Prague

The curvy lines of this 1990s building are fascinating.

We stayed near the Charles Bridge, the center of Old Town Prague

"Meat" Me in Prague!

The Czechs adore animal protein. We opted to consume only local cuisine during our stay in Prague, and sampled pork saddle, pork medallions, pork knuckle, and pork stump (I don't know what part of the pig that is either), with some rabbit, duck, and goulash tossed in for variety. Side dishes included a plethora of hearty carbs, including several different kinds of (delicious) red and white sour cabbage, potatoes, doughy dumplings and coarse, dark bread. Locally brewed beer was our drink of choice -- it was excellent, and a whole lot cheaper than water or soda. Strangely enough, despite the heavy nature of their traditional food, there doesn't appear to be an epidemic of obesity among the local population.

On our first ever train trip in Europe we traveled three hours south to Krakow, one of Poland's oldest cities, dating from the 7th century. I'm standing just outside of Wawel Castle here, visualizing myself sweeping through its ancient halls with maids in tow and a pointy princess hat on my head.

Krakow is the only large city in Poland whose old architecture survived WWII intact. Krakow's market square Rynek Glowny is the largest medieval town square in Europe.

We were extremely lucky to catch an unusual parade while we were in town. Discovery Channel was there too filming the celebration of the 325th anniversary of the Victory at Vienna. In 1683 King John III Sobieski and his legendary armored cavalry came to the rescue of the city besieged by Turkish forces. The victorious battle earned the Polish king the title of the Savior of Christianity from the onslaught of the Ottoman Empire.

Location, Location, Location!

It's very nice to have a 17th century royal palace just a short walk down a cobblestone lane from your house. And a Baroque garden that extends towards a serene little lake. Thank you King Jan Sobieski for letting us move into your old neighborhood!

Is This a Trend?!

The Middle East, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe...what's the deal with this? Maybe our next work destination will be Eastend, Saskatchewan -- a couple of family members would be happy about that we think -- but for now, we're content to be taking on Warsaw, Poland. Following are a few random shots from our early wanderings in the city.

NEPAL

Namaste! We recently spent two weeks discovering Nepal, and although thick clouds of dust at this very dry time of year obscured our view of the Himalaya, we found plenty of other stuff to gawk at. This view is the only (somewhat) clear shot of the highest mountains (if you enlarge it!)that we got, compliments of Thai Airways, on our way in to Kathmandu.

Kathmandu

Words nearly fail to describe this place, but we’ll try. Let’s see…fascinating, funky, friendly, crowded, chaotic, colorful, rundown, raucous, and really, really interesting. Now let the pictures speak for themselves.

Bhaktapur

Less than an hour’s death-defying drive from Kathmandu on traffic-choked roads, dodging water buffalo, and narrowly averting gaudily decked out Indian trucks belching black smoke and hammering on their horns, we arrived at the town of Bhaktapur. What a relief to spend a few quiet hours wandering the traffic free cobblestone streets of this fascinating place. We were thrilled to get lost in the town's medieval era labyrinth of lanes, and were fortunate to stumble across a primary school “sports day” race in progress. No PE attire for these cuties, just their too big/too small grubby school uniforms, shoes that needed lacing, and adorable little mugs that shouted enthusiastic hellos to us before it was their turn at the starting line. Most ran their little hearts out, but some lost interest halfway through the contest, gave it up, and wandered unperturbed back to their cheering classmates. What great timing for us! We also got to see Bhaktapur’s Nepali New Year preparations in progress, as the town was busy preparing their traditional triple-roofed chariot for hauling around during the festivities. The photo of the wooden peacock is from a 15th-century window, and is reputed to be the finest carved window in the valley.