Day 1 in the Czech Republic

It's almost not fair to say that I've been to CZ before.  I was in Prague with my dear friend Christin back in 2003, but for only about 20 hours.  We took a train from Dresden, Germany and even got our passports stamped on the train.  Well, come to think of it, I think she had an EU card or something so I got a stamp and she didn't.  Anyway...I digress.  We woke up this morning and enjoyed a fantastic pancake (from scratch) breakfast with Vermont Maple Syrup.  Yes, you heard correctly!!  Maple Grove Farms syrup.  Nothing but the best here in Frydlant n.O!  After lots of chats, we decided to tour the town, despite the rain.  Jonny & Lisa showed us around to the river and through the buildings and the main square.  It was lovely.  We stopped in a local grocery store and after seeing the sausage counter I felt forced to take a picture for Natty.  Haha.  Also, turns out it's super normal in grocery stores to cut people in line if you have less items than they do....even a pregnant person! (we were cut by someone wanting to buy only bread and we had about 20 items....and Lisa is clearly pregnant.)  Just an odd difference.

After picking up some essentials for dinner later on, we dropped off our things at home and headed off for a surprise location: a typical Czech tea house!  So great.  Jonny warned me that I would need to be a bit quieter than my normal level of speaking because Czechs are quiet in indoor restaurants.  Boy was he correct!  I had to whisper...until the young people in the section over from us started being quite loud...but anyway.  We sat, shoes off, at a low table and enjoyed various kinds of tea and then some pita, hummus, and baba ghanoush.  Delish!  Perfect snack.

Mine is a chai tea in a glass cup. They yell "chai! chai! chai!" when they serve it. I'm serious.

After chilling at the tea house for about three hours, we headed home to make homemade pizza (Lisa-style!) and play a game called Carcassonne.  Here's a cute Lisa with an apron on her preggo belly.

Lovely.

Okay, so that's it for today.  More later!

xx

High Tea...and Sad Goodbyes

Tomorrow we leave London.  It's actually really sad for both of us.  We've loved every minute and I can't say that there are many things I miss about NYC while being here.  Of course I miss my friends and I miss my bed, but honestly there's something so inticing about this city I can't really put it into words.  You kind of just want to wander all the time...just to anywhere.  You're on old streets with rickety clanking stone sidewalks, bustling old ladies with hats and bags that look like they came from another era, and the charming taxis where drivers actually know every single road b/c of that gosh darn exam they're forced to take.  Anyway, it's just addictive that's all.  I'm excited to leave for the Czech Republic and some sweet times with Jonny & Lisa so I'm grateful for that.  I'll be sure to post lots of pix from that part of our trip, though I've been told the snow has melted away. (Major bummer.)

Yesterday I had afternoon tea with my classmates at the British Museum.  It was lovely and I'll definitely do it again.  I liked it much better than Harrod's--less pretentious and more yum.  Here's a shot of my treats.  I only had the scones because I was so stuffed after them that I couldn't think of eating the sweets...shame...

Doesn't it look to die for??  Yes, that's clotted cream! Woot!

Anyway, I really need to head to bed, but I did want to mention that Nathan & I ate yummy Indian food on Brick Lane, something I've always wanted to do.  I was warned it's terrible and for tourists but after much research, one of Nathan's coworkers and his wife found a great spot and was full of Brits.  Brilliant!  Off to bed.  Much love to you all.  Thanks for reading!

xx