I'm really unsure how I feel about this...

John Madden is retiring. Am I relieved? Am I appalled? Who the hell am I going to make fun of on Sundays? 'You've gotta run, or you've gotta pass.' Who will provide such gems of knowledge once the Eyebrowed Wonder ditches us?

I wonder what he'll do in retirement...

why didn't I come up with this?!

Last night I experienced what, in retrospect, should have been my own idea: a self-service bar. One that's not my refrigerator. Its a bar full o' tables that have their own triple-sided beer tap with a tracker, and you pay by the liter...

The place was tricky though, and 'required' reservations a week out. Luckily, as we arrived, a group was leaving, so we commandeered their table. Hah! Can't get rid of the Americans that easily! While prices were fair (I think we paid 75Kc each for a total of 10 liters of brew) the taps were shifty and didn't exactly stop flowing once the tap was closed. They would generously overflow the mugs with foam, wasting (but still charging for) precious beer.

Still, I'm pissed that I didn't come up with this first...

yes...she was with us...

look at that concentration!

a little foamy for my liking, although I drank it anyway

a creative name...but worth documenting nonetheless
(mainly so I can find my way back to it later!)

Look! I think I figured out how to pre-blog and set it up to post later...whahoo!

last night's view

talk about a clear night, eh?!

This afternoon we're jumping on a train bound for Budapest, Hungary and then we'll check out Bratislava, Slovakia. I hate to say it, but this'll be a post-free weekend (again). I hope to have lots to blog about when we get back on Tuesday night!

Happy Easter weekend...yay for eggs!

lazy afternoon

For the sole purpose of logging this event so that I can look back in a few months and relish in the glory that was my extended vacation...here's what I've accomplished in the last 3 hours:

• ate pizza and drank beer at Pizzeria Kmotra (so delicious!)
• stopped by the evil Tesco to pick up a few things for dinner
• soaked up sunshine (while rocking a tank top/flip-flops/newly pedicured toes!)
• checked out my fave blogs
• opened another beer to enjoy as I soak up more sunshine from the giant windows in our apartment

Annnnd...here's what I plan to do over the next 3 hours:

• continue to drink beer
• continue to soak up sunshine
• finish a rad book I've been reading
• continue to relax (so I can fight the gnarly cold I caught in Cesky Krumlov)
• contemplate what to pack for this weekend's trips to Budapest and Bratislava

Since every post is better with pictures, here we go:

yeah, it's an old pic from September 2008, but its funny, right?!?!

Cesky Krumlov in a nutshell

Over the weekend, we took a trip out to Cesky Krumlov, a beautiful little castle town about 3 hours from Prague. For a school-organized trip of 63 people, it was well run, actually. The only initial complaint was the shuttle that part of the group (Rob and I included) got to ride in...lovingly nicknamed "the short bus". Lacking isn't a strong enough word for the actual absence of legroom in that thing. Even I, with my short little legs, had to wad myself up to get into my seat...fun.

On our way to Krumlov, we stopped at Franz Ferdinand's old place, Konopiste Castle. An hour's tour taught us two things: 1 - the man hunted, a lot. Like killed 400,000 animals in his lifetime. They were thoughtfully displayed in a 'trophy hall' of the castle, which I snapped some covert pics of (below). 2 - castles are cold and hold old stuff, from times that I don't really get excited about. The trip made me glad that we'd skipped the tour of Versailles' inards.


Once we got to Cesky Krumlov and got checked into our hotel, we were free to roam at will until Sunday, when we were scheduled to tour the Krumlov castle.

view from our room, overlooking the Vltava River

the throne of a toilet in our room - complete with armrests!

Friday night was full of shenanigans, as Thunderbirds took over the sleepy, quiet little mountain town. Rob and I did dinner on our own, and then met up with a group at a little piano bar, before heading to an interesting club.

On Saturday, we slept in and ate a late breakfast (of pizza for me and honey wings for Rob), washed down with a beer. After wandering around town for a few hours, we retired to Cafe Van Gogh and played cards for four and a half hours.

Dave, me, Rob and Jai

After scouring the town in search of good food and more beer, Van Gogh served us well once more with more beer and card playing. We tumbled into an 'underground' bar called Horor Bar (I didn't leave out an 'r', they did...). I'm not even sure where to begin in my description of this place...imagine nooses and shrouded skeletons and a coffin table, and you've got a good start. I'm 'horor-fied' to discover that I took NO pics of the creepy bar...I'll see if I can track some down from someone else...

view of town from Krumlov castle

On Sunday, we rose bright and early to tour another castle. Our guide was, um, strange. English was definitely not her first language, and she tended to stick to the very dry script that she'd clearly carefully rehearsed. We were lucky enough to learn about allllllll the paintings and furniture. A few of my favorite, lifeless quotes:

• "This por-tray-ttt is of (some old guy) and was painted by (another old guy) in year XXXX".
• "The fur-ne-ture in this room is from (some country) in (some year) and is very beautifullll".
• "The view from this beautifullll window is very beautifulll."

The group was half convinced that she was a robot...she never made eye contact with anyone, creeped from room to room oddly, and held her hands at weird angles. I can't replicate the snail-like speed at which she spoke (although I do find myself typing her quotes slowly), or the tone she used, but I'll be happy to try next time I Skype with any of you...

My favorite part was her closing (not just because it was over), as we stood in one of the rooms, when she said, and I quote, "Thank you verrrry much for visiting our beautifulllll castle. I hope you have enjoyed your tour. I wish you good day, goodbye." Um, we're still IN HERE. It was like when you leave a restaurant/cafe/bar/movie with a group of friends, and say your goodbyes right outside, before walking in the same direction to your car, only to have to say goodbye again. You know that awkward feeling? Imagine that, but you're trapped in a castle with a robot, who may or may not self-destruct. Odd duck.

We escaped the tour, hopped on "the big bus" (the one with a bathroom, sodas and legroom) and headed back toward Prague. Exhausted, we traipsed up the 113 stairs to our apartment and fell into bed before 9pm.


(sidenote: Cesky Krumlov will make you sick...all four of us are stuffed up, runny nosed, sore throated and cranky. Probably has nothing to do with smoky bars and staying out late. Annnnd, it appears as though prescriptions are required for OTC drugs, like Advil or NyQuil. Awesome. Yay for Airborne and tea!)

erratic doesn't begin to cover it

When we arrived in Prague, we were met with gloomy skies and cold winds. A few days before, it had snowed here.

On a cold, overcast morning, I went for a jog. About 15 minutes into my run, snow hit. Ugh. Since it was March, it wasn't totally out of the ordinary, but annoying just the same.

A few weeks later, we got our first taste of sunshine. It stuck around all day and left us with bitter, frozen nights.

The past week has been gorgeous - the kind of gorgeous that drags you out of bed early and makes you get out and do stuff. Evenings have still been chilly, but it seems as though spring has arrived.

Both yesterday and today, we've had tank-top-and-flip-flops days. I've been soaking up the sun like a lizard, sitting in parks and wandering cobblestone streets. Both yesterday and today, rain has struck from nowhere. Huge, torrential, frigid drops of rain on my parade. Just minutes ago, on our 72degree day, we got hail.


What the hail?!?!