Last day in the Czech Republic was spent packing up to leave, running kms to pick up gifts we had seen before but not bought and still wanted (we know, we know....), saying farewell to Rod, taking the metro back out to Unhost to pick up our car, and spending several hours trying to match our new friend, Marta, who is 80, drink for drink! There wasn't time to go anywhere around Unhost so we'd decided just to take Vic out for a beer to say thanks. Marta pulled up unexpectedly so now there were five! Terrific surprise. So, we started with a beer and an absynthe at the local bar. (picture) Then, we retired back to Vic's house supposedly just to get rid of our beer before getting into the car. A shot of slivovich (spelling?), a shot of rye, a shot of something else (?), a shot of a creamy liquer and a glass of a fizzy beer later, we managed to pour ourselves into the car to leave. When I say we, I mean Rhonda and me. Thanks goodness for our DD, Ines! Vic urged us to stay overnight but we pressed on. A big thanks and a hug and kiss to Vic and Marta for their wonderful friendliness and for looking after the girls from Canada.
So, next day the transfer was made from Ines' apartment to Steffi's apartment. They´only live one S bahn stop apart. Steffi and Alex picked us up at 2 pm and said they were taking us back for a brei (African for BBQ). It's a long story but the short of it is that Steffi also has a house which she is going to renovate and move into by Christmas. You can see her house from her apartment. It has a big backyard so that is where we were going to BBQ. We walked into the house and it was set up for a big drinking party (picture). Rhonda and I couldn't imagine the 4 of us drinking all that booze (yes, even we weren't up to the task). But, HUGE and FABULOUS surprise, who should walk in but Ollie and Dani, the other German couple I had met on my trip to South Africa!! And, in order to avoid complaints from the neighbours about our revelry, the neighbours had been invited so we had 13 people in all. Many happy hours later, we fell into bed.
Yesterday, Alex, Steffi and Ollie and Dani and Rhonda and I did go to walk the beautiful grounds of the Summer Palace built by King Ludwig II (the same king as the other castle we had visited - sorry, got his name wrong last time). The palace, Nymphenburg, currently houses the Museum of Nature as well as being open to the public as a tourist attraction in itself.(picture) The grounds are huge with a botanical garden, a cafe, a lake filled with geese and ducks and kilometers of walking paths. From there, we retired to a local cafe for a final coffee before we waved a very fond farewell to Ollie and Dani. (picture) We look forward to keeping in touch on their future which will soon include a home they are building and a baby.
Back to Steffi's for another walk in her neighbourhood which seems more like a village than a city. Right next to her building, is a large area where people can buy a plot to garden. Although we have this even in Ottawa, as Rhonda and I walked around, we discovered that the Germans have taken it to another level. What they appear to do is buy a backyard! From what we could see, they have a small building and a piece of land that they use to have BBQs, play structures garden, etc. Kind of neat!
Today, we're gearing up into tourist mode and plan on spending the whole day doing a walking tour through the Old Town. Alex will join us in the early afternoon.
Hello to our family and friends! Kisses to my 3 boys. Until next time!
From your report, you're lucky that Lindsay Lohan hasn't joined your expedition! Still waiting for reports of, and recommendations for, solid food you're sampling.
ReplyDeleteTo the south of you, Chris has a new posting on his blog. Also, new photos have been posted, some of which show spectacular scenery in Namibia. I caught -- very briefly -- an earlier crop of photos, which has now been supplanted by the current ones. In the old crop, there was a close-up of Daniel eating lunch. He had long (for him) curly hair and a flaming red Fidel Castro-type beard!
What an eventful weekend: the royal wedding on Friday, the death of Osama yesterday, the federal election today, and of course the results of the election either today or tomorrow, depending on how close it is. That's enough news for this week, thanks. Let's just hope that the election doesn't plunge us into another period of political pettiness and rancour.
As for you guys, food reports, please! Keep well.
I don't imagine it's on the front page of Suddeutscher Zeitung, but at this point it appears that the Conservatives have won a majority government with about 165 seats (projected), the NDP is the official opposition with 105 seats (projected), the Liberals are history with 29 seats, the Bloc has been cut to 4 seats, and Elizabeth May is leading in her riding. Duceppe and Iggy are poised to lose their seats. Paul Dewar was re-elected.
ReplyDeleteYou may ask whether you want to return to Canada.
Final (unofficial) count: Conservatives 167, NDP 102, Liberals 34, Bloc 4, Greens 1. The Conservatives got 39.6% of the popular vote, the NDP 30.6%, and Liberals 18.9%, and the Greens 3.9%, with the Bloc taking the other 6%.
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