Power Flowers

There are lots of flower boxes in Prague and red flowers provide a powerful punch of color against the earthy tones of the buildings and cobblestones. When this woman in red stood in the doorway of this  castle complex bistro it was too much for me to resist.

White Benches

It was a quiet day at Prague castle (Pražský hrad). And sometimes sunny too. There was something special about these empty white benches that appealed to me. I hope they appeal to you too! And then from my original I experimented a bit.

I've been fascinated by flat colors and their effect on the form and depth. I could use a little training, but until then I will wield the airbrush recklessly!

Morning adventure collage

We decided to get adventurous on our morning walk today and climbed above the Strahov Monastery. As we strolled along a wooded path I glanced to my left and - wow - what a lovely view had fallen out of the trees! I was so pleased I whipped out my trusty camera.

 We continued  walking out to the street toward the garden at the top of Petřín and spied a bit of graffiti. Look closely.The only addition is the face. A door or window was removed and filled in leaving room for an artistic eye and a can of spray paint to transform it into design. Cool huh? Much better than 99% of the lame graffiti I've seen around the city. 

We arrived at the rose garden and stopped to smell them! Ahhh. A bit past their prime, really, but nevertheless fragrant and beautiful.

 Then we jumped onto the funicular for a drop down one stop to Nebozízek and the pathway through the park that would take us back home.

I don't want to get lost

Riding my bicycle in New Jersey growing up, I wanted to get Lost. Because, of course, I had my fabulous street map in my back pocket waiting impatiently to be consulted. In Prague I have no desire to get lost outside the old city center, amongst the Soviet-era housing blocks, modern houses and everything in between. So I ride the tram.

Saturday we took the #22 towards Bila Hora. We got off randomly and walked through a little park into a neighborhood with small streets and houses. We met two friendly cats and spied a curious young child. Lovely, bright flower boxes punctuated old, sagging homes looking decrepit adjacent to modern ones with sharp lines. A quiet weekend to send children into their backyards to play.

Late night prowl

I took an afternoon nap. We ate dinner. Hours later we trekked across the old city to seek out Blues Sklep, a local blues bar. We creeped down the stairs into the musty basement bar. We picked up drinks and squeezed into two seats amidst the brick and cement arches. You could probably fit 30 people in there if you shared laps.

It wasn't quite blues music that night, but it was good. They were a talented group and very entertaining. Lots of stories and joking. Someone won a pair of drum sticks. It was all in Czech. I had no idea what they were saying. Except when they were doing covers of American songs, in Czech. Very fun, foreign experience, which is what we were hoping for.

The easiest way to get across town was to walk the Charles Bridge. On our way over the sun was setting and lighted the clouds purplish-pink. On the way home the buildings were purposefully lit. We might have been entering a Disneyland facade, but instead we were entering the inspiration for it.

Oh Vinohrady! I wine for you!

In 2008, Rich and I lived in Vinohrady for five months. Named for the vineyards that used to be there, it is a comfortable neighborhood with parks and pubs and the hum of everyday life. We went back this week to visit the dentist. She charges so much less than the U.S. and does a careful job. We found ourselves walking down Záhřebská in search of a recently opened art exhibit. The exhibit was a disappointment, but the neighborhood stroll really had me feeling nostalgic. This picture was snapped as we waited for our tram at Náměstí Míru.

We have since stayed in lovely flats in the heart of the old city. It's great to be close to the beautifully restored center, but it does not feel like a neighborhood. This year it feels more like living along a cattle trail! We are on the hill above Prague Castle. You can imagine it is a very popular destination! Large tour groups pour endlessly out of the tram and downhill to the castle. The shopkeepers here do a very good business!

The Ladies who Coffee

A trunk full of coffee cups and saucers would have been more representative of my experience, but A Divadlo Pokračuje is the restaurant where a group of international ladies happened to be having coffee. The International Women's Association of Prague (IWAP) was founded for wives of company men who have been transferred to Prague. There are associations like it around Europe. This morning I was attending the IWAP American Coffee meeting.

In America we have an expression "The Ladies Who Lunch" and this group has some reflections of that. I met some fascinating people and was inspired by the retired postal worker who moved here because she could, and has now accomplished great fluency with the language. And she's a scrapbooker too so one must be impressed!

First Prague Pride!

Rich and I were excited to attend the first ever Prague Pride parade! It was threatening rain and even gave us a few drops, but was mostly a fine day for a celebration. The parade was only one of many events over a few days. It had to be the calmest gay pride event I've ever witnessed. There were a few drag queens, but overwhelmingly it was a river of everyday people pouring along the cobblestones. Happy people. Gay people. 

I was almost disappointed to see only one person dressed in black leather. And as far as protesters go, we saw one man with a sign about Jesus, but not protesting really. The media were all over him - photographs, interviewing. There was nothing juicy for the media so they took what they could get. This was no doubt a relief to the serious police force present on the streets. Fully decked out in riot gear and everywhere, they were largely left sidelined.

Prague President Vaclav Klaus loudly opposed Prague Pride, but he was truly an outlier. While same-sex partnerships have been legal since 2006, gays still fall short of other rights such as adoption and protection from hate crimes.

So we cheered and smiled and watched and we would have waved our flags, but shockingly there wasn't a street vendor to be found hawking pride paraphernalia. Really, really.

Stalker's Pub

We made it to Pennsylvania in time to catch a Blue Rocks baseball game before the season ended. The Blue Rocks have been busy upgrading the stadium.Heck, they even have a gluten-free menu now, which includes a beer. I really got a kick out of the Stalker's Pub!

According to one rumor, Mr. Celery was born when the Blue Rocks purchased some costumes of vegetables. They never used them so they sold them off, but the buyer did not want the celery costume. Along came an intern who decided to run out onto the field in the celery costume and fans were converted! There was a dedicated group of fans for a while who ate celery at the game and traveled to see the away games. You can still buy celery snacks. I'm in love with Mr. Celery's nerdy passion for the game - he only comes out when they get a run and he can't contain his joy!

I'm in love with the new blue too. It's such an airy, open blue. So of course I encouraged Rich to purchase at least one Blue Rocks polo shirt in the official blue. It was fun to hear the noises and smell the smells of the ballbark. Especially fun is watching the kids run around and run up to the various costumed characters, including the hot dog and Rocky Bluewinkle himself.

Welcome to the Battleship

As we drove up the East coast we stopped in on the USS North Carolina Battleship. Instead of mannikins they had these odd white, wooden representations. Kinda cool, I thought. A bit cartoon-like really.

Of course they also had scads of torpedoes. It was pretty amazing to tour the depths of this warring labryinth. I had thirty seconds of - yikes! what would it be like to be buried in the bowels of this ship when it was being attacked? And then I decided that was not a thought I wished to dwell upon.

The interior design wasn't the most inspiring, but it did have its charms, especially if utility is your thing. Battleships aren't typically my first choice for a casual tour, but that's what sharing life with a spouse is all about - compromises that stretch your experiences and deepen awareness of the world through personal connection. And that's good stuff.

You can Count on Beach Kitsch

Beaches are the best on a hot August day so when we spotted the River City Cafe in Murrels Inlet, South Carolina after a long day of driving we knew we had found the best spot for dinner. And it was. There were walls of license plates and patrons have written on every available surface. Unlike our favorite bar at home, Mahuffer's, there were no dogs or cats and the lingerie was conspicuously missing - and they had dinner. Yum!