All my dreams have come true. I'm driving again, and it couldn't be more perfect. The rental car place asked if we wanted a free upgrade to a Chevy Equinox, well Duh!!
We've seen even more American flags here than we see in Sweden, and that's really saying a lot because I see at least one everyday.
And Taco Bell is still as fabulous as always.
I'm so happy to be home!
Since there's no hope of swimming anymore and our guests have come and gone, we decided it was time to put the winter cover on the pool. It's no easy task! The winter cover is made to withstand 2 meters of snow.
First things first, the summer cover needed to be cleaned and drained of rain water
Charlie was not thrilled about seeing the pool go. He never gets in the water, even though he loves to swim. He's just a big scary cat when it comes to jumping into water. If we built him a ramp, he'd be fine. He still likes to hang his head over the side and dream.
The winter cover is made of sheets of metal siding, and the shed out back was made just it fit them. The only not so smart thing about the she'd is that the sheets are wider than the door, so they have to be turned to the side to fit through. This makes it extra tough.
There was some doubt that I'd be able to help because of the weight, but Chris had faith in me, and I can never back down from a challenge. It took us all day, and Charlie helped very step of the way.
We would carry three or four pieces at a time and then rest. At about the 3/4 way point, I thought I wasn't going to make it and Charlie commiserated with me.
In the end, we got the cover out and screwed down, and we packed all the summer furniture up for the winter. We were super lucky to have sun all day this day. I think it was the last week in October when we got it covered, and I'm pretty sure we haven't seen the sun since =)
For Thanksgiving a couple of weeks ago, Chris and I had a big ole dinner. Last year, Thanksgiving was the low point for me. This year, I decided to embrace the holiday as best I could. It started small. Zoë and I decided we would cook the usual suspects and invite just two or three more people. In the end there were 16 adults and 3 kids!
We did all our cooking the night before.
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| It was a shame this cornbread turned into dressing, it was the best cornbread I've ever made |
Chris was doing the turkey. He brought his turkey fryer over, and spent some time converting it so it could use a Swedish propane tank. It was a huge success!
We ended up cooking two turkeys. When I was a kid I liked to name the turkeys while I was washing them. We had an 8 lb and an 18 lb, and they got Swedish names, Malin and Gustav. I know this next picture seems like something gone wrong, but yes, it is indeed a woman carving the turkey. I'm sure it's close to treason, but so it goes.
Charlie waited patiently for his taste, and was Johnny on the spot when things hit the floor.
Everybody brought something and in the end we had a ridiculous amount of food: turkey, dressing, butternut squash quiche, cranberries, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and bechemel, gravy, apple pie, pumpkin cheesecake, pecan pie, and on and on! We packed to go containers for everyone, explaining the importance of Thanksgiving leftovers. We had 10 countries represented and everyone was so happy to get to enjoy a real Thanksgiving.
Finally I'm getting the last Prague blog! Czech food is meat, wild meat, game meat, and organ meat. Did I mention there was meat? It is extremely heavy food usually cooked in beer and served with something pickled. To our surprise though, everywhere offered at least three vegetarian dishes, and they were more than a salad too.
First things first, breakfast. Our hotel the first two nights had an amazing breakfast buffet. Breakfast in Europe is very different from breakfast in the US. It is typical to eat cold cuts and cheese or yogurt and granola here, hot breakfast is almost unheard of. This buffet had both. The hot parts weren't great, but the cold parts were plentiful and varied. We loved this breakfast.
The first night we went mid range. The food was really good and we were happy with our choice. We even had a sommelier.
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| Chris had snitzel, sweetbread, and granitated potatoes |
Lunch on the second day warranted warm food. It was cold out and we had been walking for hours. We popped into a Czech pub and tried our luck with some traditional Czech food, pork knee and pickled veggies.
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| That bowl of white shredded something is horseradish |
It was really good. The meat was so tender and the sauce super tasty. The next meal needed to have some veggies and not have meat for me. So pizza it was! It was awesome pizza too.
The downside to eating in Prague is the smoke. They still have smoking sections in their restaurants with the mentality that somehow smoke doesn't flow between the two sections. There were a lot of restaurants we walked out of because the smoke was so heavy. We were lucky in the pizza place that no one started smoking till we were putting our coats on to leave. The next night we ate sushi. They were completely nonsmoking!
The last night we were in town I googled nonsmoking restaurants in Prague. Three places came up. One of them was an American burger joint with really good reviews. Everyone said the place was tiny and they didn't take reservations, so we went around 8:00. There was one table open. It was an easy metro ride away. It was a super cute little hole in the wall type place that was a few steps down from street level.
The bartender was rocking a pretty cool handlebar mustache.
The menu was so American, with burgers, fries, pulled pork, and ranch dressing. They even had Kentucky bourbon pecan pie! The food was absolutely amazing! We both loved our burgers soooo much! It was a good find.
We had really good food in Prague. It was cheap and tasty.
Before we left, everyone said there were two must go places in Prague, Prague Castle and Charles Bridge, so we headed out. Just as we got close to the bridge, the sun came out, and the view was amazing!
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| Charles Bridge and Prague Castle |
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| Prague Castle from the Old Town side |
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| Charles Bridge from the Prague Castle side |
Charles Bridge was built in 1357, commissioned by Charles IV, who laid the first stone. It crosses the Vltava River. It has been through a lot of damage and repairs over the years. It used to be a crucial connection for trade from Western Europe to Eastern Europe. Today it is a pedestrian bridge host to vendors and 30 or so statues from various artists with various themes.
Just to my left in the above picture was probably my favorite of all the places we went. It was a marionette shop, and I was like a kid in there. I really like the characature look of them, and how they are just hanging there ready to be animated.
I checked into going to see a show, but it didn't work out. Maybe next time!
Chris and I went to Prague this weekend! Growing up in the height of the USSR gives me a certain strange feeling about Eastern Bloch countries. This is my 4th former Soviet country this year! When I was a kid I used to imagine I was a spy in Czechoslovakia along with my imaginary friend Carol. I was a bit disappointed when the country didn't make it through the reorganization, but hey, it's still the same land, even if it lost the name. So here I am, finally in, well, the Czech Republic.
The city center is absolutely georgeous! The architecture is even better than In Budapest, and that's saying a lot. The buildings are all tall, and the streets are not in boring crisscross grids, but rather in curvy, windy patterns, which makes for some really cool street walking.
The buildings are very different from each other and extremely detailed.
There are a lot of painted buildings as well.
The sidewalks are all cobblestone, small cobblestone, and many varying patterns. Even when we switched hotels to further out of the city, all the sidewalks are patterned.
After the first day of getting to know the city, we were ready to head out and see more the next day!
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