The Women of Prague

Walking through Prague I was fascinated by all the friezes.

I concentrated on the faces of the women and found their detail in so many buildings.

Beauty, strength, perseverance, reverence, sorrow, hope and waiting.

It was all portrayed in their faces.

And more.

I'm trying to decide which face to wear today.

My list of things to do continues to be longer than my arm but I'm whittling away at it.

I'd still like to show you more of Prague but it keeps hitting the back burner.

It's all a bit overwhelming but I'll keep putting together a few things to show. 

Eventually an album but since I know the pictures are safe I won't stress out over it.

You might hear from me again today ... I'm off to pull together the post for 

another Morning Star, Morning Bright block.

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One House in Prague

I know you're waiting to see pictures of our trip to Prague 

.. they're coming .. 

but it's no easy task.

800+ pictures between the two of us. 

I walked around with my our new camera and a 55-250mm lens. 

Axel had a point and shoot that he loves.

This is what happened.

I'm over the moon with the results. One thing I love about architecture is the abundance of designs that can be sew easily applied to quilting.

I walked around Prague like this. 

isn't the brick wall behind me gorgeous!!!!???

Needless to say, my neck feels great ... now! Us quilters, knitters, crafters often spend too much time with our heads down and end up with sore necks and shoulders all too often. Grab your camera and go on a foray .. look up .. you'll be amazed by what you see. Inspiration you've never noticed before. And feel the better for it too!

Warning ... do not try this while walking in a big city the Netherlands. I highly recommend you plant your back firmly to a wall - or risk getting run over by bicyclists. I love the Netherlands! But there you / I have to choose. Watch the ground (for uneven cobblestones), left and right (for cyclists) and up (for amazing architecture). Trying to do all three at once is definitely a "at your own risk" situation.

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We went to Prague

There is so much to tell, show and share.

Between us we took over 800 pictures.

He drove 2700+ kilometers (1675+ miles).

I slept very little.

We walked a LOT.

We ate some very very lovely food.

And enjoyed a wonderful bottle of wine.

I discovered Becherovka.

He smiled a lot.

I loved it.

More soon.

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destination: Prague

Our last and only vacation was 7 years ago. It's crazy insane that although we've been together 17 years most (if not all) of our "free time" has been spent flying back and forth across the pond and spending much-needed quiet time visiting places where our families were. Early on, very early on. Like in the very first months we were together we took a weekend to Victoria (BC, Canada) to visit Axel's college friends for the weekend. It was fun, unexpected and a very nice break.

In 2005 we went to formerly "East" Germany. I was looking for one iconic picture from that trip to share with you but couldn't pick just one. So you'll have to go look at this little slide show I put together way back then (to show to my customers) here. It was an amazing trip that left so many impressions on me. But I can't say it was relaxing. I was stressed. For a lot of reasons.

Last year we *thought* about going away - that counts, right? But chose instead, and rather wisely, for a Staycation. We loved it. I loved it! You can read more about it here.

Now, we're ready 

for a 

GET . A . WAY. 

And not surprising we're headed east again. The highlight of the trip will be (three nights in) Prague but will include two other overnight destinations in Germany. A bit of Poland was on the cards for a while but we decided to wait for that one. Last, but not least, will spend our last night on the way home with my dear friend, Gabi and her husband, in Dortmund. 

The entire trip is about 2000km / 1245 miles. 

I can hardly wait.

Axel used to guide bicycle tours (ahem - 30+ years ago!) from Germany into the Czech Republic during the Cold War days. I am looking forward to his memories and rediscoveries. There will also be evidence of much change. I've been looking for a picture of him. I know there is one. It involves a bicycle, very long legs, some long-ish hair and a fair amount of giggling ... (oh, that's me ... while trying to hide behind my hand). I'm still looking ...

As for me, I really don't know what to expect. I'm trying to think of what I want to see. I'm trying not to build up expectations. Neither of us speak Czech. I am sure it will be an adventure.

I want to wonder.

I want to wander.

I want to get lost. 

Some things I have thought about:

• Prague is known for Art Nouveau
• Beads! I'd love to buy some unusual beads (in Jablonec)
• I want to wander through some countryside
• Rather than big city sights I'd love to browse through some typical neighbourhoods.

Do you have any suggestions?

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I {heart} Gent

Axel and I spent the afternoon in Gent on Saturday. It's terrible, really, to admit that in all the years we've been together we haven't taken much time out to just explore and relax. Our staycation this summer really reminded us to do this more often. So we made dinner plans in Gent to celebrate our anniversary and went into town hours early to "browse."

Click on the photo to see more pictures of our day out in Gent.

It was busy and very hot so headed to the underground carpark at KOUTER, when we popped up out of the parking lot onto the market we found a wonderful international market going on. Stalls from all over Europe .. I bought this lovely coinpurse from a man who was selling all kinds of leather goods made by his family in Hungary.

Then we headed toward the GRASLEI, we didn't really have anything in particular in mind .. except ending at the restaurant for our reservation at 6:30. But then we remembered that I wanted to hold an iPad 2, we've been talking about getting one but didn't want to take the plunge until I had at least had one in my hands. SOLD! I can hardly wait, even though I know it will disappear with Axel when he goes on tour for two weeks the end of September.

Still heading into the center of town, we stopped in at one of my favorite shops: Dille & Kamille. Even Axel doesn't get bored in here .. it's full of all kinds of great kitchenwares, garden items, children's toys and more.
We bought ourselves the perfect anniversary gift .. a ravioli form!

After that we just kind of wandered here and there following our feet through the crowds - it was really busy! The best times were went we wandered down the empty streets without any aim, but darn there, we forgot to take pictures.

We even found an English bookstore with lots of old hardbacks including Pollyanna of the Orange Blossoms and a couple of other historical reads for me.

Oh yeh, I wanted to run into the yarn/fabric shop. I had no idea Stoffenidee had moved (two years ago!), but the new shop owner was very very friendly and pointed us in the right direction. I swear I have the most patient husband. Off on a jaunt, past Gravensteen, a bit further and yep - there it was! I love their new location and they were soooo much more friendly this time. Is it because I speak Nederlands now? Although, when stuck they were happy to switch to English and then back to Nederlands when we figured it out again. Came out with a sweet bag full of yarn for this project and an impulse buy of yarn and whoppen needles for the simplest shrug or "teapot warmer" as my friend Janice would say.

There's more fun girly stuff to share, but this post is already getting long and I've probably bored you so I'll do another tomorrow and show my LACE PURCHASE .. it's to die for!

We ended the evening at the Raj along the Kraanlei. We sat outside, the weather was amazing, the service great but the food sadly wasn't much to write home about. Pin It Now!

Staycation

Axel and I have only ever gone on ONE real "vacation" it was 5 days into the eastern part of Germany. I loved it, we loved it ... I have some great pictures of this trip. It was moons ago, 6-1/2 years ago. It was a very stressful job due to a bunch of stuff going on in the shop and lack of available internet connections to put me at ease. I want to go back and this time enjoy every minute. And we did think about it, and we thought about the Ardennes, but then we re-thunk it all and decided this year a "Staycation" was our best option.

First, there's the dog to think about, then the whole problem I have with paying for a bed in July when *everyone* else is also on holiday and willing to pay top dollar when I have a perfectly good bed at home, and lots of little jobs we want to get done and and and ... so this year we're staying home and so far we're loving it!

We've got this plan, a 3-day rotation plan. One day we do whatever we want, one day we hit the road and go exploring (and have a nice meal out) and the 3rd day we work on projects around the house and garden.

Yesterday was our "do what we want." So first I made a set of reversible cocktail napkins and then I was browsing Pinterest .. seriously .. if you love to find quick and easy inspiration, this is the place!

See!



First I saw this, which got me curious so I found this and then this. So I plunked myself on the sofa yesterday and made this ...


But who can stop at one? So now this one is in the works. Oh, and I did a bit of tidying too and found the sweet little girl on the way ... just one of many little wooden things we bought on that trip to eastern Germany.



If you'd like to see more of our trip feel free to browse this little slide show I put together. It includes pictures of our first buying trip to find indigos and the process involved in creating them. Pin It Now!