12.12.2009
it's fun to play
and kids in prague probably don't realize how good they have it. primary colors, silly graffiti (sometimes creepy but they of course don't know any better) and views of the river spanning all the way to the castle.
12.11.2009
prague river walks
vanessa's flat was a close five minutes to the river. it was the best 30-minute stroll into the city. lots of fisherman, and lots of families feeding swans. ...maybe too many families feeding swans. i don't think they're supposed to get too used to that.
+awesome views of the prague castle in the distance.
+awesome views of the prague castle in the distance.
12.09.2009
BrrRrRR
i'm starting to miss fall. actually, technically, it IS still fall, but what i want to wake up to are vivid yellows, burnt oranges and temperate weather equaling light scarves paired with light jackets and single layers.
sadly, along with most of the buildings in my neighborhood either burning down or closing, yesterday i realized the nice old tailor who was due to fix the zipper on my best winter jacket had gone down too...
until it starts snowing, this cold really isn't worth it.
sadly, along with most of the buildings in my neighborhood either burning down or closing, yesterday i realized the nice old tailor who was due to fix the zipper on my best winter jacket had gone down too...
until it starts snowing, this cold really isn't worth it.
12.08.2009
danish design. ::swoon::
one of my favorite things to do is type "mid-century" in the craigslist search box to see what's floating around my area. copenhagen was a mid-century mecca, with tons of vintage shops packed with eames and jacobsen pieces that would occupy me for hours. take a peek.
12.07.2009
11.05.2009
the jewish ghetto
interior of the old-new synagogue. the oldest synagogue in eastern europe via 1270
interior of the pinkas synagogue. the walls are covered with more than 80,000 names and personal info of all of the bohemian and moravian jews murdered by the nazis.
jewish cemetary via 15th century. more than 12,000 tombstones bodies eerily piled one on top of the other covering the entire block
spanish synagogue. 1868. most magnificent in color.
10.31.2009
prague zoo
finally posting some pics. yay.
there's so much to take in from place to place, it's almost overwhelming. so we'll start small. petite doses of mood and character. and maybe later you can find a flickr album. or something. maybe.
+don't get me wrong. i love going to the zoo. but out of respect for creatures held against their will, there's not many animal portraits. i'm sure you understand.
drab communist buildings are the backdrop of almost every view here in the czech republic. bleh.
the signage! made the experience feel quite gothic/nightmare before christmas-ish. loved it.
at one point vanessa and i were walking through the tunnel via photo #2 and heard some weird bird sounds. then we thought a bird was flying by and we were so confused. "they let birds fly free at this zoo?" when something flew by again, we realized A LOOSE BAT was hovering around us. we proceeded to SCREAM like crazy people and run as fast as we could out of the exhibit.
scared sh*tless = absolute hilarity. like i said, i love the zoo.
there's so much to take in from place to place, it's almost overwhelming. so we'll start small. petite doses of mood and character. and maybe later you can find a flickr album. or something. maybe.
+don't get me wrong. i love going to the zoo. but out of respect for creatures held against their will, there's not many animal portraits. i'm sure you understand.
drab communist buildings are the backdrop of almost every view here in the czech republic. bleh.
the signage! made the experience feel quite gothic/nightmare before christmas-ish. loved it.
at one point vanessa and i were walking through the tunnel via photo #2 and heard some weird bird sounds. then we thought a bird was flying by and we were so confused. "they let birds fly free at this zoo?" when something flew by again, we realized A LOOSE BAT was hovering around us. we proceeded to SCREAM like crazy people and run as fast as we could out of the exhibit.
scared sh*tless = absolute hilarity. like i said, i love the zoo.
meeow
i made it to berlin, where i am staying with sarah, my wonderful host i met on the (accidental) train trip from berlin to leipzig. lucky me!
i arrived at 730 pm and two hours later the first thing we did was go to a party. pretty much the best way to ring in a new city. although they claim they don't celebrate halloween here in germany, well, let's just say it was a halloween party. everyone had creative costumes and interesting masks, and the decorations were right on par with american tradition. no pumpkins, but carved tomatoes and spider cupcakes and bloody handprints on the walls. add lots of dancing and a few stuffed ghouls and you've really got yourself a celebration.
i was a black cat. with a painted face and everything.
success!
i arrived at 730 pm and two hours later the first thing we did was go to a party. pretty much the best way to ring in a new city. although they claim they don't celebrate halloween here in germany, well, let's just say it was a halloween party. everyone had creative costumes and interesting masks, and the decorations were right on par with american tradition. no pumpkins, but carved tomatoes and spider cupcakes and bloody handprints on the walls. add lots of dancing and a few stuffed ghouls and you've really got yourself a celebration.
i was a black cat. with a painted face and everything.
success!
10.22.2009
all hallows' eve
i will be abroad for halloween. i will say i'm a little sad to miss the traditional american celebration. oh well.
but finding costumes is always so difficult. i might just wear one of these hand-drawn masks.
p.s. what are YOU going to be for halloween?
but finding costumes is always so difficult. i might just wear one of these hand-drawn masks.
p.s. what are YOU going to be for halloween?
10.21.2009
hiccup.
i always expect a few travel blunders, especially in a country where i dont know the language...or the keyboard option for commas and parënthesis...
/a couple weeks ago i went to leipzig, germany for their twenty year celebration of the peaceful revolution, which led to the end of communism there. it was a large event with more than 100,000 people walking the streets bearing candles on the same path as the 1989 revolution, and taking in local artists light installations. unfortunately i missed probably the best part, as instead of getting off the train to transfer, i rode the rail two hours due north all the way to berlin.
damn!
+oops.
on the way back on the train from berlin i met this really nice girl from north germany and i thought the karma of meeting her made up for me being a stupid traveler. ...although the train tickets just arent very clear!...so i didnt get into liepzig until late, but i got to see most of the installations, and a hilarious band from brno.
/on the way back to prague, i stopped in dresden. the city has been amazingly restored since the bombing so now lies a city of high-class shopping, quaint parks, and, closer to the water, jet black buildings covered in soot.
only once walking in an underground tunnel with my backpack and umbrella did my left foot FALL INTO THE FLOOR when a drainage opening COLLAPSED under my weight. luckily no one else was in the tunnel but i definitely had to pry the bottom half of my leg out of the thin opening and continue on my way with only some light scratches and bruising up to my knee.
ouch./hahaha that was maybe one of the funniest things thats happened to me and no one was there to watch.
ive been away from prague for the last week. more hiccups to come.
/a couple weeks ago i went to leipzig, germany for their twenty year celebration of the peaceful revolution, which led to the end of communism there. it was a large event with more than 100,000 people walking the streets bearing candles on the same path as the 1989 revolution, and taking in local artists light installations. unfortunately i missed probably the best part, as instead of getting off the train to transfer, i rode the rail two hours due north all the way to berlin.
damn!
+oops.
on the way back on the train from berlin i met this really nice girl from north germany and i thought the karma of meeting her made up for me being a stupid traveler. ...although the train tickets just arent very clear!...so i didnt get into liepzig until late, but i got to see most of the installations, and a hilarious band from brno.
/on the way back to prague, i stopped in dresden. the city has been amazingly restored since the bombing so now lies a city of high-class shopping, quaint parks, and, closer to the water, jet black buildings covered in soot.
only once walking in an underground tunnel with my backpack and umbrella did my left foot FALL INTO THE FLOOR when a drainage opening COLLAPSED under my weight. luckily no one else was in the tunnel but i definitely had to pry the bottom half of my leg out of the thin opening and continue on my way with only some light scratches and bruising up to my knee.
ouch./hahaha that was maybe one of the funniest things thats happened to me and no one was there to watch.
ive been away from prague for the last week. more hiccups to come.
10.09.2009
traces of barley
yesterday we went east to chodova plana, where chodovar beer is brewed. the town itself was a sort-of lonely ghost town, empty and desolate aside from the brewery.
we stumbled upon a little jewish cemetery too
but, this is also the place where you can BATHE in chodovar.
yay! spa day!
first we dined on meat and dumplings, then took a tour of the brewery.
beer out of a spout springing from a huge coy pond? yes please.
underground we go to the baths. we were greeted by the door creaking open on its own (ok, it was a real guy at the door, but it was SPOOKY and well fitting with the town's ambiance), and were abruptly told to "take off."
you climb into these big vats and for twenty minutes it's like you're sitting in a deep tub of warm, frothy terminator stout, with a cool beer at your side to enjoy. then wrapped in a white sheet and led to a dark brick-lined room where you're wrapped in another cozy blanket for another 20 "relaxation" minutes. plus another beer at your side. it kind of ruined my mood once all i could think about was peeing my pants, but it was fantastic nonetheless.
we stumbled upon a little jewish cemetery too
but, this is also the place where you can BATHE in chodovar.
yay! spa day!
first we dined on meat and dumplings, then took a tour of the brewery.
beer out of a spout springing from a huge coy pond? yes please.
underground we go to the baths. we were greeted by the door creaking open on its own (ok, it was a real guy at the door, but it was SPOOKY and well fitting with the town's ambiance), and were abruptly told to "take off."
you climb into these big vats and for twenty minutes it's like you're sitting in a deep tub of warm, frothy terminator stout, with a cool beer at your side to enjoy. then wrapped in a white sheet and led to a dark brick-lined room where you're wrapped in another cozy blanket for another 20 "relaxation" minutes. plus another beer at your side. it kind of ruined my mood once all i could think about was peeing my pants, but it was fantastic nonetheless.
10.08.2009
grease lightning Go grease lightning
we wandered prague's gigantic zoo the other day. it's beautiful, and more authentic (feeling) than most. and it's not really a tourist attraction for non-czechs... which sometimes made it tricky to figure out exactly what we were looking at, but i'm pretty sure we got a good gist of things.
it was strange but interesting to see some of the animals they put on display here--ones usually ignored or unwanted in the states i.e.
porcupines/possums/squirrels/mice/badgers/giant rats
...i'm sure they all have their good qualities.
the zoo is spread out along a maze of walkways, with really elaborate (and close!) viewpoints of the animals. at the indoor indonesian exhibit, before we could even get halfway through, a bat ON THE LOOSE squealed past us and we RAN screaming out of the building--through the turnstyle, winding past the monkeys, and out two doors to safely arrive at the polar bear. scared me half. to. death.
tip if you travel there: stuff your face at the restaurant. they don't jack up the prices! great views of the city. cheap beer. DELICIOUS desserts. +peppy waitresses who scoop gelato while singing along to the grease soundtrack in czech. priceless.
more stories and photos to come soon [ish]. germany-bound tomorrow and internet sloooowww here.
i'll leave you with my favorite animal of the day: the bucktoothed rock hyrax. ciao!
it was strange but interesting to see some of the animals they put on display here--ones usually ignored or unwanted in the states i.e.
porcupines/possums/squirrels/mice/badgers/giant rats
...i'm sure they all have their good qualities.
the zoo is spread out along a maze of walkways, with really elaborate (and close!) viewpoints of the animals. at the indoor indonesian exhibit, before we could even get halfway through, a bat ON THE LOOSE squealed past us and we RAN screaming out of the building--through the turnstyle, winding past the monkeys, and out two doors to safely arrive at the polar bear. scared me half. to. death.
tip if you travel there: stuff your face at the restaurant. they don't jack up the prices! great views of the city. cheap beer. DELICIOUS desserts. +peppy waitresses who scoop gelato while singing along to the grease soundtrack in czech. priceless.
more stories and photos to come soon [ish]. germany-bound tomorrow and internet sloooowww here.
i'll leave you with my favorite animal of the day: the bucktoothed rock hyrax. ciao!
10.06.2009
missed connections
do you ever read those "i saw u" ads or spend time browsing through the personals on craigslist? it's actually pretty funny and i fully recommend it for time-wasting if you have some to spare. (only for entertainment, not for dating in reality)
even better is this brooklyn-based artist sophie blackall who has been working on a whimsical missed connections series depicting only a portion of the hundreds of ads some hopefuls post on craigslist everyday.
i hope some people start recognizing themselves. or, in the case of this one, maybe not...
too cute. scour her website, it's pretty entertaining.
xoxo
even better is this brooklyn-based artist sophie blackall who has been working on a whimsical missed connections series depicting only a portion of the hundreds of ads some hopefuls post on craigslist everyday.
i hope some people start recognizing themselves. or, in the case of this one, maybe not...
too cute. scour her website, it's pretty entertaining.
xoxo
10.04.2009
chess-key crumb-lahv
cobblestone streets and castles. gothic and baroque architecture. beer cheaper than water.
i've arrived safely in the czech republic after a 30-hour stop in copenhagen (more to come on that later) and a 13 1/2 hour bus ride the rest of the way. i've only been here for a couple days but vanessa and i have made the most of my time here so far. there are so many things to explore, and with plenty of time to do it, so we decided to go out of town yesterday.
we went via bus to lovely Cesky Krumlov. the driver was attempting some passing maneuvers that made me worried for our safety a lot a bit. he answered his cell phone a couple times too and that freaked me out. apparently a lot a crazy is just how czech's drive. yikes.
the city was GORGEOUS. just a little fairy tale tucked within a winding section of the river vltava. it's very small and maze-like but easy to get around. we found a vegetarian restaurant along the river where we sat and drank and ate and chatted with the uber-eccentric owner david for three hours. there was a view of the castle. there was hot wine and grog. (actually i thought grog was a sweet, hot wine like the swedish do, but apparently in prague it's rum and hot water. warmed me up for sure.)
david was curious about life in seattle, the people, the economy, the history of the young city. well, before 1907, i really don't know much about the history of seattle. what tribe was chief seattle from? anyone? sometimes europeans are so keen on history and geography it makes you regret the kind of education you received in the states. ...or maybe that's just me. anyway, david gave us blankets and cake and tea and good conversation and almost wouldn't let us leave.
we explored the castle. there were BEARS. two brown bears "protecting" the place at the bottom of the dry moat. vanessa was really ecsatic about them but we don't mention the whole cruelty of animals thing-- bears in a moat in front of a castle is pretty darn cool.
we ended up getting a ride home from vanessa's boss. there's a second location of the bookstore in cesky krumlov, and he was nice enough to offer us a ride home so we could forego the three hour bus ride. two hours in the car, mostly spent sleeping for me. the couple times i opened my eyes we were on the verge of a head-on collision on the dark windy roads. affirmative. czech's are scary drivers.
ok it's sunday funday. time to leave the flat. hugs.
i've arrived safely in the czech republic after a 30-hour stop in copenhagen (more to come on that later) and a 13 1/2 hour bus ride the rest of the way. i've only been here for a couple days but vanessa and i have made the most of my time here so far. there are so many things to explore, and with plenty of time to do it, so we decided to go out of town yesterday.
we went via bus to lovely Cesky Krumlov. the driver was attempting some passing maneuvers that made me worried for our safety a lot a bit. he answered his cell phone a couple times too and that freaked me out. apparently a lot a crazy is just how czech's drive. yikes.
the city was GORGEOUS. just a little fairy tale tucked within a winding section of the river vltava. it's very small and maze-like but easy to get around. we found a vegetarian restaurant along the river where we sat and drank and ate and chatted with the uber-eccentric owner david for three hours. there was a view of the castle. there was hot wine and grog. (actually i thought grog was a sweet, hot wine like the swedish do, but apparently in prague it's rum and hot water. warmed me up for sure.)
david was curious about life in seattle, the people, the economy, the history of the young city. well, before 1907, i really don't know much about the history of seattle. what tribe was chief seattle from? anyone? sometimes europeans are so keen on history and geography it makes you regret the kind of education you received in the states. ...or maybe that's just me. anyway, david gave us blankets and cake and tea and good conversation and almost wouldn't let us leave.
we explored the castle. there were BEARS. two brown bears "protecting" the place at the bottom of the dry moat. vanessa was really ecsatic about them but we don't mention the whole cruelty of animals thing-- bears in a moat in front of a castle is pretty darn cool.
we ended up getting a ride home from vanessa's boss. there's a second location of the bookstore in cesky krumlov, and he was nice enough to offer us a ride home so we could forego the three hour bus ride. two hours in the car, mostly spent sleeping for me. the couple times i opened my eyes we were on the verge of a head-on collision on the dark windy roads. affirmative. czech's are scary drivers.
ok it's sunday funday. time to leave the flat. hugs.
9.28.2009
prague or bust
leaving tomorrow for copenhagen yayaya! i had so much fun with my family in miami and it's been welcoming and relaxing but i'm eager to get this month-long jaunt started. strangely enough, walking the other day with my sissy, a woman went by asking if we wanted a "reading." i said noooo, we're on our way to the beach. she made us turn right around and said i had a good energy and asked to take off my sunglasses so she could see my eyes. she went on to tell me
/she saw TRAVEL in my future + embarking + more travel talk
/i haven't met my soulmate and will meet this person in april of next year and it will be completely unexpected (then she said something about an "A"-- referring to me or soulmate, i don't know)
/to be careful who i trust because there is a lot of jealousy around me. ...jeeZ you guys, just STOP it
and then she wrote her number on a receipt but made sure to snatch back the paper and add Spiritual on there because, "you have a bad memory," she said!
i really enjoy running into people who really DO have a talent for reading people. she actually knew a lot for just stopping me on the street. of course i dare not pay 85 dollars for someone to impress me by telling me what i already know or things i have yet to discover but i appreciated the interaction. thank you for the insight, cassy? cissy? i don't remember :)
time to pack. and, please, bear with me on this blog thing. it's new to me. hugs.
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