Anticipation

Aww, the planning. This is the stage of travel that I adore nearly as much as the actual journey. I love the tingle in my fingers as I turn guidebook pages and type in search engines. I love how my toes tap, wanting to already be walking on those new paths. I love how my eyes begin to be caught by the name of the place I'm going to and it seems that the place is suddenly everywhere: in the news, food, websites, blogs. Oh, sweet anticipation....

Why is this idea of planning and anticipating on my mind? Because I and my friend E are the excited owners of plane tickets to Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam. We are going to Southeast Asia in March to eat, walk, meet people, shop, eat more, feel, take photos and generally have an amazing few weeks together.

I kind of feel like a kid in a candy store when I think about it. Asia, I've missed you!

Bella Italia

Sara and Tasci

 There is a reason that all roads lead to Rome. It is because Rome is the most beautiful, the most graceful and the most truthful city. It reflects who we are as a western culture. It makes you breath slowly and deeply. It makes you fall in love with living.

Around Christmas last year I got a call from my friend Sara. We go way back to the days of Zanesville High School, and it is always a treat to hear her voice. She was itching to travel for a couple weeks in Europe. She already had some destinations picked out, but she was looking for one more city where she and I could meet up. Rome was one of the first places out of both of our mouths. It just felt right.

Look at those veggies!

pray

I flew into Rome late and experienced my first scam as the ticket salesman for the bus tried to give me a 20 cent coin back instead of a Euro coin. I politely pointed out his "mistake" and my money was returned with a sheepish grin. I haven't been traveling in Europe for over 10 years to fall for that old one! Finally I made it to the hotel where Sara was waiting up patiently. We wandered out into the Roman night to find a late night dinner of pizza and gaze at the Colosseum ruins, which were only a few blocks from our hotel. *Sigh* I'd arrived in a little piece of pure happiness.

What I love about Rome is how OLD it is. You know it's old when you are going but to sit down on a piece of marble and realize it's been hanging around the city center for about 3000 years it is a staggering moment. In Rome people live in history. History surrounds them in their living rooms, in the streets, in the churches and markets. It's this living history that I believe make the Italians so free from worldly worry. They can look around them and see that "this too shall pass". We are but a moment in an eternity. Where better to learn that lesson then in the Eternal City.

A map full of lies, Wine full of truth=)

Sara and I passed our long weekend with walking and shopping and eating and drinking. We had a lot we wanted to see but we wanted to see it in our own time and without any hustle and bustle. We quickly adapted to the pace of Roman life, enjoying lingering breakfasts of cappuccino and croissants at "our" local cafe and every lunch was accompanied by wine. We found hidden treasures, we had a moment of crisis when we wanted to rip up the map and curse the man who had designed it and thought the streets of Rome where in any way mappable. And we laughed a lot.

Rome, you stole my heart....and made my stomach very happy.

Roman fashion!!!

Living in history

The Vatican

Following in the Footsteps of the Hadleys

Two years ago we meet a couple from Texas through mutual friends. They are called the Hadleys and they are lovely people. They are the kind of friends that you don't have to see often, but when you do it is hours of fun and laughs. What probably sealed the deal is that both the boys have a love for aircrafts that we girls weren't about to compete with.

But, as happens in the lives of expats, the day came when it was time for them to head back to Texas. What I love about the Hadleys is that that they are the "seize the day" kind of people. So knowing that their time in Prague was coming to an end, they went all out seeing and doing things they didn't want to regret when they were gone. When we met them at their going-away-party they told us about how they had walked around Petřin park and enjoyed the Mirror Maze inside the mini-Eiffel tower on the top of the hill. They also went to an exhibit where Alfons Mucha's Epoch painting series is being shown.

So the weekend after they left us for the big blue skies of Texas, H and I decided to follow in their footsteps as a tribute to our favorite hiking buddies. We started with the Epoch exhibition. I had been wanting to see it for years but it never seemed to work out. Well, it's my loss because it is one of the most mind-blowing (and I do not use that term lightly) exhibits I've come across. The theme of the Slavic people is griping, the colors are other-worldly, the composition is intriguing. I could give you adjectives upon adjectives, but you have to see it for yourself. These paintings are pure beauty on canvas.

Trying to photo so many me(s)!

 Next we made our way to Petřin hill, where we walked through the crowds of people enjoying the last of Babi leto (Indian Summer). At the top of Petřin is a miniature Eiffel tower that was built for the world fair in 1891. On a clear day you can see the hill Říp in the distance. There are several curiosities at the top of hill near the mini-Eiffel that you can visit, but we had come for the Mirror Maze. It is a long, twisty corridor of mirrors of different curvatures that places with your sense of perspective, and makes you laugh a lot at yourself. Fun times for the whole family!

And to put the icing on our perfect-day cake, we walked down the hill and admired the lovely view of Prague Castle and Malá Strana.

Thanks Amy and Dennis for all the fun!

St Nichols, Malá Strana

The End of the Road

All good things must come to an end, and a lovely holiday in no different. The last few days of our American Adventure we spent in Ohio enjoying friends and family. H was feeling under the weather, so we took things slow and just enjoyed the autumn colors and Indian summer warmth.

A few of my favorite highlights were:

-H. cooked stuffed dumplings with spinach for my grandmother. A man who can make potato dumplings from scratch is worth his weight in gold.

-We got to see the beginnings of our close friends' new businesses. It is always exciting to see a project in the middle of preparation, when inspiration is high and anything is possible. I can't wait to be there in December to see how they are getting along after their openings. (More about all this in a future post...)

-Some dear friends that we actually met here in Prague were visiting their daughter and granddaughter in Columbus! We were able to meet up and see each other on the other side of the ocean. We are very much looking forward to their return in the spring.

-Driving through the foothills, gasping in awe at the colors Mother Nature had on display. Ohio really is *beautiful*.

Ohio University

Ohio lane

Ohio farm 

Watch out for horse and buggies!

Watching horse and buggy!

Indian summer

We journey on...

Woodford Reserve, white oak barrels

Day 5: Kentucky is home to the Bourbon Trail. This is a driving tour seven distilleries within about a 50 mile radius that provides on-site tours of their distilleries, history of bourbon and  whiskey in the US and, of course, gift shops. We took a tour at the most historic distillery: Woodford Reserve. Bourbon has been being made there for over 200 years, although the ownership and legality of it has changed many times. The facilities are set in the vibrant green hills. The buildings are all made of stone and a smell of sweet yeasty bread hangs over the grounds. The tour takes about one hour and I would highly recommend doing it. You don't even have to be a bourbon drinker, or a drinker of anything, to enjoy the history, the science and the atmosphere. We stopped in four of the distilleries but only took the tour at Woodford Reserve. Each of the distilleries had their own vibe, their own culture.

But soon we had to leave the trail behind and continue on down into the Great Smoky Mountains.

Day 6: What I haven't mentioned so much yet is that I'm a bit sick. I have some kind of cold/sinus infection/cough that just keeps keeping on. Our original plan was to do lots of hiking in the mountains, but with my condition we were faced with the reality that this was going to be a more "American" style Smokies tour, meaning that we would be driving much more and only doing short trails.

Cades Cove, original log cabin

The interesting thing about US National Parks is that they are very driver friendly. There are wide roads, parking at all major points of interests, pull-offs for viewpoints. H and I debated the pros and cons of this style of park versus the European "park and hike yourself in" version for several hours, I'll spare you the details and just say that we came to the consensus that both have merit.

Cades Cove

SO, our driving tour consisted of an 11 mile loop around Cades Cove. This is a little meadowy valley surrounded by mountains that was settled in the 1820s. When the Smoky Mountain Park was established in the 1920s the settlers and their descendants were given a compensation packaged and moved out of the park, but their log cabins, white washed churches, cemeteries, mills all stayed as they were. The Cove is really beautiful and well preserved. It gives a good idea of the hardships the men, women and children who first tamed  this great continent must have faced. A stark reminder of this was the many small grave stones, denoting children who had passed away in each cemetery.

We also drove to the tallest point in the Smokies, Clingmans Dome. The idea was to be there for sunset but the Smoky Mountains aren't called that for nothing. We had a thick and dense cloud coverage at the top that was mystical, magical (and I'm not going to lie, a little creepy!). We were not disappointed at all, it was amazing to be inside the cloud and feel the power of the mountains. AND we had some spectacular views as we drove down the mountain with the clouds above and the sun setting just under them. **Sigh**

Smokies at sunset

Day 7: My sister lives in South Carolina, which we realized meant that we could conveniently meet halfway between our holiday point and her home. We did our meeting up in Asheville, NC. A cute university town with a historic downtown, hippies on every corner and art art art. We had burritos for lunch at a locally sourced, organic restaurant called the Lucky Otter and then headed into town to find Dobrá Tea. Yes, for you who know Czech culture, there is a real, authentic čajovna (tea house) up here in the Smokies. It is, in fact, a branch of the well-known Dobrá čajovna brand from Prague! You cannot imagine my husbands delight=).

A little piece of Czech in the Smokies

Our journey to the mountains is soon ending and we will be headed back north to spend a little time in Ohio, but you can be sure we'll be seeking out adventure there as well! (In the meantime, cross your fingers and hold you thumb for health for us both! Traveling with colds isn't ideal...)

On the road again...

It's autumn again and in the autumn I get an itching for the burnt reds, deep oranges and popping yellows of the leaves changing in North America. I think this is why H and I have nearly always visited the US together in the fall. 50% of our car conversations go something like "Oh my, look at that tree! It's beautiful." "Yea, and on that hill, do you see all that yellow. It's amazing."

So, we are back States side to see the family, travel a little and enjoy our 1st anniversary(!!). Here's a look at the adventure so far:

Day 1
We flew from Prague direct to JFK. No problems there. We landed and pulled up to the gate. Still no problems. Then the captain announced that there would be a delay in opening the cabin doors because there had been a security breach and the entire terminal had been evacuated. So began a 2 hour wait on the plane, a wait in a line of about 700 people at immigration clearance, and ultimately missing our connecting flight because of the most horrendously unorganized and incompetent customs desk I've ever seen. To spare you the details, imagine 1000 people with no line trying to squeeze into 2 desks to get a customs stamp.

So, we were forced to take the next available flight the next morning at La Guardia, which meant finding a hotel last minute. The airline would not compensate us in anyway for the delay, but my tears of exhaustion got us at least a free taxi to La Guardia. We asked the taxi driver to take us to a national hotel close to the airport, they had availability so we checked in, ordered some Chinese take-away and crashed. That was our big night in NYC.

Day 2
 La Guardia. It is actually quite a nice airport. This flight was uneventful. We got to Columbus, got our rental car and headed for Zanesville because we had a party to attend (and organize!). Friday night we had our Ohio Wedding reception with my family. All my aunts and uncles, lots of cousins and their babies and my ever patient Grandmother joined us is our celebration. We held it at my Grandma's house. My mom had done the legwork before hand to organize what cake we wanted, have food available and get decorations together. My cousin, who is a great photographer, took pictures (which I'll post when they are available). There was music, laughter, food, hugs and lots of love. It was the perfect party.

Day 3
Thanks to jet-lag, we were up super early so we ran some errands (there's nothing quite like Walmart at 5am) and then decided to go back to bed and try to sleep a bit longer.  We woke up around lunch time and headed to a second celebration: My Grandmother's Family Reunion.

This is a gathering of my Grandma's extended family that covers generations and generations of family members who all owe their existence, including me, to Alston and Alberta Newman. Alston and Alberta were my great-great grandparents and in their life together on a farm in the mountains of West Virginia they bore and raised a slew of children, seventeen all together. So, you can imagine that this was a BIG family reunion. I don't know that H had ever been to an event quite like it. We were hugged and kissed and questioned and fed. The reunion was held at a campground outside of Zanesville, where the rolling hills were a beautiful background to a celebration of family.

Day 4
We did not wake up super early, as exhaustion and jet-lag and my airplane-acquired-sinus-infection had all caught up with us. We did finally hit the road about 9.30 and headed west towards Dayton. We stopped in Dayton Air Force Museum, as anyone related to aviation must do and throughly enjoyed ourselves. I felt like I had my own personal guide because H knows the make, details and history of nearly every plane there. After a picnic of hummus, crackers and fruit (thanks to Mom, who packed us a picnic for the road!) we set the GPS for Lexington, KY and that is where I write to you from.

The drive down was lovely and we are looking forward to see what adventures Day 5 may hold!

Why I Run...

When the big 3-0 was looming (several years gone by now), I decided that I would make a promise to myself to run a 5 kilometer race every year until I turn 60. So far, so good. I have indeed run a race every year, and some years more than one.

In fact, I have just completed my fourth run of the 2012 season. I kicked off my running in the spring with the PIM (Prague International Marathon) 4.2k Family Fun Run. In the early summer I did the Tesco Run for Life charity race. And in the past week the culmination of my hard work this summer was to complete the Nike We Run Prague 10k last Saturday and the Adidas Woman's 5k today.

It was great. I enjoyed each run, learning something about me with every step. In the fun runs, the key is to relax and enjoy the funny characters along the way. The homeless man cheering on the sidelines, or the man with a giant puppet yelling out ventriloquist encouragement, or small children waiting on the sidelines to high-five passing runners. In the 10k, my goal was to finish, finish strong, and finish without having to walk...Mission was accomplished and I was impressed that my body that had been very ill with a stomach flu just days before was trained well and strong enough to bounce back.

But probably my favorite race will always be that Adidas 5k Night Run. It is the perfect length, the perfect time, the perfect crowd, the perfect location. Dusk in the winding ancient streets, throngs of crowds bellowing praise and encouragement. It is a rush every time I do it.

And that is why I run. It is a Rush. I love that we inhabit fallible bodies that we can push to our personal limits. That we can push these bodies to develop strength and endurance. That my brain can overrule my body. The saying "Mind over Matter" is so true in running. If I want it, I can reach it. That knowledge is a Rush.

A Blog Siesta

We are deep in the heart of winter, here in Central Europe. Although, this weekend is the first real snow I remember seeing this winter. Maybe the deep winter gray has inspired contemplation in me. Or maybe it is laziness trying to disguise itself as self-reflection.

But in any case, I have decided to take a "Blog Siesta". At least for the winter I'd like to step away from the online writing and live a little more, offline.

So, thank you for reading what was written in 2011. When my creative juices start flowing and my feet start walking and the introvert in me has taken all the time it needs to recover from a very public 2011, then I'll be back with travel stories, tips of places to go and Prague ideas....

To travel is to live.