romping through Praha

Day 1

 We start at a french cafe after the Miniature Museum,

with Al's tooth falling out as she eats her marmalade filled brioche.

I think about carving into her tooth, as I just had seen things like a painting on a poppy seed,

and a caravan of camels in the head of a pin! She convinces me that the Tooth Fairy needs it instead.

Strahovsky Klaster- Monastery

 Along a path from the monastery

 Puppet stores line the streets. 

(The face mold for the cleaning-lady fits both 

female and male puppets. It's all in the makeup.)

 Ended up watching the above performance

at Staromestske Namnesti for over an hour.

Kids in the audience were invited to catch hoops thrown by the clown on stilts. 

Even after all that time Ali was not ready to participate. 

 Favorite walk along the Charles Bridge. 

(Wherever we are Ali wants to end the day at the bridge.)

Ended the day at a playground right below the bridge! 

Day 2

 We take a lift up to Petrin Tower (a miniature Eiffel Tower.)

 After walking up the 299 steps,

 and some acrophobia setting in towards the top, 

we get to these stunning views below:

(you can see our house in the second photo!)

The only thing we saw at the observatory, since it only opens in the evening from, 6-8.

little big girl, odds and ends 2

While I lay sick in bed all day last Friday, daddy decided all of Al's tangles had to go and chopped more than a couple of inches. The above were the remains. 

I clearly remember climbing the cupboards for the sweets as a kid. Now it is Al's turn. How did my little girl get so big?

odds and ends, 1

 

When my grandmother visited the States for the first time, she complained of the pale yellow yolk of the eggs. Eating my breakfast the other day, I can understand why.

Birds flock together one very, very, cold morning on our way to school. I wonder if the chimney provided some heat otherwise the yellow of the yolk will have to do. 

the weather

It is deceptively beautiful. The skies have picturesque sunrises and sunsets and throughout most days the cerulean blue sits beautifully next to the orange roofs of Prague. I now however skip our morning and afternoon walks and that is due to the 0 to 1° F that it is in the early morning and evening. We now try to time our day around a little neighborhood bus that drives once every hour around the Suchdol neighborhood. I am eagerly awaiting Spring when we will be able to truly enjoy this city. (I get excited seeing the temperatures reach low 30's next week. In Seattle this would send chills up my spine. It all depends on one's perspective.)

subtle shifts

When we immigrated to the US in 1986 I remembered questioning why. I observed that essentially our life had not changed. There were roads, homes, stores, cars. Our apartment was our home and our family was together. I just observed my parents being stressed out much of their time, until the time when we settled into a new rhythm in a new home in a new town in a new school, in new jobs.

I see my daughter questioning. Why did we move? Why did we change our entire life? Essentially things are the same. Our family is together much of the time. We shop at a store, live in our apartment, attend school. It is the little things, the small shifts within our daily life that make all the difference. We are shifting with these changes, becoming. The dust is finally settling in a new home, new town, new school, and new job.

We spend our days in a simpler manner.  Without a car, there are not so many places to go, not so much to do. We walk a lot. We crisscross this country on our two/six feet (along with the help of trains, buses and trams.) There is no place we can’t walk to. It makes all the difference. There is no need for this concept of exercise as it is just a part of our reality. (Will enhances it by running up our 8 flights of stairs, 72 in all, an extra couple of times.) In this way we also experience all types of weather. Dressing is not necessarily for fashion but more so for necessity (although Czech women seem to do both.) Then there is the continuous interaction with others. People are on the street, at the bus stop, in the shops, and there is a practice of looking at one another. What in the States would be considered starring, here is curious observation.  ( http://whatmores.blogspot.com/2011/12/just-looking.html )

Other nuances are; the taste of bread, cheese, cold-cuts, fruits and vegetables (which is enhanced by the hunger we feel after walking and climbing stairs,) landscape (which we are fortunate to have spread out underneath our windows,) and the ever-changing sky (also the gift of our 3 skylight windows.)

We only have what we use, 3 bowls, 3 plates, 3 small plates, 3 pairs of silverware, 3 glasses and what we could carry in our 3 suitcases, 3 backpacks and a duffle from the States. The crazy thing is that this is enough. (Ali wants more toys.) But other than that it means that the house takes one hour to clean including the dishes and vacuuming. It leaves more time for impromptu dancing, a board game, cooking, carving soap, etc. 

It is interesting how seemingly outside circumstances orchestrate the way one lives. (Of course it is all a choice.) It is a pressing question, I think ecologically, psychologically, and concretely; are we living in the manner we truly want? Does our space support the way in which we want to live? (Is this the quality of life we so often discuss?)

Our one trade off- friendships suffer when one uproots. I thank the gods of facebook and skype that we have substantially more correspondence with our loved ones than my parents had with theirs thirty years ago. 

some days

There are days that you ask why- why in the world did we leave everything and everyone we know? It does not seem rational and on the hard days even more so. Today is one of those days.

With a busy class day, I forgot to call my husband to pick up our daughter after school. She bravely made her way to my classroom 15 minutes after her class got out and after all the kids had left the playground. (Fortunately, her school is across the street from mine.) But as soon as she saw me she collapsed into my arms.

I wish I could teleport us back to Seattle to just have a day of normalcy- just to let Ali enjoy some friends, shop at Trader Joe's, share some tea and perhaps have an hour in the studio. (That is the cherry on top.) It is unfortunately the memory or comparison of that that causes a bit of sorrow.

On the other hand I love that we can walk everywhere here. We live in this amazing space as opposed to a 1970's rambler with popcorn ceilings. (If you don't know what that is, pray you never find out.) The meat and baked goods are delicious and one can get them on the corner of almost every street on the way home.

I wish I could combine some things from here and some things from there. (It is like wanting to combine the qualities of all past boyfriends into one ideal.) But that is such a juvenile thought. Really what I should focus on is to suspend all judgement and live in this present moment. One knows this but it is difficult to practice especially on days like today.

views and the ever-changing sky

first sunrise

first sunset

a rainy day

this morning

detail of the Prague Castle