stories on layaway

My first four months living in Paris have been strenuous to say the least. I meant to entertain you with my introduction to the dating scene, give you a tour of a French market, share how I was trying to be a "good expat", and tell you more about the internship I believe I only hinted at on Twitter. Yet many of my day-to-day anecdotes got lost in the shuffle of the adjustment period. Would you mind if I said I'd put them on layaway?

They'll be ready very, very soon, I promise. In the mean time, a few fun facts I've learned so far in 2013:

• Despite the fact that the Czech are incredibly creative when it comes to their postage stamps (see vast selection in the photo above), the system itself leaves much to be desired. My brother and sister have yet to receive the post cards I sent them nearly two weeks ago!
• 590: year Pope Gregory I invented a post-sneeze prayer--"God bless you"--as sneezing was considered an early sign of the plague.
• 1301: year the first guild of barbers was established in France, creating a union of sorts for hairdressers and surgeons. The two groups argued about overlapping duties, and it was decided surgeons couldn't treat the hair or scalp.
• 1858: year a Brooklyn woman invented an inset, made of coiled wire and padding, for a corset that made the breasts look bigger. She filled the pads with bark, grass, or curled hair, which she believed would be sweat-resistant.
• 2013: first year since 1987 to have four different numbers.

(Middle three facts courtesy of recent issues of Allure magazine--I'm catching up while I'm home).

three days in prague, part 3

Our last day in Prague fell on a Monday. Although we awoke to a bustling little city headed into their last week of work before the holidays, we decided to approach the day with weekend ease since we'd accomplished so much on our first and second day there. In other words, we slept in nice and late.

First up, breakfast. We rounded the corner to Mama Café where we were sure we'd be able to have a small breakfast alongside our morning coffees. As it turns out, the cute little place only served savory lunches and sweet desserts. The Czech lemon cake we opted for was, lucky for us, amazingly light and not too sweet.

Next, museums. After sending out postcards to our family from the beautiful Prague post office, we stopped into the Mucha Museum to marvel in the works of the Czech Art Nouveau artist and the Museum of Communism to learn more about the recent history of the totalitarian regime. I highly recommend both!

Then we made our way through the Old Town Square (again) to walk up Prague's own "Champs d'Elysées", and eventually, wander through the Jewish quarter. It was small but quaint and the six preserved synagogues were beautiful. It also inspired lunch...

After two days of goulash and beer we craved cleaner eats. Dinitz, one of many kosher restaurants in the area fit the bill. We began with an appetizer platter of beef kebab, spring chicken skewers, and falafel with tahini sauce alongside a basket of fresh bread, and then enjoyed huge green salads of our very own.

Afterwards, we hurried back to our apartment to pack up. Just a few hours later we were in Paris, and one day following, we had both arrived in New York. Escaping to Prague gave me the perfect dose of holiday spirit to come home with. And now, even though it's post-holidays, I couldn't appreciate it more.

three days in prague, part 2

Just stopping by for a little blog-reading before New Year's Eve? Here's part 1. As for everyone else...

I woke up so incredibly refreshed on Sunday. For breakfast, Lara and I split an orange juice, an apple, and a pretty pastry we'd accidentally bought the day before--nearly all the Czech we came into contact with spoke English, and well, but there's were a couple of "lost in translation" moments as to be expected.

Afterwards, we picked up Mama Café coffees and headed to the Prague Castle by way of Old Town Square.

 

We were thrilled that Lucy's tweet ("the weather today seems much more promising") was right on target.

We bought long visit tickets to explore as much as we could have of: St. Vitus Cathedral, 

"The Story of the Prague Castle" exhibition,

the Castle Vineyards, 

[lunch (mixed green salads, goulash, beer, carrot cake) at] Rosenberg Palace,

"The Treasure of St. Vitus Cathedral" exhibition,

Golden Lane with Daliborka Tower,

and [an unexpected classical music concert at] St. George's Basilica.

Long glorious day, huh? Indeed it was. We stopped into Café Savoy on our walk back to recharge with a glass of Czech wine (for me) and a pot of tea (for Lara). I can't even tell you how stunning the interior of this restored 19th-century Austro-Hungarian café was, especially the neoclassical ceiling.

By the time we got closer to the apartment, we had also worked up an appetite for dinner at Lemon Leaf.

 

Dinner was good not great, but it was just what we needed to keep us out for a few more hours. Going off of Leslie's bar recommendations, we spent the rest of the night at RedRoom reveling in cocktails made with Czech liquor, an expat-heavy open mic night, and how happy we were that we'd taken the chance to get away. To be continued...

three days in prague, part 1

We're officially snowed in here at my home in New York. It's nice and cozy with a new movie, new slippers, and homemade hot cocoa though. It's also a good opportunity to start recapping my weekend getaway to Prague. It began on Saturday, December 15th following an hour and a half flight from Paris.

After taking the bus to the metro to the city on a pleasant 90-minute commute, we ascended the elevator to: Wenceslas Square in rain. A bit dreary? Yes, but it was magical. Christmas market stalls flanked the center selling hot mulled wine and other festive goodies. We soaked it all in on the walk towards our apartment.

Then we realized how very hungry we were and ducked in to a traditional restaurant on Palackého. I had a huge lunch plate with two pieces of pork, green beans sautéed in bacon, and roasted herb potatoes... paired with a beer, of course. Here I am with the smaller size. Yes, smaller; the alternative was half of a liter.

After digesting a bit, we continued on. It didn't take long to realize that the chilly weather not only encouraged hearty fare and heavy beer in large quantities, but cafés on every corner. Lucky us, we needed a coffee break. It was almost as delicious as the generous slice of Slovakian holiday cake.

 

Fast-forward three hours. We'd settled into our apartment and set out to wander our way to Old Town.

Did we know exactly what we were passing? No, but it almost made the experience more enchanting. The Prague Castle especially, even if we couldn't help but recognize it. The layers of wool socks, tights, jeans, thermals, sweaters, coats, hats, scarves, and gloves kept us from being distracted by the cold along the way.

Then we came upon Old Town Square and unarguably, the most stunning of all Christmas markets.

In the midst of friendly crowds and bright lights, we felt like we were in a fairy tale... maybe a pop-up book.

But soon it got colder. We ducked into a café for glasses of "grown-up" cider and planned the events of our first night on the town: a pub crawl. With the plethora of local beer in town, we wanted to make sure we tasted at least most of them. Restaurace U Vejvodů was our first stop for Pilsners and bowls of goulash.

Not surprisingly, we didn't actually last that long. It'd been a very full day and we were exhausted. In the quiet of the snow, we found our way back to our apartment, washed up, and slept 8 hours before beginning another glorious day in Prague... to be continued...