A couple weeks ago, Kristina and i were going down to the metro to catch a train to the kluuuuuuuub. And as it was getting kinda late, the station was just about deserted.  As we were standing on the escalator going down, there was a small group of people on the other escalator going up.  And this man is looking over right at me and he’s singing something. Just a couple of lines, and not really all that loudly. Of course, i think, wow that is ODD. And then i get this really creepy feeling, because i know the song! But i can’t for the life of me figure out how or why or when or where i know this song. Then once we’re on the platform, it hits me!!!!

“Dreams are my reality, the only kind of real fantasy…”

For those of you who don’t know this gem, it’s only like the greatest 1980s pop song even written, and also the theme song from only the greatest french film ever: LA BOUM!!!!!!!!!!

That’s right, La Boum. This post is kind of a little shout out to all my high school french hommies, where we were privileged enough to study under the great M. Dubois and to also view this cinematic masterpiece. And if you haven’t seen La Boum, you need to RUN, not walk, to your local video store and rent it today! But your local video store has probably shut down, so go ahead and get on the internets, go over to your netflix page and move this bad boy up to the top of your queue! It’s a touching coming-of-age story about a young french girl, a young french boy, one fabulous party, and the song that brought them all together.

And for those skeptics and naysayers, this movie features the young Sophie Marceau before she was in that movie with that famous guy about that scottish guy from a long time ago in that wanted FREEEEEEEDOM. So, needless to say, it’s a keeper. You should also know that there is a sequel somewhere out there: La Boum Deux.  This elusive little minx has been hiding from us for many years. I don’t know how many times Amanda, or Meagan and I talked about trying to find this movie. But alas, we never did…

But it was in this moment, standing and waiting for the metro, that i wished my phone has transatlantic texting. i was just bursting with excitement about this song and the rando guy that was singing it and the awesome movie it was from!!!! i tried to explain all this to kristina, but all i got was a “hm.” Oh well, that’s life!

Au revoir!

pretty creepy, no?

it would actually sound a little scary if it weren’t so FUN and i didn’t have so many great easter memories as a little girl. waking up easter morning to a sweet little basket with a chocolate bunny and other treats and goodies inside. and knowing that later in the day you would be going hunting…hunting for EASTER EGGS! AND, oh my, in the weeks leading up to easter the DYING of the easter eggs. that was probably my favorite part. those little kits! all the different colored dyes! and the clear crayons to customize your design! oh man, those were the days…

ok, ok, here's a nicer easter bunny :)

but maybe the best part of easter, the very best, was the NEW EASTER OUTFIT!!!!!!!! i know all my girls out there know what i’m talking about. you got a new spring timey, flowery dress, probably some new white shoes, some little white gloves, and if you’re lucky, an easter hat! that’s right, EASTER HAT! and when you were little you didn’t even mind having to go to church as long as you got to wear your new little easter outfit. and the hat! don’t forget about that hat. i don’t think we wear enough hats these days…

(i wish i had an old picture of myself to insert here, but alas, i do not…)

and hm, food on easter. i’m usually pretty good at knowing what kind of food we eat during whichever holidays, but i can’t for the life of me remember what it’s supposed to be?!?!! who can tell me? what do we eat for easter??? lamb? with mint jelly? (ugh def my fam didn’t do that one…maybe the greeks do…) maybe ham?? that sounds about right. we’ll go with ham. evs, as you might can tell, easter was always pretty laid back in my house. just the way i like it!

This year in praha my easter was also quite laid back. Celebrations started on saturday night when we went to cross club! a super cool club in the newest hip part of town full of mostly locals. and thank god it was reggae night. which trust me, is much better than the usual psychedelic trance/techno mess they usually play. good lord, i cannot stand that mess! the best part about cross club has got to be the super cool decor.

i mean just look at all that awesome mess all over the walls! and bus seats!

they also have awesome swirly whirly lights going on

here's a shot of the entrance during the day (not taken by me...actually none of these were...)

As you can see, this is a very cool, very fun place. Great atmosphere, cool people, sometimes awful music, but sometimes great! Oh! and very cheap drinks, esp for a “club.” Ok, so what was i talking about?? ah yes, easter! SO, needless to say, easter morning this year started for me around 1230PM. It took a couple more hours for me to even out, but by 6PM i was feeling brand new again! which is good because we were having easter dinner at frankie’s place just around that time. we didn’t really go for any sort of traditional easter dinner (which is good, bc obviously i don’t know what that is), but more of a hodgepodge of american delights: frank made pork ragu, hamburgers (YES! HAMBURGERS!), and colcannon (which is new to me, but an irish mix of mashed taters, cabbage, bacon, and butter – all around deeeeelicious). And i brought, drumroll pleeeeease… HAM BISCUITS! yes, that’s right, i had to add a little bit of southern flare to the meal. but there was one problem. no where in the entirety of the czech republic do the sell BISCUITS! a dang tragedy. i mean there is nothing even remotely close to resembling a biscuit. so, to my great frustration and disappointment i just used a baguette. i don’t think it came out too bad, but the bread in CZ might be the worst anywhere. it’s like illegal or something to make bread without rye, so that was a little over powering to my “biscuits.” everyone said they still liked them, so i would call it a success. here’s the recipe for my mom’s delicious ham biscuits:

1/2 lb margerine

3 tablespoons poppy seeds

3 tablespoons dijon mustard

1 teaspoon worcestershire  sauce

1 lb VA ham

3/4 lb sliced swiss cheese

4 pans pepperidge farm party rolls

Mix first 4 ingredients together in a mixer (or if you are as BA as me, by hand). Cut pan of rolls in half and spread mixture on both sides. Put ham and cheese on rolls and put together. Freeze if desired (this recipe does make a lot of rolls, like 80). Cut individual rolls and bake at 400 degrees for 10 – 15 minutes wrapped in tin foil. Voila! Dobrou chut!

and they should look a little something like this!

Ok, so that was our easter FEAST. and it was a feast for realsies. i went into a major food coma afterwards. And not to mention the pivo, vino, and vodka that was also consumed throughout the mail. mmmm mmmm good!

Ok, on to the traditional czech traditions of easter. once again my brain (and google!) is failing me in what people in CZ typically eat on easter. ham? lamb? or perhaps rabbit?? gah i dunno, but i’m gonna go with the pig on this one. because who doesn’t love a good easter ham. but i do know the deserts they have! a special sort of yeast cake with almonds and raisins and an edible lamb cake!

wowzers! just look at that bad boy!

maybe it’s this little sugary lamb that’s making me think people eat lamb for easter? could be! who knows. anyhow, in that picture above you can also see some very elaborately decorated eggs that are very traditional in the czech republic. they kinda put our lil dyed easter eggs to shame! so easter sunday in CZ is reserved for church (for the very few czechs that actually go to church) family easter dinner and the painting of the eggs by the girls. it’s czech easter eggs that are probably the most recognizable sign of easter in CZ. and they are quite beautiful and sold throughout the city, especially at the easter stands in stare mesto and vaclavske namesti:

Czech Easter Eggs

it’s easter monday (yes, these czechs give themselves the friday before AND the monday after easter off. AND HOW! we do already know that they luuuurve their holidays) that the real party gets started.  as i said before, easter sunday is basically a day of preparations for easter monday, which seems to me is just one big party!  on sunday while the ladies are painting their easter eggs, the boys are making their pomlazkas! a pomlazka is basically a fancy lil switch:

get ready for some whippin!

so here’s what goes down on easter monday: there is definitely some drinking involved, of course, it’s a celebration! and then the boys (or men) run around town trying to whip the ladies right on their behind with their pomlazkas! and ladies, if you get got, then you’re supposed to present the man with your painted easter egg. seems a little lopsided to me, but hey! this is central europe! anything goes! (not really…well, kind of…) i am reading more about it now: this tradition dates back to pagan times (that’s right, PAGAN!) and the girls are whipped to ward off bad and evil spirits (huh?) and then the girl can give the boy a real or candy egg and then ties a colorful ribbon to the pomlazka. as the boy goes through the village he collects more and more eggs and ribbons! it seems today most of the romanticism has left the tradition and it’s mainly an excuses for guys to get cheeky with the girls and not get in trouble. heyo! central europe! gotta love it!

ooh! ooh! they're gonna get her!!!

GOT HER!

**side note: this is obviously not the same girl, and i obviously did not take these pictures myself. but you get the idea.

OK, so that’s czech easter in a nutshell! Plus some other goodies from praha.

Vesele Velikonoce!

ps – alright people that’s 2 posts in 4 days! thaaaaat’s right. look atcha girl on a roll!

So now it’s easter weekend! YAY! Today, good friday, is a bank holiday, and even though i don’t have class on fridays anyways, it being a holiday just makes it that mush sweeter. Plus the fact that my friend Sam threw a party at his place last night, which then migrating down to a bar/club in the center where we just about closed the place down.  Cognac + crazy guessing game + pivo + vodka + dancing = a fantastic night. What was i saying? Oh yeah, so i’m glad today is a holiday. AND monday is also a holiday! I predict good things for easter sunday.

And i just have to say, on the way to the pub just now i saw a dog wearing overalls. Only in praha…

this is not the actual dog, but you get the picture...

And guess who’s coming to prague 28 April? MAMACO!!!!!!!!!!! I’m so excited! I wish daddio could also make the trip, but you can’t have it all. We’ve already planned a trip back to Vienna and then to Krakow. I just cannot wait! Also making plans to have a little get together so all my friends can meet The Woman, They Myth, The Legend. I can’t even tell you just how many of friends are so excited to meet her! And me too.

Let’s see, what else has been going on? Back in march (gah it PAINS me to write that – time is just FLYING by) we had an excellent St. Patty’s day celebration. Definitely full of shenanigans. We (me, frank, tina, peter, dima, and yevgen – although peter left early, booooo peter) started at the Czech Inn, a swank little hostel with a very cool bar (which was having a whiskey and coke special – score!), and then proceeded to bar hop till about 4 in the morning around the rest of frank’s neighborhood.  I have to admit, a lot of the evening was pretty hazy, but i’ll give you the highlights:

i don’t know how…but after each bar we left we had acquired new st. patty’s day paraphernalia: hats, crazy sunglasses. i’m not going to say we stole them per say, but you know how it is. we also met a gentleman who had imbibed quite a lot of alcohol and was quite a character in his BRIGHT GREEN long wig. I believe there are pictures documenting this encounter, but alas, they are not in my possession.  And at the last bar i believe, we also came across a very classy lady whose main goal was the dance with each the guys ON THE TABLE we were occupying. She was not unsuccessful. And this is why i love st. patty’s day and it might be my favorite holiday: there is no pressure to have the best night ever (unlike new years eve, that evil holiday that’s never as good as you hope it might be) and it usually ends up being one of the best nights ever! alas, there were not irish car bombs involved like last year, or car bomb FAILS (i see you ebay!), but it was definitely a top notch night.

erm, ok, that’s all for now. and i promise to be a better blogger.

čau!

BUT i do have lots to talk about! here’s a lil 30 second recap of blog posts to come:

my parents came!!!! we had a great xmas relaxing in praha, drinking pivo, and doing christmasy things!

Na Zdravi!

walking through praha

christmas!!

then we went to vienna! awesome city. drank more beer, ate schnitzel, and met up with some of my ukrainian friends!

Vienna! so fancy :)

dinner and beers with yevgen and yulia!

then drove through the alps to salzburg. beautiful! AND we went on a sound of music bus tour around the countryside. it was both extremely GHEY and SUPER AWESOME AMAZING.

PROST!

gorgeous austrian countryside

but then they left after new years. sads.

so since then i’ve just been hangin, studyin, chillin, writin papers, drinkin pivo, you know, the usual.

but then DISASTER struck. i must have had some bad karma or something coming bc my purse was STOLEN. that’s right stolen. not like katie was an idiot last night and lost some things, it just straight up TOOK. here’s what that j-hole now owns that USED to be MINES: 1500 czk, wallet, debit cards, charles university student ID, 3 month metro pass, cheap ass vodafone, CAMERA, VIDEO CAMERA, gloves, hat, random makeup, some lo lo, and my KEYS. so you’re welcome JERK OFF. i hope you enjoy all my mess. he didn’t even give me the courtesy of taking the high quality items and dumping the rest. GRRRRR. it ENRAGES me! just take the cash monies, the cameras and run! would have saved me A LOT of time replacing my life. JERK.

oh, and ALSO. it seems EVERYONE takes the weekend off in prague. including my reality peeps and landlord. so thanks for not letting me into my home for 3 days and having to squat at kristyna’s all weekend. THANKS. and yes, i know what you’re gonna say, katie, why didn’t you just use your spare keys? BC I DON’T HAVE ANY. i thought about doing it, but never did, bc you know, this is CZ and to me everything is like 30 times harder for me to do.

and you, i think i probably had an emergency type number for my landlord for situations like this, but my phone was stolen. no number. and i’m pretty sure i had it written down, INSIDE. can’t get the number without going into my flat and can’t go into my flat without the number… it’s a CATCH 22!!!!!!!!!!! (aaaah i’ve always wanted to say that and really had a catch 22)

ok, now i really do have to go study. theories of international relations. BLERG. not looking forward to this one…

EVERY SINGLE CZECH PERSON HAS A DOG.  Yes, yes, i know, americans love dogs too!  But not like this.  Even though Prague is not a very big city (about 1 million peeps, give or take oh you know, immigrants, students, etc…) it is urban.  You know, people living close together, apartments, no yards, etc, etc. But everyone, i mean EVERYONE, has a dog!  And somehow it seems so very czech. Little ones, big ones, skinny ones, fat ones, they’re everywhere!  And i love dogs, you know this, they are so cute and cuddly and nomnomnom,

Annie B - my fave lil doggie

Bitty aka Killa B attacking michael vick

but here’s where it gets tricky: there is dog poop everywhere.  EVERYWHERE. I’m not talking about in the grass or in dog parks, i’m talking all up and down the sidewalk.  WTF??? I mean, i think there is a law you have to pick up for dog’s poop, but nobody does it. (kinda i guess how people know marijuana is illegal but they don’t care so they just smoke it on the corner anyways.) Now, i haven’t stepped in any dog poop, yet.  But i know it’s coming. I just know it is. Kind of like how i have that feeling that i just know i’m gonna get hit by a car or a tram one of these days.  let’s just hope it’s a car and not a tram…

Speaking of getting hit by a car, these CZECH DRIVERS ARE CRAZY!  They will zip around corners like it’s a racetrack, and accelerate and screech to a halt like somebody’s after them.  It’s all normal routine here! But the entire city is also “pedestrian friendly,” meaning, cars have to stop for you at the crosswalk, even if there’s no light.  Trouble is, you never can tell if they are stopping or not.  Also, sidewalks are fair game.  Need more room to park? There’s the sidewalk! Need more room to turn around? There’s the sidewalk! Need more room to drive? There’s the sidewalk! Can you see how being worried about getting hit by a car is not so irrational?

Just one word: COATCHECK.  Or is that 2 words? Evs, it’s something that is all around europe (and i guess big cities in the US) that is unpleasantly not present in good ole North Carolina.  Also coat racks at your cozier, smaller places.  To me, it is just brilliant.  One of those small things that makes all the difference in the world.  Is it really really really cold outside? And thus, hot as mess inside? What do i do with this enormous coat now that i’m burning up? COATCHECK! Ding ding ding! Now get with it NC! I’m tired of having my coat draped awkwardly on the back of my chair (and then the floor) OR trying to find a place to hide so it won’t get stolen while i’m getting my party on.

TAM. That’s push, not pull. I don’t know why this is, but most doors here push in and do not pull out. It has made for a couple awkward moments where I pull perhaps a little too hard on a door that’s meant to be pushed, which then slingshots me back into the door, welcoming me into the store, restaurant, pub, etc in quite a non elegant fashion.  BUT, i think by now i have finally now conditioned myself to push, and not pull.

And there are thousands, i mean thousands more things i could talk about, but they’ll have to wait. I’ll just have to make this an ongoing installment to the blog.

Till next time, Na Zdravi!

Ding ding ding! That’s right, in case you forgot, i’m here in lovely Praha to get my masters degree!  Yes, yes, i know what you’re thinking: but she hasn’t said even ONE WORD about school or classes or anything on this wonderful and entertaining blog! You’re right, and sometimes i forget the reason i’m here too…just tooooo busy exploring the city, drinking pivo, walking to try to work off the pivo, and staying out till 5 in the morning when the metro opens back up.  But i digress…

Anywho, so this post is gonna be ALL ABOUT SCHOOL!  Yay!  It’s actually not as boring as it sounds, well, it probably is, but i’ll try to spice it up a little.  First a rundown of my schedule:

MONDAY:

1000 Czech Class (blah blah blah)

1400 Security in Africa (security in africa??? fat chance…)

TUESDAY:

800 Theories of International Relations (……..)

930 West European Politics and Society (cool prof, she actually was on some advisory board about the Lisbon Treaty, Pres. Klaus did NOT take her advise…but in the end he had to sign it anyways)

1230 20th Century European Geography and Politics (Dr. Hnizdo, director of poli sci dept. and awesome czech guy with weird accent and cool stories)

1530 Security and Integration in Europe (pretty interesting, esp since we no longer have a final exam in this class!)

1700 Comparative Security Policies (aka counterterrorism, hardest, most demanding class by far)

1830 North America Since World War II (snooooooze, learned all this mess in the 6th grade)

THURSDAY

815 Czech Class (blah blah blah wah?)

WHEW. I know what you’re thinking: wow, Tuesday’s must be a DOOZIE!  And they are.  But i rather like having just about all my classes on one day, leaves more time for messing around and forgetting that i’m furthering my higher education.  I had 2 papers due this week: term paper for Security in Africa was due Monday (Has the International Criminal Court helped or hindered peace in Uganda? erm, uh, it kinda helped justice, but kinda hurt peace…), and the term paper for Comparative Security Policies was due Tuesday (Russia’s counterterrorism policies towards the Caucasus: we will crush you with excessive force and whatever Putin says, goes!).  And you know what? These were both ELECTIVES!  All my hardest classes this semester have been ELECTIVES! What is wrong with me?? Next semester i’m going to somehow find out what the easier classes are and take those.  I know what you’re thinking: but Katie, Security in Africa and Comparative Security Policies, those even SOUND hard.  Yes, yes, i know, when we were picking classes I would say i was a little bit over ambitious as to my scholarly abilities (i.e. i forgot i’m lazy).  Actually come to think of it, that comparative securities classes is really the only tough class i have.  The rest are only hard bc i’m lazy or i go out and drink beer instead of doing my readings or writing my papers and not saving them for the few days before they are due.  (Mom and Dad, yall can just erase those last few sentences from your brains!  I am studying very VERY hard and i’m uber serious about school.)

I also know ANOTHER thing you are thinking: Katie Cozort, go to 8AM classes??!?! Yeah, I’ll believe that when you tell me she also secretly was in love with Glen Beck and plans to vote for Sarah Palin in 2012.  Oh contraire, mon frere!  I DID actually go to my 8AMs for like the first month or so.  but don’t worry, i will NOT be voting for Sarah Palin in 2012 bc i stopped going to czech class bc its not required – therefore no credit, and have skipped last couple Theories of IR bc we got a new teach that is like taking an Ambien after a few glasses of wine: instant zonk-out.

i dunno who this joker is, but it is pretty hilarious.

Now on to some logistics about actually attending Charles University in Prague.  It is perhaps the most unorganized institution i have ever encountered in my entire life.  And i have frequented the US post office many times, interned at the NC General Assembly, and gone through numerous security checks in countless airports in several countries.  SO, that should tell you a little about how most of time, i don’t know F is going on here.  also the printing fee is OUTRAGEOUS! 1czk per page. PER PAGE! That is like $1 for 17 pages! needless to say, i don’t print out too much…even though it’s a pain to read journal articles all on the computer, it’s a lot cheaper! (that means more $$$ for cheap beer and cool euro outfits!)

BUT, they do love their national holidays here!  I have had all tuesday classes cancelled due to holiday no less than twice since i’ve been here.  And that’s like less than 3 months!  on the last holiday the dean also cancelled classes on the monday before the struggle for freedom and democracy national holiday that occurred on a tuesday, bc what the hey?! why have class on monday when you could be out celebrating the eve of struggle for freedom and democracy day?  It’s all good to me!

i don't know when or where this picture was taken, but i can tell you it is AWESOME.

Another plus: guess what they serve in the cafeteria, or bufet is i guess what they call it here.  PIVO! that’s right BEER! (But Katie, they have an armadillo grill in the student union at Duke that serves beer, you’re not so special…oh yeah? well then i would have had to go to Duke, so shut your pie hole!) so anyways it’s pretty awesome. esp when Dr. Hnizdo (the director of the Political Science department, professor of 20th c. european geography and politics, and star of katie’s sneaky picture-taking at IEPS get together fame) has a beer in there every tuesday before our 1230 class!  He is kind of like, the shit.

my sneaky pic of Dr. Hnizdo! Doesn't he look pretty badass?

Ok, that’s all for now.  Because, at this moment i’m actually at school, i came here to start work on my next paper, but instead ended up writing this blog entry.  (AAHHH! I shake my fist at you!!!) SO, a little more work, then it’s on to the Ukraine vs. Netherlands battle!

Na Zdravi!

CHEERS!

Tesco all dressed up for christmas!

Veselé Vánoce! That’s right folks, it’s christmas time! Christmas comes early in the Czech Republic. Maybe it’s because they don’t have thanksgiving. Or maybe it’s because they have their own little holiday on 5 december where people dress up like angels and čerts (little demons) and go around giving, or not giving, candy to little kids. Whatever the reason, I LIKE IT. The stores have been decorated for, I’d say almost 2 weeks now! See!

Christmas @ tesco

So I decided that tomorrow I’m going out and getting Christmas decorations for my flat! And I just can’t wait. They are quite fond of using blue to decorate here, so I’m thinking I might go with that. And maybe a little white retro tree. But I am open to suggestions. Something like this:

Blue Christmas!

Awww, it’s so tacky it’s cute! And soooooo Czech.

And do you know what? I did!

my flat is also getting into the christmas spirit!

I also got some colored lights to put around my door, but they already aren’t working anymore. ARG! I need to find better ones. Plus, when they did work, they would turn off every few minutes for like 30 seconds. I guess to make sure they wouldn’t burn anything down…who knows?

Here’s another thing I’ve noticed in Prague. Czechs love their candy. And when I say love, I mean LOVE. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT. There are rows upon rows of candy aisles in the grocery store, yet only one kind of TP. Go figure. AND there are like no fat people here! I mean sure, you’ve got your robust slavic types, but I have seen only like 1 (ONE) obese person the entire time i’ve been here! And one would think with all the pivo, and heavy food, and candy it would be different, but no.  Bara (Kristyna’s stepmom type) just says, “oh, that’s because we walk everywhere.” Perhaps. But look at these little gems I started noticing about 2 weeks ago:

Czech christmas chocolates

It might be hard to see, but look how scary those ones are in the middle row! Those are čerts. Chocolate čerts. I was very confused when I saw these in the stores (because what the hell do little devils have to do with CHRISTMAS? That’s CHRIST’S b-day) until I was told about the little 5 december candy giving holiday. Christmas times really is the best time to find out the little differences in cultures. Sort of reminds me of a David Sedaris story, 6 to 8 Black Men (you tube it and don’t forget parts 2 and 3).

Czech Gulaš

mmm gulaš

This is a very traditional, very delicious Czech staple. Just about every country from central europe eastward does their own version of goulash, including their own spellings. I personally am a fan of Hungarian goulash, but the Czech version is not too shabby. Typically it is tender beef in a delicious sauce with a little bit of a kick to it. Often veggies like peppers or onions are in there was well. Czech gulaš is always served on a plate and is always served with knedlíky (dumplings). Czech dumplings are not like asian dumplings, or whatever other kind of dumplings I know you were thinking about. It’s the doughy bread slices to see in the picture above. Very Czech. I highly recommend getting the gulaš if you ever find yourself in Praha, or anywhere else kind of near here. At your local corner pub this dish will only set you back about 99 kč. That’s about $5-6 depending on how low the good ole USD decides to go that day.

Slivičkova

slivičkova - one of my new faves

Mmm slivičkova. Now, I’ve had gulaš before, but was my first time for slivičkova. I discovered this Czech delight thanks to Peter, the Slovak. He recommended I try it, and so I did (actually he ordered for both of us, but it was good, so no need to complain)! Once again we see our good friends knedlíky (DUMPLINGS dummy). What did I tell you? They are everywhere in Czech cuisine. This is also beef, in a sort of creamy yumyum delicious sauce. That’s really the only way I know how to describe it (foodie fail – sorry embo). And maybe the best part is it’s usually served with a little cranberry sauce and whipped cream. Mmm, ’nuff said. I highly recommend this guy if you are in my neck of the woods. AND, you will probably impress your waiter bc this dish is CZECH Czech, not like tourist Czech. Probably a little bit more expensive than a plate of gulaš, but still not a lot if you’re in the right place and totally worth it.

Bramboráčky

bramboráčky

Bramboráčky is something that is as common as knedlíky in Czech cooking. These are potato pancakes (brambory = potatoes, bramboráčky = potato pancakes). Definitely one of my faves of Czech cooking, especially the last time I lived here when I didn’t eat any beef or pork…but that’s a whole other story. As you see above, you can get these by themselves or as a side dish to your meal. Actually, THE Corner Bar serves knedlíky AND bramboráčky with their gulaš. But the pic above also has good examples of other classic Czech sides: shredded cabbage, carrots and a pickle. They LOVE pickles here. And cukes. Put them on the side of everything. Needless to say, I love it too. OK, so your bramorak, you can eat this with ketchup or mustard or whatever sauce your meat came with, but I think they are also pretty flavorful on their own.

A couple days ago I bought a little Czech cookbook to try cooking some Czech things for myself. I actually don’t eat out here that often, but eat at home. And anyone who knows me knows I am a WHIZ in the kitchen. So, Czech cooking? BRING IT ON. (Note: actually NOT a whiz in the kitchen. Actually, whatever the opposite of a whiz is, that’s me.) Anywho, last night I decided to go with something easy and I made my own bramboráčky! OK so if anyone would have been watching me while cooking them, they probably would have called it a massive fail, and maybe also by the looks of my poor little potato pancakes. But I will tell you one thing, to the taste, they were an EPIC SUCCESS! The epic failure was the sausage I tried to cook to have with my bramboráčky. I guess maybe the pan was too hot or something (in my kitchen there are only 2 settings on my stove: on and off)…bc the sausage…well, it might have, how do you say? Exploded. But don’t worry, no one was hurt, and I made a little sausage patty with what was left, and it was good enough.

ingredients

So, here’s what’s in potato pancakes:

potatoes, grated (duh, and I didn’t have a grater so I used a knife, like a CHAMP)

egg

flour

garlic

salt

the recipe also called for marjoram and caraway, but I didn’t have any marjoram and I don’t even know what caraway is, so I just added a little black pepper and PAPRIKA: the spice of champions of the eastern bloc.

so you add all these together and make a little paste and then fry them up! you want them as thin as possible and crispy!

Voila!

Some of mine might have been a little too crispy, but what they hey. Good thing I like my food a little burnt. Also do you see the little sausage patties? Aren’t they cute?

DOBROU CHUT!

(That’s czech for bon appetit! Side note, someone once asked me what we say in America instead of dobrou chut. My response: well, we don’t say anything, except maybe sometimes bon appetit, I guess. This is a common theme I’m finding. Nailya (old roommate): what do you say in US when someone gets out of the shower? Me: Umm, are you clean?? No, no, we don’t say anything… Nailya: oh, in Russian we say something like “here’s to good wishes!”)

Well, that’s all for now folks, so here’s to good showers and good wishes!

Metro Map

Now I have been on the metro/subway/tube in other big cities and I can say I have never encountered something quite like the escalators in the Prague metro.  These are very steep and fast moving escalators, and I used to be deathly afraid of them.  Maybe yet another reason I didn’t use the metro a lot back in 2005.  My friend has told me that Kiev’s escalators are much longer and steeper, but I have never been to Kiev, so I couldn’t say.  I did hear that actually the metro was built so far underground as to act as a bomb shelter, if we ever got to nuclear war. I once saw a grown man hesitate to step onto the down escalator so many times that he eventually had to back off to let other people on.  It was, in a word, hilarious. And also I think demonstrates that it is scary to people who might not be used to it.  But I have to say, practice makes perfect.  Most people (the scardy-cats) stand to the right holding onto the railing as they are going down, or up, so people in a hurry can walk right past them.  I used to think, who are these people running past me so fast?? Do they have some sort of death wish?? Well, I wonder no more, my friends.  I can now zip zip bop past those slow pokes with the best of them!

I had a long ride into the center from Hostivar when I lived in the dorms, and still a fairly long ride out to school, so I usually listen to my ipod on the metro or tram, along with the all the other young people.  It used to irk me that so many people always had their headphones in over here, but now I find it somewhat necessary, especially on public transportation.  It is a great distraction from the many things you see on the metro that you don’t want to: kids making out, homeless people trying to talk to you, drunkards trying to talk to you, etc.  My fave albums to listen to so far have been The Clash’s London Calling and Jay-Z’s the Blueprint 3.

Ahh, to me, this album is perfection.  Great music to really get you and keep you pumped up.  Perfect soundtrack for walking down the street or through the crowded metro stations.  Must listen to’s: Jimmy Jazz and Spanish Bombs.

Definitely not as good as the original Blueprint, but dang, I was impressed!  I really wasn’t expecting that much from Jay-Z this time, but to me, he really delivered.  Must listen to’s: Empire State of Mind and Off That

these 2 spires make it easy to find the old town square

OK. So Old Town is probably one of my very favorite neighborhoods in Prague.  There are your busy tourist parts, like the Old Town Square, and the streets to Charles Bridge, but also some more authentic and quieter spots.  And to me, it still has that really old world feel, which is nice.

pretty sweet astronomical clock

Ah, the astronomical clock.  If you’ve been to Prague you have probably seen it, and if not, you might have heard about it.  It is right in Staroměstska (Old Town Square) and crowds of tourist gather around every hour to see the little guy pop out and do a little dance or something.  Honestly, it’s not that great.  I waited around for it once, and eh.  That’s about it.  I think the craftsmanship on the clock is the best part.  Especially bc of this story: so the czech government did not want anything else like it popping up around Europe, so do you know what they did? They gouged out the clock makers eyes! Pretty harsh, if you ask me.  But this was the 15th century.  When the clock maker died, he was touching the clock.  And the clock did not work for many years after that.  Pretty spooky!

Many days, especially if the weather is nice, vendors will set up booths in the square selling all sorts of things.  Souvenirs, spices, jewelry, and lots of different kinds of food.  You can get pastries, potato pancakes, brats, pivo, of course, and on very special days, ham right off the pig that is roasted right there in the middle of the square! Mmmm, delicious.  Goes down best with a cold beer.

One evening while I was walking through the square I heard some live Czech music. I followed the sound, and what did I find, but a live czech Umpa band! And traditional Czech dancing!  Sorry, the picture isn’t that great, but you can catch the drift.  A crowd of people had gathered to watch and it was quite entertaining.  Each dance sort of told a story, some of the stories a little naughty and always funny.  But perhaps the best part was when the dancers took onlookers from the crowd in to dance with them.  Even funnier.