Praha, Pivo, Prosim

Wine. It’s good for you.

It’s made from fruit.

Saturday September 19

Wine has quite a history throughout the world and here in the C.R., it’s no different. Every year in the late summer/early fall there are harvest festivals. These festivals are for a specific kind of wine called burcak. It’s young wine that is also fermented. It doesn’t taste like any wine you’ve had before. It’s available in both the red and white varieties.

2pm

So, cut to last weekend I went out with a bunch of people to the local burcak festival (there were actually several all over town that weekend) at Havlickovy Sady (a city park). The even at the park was really quite cool. Aside from tons of people, there was a big main stage as well as various tents/vendors for drinks, food & miscellaneous knick-knacks. The theme of the festival was some kind of 19thC. thing. I don’t know how to describe it other than saying many people were wearing period costume. There was also even the old-fashioned giant bikes; you know the ones with the huge front wheel and the teeny back wheel. To the side of the main stage was also a performance area (we happened to be sitting to the immediate right of it) where several Cirque du Soleil-type acrobatic performers did cool stuff throughout the day.

8 or 9pm

After the events at Havlickovy Sady, we headed over to Jiriho z Podebrad. There were yet more tents with more alcohol as well as several bands playing.

10 or 11pm

Off to Riegrovy Sady beer garden. Oy, the events get hazy at this point. Good times. I can report that some random drunk passed out guy was sitting across from me and the new TEFL kids decided to fuck with him so I snapped all kinds of hilarity.

1 or 2am

Next stop a bar in Vinohrady. Wow, I’m too old to do this power drinking. Yikes. I need to go home. But not until I finish my requisite pivo!

230am

After midnight the metro stops running and the trams change routes, numbers and times. I walked home. Most excellent. It’s good for circulation. That’s what I kept telling myself……’it’s for health….it’s for health!’

The verdict?Burcak is mighty tasty stuff.

*Burcak is sold in various quantities: ,33l ,5l 1.5l or 2lAlthough it looks a bit ghetto to be carrying around a 1.5 or 2l plastic container of wine, everyone does it. It’s in the pictures. You shall see.

Friday September 25

Another Friday night at Riegrovy Sady beer garden. It was rather chilly that night at not many people were out drinking. But perhaps that’s because it’s a three day weekend. I write this at 830 on Monday morning when I would normally be getting ready for work. Woo hoo for holidays! Nobody knows what the holiday actually IS today but we don’t care; it just gives us all another day off.

After Riegrovy we went to Akropolis. This is some random club/restaurant/bar in Zizkov. I’m normally opposed to paying a cover charge but this place was a paltry 30Kc. Oh well. I bit the bullet and did it. From what I saw the place wasn’t that fantastic. Although it looked quite large and also looked to be another one of those ‘how-many-rooms-in-the-basement-of-this-building-are-there’ kind of places. We ended up there with a friend of Sean Hardy’s who is hardcore French and introduces himself as (seriously), ‘Hello I am Freddy and I am ready.’ With the super thick Frenchie accent it’s even more hilarious than it reads.

Saturday September 26

I got a text message from Natalie and Jack saying they were going to Karlstejn Castle that day. Sweet! I hadn’t been there yet so I was game.

The Round-trip train ticket is only 109Kc so why not, right? We got on the 12:41 and headed out.

Tons of people got off at the same stop and we just figured that they all had the same idea as we did for a Saturday afternoon. Karlstejn is probably the closest castle to Prague that isn’t IN Prague so it’s quite a popular day-trip. Anyway, we soon realized that all these people were going to Karlstejn because of the annual burcak festival!! Sweet! I love this fucking country. We hadn’t planned on this extra bonus event! We were stoked.

Karlstejn is a really cute little town just W/SW of the city. It’s a good 2mi. trek up the castle but it’s right up the main street of the town so it’s by no means a difficult walk. Along the sides of the road were of course burcak vendors as well as lots of local trinkets, etc. Additionally, there was this big medieval theme going on, too. The castle was built in 1348 so there were tons of people dressed in period costume, etc. From the program information we read that at 230pm there was to be the ‘royal procession’ to the castle gates and then after there would be various performances inside the castle. Oh excellent!!! We made it up the hill to the gate and waited for the procession. I’d say there were a good 150-200 people involved in the procession. There did not mess around. Once inside the castle there was music, bellydancers & faqir as well as a court jeser/juggler/comic who the kids loved. Pretty cool stuff!

Along the way we guzzled a few beers and purchased a nice huge 1.5l of red burcak. The previous week I only had the white burcak and my personal rating of the red is higher than the white. I was told burcak tastes like cider or juice and I didn’t think the white tasted like either. Both versions have an obvious smell of fermentation and both are bubbly. (Actually, bottles of the stuff can explode from the bubbles. I nearly had the remaining red I have explode all over my yellow walls last night. I avoided disaster with my ninja-like skills.) The red burcak actually DOES taste more like ‘juice’ than anything and I can understand why it’s so easy to drink massive amounts of the stuff. Danger Will Robinson, danger!

We got on the 636pm train back to Prague and I was home by 8pm. All in all a fantastic start to a three-day weekend!

Sunday September 27

Since the day before we did a spontaneous trip to Karlstejn I was feeling the urge to do more. I consulted some online resources and travel books and waffled back and forth between Melnik, Krivoklat Castle, Kutna Hora & maybe Tabor. In the end, I decided on Tabor. Tabor is a town in Southern Bohemia. I had some friends go the day before and I got the thumbs up that it was a good trip so I went by myself.

I made it to the train station at noon and bought my ticket for 241Kc. The train departed on time (as everything does in this country) and I was off. The train was a (not really) nice old Communist-era clunker. It was old and rusty and had plenty of graffiti.

Arrival in Tabor was at about 2 and I made my way into the ‘old town’ area. Although I had no map, I’m usually quite good with directions (despite my possession of a vagina) and can make my way around places fairly easily. Along the way, I made the correct judgment calls and I found the old square with no problems. The main square of Tabor is really cute. I know centuries old cities shouldn’t be referred to as ‘cute’ but I’m a female, so it fits. Around the square are cool old buildings as well as a clock tower and an old church with an even bigger tower. I hiked up the church tower for 25Kc and it has a freaking fantastic view of the town. The walk up the tower is interesting. Up old stone steps and then to rickety wooden stairs that are quite steep. The rope ‘railing’ looks questionable but it seems to work. Additionally, I’ll note that you have to bend way down and walk UNDER the giant church bell to continue to the top. Ha ha nice! My Nikon was happy once I got to the top.

Back down in town I continued to walk around for a few hours and have a few beers. I even managed to get a Wi-Fi signal at a restaurant so I started Facebooking. A girl has gotta have her priorities. For those interested, I had garlic soup (oh yeah, good stuff) and roast pork knee on toast with cheese (also yummy). The main beverage in town is Budvar (where American Budweiser gets the name) but this is the ‘original’ stuff and people get pissed if one assumes the Czech and American versions are the same. Budvar is made in Ceske Budejovice which is a bit more south than Tabor. Ask the Google.

I decided to get on the 7pm train back to Prague and I was home by 9pm. Another good day!

Monday September 28

The last day of my long weekend. Did I stay in? Nope. BBQ, baby. It was the ‘Goodbye to Summer’ BBQ so there were many men grilling the meat while we woman foraged for berries and tend the fire. Ha, no not really. But something like that.

A GREAT WEEKEND!I’m going to post a bunch of photos to Facebook rather than here. Photos can only be loaded individually here and they also need to be resized. I want to share a lot of them so it would take a lot of time on my end to do these things. A mass upload on FB is in order. Stay tuned.

In a feat of bad English instruction I bring you some information about Czech hookers…

First, allow me to explain…

Last week, somehow the topic of prostitution came up in a lesson. Yes, you read that right. No holds barred in my classes.

Anyway, prostitution is legal here. That is, from what I had heard, prostitutes are legal if they operate within a brothel. I asked my student to confirm said knowledge. My student didn’t know the word ‘brothel’ so I provided a synonym: whorehouse. From there, I broke down the word further…. a whore = a prostitute a ‘ho’ = slang for a prostitute (I also said it is unwise to refer to a woman as a HO unless of course she really IS a ho)…. (Random: Czechs love learning American slang! They might not take many notes in class but if I preface some terms by saying they are ‘American slang,’ they quickly grab their pens and get to work.)

So, of course the student remembers the slang term HO which he used in a correct form today. I was so very proud at that moment and I expressed said pride in the knowledge that he now knows about hos.

Anyway, back to my story… so yes, it is true that prostitutes are required to conduct their business from a brothel. However, that’s not to say there aren’t your run-of-the-mill street hookers and jacked-up, one-toothed, peg-legged, crackwhores wandering the dark alleys of Prague. I’ve walked down Vaclavske Namesti numerous times at night and I can say I’ve never noticed a street ho parading her ass around the sausage stands for a fresh John. Maybe they don’t dress like your typical American street hooker complete with fish nets stockings, busted teeth and clear-heeled ho boots. I also don’t know how much the local and state police monitor the ho stroll so I sadly can’t report any hilarious hooker arrests involving flying shoes and spitting. Too bad–it would be a good blog.

So anyway back to my point…. my student told me that yes, they are supposed to work in the whorehouse but there is a famous stretch of road here in the Czech Republic that has some internationally famous hookers. No, I don’t mean that they are famous individually for any special or unique hooker skills they might possess. I just mean to say that from what Valer told me, there is a stretch of the E55 highway littered with Czech-speaking blow job queens. Somehow I find the prospect of being a highway hooker quite depressing. Of course I’m not suggesting that I think the life of a regular city ho is anything glamorous. No sir, I’ve seen Sally Jesse and Springer; I know how that shit goes down. But man, selling your ass for a quickie in the back of a semi truck hauling zucchini to Berlin must really be scraping the bottom of the proverbial pride barrel. Dang, y’all.

**I was going to provide a link but if you Google ‘prostitutes on E55,’ you’ll find some interesting stuff.

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.

First off I suppose the above is grammatically incorrect. ‘hospoda’ is Czech for pub but since the Czech language doesn’t use articles, my insertion of THE might make it just that much more retarded.

But anyway….

I’m not usually a ‘club’ kind of person. I’m all for a good drink and socializing but clubs are usually super crowded which invariably means that one ends up standing in an uncomfortable position for a long stretch of time. Additionally, I like to actually be able to speak to whomever I am with at the time and speak at a normal volume. Screaming in the ear of your friend that you have to go to the WC is just stupid. And then of course there’s the waiting in line for a drink part. This part sucks. If the club is a good one (e.g. busy), the bar will probably be 4 or 5 people deep so therein begins the seemingly endless cycle of bar, drink, bathroom, yell, dance, bar, drink, bathroom, yell, etc. For variety I suppose you could throw in an occasional drink spill or insult shouted from a stranger but the aforementioned is the general form.

Last night I went to The Cross Club. The Cross Club is in a bit of a more ‘industrial’ part of town. I don’t think it’s super desirable to live there but alas, it’s a popular place so I finally broke my cherry and and went with a posse of English teachers. (The place gets bonus points for being one tram away from my flat. Public transportation is great here but sometimes you just don’t want to wait for a transfer. Direct routes = happy)

Here’s how I’ll describe The Cross Club….. I assume that the proprietors of the club bought an old run down warehouse or building and decided to make it into a club. Then, they went to the nearest junkyard and bought all the parts to car engines they could find. On their way out of the junkyard they realized they could use a couple hundred old motherboards so they bought those too. Adding to the pile of crap, mix in a lot of pipes, rebar, moving parts and miscellaneous lights. And that’s just the decor of the downstairs bar. The music played was a random Euro metal mix. It could have been in Czech, Latvian or even Bulgarian–I have no idea. But strangely enough (or perhaps not), it actually ‘goes’ with the look of the bar. There is also a dance area and outdoor seating as well as an upstairs which has a completely different vibe. The upstairs is more chill and decorated in a completely different way. It’s much lighter in two ways–aesthetically and in tone/feeling. The music is different and it’s not densely packed like the junkyard/torture museum/art installation below.

I can happily report that a ,5L dark Kozel or Gambrinus is 28Kc. With the exchange rate presently around 18Kc/1USD, that’s a good price for a drink in a club.

The club’s webpage can’t be rolled over to English but if you check the ‘galerie’ in the toolbar on the left, you can see what the place looks like. Tell me if you think my description is accurate. I would have taken pictures myself but the display on my Nikon is busted. Boo. (The camera still works but I can’t change any of the settings nor can I have the joy of instant gratification. Boo. And this came about 2 weeks on the heels of me washing my mobile while it was still in my pants.)

New Schedule

I have a new work schedule starting this week and it’s going to be interesting. I need to put on my best teacher shoes and really manage my time this semester. God, I need more supplies too. The number of photocopies scattered around my room is embarrassing. I’m so NOT good for the environment. However, I’ll still and try to blog with regularity and I’ll post random stupid pictures of my Euro adventures.

Holla!

Nope, not sex talk. Sorry.

Busy August and my schedule is kicking up again next week but I promise I’ll put in my best effort to post a decent blog by the week’s end. Stay tuned. Thanks for your patience.

I love the SAPA market I really do.

It’s horribly cliche to say a place is alive, to say that it has a pulse. But I swear SAPA has a heartbeat. Granted, it’s a heartbeat spoken in a different tongue but alas, it’s there.

The workers are constantly unpacking huge boxes of wares and organizing their little shops. Some of the people listen to music while others play cards. Others even play some kind of game where money is exchanged and even yet another strange table game that looks to be a cross of chinese checkers, chess and dominos. They drink their tea and they laugh and conduct their business and go upon their merry way. Meanwhile I walk about with mouth gaped like the out-of-place ‘tourist’ who is amazed at it all. I’ve been to SAPA enough times now so that I know the little alleyways and where the hidden spots are located. But, that doesn’t keep me from cruising them all. The SAPA market is a city within a city. It’s a community with lawyers and schools and even an insurance agency. I love it!

I made an unplanned trip to SAPA this morning because it was still early and I was in that part of town so off I went. It was a quick trip today as I didn’t do much browsing but I certainly wanted a steaming bowl of Pho. I know I’ve blogged about this before but I’ll recap….. With relative confidence I can say Pho is the Vietnamese national dish. In short, it’s a big bowl of piping hot broth with noodles. No, it doesn’t sound very interesting but trust me when I say it’s freaking delicious. The broth is super flavorful and that alone would be good enough for me. But then there’s all the extra fabulous stuff they throw in the mix. Aside from the broth, noodles & meat there is a combination of onions & misc. fresh ‘greenery’ that is added last minute so as to retain it’s bright color and freshness. Additionally, it’s up to the consumer of said bowl of goodies as to what extras he or she would like to add. I usually opt for them all: freshly cut lemon, fresh sliced red chilies, sliced garlic, chili/garlic paste & of course Sriacha. Sriacha is a fiery red sauce that while being fairly ‘hot’ on the scale of heat, it’s not so hot that you can’t taste any other ingredients in what you are eating. I seem to be able to handle hotter foods than I think I can therefore I always end up gradually adding more Sriacha. The stuff will make you sweat a bit but sweat in a good way. I found myself blowing my nose this morning and it’s August. A bowl of chicken & pork Pho with a .5L of Pilsner Urquell - 110Kc. All in all, a most excellent price. Now go eat your Pho!

Update on yesterday’s post: I’m recording the voiceover for this documentary tomorrow. The demo/audition/whatever was super brief this a.m. I met a guy at 10am at a recording studio and I read 2 bits of script while he recorded. One take–nice & easy. I’m not even sure how much of a script I’m scheduled to do but it pays well and will be an interesting experience. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for a short documentary on scuba diving & photography in Mauritius!! Hmm, wonder if I can bag an entry on IMDB out of this. Something to chew on.

Per Jayne’s request I’m posting something today.

In my defense I do usually try & post weekly but I’ve had some extra stuff going on in the last few weeks. And also I should note that nothing hugely exciting has occurred therefore no interesting post. I have extra work as of late so that’s tied up my schedule a bit more. TEFL power!

As for what I’m doing right now well, I’ll spare you the details of my early morning laundry duties as somehow I seem to be washing clothes every Saturday morning. It’s kind of pathetic and nerdy but since I’m up anyway, I figure I might as well take advantage of the washing machine availability. Ah yes, the priorities of adulthood.

Last Sunday a bunch of people headed to Zlute Lazne Sorry, the page cannot be rolled over to English. But I’ll try & explain… ZL is an artificial beach on the Vltava that has sand volleyball courts, a sauna/spa area & of course the requisite klobasa and beer stands. Let me explain the photos I’ve posted.

1. While at ZL I should tell all of you that there were plenty of dudes (usually older) parading around in their Euro thongs. As an American, seeing this is very funny. Yes, it is. Anyway, there was also a man (probably 70 years old or so) who clearly LOVES the sun. This cat lives outside, I am convinced of this fact. He is about the color of a grilled klobasa. To further explain for anyone unfamiliar with what said food item looks like, imagine a walking, talking, breathing ‘burnt sienna’ Crayola crayon. It’s a very unnatural color to say the least. We decided to name him Sausage Man. I really don’t even think this picture captures his truly burnt sienna essence. It was kind of horrifying.

2. Naked Euro baby was running around for a good 20 minutes or so with his little plastic toy.

3. It’s not really a ‘beach’ as there is minimal sand but alas, people sun themselves here and generally have a jolly good time. I’ll also say people will swim in the Vltava which frankly sounds like a questionable move on their part. No, it’s not the Ganges and I wouldn’t expect to see the rotting corpses of recently deceased lepers bobbing downstream but there’s probably a fair amount of chemical runoff from somewhere. Not so sure I’d go for a swim in the mighty Vltava.

4. You’d think I asked this dude to pose this way.

5. On the way home from ZL…. There are plenty of occasions of ‘old meeting new’ in this town so here is just one of them.

Random I… what am I listening to right now? I’ll tell you. Since I’m about 5-7 minutes from Old Town Square, there’s still a fair amount of ‘tourists’ in my small neighborhood. In OTS you can hire someone to tote you around via horse and carriage. The streets here are cobblestone so whenever the horses come around I can hear the rhythmic ‘clopping’ of the hooves as they walk down the street. I like that. It’s pretty cool to be able to sit in front of an open double door in Old Town Prague and hear the horses going by.

Random II… something interesting I’m doing tomorrow. Testing for a voiceover for a documentary–a documentary about Mauritius. It’s really random how this kind of fell into my lap but the short story is that the voice of the person they hired apparently didn’t match the male voice therefore they need someone new. We’ll see how it goes. It really doesn’t even seem like it’s an audition so it might already be a done deal. Cha-ching! This would be a great little add-on to my resume. My speaking voice is usually pretty decent and/or pleasant so hopefully they’ll like me.

Random III…Dobra Mama is a brand of yogurt. It’s delicious. I found a few new flavors last week so like the nerd I am I Googled the company. There isn’t an English version of the page but there IS an official yogurt ‘family’ complete with a son and daughter. There are videos of said family that include the following scenarios….

1. Family meditation– and rather than chanting OMMMM they channel all their energy into chanting YOOOOGUURRRRRT

2. The family playing some kind of ‘memory’ game with yogurt containers

3. At some point the Dad gets pissed at the teenage daughter and calls her a stupid bitch. (Ha kidding–I don’t speak Czech so therefore I was projecting that last bit. ‘I am your father and you are a whore. By the way, eat your yogurt!’)

4. Little brother broke his arm. Boo. It’s in a sling. But nice older sister feeds him. Cue violins.

If you navigate to their site you’ll get a freebie two-fer of bad acting and Czech audio.

)

I’m a ‘use what you have’ kind of cook. Like everyone else today, a budget has to be considered. Although I usually buy staple items, I can come up with new variations all the time. Being creative makes it more interesting. Use what you have and make what you like!

I put together some homemade Thai curry the other night and one of the main ingredients is coconut milk. If you’ve never had anything with coconut milk, go buy some today. Delicious. Anyway, I had some coconut milk left in the refrigerator.

Last night I decided I wanted to make some French toast. I had just bought a crusty baguette and I knew I had the other stuff to make it how I wanted. The only thing I didn’t have was syrup so that led me to be even more creative. When I went on the hunt for syrup last night, I noticed the organic variety for about 10$…no way. The ‘regular’ variety was also 10$. People don’t use syrup here so therefore it’s ridiculously priced. There’s that pesky budget thing creeping in so I didn’t buy any.

For the batter I used 3 eggs, regular milk, cinnamon and coconut milk. Not having cooked with coconut milk this way before, I was hesitant to use too much as the sugar content is high and I didn’t want a blackened and charred breakfast. The baguette was sliced on the bias (more surface area for your delicious eggy mixture to soak in and cling to). In went the bread to the batter and I soaked it for 15-20 minutes. I didn’t clock it as I was having coffee, half a grapefruit and reading stupid crap on the web. While your bread is soaking and you are catching up on new Reddit posts, heat up a saute pan–medium-ish heat will work fine.

Put a nice hunk of butter in the pan then add your bread. Don’t overcrowd the pan–it will be harder to flip the pieces. Check periodically and flip when it’s as brown and ‘done’ as you like. When finished, keep warm in the oven if necessary.Since I had some bananas and a can of pineapple that’s been collecting dust, I decided to use those for a topping. The canned pineapple was cut into rather small-ish pieces so I quartered and chopped the banana to ‘match.’ I mixed them in a bowl with a bit of the canned syrup. (Actually, I have to thank a fellow Redditor for the idea of using pineapple on FT. I posted a food thread last week about ‘what to make for breakfast’ and someone suggested a kind of pineapple syrup. I thought it was a most excellent idea!)

Assembly: stack your bread–food tends to look ‘prettier’ when it’s built up. Of course, add butter to your FT. I also have something called Nugeta here in my flat. (Think Nutella but made with peanuts.) I wasn’t sure how sweet the FT would be and since I wasn’t using regular syrup, I thought this would be a good touch. So, on it went. Next was the banana/pineapple mix and finally a bit more cinnamon for garnish. Voila!

All in all, it was pretty delicious and I’ll make it again (as I have leftovers!) but I’d add more coconut milk as I didn’t find the bread to burn ‘more’ than say just using a traditional batter mix. I’d also maybe use more of the canned syrup for more sweetness.

I’m doing the classic/lazy copy/paste on this because I wanted to share this here. I sent this to a friend last night and I’m passing it along to all of you (albeit with a few minor edits)….

I just experienced something that for some reason I thought you would appreciate. Sure, many people could appreciate this but I think you would be one of the few who would ‘Oh damn, this IS amazing’ with me on this one…

I just returned from Letna Park. Of course you have no idea what or where Letna Park is located….. Allow me to explain Letna Park and a bit of Prague first. Prague has been built on 7 hills. These hills aren’t vast mountains spanning across echoing valleys but they can certainly make navigation on foot a pain in the ass. In addition to these hills, the Vltava River also cuts through Prague. Two of Prague’s nicknames include The Mother of Cities and The City of a Hundred Spires. Needless to say, this is a very old and a very weathered place. Perhaps one could say that Prague is even the ‘heartbeat’ of what one would consider to be a Gothic city; we’re talking 1K years here. It’s practically everywhere you look and I love that. From the small little architectural details to the street signs and such, the age of Prague is inescapable. But the funny thing is, I don’t want to escape it; I don’t know anyone who does. Here it’s old stuff with a past. But it isn’t just age or something from a history book, it’s years and time and it’s effortlessly timeless. There are so many historic structures and so much history here, both known and unknown, it’s crazy. The darkened alleyways and cobblestone streets have so many stories and secrets to tell. I would like to hear them all.

Anyway, back to Letna Park…. Letna sits on one of the seven hills of Prague. The park is across the Vltava and directionally, it’s N/NE(ish) of the Old Town area. Letna also has a fucking great beer garden. Yes, I said beer garden. Those are fantastically useful words when used separately but when in unison, it’s as if the clouds part and God Himself is speaking to you. Jesus is your bartender now, pull up a stool.  The beer garden at Letna is hugely popular, especially on warm summer nights. That’s when the beer is the best! Sitting in Letna park at a table right by the railing overlooking Prague is just pretty damn amazing. Because of the geography and the short distance across the river, you can see so much; you can see everything and yet it isn’t enough. More is what you want. You can look left and you can look right and see the spires of centuries old buildings all while enjoying a gloriously golden Czech lager. The beer is tall and inviting and calling your name.  It’s cold and bubbly and tastes so very good. You can silently wonder to yourself who has done the same thing in that very spot on a night just like this and be humbled by it all. It’s a moment of GD perfection, if I do say so myself. And although I have been to Letna many times before, the view doesn’t get old. Ever. It’s something new everyday even if only slightly so…. it’s another day added to the calendar of this beautiful and historic place.

Tonight, I was there during twilight. You know, twilight is that that special time of day when the light is just so and everything flickers just a bit, it lends to this etherial kind of glow and mystery. The shades of blue are everywhere; and some hints of orange and red still twinkle in the streetlights below and in the reflections in the windows. I really smiled a big smile when I was taking it all in and I just know you’d have done the same. I’d equate it to one of those, ‘Damn, it’s great to be alive,’ moments.

Sometimes it’s just those silly little things that make us smile.So, I raise my beer (pivo) to you and send a big na zdravi (to your health!) across the big wide pond known as the Atlantic……until we meet again!  After reading that I pose this query: who is ready for a visit?!

COMMIES

I don’t have a television. I don’t have a radio. Well ok, I do have these things but they are packed away in a storage unit that is 4k miles away. As such, I get all my information from this here lovely interwebs. So……

One class (that happens to be in what I’m convinced is a former Communist Doctor’s office) has a radio. Because the class isn’t in an office building that requires a special security pass, I usually arrive early and pre-board any necessary text for a lesson. Since I’m always early, I turn on the radio and get my fill of weekly Czech radio. Of course I cannot understand what the DJs say when they are speaking. I still listen. However, English language music (like all forms of popular culture) has infiltrated the radio waves. Peppered between Czech songs are the ones I can understand. There are of course songs I don’t know and this just isn’t because I’m tragically unhip. It’s the Euro tunage. A few months back I heard a song I liked. I’m a writer of lyrics. But this is not for some deep and soulful purpose; this is only for the task of locating a particular song to download later. Anyway, I came home and downloaded this song. Ha, it is a Romanian pop group. Nice.

Cut to this week….most recently (as in Tuesday of this week) I heard another song I liked. I presume my ear noticed it because the band sounds quite a lot like Depeche Mode*. Camouflage is a German synthpop band from the 80s. I admit it, I’m a sucker for shitty synthpop. Go ahead & rag on it, I deserve the ridicule. It’s just damn catchy music. If you like bad 80s synth, check out these lyrics.

Or here’s the video if you so choose. Does anyone else thing the band has a Matt Damon-faced singer? How does Jason Bourne have time to program his Moog when determining his own identity?

*As an aside…… I found out about this place while reading an article on something else this week. It’s in Estonian but it’s real. Yes, a DM-themed bar. I’m a DM fan but I won’t be making a special trip to Tallinn for this.

LUNCH

There’s a great vegetarian Indian place about 2 blocks from here. (Check the menu for Dhaba Tynska) I’m pretty far from vegetarian on the food scale but Indian food is so tasty that meat really isn’t necessary. This place is literally in the shadows of Tyn Cathedral and insanely cheap. It’s in a courtyard of a sidestreet and unless you knew it was there, you’d walk right by. I love those hidden little gems. Beas offers a rather small menu but the ‘big menu’ is a mere 100KC. Score!

I also tried my first Kombucha. Kombucha is fermented tea. I can confirm that it does not taste like tea but does indeed taste fermented. The taste is really quite odd and off-putting. To be more specific, it rather tastes like something rotting; like something you should have thrown away 2 days ago but were too lazy and hungover. Like many similar foods that taste funky and gross, Kombucha is supposed to have some curative and beneficial qualities thus the reason for ingesting the stuff. If you haven’t heard of Kombucha, it’s not a fancy Euro-fied beverage. I had heard of the stuff in the US and my friend John used to buy it. Just look around in any health food or organic store and they’ll probably have it in their inventory.

Prior to having the stuff though I do recall Tina Fey on Letterman talking about her recent addiction to the dubious beverage. Go to 4:15 to hear her talk about it. She’s pretty spot on in her assessment and commentary.

On the note of Tina Fey, oh how I miss 30 Rock. Too bad I can’t get Hulu over here. Season 3 episodes are damn hard to locate online. Sadness.

CHEESE

If I said pickled cheese, the reaction of any normal person would be one of the following: ick, eew, gross, fuck that, nasty, hell no, etc. However, contrary to these thoughts, pickled cheese is freaking delicious. Pickled Hermelin is a staple bar food here in the C.R.. I was hesitant to try it for the very reason any normal person would hesitate to try the stuff. But I can report with great glee that pickled hermelin is the bomb. It’s not pickled in the traditional sense of being pickled. I usually associate tart, tangy, sour and vinegary with pickled foods. The hermelin is packed in a jar with various herbs, spices and other goodies such as garlic, peppers, juniper berries, capers, black pepper, onion, and oil. Basically you just let the stuff sit and work it’s magic in a jar. That easy. When the stuff is ready, you smear it all over some hearty Czech bread (Sumava is suggested) and you have a wonderful treat. I loved the stuff so much that I went to Tesco and bought a big plastic jar of the stuff. By no means is a 60Kc purchase of cheese going to be the world’s finest but it will surely satisfy my new cheese obsession.

Voila!

WORK

Here’s an example of the boring stuff I was researching last week to do a lesson at Kaufland. It’s at their logistics center in the Czech countryside. The place is huge and cumbersome and you can see the facility from kilometers away. It’s kind of one of those, ‘Oh shit, what the hell IS that over there,’ moments.

You can imagine the riveting buckets of information one can locate about grocery stores and related vocabulary. It’s rather boring and uninteresting material to do for 90 minutes.

NEWS

While surfing around on links from Reddit (my new go-to source aggregator), I saw the words penis and laser so naturally I did a little tap of my track pad and off I went. But what struck me as more tragic and interesting than the actual article was the sidebar. Yes, those are all associated news blurbs related to penis trauma this week. So this makes me query, ‘Does some dude behind a monitor aggregate articles on genitalia?’ Interesting gig. Is this a WTF moment? Or perhaps even a FTW? You decide.

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RANDOM PICS OF THE WEEK

Letna Park and an invader

Find the pivo!

Church at Strahov Monastery

Reminder: I live here