Howdy...!

Sorry to be away. Just to highlight some of our happenings and thoughts...

We're less than 3 weeks away from Jeff's parents visiting. They'll stay in an apartment right literally around the corner from us, which is nice and easy. Ella's already excited to see Grammy & Grampy!

As Larry's first time out of the Midwest since Nixon was knee-high to a grasshopper, it's going to be fun. Prague is already old hat for Mom, but she may still be a little excited, ...just a bit. Of course, ...do grandparents really care about Prague? It's Ella they're coming to see. And after a year, the li'l one has gone through some changes and learned a few new tricks. They are here for 2 weeks in September. We're getting pretty excited about their visit, coming up fast.

In October, May's sister comes for 10 days. Erin will stay with us with the added honour of our last guest in our old flat. It's been well over a year since we've seen Erin and we can't wait to see her...plus we have lots to celebrate!

In November, our first guest in the new flat will be none other than longtime bud, Eric K. I'm thinking Eric will experience a culture shock, seeing how Las Vegas differs from Prague by a stretch...just a hunch. (maybe not as much as his trip to Kit's in Korea last year.)

Then there's the November difference of 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit.

But Eric's not worried - he's got the hat.

It's going to be fun to tour Eric around. Since he's a professional photographer, we plan to keep him as busy as we can in and out of Prague.

We're feeling yet another wave of homesickness. Among other reasons, we miss our dear Andy B. who is easily found on the cover of the Hippo (Manchester, NH's cultural news). Way to go Andy!!

Soon following Eric, we're expecting another small visitor. Not sure when the baby's coming, but it'll be a much longer stay. Deployment day is January 9th, but odds are strong the baby will come early.

After Eric this winter, we're not expecting as many visitors in 2008. By then, we'll be home "soon", plus we're slowly seeing the US dollar skip and slide. The dollar's depreciated 10% to the crown just since we came last July and over 25% in 2 years. The money experts say the future holds more of the same.

That's bad news and good news, of course. A weaker dollar doesn't go as far for visitors here, but it's better value for us when we visit next summer. Ultimately, when Czech Republic switches from the crown to the euro in a few years, that'll be a major dip and jump we'll just have to ride out before selling the flat. Well, that's enough money talk for the blog. "Nas-hled."

Adventure #5027 - A Visit to the Big Hardware Store

In the US, it's Home Depot.
In Canada, it's Home Hardware.
Here, it's OBI.
In all three places, employees wear brightly colored bib aprons and take pride in being able to do any home repair job faster than they can say "do it yourself."

But, only in the US and Canada do the employees speak English. So, when I went to OBI for the first time a couple weeks ago, I knew I was in for another fun foreigner experience.

For Ella's birthday party (full of 2+ year olds), I needed to put up a fence where a only knee-high rail separated our backyard lawn from a concrete stairwell down to the building entrance. At work they told me "OBI takes care of all your hardware needs." (Or something like that)To set the scene right, I'll add I went to OBI directly from work. While most OBI customers are half-dressed in paint and plaster, I went in full suit and tie.

All I wanted was some fencing and hardware to fasten it.
I tried in broken Czech to explain my backyard needs.
I tried drawing pictures.
I tried charades. [It's not cool to act like a falling 2-year old while in suit and tie.]

Then I remembered the trusty blackberry: slovnik.seznam.cz
I translated fencing and showed the results to Aproned Guy.
Wow, that really, really puzzled him.
That added a few more minutes to my trip, but long story short...I got what I needed.

In the end, the kids were safer at the birthday party and I learned a few more words along the way.

-Jeff

p.s. Happy Anniversary to us - 6 years!!

ELLA'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

As I think we all know, Ella turned 2 years old on July 26. This was only the second day we were back from vacation. Things were fairly low-key on her actual birthday...we opened some small gifts in the morning...


...she and I met some friends at the playground, and then we had Ella's fave neighbour, Roberto, down for supper in the evening. Other wonderful neighbours, Eva and Manuel, joined us for ice cream cake...


We were lucky enough to have Karen and Sasha join us too...


Little did we know that Sasha would be joining us again at 4am so her parents could go to the hospital for the birth of her baby brother! Ella opened lots of gifts...in fact we saved a few from Jeff and I for the following day. Here she is enjoying some of her presents sent from abroad...


On Sunday, August 5th, we celebrated again with fellow July birthday girl, Linnéa. There were 9 kids (10, counting 9 day old Roman!) and 16 adults in our back garden. (Jeff actually enjoyed getting to do some yard work in preparation for the party - mowing the lawn and repairing a fence.) We started the party early, 10:30 am, so the kids would be fresh. We had lots of yummy food including a delicious carrot birthday cake courtesy of Claudia. There was lots to keep the kiddies occupied...our back garden has a soccer (football) net and I was very proud of the magnetic fishing game I made all by myself. But the kickers were Dylan's slide, Spidey tent and tunnel, and ball pool. WOW! Dylan is the wee man to invite if you want a successful toddler birthday party. Everyone had fun, no one got hurt and there were no serious fights - couldn't ask for anything more!

Blowing out the candles...


Opening gifts (yep...still pickin')....


Girls in the ball pool...


Ella received lots of fabulous gifts from here and abroad...it feels as though her toy collection has doubled! But, I have to say that her all-time favorite has got to be her doll stroller. She is crazy about it and wants to take it everywhere. We've had to convince her that she can't take it to bed, eat with it in her high chair, or put it in the bathtub! (Thank you to Ali, Paul & Dylan!)

At Vysehrad with Victor and Linnéa today, stroller in tow...


Super-cute bonus pic...



Mother of an official "Terrible Two"...
Maylia

Back from Croatia- Vacation 14-24 July, 2007

In one word: water. Warm, crystal clear, inviting water. We used it a lot.


In case you haven't looked at a map recently, Czech Republic is dead center of Europe. So, heading to a beach is the ultimate goal in a vacation.


Where We Stayed
We rented apartments in two different towns, Makarska (6 days) and Split (4 days), a few minutes walk to the sea or beaches at either place. Having a kitchen was essential, as was having Ella in her own room for napping, sleeping. Still, we spent most of the day outside the flat. In Makarska we were close to food shops and a vegetable stand, while in Split we shopped at a nearby outdoor farmers' market.


Heat
Nearly every day hit 35C/95F by 10am. When we got home, we learned there was a heatwave across SE Europe, so it wasn't normal. In any case, this meant every day was spent at the beach.

Our typical day was breakfast on the patio, beach, lunch at home, nap, beach, supper out or home, then bed. If we weren't in the water, we were in air conditioning. We conquered major heat through a lot of watermelon and ice cream. (Ella didn't know the words 'ice cream' before Croatia. By trip's end, a 2nd daily cone became the norm.)


Beaches
Croatia has plenty for history buffs: Roman ruins, Palace from the 10th century, this and that 12th, 13th, 14th century statue. Whatever...Europeans go there for one thing: Beaches.

Beaches in Split and Makarska were a bit overcrowded ... literally towel to towel in some cases. But, we still had a fabulous time. And we also took the opportunity to visit beaches in Brela (about 15 km from Makarska) and on the island of Šolta (an hour ferry ride from Split). We fell in love with both of these places. The first photo above was taken on Šolta. The second at Brela. By the time we visited Šolta, Ella was so comfortable in the water that she actually fell asleep on Maylia's shoulder while they were "swimming". Here she is after we got her back to dry land.

Most beaches were "pebble beaches"...sand was rare. As you may know, Ella loves pebbles, so she was not disappointed. Here she is playing in the pebbles and water.


Natural Landscape, Architecture, History, and the People
Croatia is a gorgeous country and has left us wanting more! The beauty lies in its natural landscape, with mountains being the backdrop to pine tree-lined beaches and rocky coves. Olives and grapes grow in terraced gardens throughout the hills. Flowers are everywhere!

Its natural beauty is rivaled only by the architecture. Split itself is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and well worthy of the title. Diocletian's Palace (a maze of a place actively used for restaurants, shops, and housing) was constructed around the year 300! This is old even to those used to the history of Prague! Croatia's history is obviously long and interesting...including rule by Romans, Hungarians, Venetians, and Turks (all of whom influenced the architecture). More recently they have been victims of communism and civil war, gained relatively recent autonomy, and are now struggling to become part of the European Union. In our brief time there, we found the people very relaxed, open, warm, and friendly. There's really no reason not to return!

Makarska...



Flowers near our flat in Split...


On the promenade in Split...


Inside the palace in Split...


(Maylia was a bit disappointed with the scrawny gladiators pictured above.)

Today we celebrated Ella's birthday (again)! This time with fellow July birthday girl, Linnéa, and friends. Our next post will be a birthday post.

Missing the sea...
Jeff, Maylia, and Ella

PS The photo quality is not so great on these digital copies. If anyone wants a print we can do it for you from the negatives.

To Celebrate Ella's 2 Years

We made this up a few weeks after she was born. Great to see how much she's changed...and makes us pretty homesick, too.



yeah, yeah, Croatia pics are coming soon. And no, we won't post any pictures from the first set we got (and returned) :)