March '10

Do you ever wake up and think "Oh gee, another month is gone! How did that happen??" Well, that's my March 2010. Here's a little recap to keep you in the picture:

March 3 was Free Museum night. I love the first Wednesday in Prague for this reason. I met up with H's little sister, and learned a valuable (and time-saving) lesson. Always check to see if the museum you are planning on visiting is in fact open. We went to two different museums that were closed for reconstruction before going for the safe bet of the Castle. Of course the Prague Castle museum was open. There was a temporary exhibit of Romantic landscape paintings from the 19th century by August Bedřich, Charlotta and Louisa Piepenhagen.

Mid March H came home from work (he works abroad, for those out of the loop) and we decided a little bonding trip was in order. We hopped over the border to Germany and enjoyed an eclectic museum of everything technical under the sun. It was a bit like you cleaned out your grandparents' attic times a thousand. Then added a few tanks, airplanes and cars and turned all the random objects into a museum. We loved it!

H was home for two weeks, which also gave us some time to bond with his mom. We went to Terezin on Saturday. Terezin was originally built as a fort in the 1790s to protect the Habsburg empire. But it is notoriously known for being turned into the Teresienstadt Concentration camp during Nazi occupation. We took the guided tour. The tour guide was a woman in her mid-30s. She was excellent. She brought the history alive with her passion for the story. It is important for all generations to know what cruelty and lowness humanity is capable of. With guides like this woman, I'm confident the history will be told. www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/terezin.html

We also treated H's mom to some fancy cooking, but not mine! We went to the Indian restaurant on our street, Tandoori. Then we went back to Kardamon Klub, a restaurant I praised in an early post. If I could give them FOUR thumbs up, I would. Just as impressed the second time. www.hedvabnastezka.cz/kardamon

And that brings us to the end of March. See what I mean?! It flew by! The sun shone, the rain fell and March passed.

Thai Oishi: Eating Good

I met with a friend recently. We met over a meal of Asian dishes: friend noodles, rice, stir fry. It was good but it was a Western version of Asian foods. My friend began to spout about this amazing new restaurant he'd discovered in a part of town I wouldn't have believed had anything but pubs and goulash. But he claimed this Thai and Japanese restaurant had fresh sushi and great crab cakes. I was game and we made a plan to eat.

We met up on a Saturday afternoon and headed to Palmovka metro station. The restaurant is a short walk, only one street from the metro. It sits in the ground floor of an old residential building, surrounded by a street of old residential buildings. If you weren't looking for it, you wouldn't find it.

Everything in the restaurant is new and bright and welcoming. The walls are covered with posters of the Thai King, Thai dances and Thai dishes. There are two menus: Japanese and Thai. We ordered dishes from both. The food was genuine and fresh and everything you'd want from a little known gem. Plus, it won't break the bank because all the dishes are reasonably priced.

If you are looking for fresh sushi, well done maki, tasty Phat Thai, spicy shrimp or piping hot crab cakes you don't need to hop a plane to Bangkok, just get yourself to Prague 8 and fill your tummy.

http://www.thaioishi.cz/