Pictures worth a 1000 Happy Birthday's
[...though we may be a few days, okay 10 days, early. - Sorry, bud]
2 more months - can't wait to see you here!
love, 3.6 Parkers
(if interested, all these signs and more are at http://atom.smasher.org/)
10 September 2007
05 September 2007
BOHEMIAN PARADISE
As you all know from reading the previous entry, Jeff is in Sweden tonight. So, I've decided a quick entry from me is in order. This one is regarding our recent trip to Česky Ráj (translated to English as "Bohemian Paradise").
It was a wonderful weekend and we felt worlds away from the hustle and bustle of Prague. The area has been the set for numerous movies and is well-known as the place of fairy-tales, as many Czech fairy-tales were based in this region. We specifically spent a weekend in the town of Jičín with the goal of seeing Prachovské Skály ("Prachov Rocks").
We arrived in Jičín by train Friday evening and immediately fell in love with the town. I'm sure you can see why....
A quick trip to the Info Center in the morning soon had us realizing that the "rocks" were no place to take our stroller. And so how to manage a 5 km hike with Ella and no stroller? We made the fastest purchase of a baby backpack ever on record and were able to catch the next bus to our destination! The women at the Info Center were right! Although we did see strollers, there is no way we could have done the hike we did with a stroller. The backpack was perfect! Ella got used to it pretty quickly and even fell asleep in it toward the end of our hike.
She got lots of walking in, too, on the less strenuous sections.
It's definitely a climbers paradise and I found myself missing my rock-climbing shoes. Although I'm honestly not sure I still have the guts for that!
For a couple of out-of-shape city-dwellers, we found it a pretty tough going. There was lots of up and down and we were surprised we even managed to fit through some of the spots.
The scenery was gorgeous and we thoroughly enjoyed the day!
After breakfast Sunday, we took a much less strenuous stroll down a 2km (each way) lane lined with 4 rows of linden trees. Lovely!
The trees were planted by Albrecht of Valdstejn and end at the ruin of one of his palaces.
Before catching our train we discovered a little museum that was put together by four Czech children's authors. It was full of interesting toys made by the authors and was completely interactive. A really interesting and fun way to end our time there.
We're already looking forward to our next trip to Paradise....
Maylia
PS In other news, my dear friend, Annika, and her family left Prague last week. They have moved to Greece. It was a very sad goodbye. I know we will be seeing more of them...in Prague, in Greece, in Sweden, in North America? But, for now, we are really missing having them just around the corner from us. Ella and Linnéa are great friends...
04 September 2007
Jeff is off to Malmö, Sweden (again)
Tomorrow night (Thursday) I have to fly to Sweden for a quick 1-day work trip. It'll be my 4th trip in the past six months.
I'm certain I could never tire of Malmö. The town is great and the team I work with there is great. But I'm discovering that those Swedes have one the best countries in the world to call home.
Every so often, I come across some "Best of ..." global survey or study and almost without fail, Sweden ends up in the top 5. One example: here's a study for the world's most democratic countries (by The Economist magazine). [Full study here (PDF)]
Yes, the US is missing here, but it's close behind at number 17 (and Czech Republic is 18).
If you think I "cherry-picked this intel", then click on this website with a collection of "best of..." surveys. It is almost scary how often Sweden pops up in the top 5, top 3 or #1. Hmmm...
Next post May and I will post pictures from our hiking trip last weekend.
28 August 2007
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