’sleeping’ in the grass……

No, I wasn’t kidnapped and thrown into a meat freezer. This is the bathroom. Yes, with blue lights and a big scary metal door that slams.

I like the angry/suspicious guy behind Gemma.

Three things here to point out…..yes, a belly dancer, the ’sleeping’ person from before still hasn’t moved but yet now wears a coat and third, the girl who has her underpants exposed for all of Prague.

On the way home, I walked past a night marathon. It was set up right in the middle of OTS and there were lots of people gathered around. A big stage was set up with a giant projection screen. Another reason why I love this town; it was just random but cool.

…and a few more randoms from the day….

The red tent in the middle was the only beer tent!

No, I did not drop acid yesterday.

Note: I broke my small digital camera few weeks ago–the display is cracked and I can’t see a damn thing until I upload the pics. So, now I just take random pics and hope that I’m pointing the camera in the general direction.

I imagined purchasing a ticket and subsequent return here would be a big hassle and a pain in the ass. To my surprise, there was no line and the ticket agent spoke English. Hooray for me & my dumbass monolingual self. Like most modes of transport here, I can report that the trains are efficient (aka on time) and really very nice. The car I was in had approx 12 other people so it made me feel like I spent a bit more than 1176Kc. I’m not suggesting that they were plush accommodations with a complimentary foot massage and bottle of Moet but it wasn’t a sub-standard Eastern European shitty railcar filled with stinky people. Quite nice so color me impressed.

 

RANT:  I was up at 530am and for some GD reason the Finn and his girlfriend (who I NEVER saw and she was here for a WEEK) were both up at the asscrack of dawn, too. That never happened. Dude usually likes to sleep. Anyway, as per his usual messy ass, he promptly went into the kitchen to prepare some vegan breakfast extravaganza that included a gross kind of paste from a tube. Here’s a question: Ok, so vegans and vegetarians don’t eat meat but they eat ‘meat substitutes’ and stuff that kind of ‘looks’ like meat…why? Isn’t the point of being a vegan/vegetarian the AVOIDANCE of meat so why bother with foods that give the meat illusion. Own your fucking status.  So anyway, he was toiling away with the toaster (as he always did) and cut up some vegetables and, of course, left them all sitting out on the counter with the cutting board, knife, loaf of sliced bread and crumbs all over the fucking counter and floor. Let’s hear three cheers for cleanliness. WTF. Good thing he hauled his ass back to Scandinavia. 

 

Profiling? Racist? Never. Here’s an interesting observation–or at least I found it to be…

 

At the last stop in the C.R., the Czech police stroll through the train just looking at people and I suppose checking random papers/passports. Nobody on my car was checked. Then, the overhead p.a. system throws out the ‘thank you’ announcement and the train crew switches over to a German one. Once in Germany, the German police stroll through the cars going through the same process. Again, they walk right past me and everyone else. No wait, they randomly ask for the paper of the Indian family sitting a few rows back. Racial profiling? You decide. Good thing they didn’t find the 4 kilos of hash & heroin packed away in my laptop. 

 

I arrived in Dresden at 11 with 2.5 hrs to kill. What to do, what to do? As it turns out the Czech Consulate is super close to the Dresden-Neustadt station  so that was no problem.  The Brits bombed the shit out of Dresden in WWII. But, in recent years apparently many landmarks have been refurbished/reconstructed so Dresden is really nice. I walked around a bit and was a total tourist. 

 

Consulate appointment at 1:30. There was an American college student trying to get a visa and I thought she was going to have some kind of mental breakdown. Apparently she didn’t have the right insurance papers and I was really sure the girl was going to flip the fuck out. Why? Not only did she not have the right papers but also if she did, they would be in English and since the foreign police are the ones who accept/deny/process your papers, the stuff needs to be in (big surprise!) Czech. She begged for permission to use a fax and the very patient woman behind the counter at the Consulate had to explain multiple times (and quite nicely) that it wouldn’t matter if she got a fax because of the ENGLISH on the document. Anyway, this dumbass girl went on her merry way and probably cried her way back to the train station. 

 

 The interview. First, the Consulate official asked the other people to leave the room as the interview was ‘private.’ There was a series of questions but none of these were terribly personal. She didn’t ask when I had my last period nor did she ask what color underwear I was wearing. Alas, the interview was over shortly and I GOT MY STAMP which is what I came to do. Of course, I’m still not here 100% legally but at least I am permitted to stay longer than the alotted 90-day run from my initial Schengen entry date. The Czech foreign police have 90 to 120 days to approve or deny my visa application so I’ll be here (at least) for a little while longer.

 

The train back to Prague was better than the first. All the cars on the return run were private (6 seater) compartments only. These are the ones you see in the movies. I didn’t even pay for an actual ’seat’ on either leg of the journey but this train was rather empty as was the dining car. The dining car was nice. Real nice. I promptly headed to the dining car and to my dismay there was no Capt. Steubing or ‘Julie Your Cruise Director’ waiting for me at a big table. But then I remembered that I wasn’t on the fucking Love Boat. Damn. Oh well, at least they served beer. Glorious beer. I love you. 

 

 

 

           

 

            

 

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, it’s week two and the TEFL Gods have wasted no time throwing us to the wolves! Ok, that’s being dramatic; the TGs aren’t wolves, they are perfectly normal adults who just speak very little English. Shit.

We did a brief bit of classroom instruction (to real students–no, not children either) last week and then prepared a full lesson plan for today’s class. Now we’re in the thick of things and pretty much doing new lesson plans everyday. Today’s plan was a lexis (look it up, it will be ironic), and tomorrow’s plan is a listening exercise/lesson. Although the content isn’t terribly confusing, it’s devising efficient and well-structured lessons that the students ‘get.’ Of course the easy thing would be to just write down words and definitions on the board and ask if the class understands. The problem with that is people will usually say that they DO understand even when they do not. Also, admitting you don’t understand something is a confidence crusher as well as a bit embarrassing. That said, we are required to continually CCQ (concept check question) the material without blatantly saying a definition of a word. Synonyms were my friend today. I don’t know how the hell I’m going to instruct some abstract idea. Shit. Oh well, hopefully that will be for advanced students. The level I’m at this week is pre-intermediate (just above beginner) and it’s rather difficult to ‘dumb down’ your way of speaking and also noting what kind of verbal structure you are using. Eh…. All in all though, today’s lesson went well and I was told so and that makes me feel pretty pleased. Our actual ‘observation’ period has been next to nothing so cranking out lesson plans that ‘work’ has been a challenge. I supposed unless I drop my pants and take a shit on a Czech-English dictionary, it will probably be alright.

On the food front since I know some of you are interested…..

Food update… I have seen some very interesting meat-like items in the refrigerated case of the local grocery. I’ll get to that in a minute….

Again, I picked up a couple things to eat. (Keeping with my theme of getting a few unknown and known items, by the way.) I bought a small plastic container of what I thought was tuna salad. Not even owning a Czech-English dictionary, I can only go on pictures; also, the fact that I know about 10 Czech words doesn’t help in any shopping experience. So, since this container was clear, I examined the contents and the photo on the packaging and deduced that it was probably a rather innocuous tuna salad. Harmless, right?So, I’m back at the flat after class today wanting something to eat…Ah-ha! The tuna! I peeled the top back and it still totally looked like tuna salad. Ok, that’s good. Phew. Problem averted. Hungry stomach satiated.Ok, let’s try this thing…. with fork in hand, I freely took a bite and well, it wasn’t tuna. It was never tuna. Even if I close my eyes and click my heels three times, this shit is never going to be tuna. It’s basically a mayonnaise-y fish puree that is kept chilled probably to discourage any funky Euro bacteria invasion. Damn, I really need to get a friggin’ translating dictionary.

Ok, back to the other weird stuff I saw in the refrigerated case. In the same area as the non-tuna, there are several containers of various meats in various states of um…..suspension? (In the near future–I’ll buy one just to see how ‘interesting’ it is. Yes, of course–photos!) One (I don’t know what it’s called) of these items looks to be sliced deli meat (pork or chicken? The jury is out on that). Oh no, it’s not plain and boring deli meat. This thing is sliced meat wrapped around what could possibly be cream cheese? I am guessing on this. It’s white and looks rather thick. I’m a cream cheese girl but this uh….no thanks. Maybe this was the same stuff on my random sandwich from last week? Perhaps–just making associations here. So, we have the meat wrapped around white stuff and it’s encased in a clear gelatinous matter. I refuse to call it liquid as it is not. I think this particulate is the fourth state of matter also known as plasma. So, the meat rolls are sitting at the bottom of a clear solidified goo. The presentation is questionable at best and I also don’t understand the function of the solidified clear stuff. Is it for preservation? Is it just damn delicious? I believe it is used for the purpose of the former rather than truly being the latter. No way. Impossible. When I picked up a container of this stuff and turned it over, nothing inside moved. At all. Didn’t even budge. Maybe if I experimented with various temperatures the contents would shift and I could use the gelatinous hellspawn as some kind of household glue? It certainly appears to possess the properties of a commercial adhesive or maybe even a solvent.

INFOMERIAL!!!! Got paint on your favorite blouse? Need to clean up the boat for the Missus this weekend? Fuck Sham-Wow–this is the new shizz!! Why go ahead and bust out your pork cheese rolls and keep the clear stuff for miscellaneous chemical stains removal! Buy Mom a tube today!

WARNING: non-sequiturs and a bit of stream of consciousness writing below

10a So, I was up at 5a today. Boo.It’s 10a now and I am sitting in the Detroit Metro airport. I can’t get a wireless connection here so I’m typing this in TextEdit. I’d rather use a pretty word processing application but I don’t even think this machine came with any of that software loaded. WTF?

If any of you have been through this airport (Jayne!), it’s actually much nicer than it was 10+ years ago. I am sitting in front of the funky water fountain in the the main terminal and the Northwest overhead tram is parked and picking some peeps up. Since I’m here so GD early before my trans-Atlantic flight, the flight info is not yet displayed on the departures screens throughout the airport. Sure, I could ask what gate to go to but it’s super early and it would be stupid to be sitting there with my thumb up my ass all damn day. While I’m usually quite good at said maneuver, I’d rather not inflict such pain on small children that happen to be passing by. Besides, it’s a ritual that I have a beer in an airport. Granted, it will probably cost me $25 but whatever. I am unemployed and homeless; what else am I supposed to do?

And by the way, there are birds in here. Yes, birds. I guess they like hanging out by the water and the trees. There is some irony of getting shit on in Detroit.

Oh, and as expected I had to pay a fee for having one of my checked bags be over the weight limit set by NW. I was only 12 pounds over–does anyone want to hazard a guess at how much that cost? Ninety farking dollars. Yeah! I was assuming it would be more fifty-ish but my assumption was quickly proven wrong at the ticket counter. WAH!

According to the NW inflight mag, I’ll get treated to a Kiera Knightley movie on the flight later. Hoo-fucking-ray. She was alright in ‘Bend It Like Beckham,’ but what’s the deal with her doing all these Jane Austen-y type Brit flicks? Ok yeah, I get it; you’re English already. Next.

Some douchebag is pacing behind me talking on the phone about Costa Rica & Hong Kong. He’s going on about how CR doesn’t observe Daylight Saving. Fascinating conversation, man.

1123a Jesus, it’s only been 90 minutes. I have since relocated to another spot but nonetheless time is going by slowly. For those curious, I ate a delicious McMuffin purchased from the Golden Arches. As industrial as their products seem to be, they are tasty. One cannot deny this. I’m curious to know how different the Czech brand McD’s will be. Shitty? I hope not. The fries were made by the hands of Little Baby Jesus. This much I know to be true.

Sucks I can’t hop on freebie wireless here. I can pay $8 and get service for the day but that’s kind of ridiculous. A day without Facebook is going to be a difficult one but I think I can cope. I have other methods of self-entertainment. In fact, I just made a really stupid video on iMovie.

 The flight to Amsterdam isn’t even boarding until 3pm. God. Three and a half hours more of sitting. My ass will be sore. A full day’s worth of sitting ain’t good for my delicate keister. At least it’s almost noon so I can start drinking. Too bad I had to pack all the little bottles of liquor my sister gave me. Otherwise, I’d toss one down my gullet. That’s how i roll.More typey after Miller time.

115p Two Sam Adams Winter Lagers later….Two beers including tip? Twenty bucks.

I finally found my gate info but I’m 2 gates down because everyone else had the same idea about plugging in and charging up their products. I gotta have the juice, man

422p Up, Up and Away.. my beautiful balloon…In the air from Detroit, flight time 7 hr 15 min to Amsterdam.There is a screaming/crying baby a few rows back. Now would be a good time for those noise reducing headphones.

Ok, the woman in the seat directly in front of me just put her seat all the way back thus forcing my tray and laptop into my fat lard middle. Fun. I think she’s a stupid European, anyway.

For anyone interested the distance between DTW and AMS is 3900 miles.More later. I want food now.

645pMan, these people are really quite efficient with the beverage and meal service. It was all complete within an hour and the cabin lights were quickly dimmed. As everyone knows airplanes are not the most comfortable places certainly when one is considering the option of sleep. Although the seat next to me is vacant and this row is all mine, the constraints of comfort (or lack thereof) are something I am contending with. My attempt at sleep was nil so I’m updating the blog entry.

According to the inflight information provided on the handy little personal viewing screens, we are somewhere over NE Canada–around Newfoundland, I think. It’s certainly remote as I see no lights for any cities below. Damn. Canada must be a cold and boring place tonight. But, I’ve heard Toronto is a cool ethnically diverse city. Wouldn’t mind visiting there sometime. Of course, Vancouver would be cool too. If I hadn’t been doing this move, I was considering my next solo trip for the summer of ‘09… fly into Portland, hang out for a bit, rent a car and drive up the NW coast through to Seattle and then on to Vancouver. Instead, I’m having an awesome European adventure which frankly, will probably be better than a 5 day domestic trip.

915p Ok, again my attempts at sleeping on this thing are futile. Normally, I am neither a light sleeper nor one who has difficulty falling asleep. I’m far from an insomniac so what gives? I attribute this to the uncomfortableness of trying to sleep while sitting up. Grrr.

Someone just sprayed perfume. Ok lady, this is an enclosed metal tube that we’re all stuck in for 8+ hours. Try keeping your whore juice to a minimum when in close proximity to others for extended periods.

Geography update–checking the digitized flight map, I’m now somewhere over the Atlantic between Iceland & Ireland.

Distance traveled: 2950 milesOutside temp: -48FMPH: 585Altitude: 40,421ft

Perfume lady is at it again. Somebody reeks of vodka. Yes!I

t’s going to be difficult to get used to a 24-hour clock. And this metric thing and temperature conversions are going to constantly weigh on me.

Friday 349p (Prague time) Screaming baby returned. With a vengeance. Seriously, that kid was out of control and not really even ‘crying.’ Bad parenting.

My flight arrived in Amsterdam earlier than expected and when going through customs & security I got a thorough frisking. No seriously, we’re talking thorough. When I went through security in Knoxville, I took off my belt & shoes per US screenings. I removed the belt in Amsterdam but somehow I set the damn detector off. When I was pulled to the side I got probably a full 60 second frisking/groping. I say groping because the inspector seriously had some hands in the pants action as well as serious cuppage of boobs. It was a bit of a disconcerting experience.

Schipol International Airport has some of the best looking employees. This includes the woman who felt me up. To me, it looked like she should have been selling fragrances behind a counter rather than patting down shifty-eyed travelers. All the airport cops were young, hot and toting guns. Of course the gun thing isn’t something I’m accustomed to seeing.

I hopped in a tram that took me far away from the main terminal to my KLM flight bound for Prague. I arrived at 850a and quickly got my gigantic fucking bags and headed out to wait for my pick-up.We drove right through Prague and over the river and I could see from a distance the big castle on the hill.

Hooray!I finally arrived at Biscupcova 3, Praha 3 around 10ish this morning. Oh and the street addresses come after the street name. Google baby, Google. This particular area of town is the ‘Brooklyn’ of Prague.

Since I hadn’t exchanged my US currency at the airport, I knew that was a priority. I changed some money at the bank with a teller who I didn’t exchange courtesies because I don’t speak Czech! With today’s exchange rate, I have 4,183 Crowns. Translated 192USD.

I also went to the corner market-sorry, I don’t know the Czech word just yet. This store is literally about 30 feet from the door of the building and they have various beverages (incl. beer & soda) as well as fruits & dried goods. I wouldn’t necessarily say the contents of the store are like a typical convenient store in the US but the concept is similar. Again, I had no verbal exchange with the woman at the register. I bought a big carbonated water -orange flavored if you are curious as well as a Czech beverage which I had read about. Kofola looks like a regular Coke or Pepsi. Although I try to stay away from caffeine, I decided to get something to help me stay awake and adjust my internal clock. Although this stuff looks like a regular ‘pop,’ it tastes vaguely of Jagermeister. It is rather herbal & medicinal tasting. It’s not horrible, it’s just different.

715pSo, my roommate (a temporary one as she is going to her own flat tomorrow) is a woman who has already been through this program and is now working here in Prague. Nice! She’s given me the heads up about some things so I appreciate that. Strange though is that we have much in common in the ways of where we have both lived. Before she came here she was living in Louisville; she’s also lived in upstate NY but by far the strangest is the Ohio connection. I mentioned that I had also lived in Cleveland. As it turns out we both lived in Chagrin Falls and actually attended the same high school. Mind you, this is a high school of less than 400 enrollment. And, we both left CF after our sophomore years. Her parents still live there and actually they live in a condo between my old church and the high school!

I went back to the little mini-mart a few moments ago to get some more stuff. See photo below. Come on, you knew the beer was coming soon! I’m having some of this tea right now and it’s actually quite good. While I prefer caff-free stuff, I can’t read the packaging so oh well. If I get all amped up, I’ll know I bought the wrong stuff. The ‘Chipsletten’ are some kind of Euro Pringle that are super salty. Me likey. And yes, it’s all about the carbs tonight. Good times, good times.

The little bottles of booze my sister gifted me have also been unwrapped from the rolled-up Martha Stewart ninja style packing and I am proud to say, none of my shit broke. My work was proven effective after all!

Sorry that I have nothing more interesting to report but I’m going to Tesco tomorrow so stay tuned!

 

  

  

 

Clicky for bigger.

Sorry this entry wasn’t very interesting but once I get out on foot more, I’ll have more fun details & photos to post.

Oh and the random pic of a building is just some residential building a few blocks away. I don’t know what it’s called but I thought I’d throw it in there.

For those of you that know me, the answer to the above question is probably yes. Why? Because I’m making reference to this move with great frequency. But this move is a HUGE deal for me thus it occupies much of my thoughts. So on that front I apologize and you’ll only have to hear about it for a few more weeks and then I’ll be blogging from across the pond. 

Four weeks from today I’ll be on day two of my European/Iron Curtain adventure. It will be Saturday, February 7, 2009. Yes, I really do know the exact date.

I have packed up no more than I had a few days ago and I’m alright with that fact.There is still the wish that I had a bit more done for the mere desire of living in a slightly less unorganized domicile.

Updates are still to come when something more interesting happens. Until that time, I’m going to drink my beer and be a Facebook whore. If anyone out there wants to ‘friend’ me, please do so as I will probably welcome the request. However, if you do not know me personally and you still want to FB, give me some personal info and perhaps we can exchange mails and then I’ll honor your request. I’m by no means trying to be bitchy on this front but I’ve never revealed my last name here so keeping a bit of anonymity here is something I’d like to maintain. My name isn’t a secret but you know, the paparazzi are just an evil nuisance of my daily life. Oh I keed, I keed….  

In one month the new chapter begins! Although I still have plenty of time, my apartment is still a mess. I’m usually prepared for stuff and hate doing last-minute cramming so hopefully I won’t be scrambling to get things done the last week of January. I’ll be departing the US on Feb. 5th, and after a nice 24-hour travel day, I’ll arrive around 9am local time following layovers in Detroit and Amsterdam. And before anyone asks–a) no, I won’t be hitting any Dutch hash bars and b) no, I’m not going to buy you any weed. Airlines and airport security don’t like you travelling with illegal substances. Come on, haven’t you seen Brokedown Palace? 

 

Yes, this is the beautiful Prague Castle in Prague, Czech Republic. I kind of can’t believe I’m doing this; I’m moving to Europe. Holy shit. I’d always had the desire to live abroad.  While most do this kind of move right out of college, as the saying goes, ‘better late than never,’ right? People keep asking me why I’m doing this and my simple response is, ‘Why not?’ The only reasons I shouldn’t do this are out of personal fear and intimidation. Being a person who is usually neither, I’m taking a leap of faith and just DOING IT. I think Nike was right on that one. Of course, this blog will be updated often and now that Wordpress is my pal, frequent updates are super easy which is a convenient factor for someone who is acquiring a quasi-vagabond lifestyle. I am also bringing along two cameras therefore photos will accompany many blogs. My current freebie Flickr account only permits 200 images but if I pay for a subscription, I can upload mass quantities for everyone to see. Wordpress  allows one image upload at a time thus making bulk uploads time consuming. We’ll see about the Flickr thing though; it’s a bit premature to make a decision as I’m considering other photo site upload contenders. Ever seen SmugMug? Personalized user site design is a plus and some of the layouts look awesome. It’s tempting but I haven’t been able to navigate to a pricing sheet. They’re making it tricky on purpose! Either way, I’ll definitely be putting up lots of photos so stay tuned!