Weekends around Prague

July 16, 2018

"Let's take our time just moving slow" - Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats

Prague has stolen our hearts, and we just keep peeking around every corner trying to find them!

It's the perfect city for us. Filled with history, parks, incredible cuisine, arts, and now friends :)

Most of these pictures are from our weekends in the winter. Which to be honest, I'm so glad we got to know Prague winter before summer (because WOW are they different but both in a fantastic way).

In the winter, we got to explore Prague without the hustle and bustle of tourists (I mean fewer tourists). The streets were less crowded, you could get a reservation at a restaurant the day of and last but not least you have plenty of wonderfully unique museums to visit in solitude. In the evenings you can catch yourself engulfed by the arts, whether its a cinema debut or an opera performance. No matter the type of performance everyone dresses to impress. There's just something special about running off the tram bundled for a blizzard to then enter the ballet where those surrounding you are in nothing but silky short dresses. People feel the need to respect the arts with fine clothes. It's fun and new to me. I love it.

Ben is the best at filling a weekend with meaning. He understands the significance of time, and how we are only given a certain amount of day light, so we try and fill those hours of light with hours of exploration.

I find myself constantly in awe of the beauty that is this city. From the architecture to the birds who call Prague home for every season, no need to fly south when the city is this welcoming.

Here's an overview of what a Saturday in Prague would look like for us:

SATURDAY

Wake up (Usually Ben kissing my face to encourage the waking up process. Let's just say Ben's an early bird and I'm a night owl)
Run around Stromovka Park and or Ben's special Prague loop (through Letna Park, past the metronome, over the Valtava river, past Rudulfinom, over Charles Bridge, under the watch tower, up to the castle, through the castle gardens, back to Letna Park for the victory straightaway home.)
Quickly head to the local Farmers' Market to feast on Pesto Bread and Fresh Bakery (kolache, etc.)
Scope out Festivals or happenings within Prague
Follow along with #tasteofprague to find the new lunch spot
Venture off to a museum to slow the pace down a little (aka digest our lunch)
Grab a quick snack that we packed in our backpack that morning - This part of the day I tend to get a little anxious and angry without my needed snack.
Walk through a park we've never explored
Run to catch our tram to get home to quickly make dinner so we can then...
CATCH the new feature film at our favorite movie theatre Bio Oko
Head home with a husband and a heart that is surely satisfied

*Lunch at the National Museum of Agriculture*

An amazing exhibition regarding the Syrian Refugee Crisis at the National Gallery.

Cafe Jedna - One of my favorite cafes to visit and join in the swirling wave of productivity. Also, its fun because every season the cafe takes on a new exhibition. Everything changes, besides the plants and service which are always superb ;)

And sometimes the weekends end like this. Full and eventful days can be exhausting. Maybe this was one of those rare days I forgot to pack my snack :(

We look forward to our weekends spent in Prague!

Snowfall in the local park

March 06, 2018

"I wanna leave this house singing" - Will Reagan

Since I was a child I always loved seeing the snow fall to the ground, softly and slowly.

We live, maybe, one-hundred meters from a BEAUTIFUL park, Stromovka. The park is layered with wildlife, ponds, bridges and countless dogs leading the way for their owners. We love strolling through this park and taking in the sights, especially when it's just been dusted with snow.

Stromovka already holds multiple sweet-memories for us:

Waiting hours on a bench (with all we owned) for our apartment to be cleared
Winter morning runs that burn your throat
Nanny duties: walking round and round while the kids rest in the stroller
Feeding the swans and duck friends
Meeting/greeting every lovely pup that walks my way
Exploring and picture taking
Etc. ETc. ETC.

Anything with a beating heart immediately grabs my attention. I yearn for more time with animals in their natural habitat. As a kid I used to sit outside, for hours on end, just watching and waiting for anything to cross my path (or I would SURELY try to cross theirs).

As the snow fell on this day, the birds began to dance and cheer while whistling through the bushes in front of me. It's like each bird would dare the other to brave the big falling flakes. Finally when one mustarded up the courage the crowd would erupt with applause. I loved what I saw. I loved what I heard.

Thanks little birds for reminding me to take on the "big falling flakes".

Recess for children in Prague usually consists of piling on the layers and chasing after one another in the local park. The excitement and joy surely heightens when it has just snowed.

Truly, frozen in time.

The final weeks of winter have been the best of the season; cold but sunny, and sometimes snowy!

After many months of cold-wet darkness, I can happily say we both are anticipating the arrival of spring. Wahoo! My heart begins to flutter as I see the tulip bulbs spring up from the dirt.

Much love winter, Bensey <3

Ps. See you soon spring :)

Saturday Farmers' Market

January 29, 2018

"I'm happy as I am" - Men I Trust

Winter has come in full force to Prague (the sun is absolutely nowhere to be seen) and that means that our favorite Saturday morning routine of visiting one of Prague's many farmers' markets has gone on hiatus. The weekend markets take a break for a couple months to relieve the vendors/farmers from the frigid winter mornings and make sure they are prepared for when the frost is over and the sun can be seen again.

We find ourselves going to our local market at Kulatak and immediately get in the long line for what I think is the best kolache, kremole, buchty (pictured above) in town baked by Cukrarstvi Karlovy Vary. Now Czechs aren't crazy about the cookie or brownie but prefer a flaky pastry and sweet bread that is usually packed with a poppy seed or milk curd filling. No complaints here.

Even with our extremely limited Czech speaking skills, we find that people appreciate us trying to say, "Dva, prosím" correctly while pointing to some heavenly looking pastry and fumbling with our Czech Korunas. We are learning Czech very slowly as there are very few similarities between the Slavic and Germanic language structures, but we're doing our best and sticking with what we know best, ordering food, "Já si dám polévkou, prosím."

Now after we have had our sweet breakfast we head to the green grocers where they show off their huge leeks, potatoes, apples, cabbages, turnips, peppers, and whatever other hardy winter fruits & vegetables make it through the frosts.

We try to get to the market early in the morning so that we can see what the locals buy (equipped with dog and wicker baskets in hand) and where the biggest lines are before the tourists come. Who knew that the pickup truck with hundreds of eggs for sale, the mini dairy van, or the sausage tent were crowd favorites?

One of Kensey's favorite stops is a seafood tent that carries octopus, eel, tuna, or anything else you can imagine brought from the Baltic Sea or Dalmatian Coast right to the center of Prague. It's been such a fun adventure to experience all of these new tastes and smells that are so unique to this part of the world.

I HAVE TO WAIT HOW MANY WEEKS FOR SOME MORE CHORIZO TOAST?

Weekends around Prague

Snowfall in the local park

Saturday Farmers' Market

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