Spires and cookies

There's a many-spired, view-giving, red-tiled, antennae-sprouting whole world  above Prague. We saw it on friend Mr. TyVole's birthday, as he rented a rooftop to celebrate - and laced it with caution tape and balloons so no one would get too near the edge.

Mrs. TyVole made a Bacchus-esque spread of Czech finger food, save for the homemade peanut butter cookies; those tasted like home to us. Sure enough, she'd gotten the recipe from a Californian friend. 

As the sun set and the balloons twirled in breeze, we noticed how serene the top of the city is, especially when juxtaposed with the industry and tourism beneath. And it's worth looking from bottom to top; there are 900 years of architecture in this city that has been literally untouched by natural disasters or war. It's no wonder this place is nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Spires"!

Peanut butter cookies, good friends and an unfathomably cool view. Paradise.

Oh, and happy belated birthday, Mr. TyVole!

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Just call him Jamie Oliver

Beets + 300 little kids = BW's whole day on May 16. And he loved it :)

BW was in charge of our school's Food Revolution Day, designed by British chef Jamie Oliver to help kids across the globe learn to make healthy food from scratch, thus fighting childhood obesity and diet-related illnesses.

A movement like this hits home in the Czech Republic, which has the highest rate of adult obesity in Europe at 28.7%, according to a 2013 study by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. Whilst Czech cuisine has long been known for its high caloric content, researchers are also blaming the increase in health problems to the influx of Western fast food and preservative-laden convenience nosh over the past couple of decades.

These pictures of our school's super participation in Food Revolution Day were taken by the Primary School Principal and originally shown on the school's public Facebook site:

All in all, a smashing 237,822 participants from 121 countries all over the world took part in this special event. Yet again, what a terrific thing for our school to be involved with!

Here's a link to the Rainbow Salad Wrap they made, should you want some clean eating, as it's packed with fruits and veg:

RAINBOW SALAD WRAP

And Czech-wise, it has ingredients like cabbage, apples, beets and yogurt, which are so easy to find here in landlocked Central Europe. Good stuff.

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Bobbing around Prague

UncleD is the lovable roughneck with the handlebar mustache and Harley gear. He's working offshore near Gdansk every-other month.

AuntD is the tall Native gal with the perma-grin, unflappable spirit and sparkly fingernails. She flew in from Michigan for a visit.

Together, they make two incredibly fun visitors, wanting to bob around the Prague environs like corks in a pool. No pressure to "see it all"; we found lots to do just by drifting through the city, and it was so pleasant.

On the train, headed for a chateau

There was the Konopiště Chateau, a 2.5km walk outside of Benešov. Konopiště was where Archduke Franz Ferdinand made his last home prior to being assassinated in Sarajevo and triggering WWI. It was packed with taxidermy - Franz was said to have shot over 275,000 animals around the world - and a gargantuan armory collection. We couldn't take photos inside.

It turned into quite a soggy day and we had only 1 umbrella between 4 people... Until we dug a broken one out of a trash can and had 1.5. Classy all around. We ended up taking a taxi back to the train station.

One little corner of Konopiste showing through the trees

They look darn near royal

And then there was Petrin Hill. This time we had our thinking caps on and bought some umbrellas at a tacky souvenir shop. So we had a watery walk with wonderful views and topped it off with a foamy treat at the end.

Rainclouds over the pretty city

I think he likes it

There was stuffing ourselves at Marina Grossetto, an Italian place on a boat. Wet hair and dog and all.

Lots of life preservers - just in case

Cheers!

And of course there were lots of stops at churches, cafes, monuments, pubs, etc., to cool our heels. A few pictures from our bobbing about:

In Hlavni Nadrazi (main train station)

Breakfast at the iconic Cafe Louvre

The Art Deco bar at Obecni Dum

With the umbrellas down so as not to impede the view

Inside the Carmelite Church of Our Lady Victorious, where there's a famous infant Jesus statue

Beautiful bank 

Almost 40 years of marriage! Awwwww

Thanks for visiting, and enjoy Cesky Krumlov/Austria/etc.! Xx

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Time-warped Prague

Apparently this Eddie Peter Hobson guy is an Australian photographer who is travelling around the world, taking time-lapsed videos of cities and landscapes. The results are jaw-dropping shots of clouds and people swirling about sites in a kaleidoscopic dervish of daily busyness.

The Prague one is butter. Really a delightful little pat of loveliness on the ol' computer screen. I read that Hobson spent 7 days filming here with the assistance of city hall, and I was floored by all of the special sites he captured. Have a look-see:

Made in Prague from Eddie Peter Hobson on Vimeo.

He's also been to places like Riga, London and Budapest, with more to come. Talk about eye candy. And inspiration for future journeys.

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Travel with ze doggie

A POST BY JAYDA. WOOF.

Being mom and dad's furry little girl, I have seen a lot of this world. I even have my own passport! 

My fuzzy mug

I am an only child, and mom and dad say it's surprisingly easy to travel with me. Except for when I had mad soupy tummy on the way to Hungary. That was crappy, pun intended.

Here are our tips for making trips together rebarkable:

1) I get my own travel bag and it has a toy, a towel, toothbrush, treats, cans of food, etc. On flights it goes in mom's carry-on.

2) Mom and dad take the time to search for pet-friendly accommodation. We've been lucky because home exchanges and AirBnB people are very welcoming to me, as are small pensions.

3) My 'rents also always find the nearest vet and green space to where we're staying when we travel. We learned the vet part after I hurt my paw in Austria at Cousin Lv's place.

4) Before booking air/rail/road transportation, mom and dad call ahead and make sure I can fly in the cabin or ride on the train or bus. Not all companies allow me.

Their loss.

5) We structure our days so I can either go sightseeing with them or they come back to me within 8 hours. I just sleep while they're gone.

6) When I AM prancing around like a tourist, they sometimes take turns watching me and going into places like churches, where I'm never allowed. And they always bring lots of water for me.

7) Mom and dad always ask nicely before bringing me into a building. You'd be surprised how many museums, sites and shops I can visit, especially when dad carries me!

Oh, and they just booked flights home to America this summer - on Czech Airlines and Germany's Condor, so I can ride in the cabin with them. They know I'm worth less leg room!

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'Pest peculiarities

There are healthy helpings of irreverence all over Budapest. Amid grandiose government structures and treasure-laden museums, you find things like a Michael Jackson memorial tree. And a cafe in the back of an old VW van. In our last Budapest post, we share a few quirky bits found 'round the city. 

One thing we DIDN'T get a photo of was the multitude of people strewn on blankets all over public park space come sunset. One particular city square was packed tighter than a Brazilian beach during a heatwave. People would just sit for hours, in a big blanket-people quilt, elbow-to-elbow with strangers, eating picnic food, chatting and drinking wine straight from the bottle. It was weirdly wonderful. 

If only we'd had more than a couple of days to uncover additional oddities...  

We left our mark on a table in a kert.

A table for two in a VW. (The sister cafe is on the left.)

MJ forever.

Odd ad #1: A meat bikini

Odd ad #2: Does Kobe REALLY use Turkish Airlines all that much?

A purple boat in the middle of a beer garden

My favorite: A braille "sightseeing" vista along the riverside

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BudaBEST

This morning we were soaking in a domed Turkish thermal bath, our molecules unraveling in the warm mineral water, feeling like Ottoman nobility. We did NOT want to leave. Even when we accidentally walked into a bath-side masseuse room where a completely bare old man was getting sprayed down with water. 

2.5 days was not nearly enough to revel in the spoils of Budapest. Yes, it's small by international capital standards - 1.7 million - but it's a rich buffet of leisure and loveliness. Here were some of our favorites: 

Buda Hill: Buda Castle was nice yet simple compared with other palaces we've seen. However, the area a few hundred meters north of it, with Fisherman's Bastion lookout and Matthias Church, was phenomenal. Below, on the Pest side of the Danube, the spiky Parliament building looked like the inside of a crystalline geode. 

Fisherman's Bastion with a loooong drop behind him

Can you spot me?

Hungarians

The Hungarian Parliament building

Matthias Church on the right

Kerts. Squatters - and then budding entrepreneurs - established cafe/bars in old building ruins. Adults of all ages, kids and dogs abound, as do overgrown plants, junk art, car parts, graffiti and battered sticks of furniture. Our kinds of places.

Statues. Budapest is packed with them - more than any other European city that comes to mind. You think a strange man is staring at you from across the street, and then you realize it's some poet or revolutionary memorialized in bronze. 

Chain Bridge

King Matthias hunting statue at the Royal Palace

Modern art

Another lion - guarding the innards of the palace

Architecture. Gothic, Neo-Renaissance, Ottoman, Baroque... Budapest has it all and more. Thanks to centuries of foreign occupations and wars, a kaleidoscope of architectural style is spread across the city. It is quite captivating.

More Parliament

Inside of  St. Stephen's Basilica

Somewhere near the Jewish Quarter

Inside the national Opera House

(Sorry for the poor photos; they are the byproducts of phones thanks to a forgotten SD card)

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