Popelka is the Czech version of Cindarella, screened every year around Christmas time (she’s also quite popular in Germany and Russia, I’ve heard). Fairytales are popular in Czech Republic; they are on TV all the time. Continue reading
Europe
First snow: hiking in the Harz mountains
This weekend a friend organized a spontaneous trip to the Harz mountains when a colleague mentioned to her that it was snowing there. Although the highest peak, the Brocken, is only 1141m, the area has an alpine character with lots of fir trees and receives much more snow than the surrounding areas. It was amazing as we drove from autumnal forests full of orange and gold up to a snow-covered winter wonderland. We visited earlier this year in January or February when the snow was deep for cross country skiing. This year we did some hiking in the hills instead, another way to enjoy the beauty of the snowy trees. I can hardly wait to visit again. Continue reading
Middle Europe Weekly Small Pleasures #29 – chocolate, kriek and autumn forest
Well 2016 has certainly been a year of change worldwide. Terror attacks, Brexit, turbulent politics in South Africa and now Trump’s election. They say you always remember where you are when you hear dramatic news, and probably I will always remember that I was in Brussels at a meeting when Trump was elected. Because of my meeting, my husband and I spent the weekend in Belgium. We’ve been to Brussels several times before and have also visited Bruges, Ghent, Blankenberg, Spa, Lieges and Leuven, so this time we decided to take a day trip to Antwerp. I’ll write about our trip in a separate post, but Belgium is full of things to enjoy, and so this week my weekly small pleasures were Belgian ones. Check out the weekly small pleasures of others here at a New Life Wandering. Continue reading
Posts I’ve yet to publish
Dear bloggers, I bet all of you have a few posts in your draft box that have not yet been published! Well, Alyssa at the blog alyssagoesbang wants to hear about them. I definitely have some sitting around that I’ve been meaning to finish (or start) for ages, and I enjoyed reading other people’s lists too. Here is my list. Which one of these abandoned posts would you like to see me finally publish? Continue reading
Middle Europe Weekly Small Pleasures #28 – going back in time
…because the clocks went back by 1 hour at 3am on Sunday morning, so we got an extra hour of sleep on Sunday! 😀
Other than that, I have to say that not much happened this week. But still it’s good to try to remember the good things about the week, so here goes: Continue reading
Weekend in Tuscany
This year we extended our summer by an extra few days by spending a long weekend in the Tuscan sun at the beginning of October. I had a meeting in Siena so we started our long weekend trip in this beautiful medieval city, famed for its horse races, the Palio, which take place twice a year in July and August in the Piazza del Campo.
Middle Europe Weekly Pleasures #27 – Autumn pleasures
What are the little pleasures during the week that keep you going? This is the question that Mani at a New Life Wandering asks in her weekly series, Weekly Small Pleasures. It can be as simple as a good cup of coffee or a chat with a friend. Here were mine for this week (Friday to Friday), and you can check out Mani’s here and Thistle and Kiwi’s here. Continue reading
Slovenia: Photo Diary
We’ve visited Slovenia twice, once for the Easter weekend, and another time en route to Croatia from Czech Republic. It’s truly a beautiful country, containing the aquamarine Soča river, the Julian Alps, charming old towns, green countryside and friendly, kind people. Here are some of the photos we took along the way. Continue reading
Weekly small pleasures #24 – Holding onto summer
Where did August go?
Well – we were getting married! Most of August was consumed with wedding preparations. Organizing a wedding (not to mention the paperwork for the marriage) takes a lot more time than I would have expected. We also snuck in a brief trip to the Canary islands, which I will definitely share some photos of at some point! My parents stayed with us in Berlin the week after the wedding, which made me think I should also share some photos of Berlin and Prague at some point.
Anyway – now things are back to normal, and we have been lucky enough in Berlin to be having really hot September weather. September is often still sunny and nice, but this year we’ve even had really warm temperatures to go with it. This is a great pleasure, and I feel a bit sentimental about every sunny day knowing that the autumn temperatures will probably set in from this weekend (the forecasts for next week are 18-20 degrees Celsius). But, before they do, here were this Week’s Small Pleasures. Thanks to Mani at a New Life Wandering for hosting this blog event. It’s great that she and Thistles and Kiwis are regular posters! Continue reading
Middle Europe Weekly Small Pleasures #23 – 2 in 1
We’re now in the good part of summer where it’s warm enough to wear a skirt or shorts almost every day. It feels like summer is just beginning as time goes so quickly, so I was a bit disconcerted to realize that we’re heading into our last month of summer now that it’s almost August. We’ve had a lot of unsettling news lately, what with Brexit, various terror attacks across the world, and the attempted coup in Turkey. Crazy times. However, here are some of the good moments from the last two weeks for the Weekly Small Pleasures blog event. From small pleasures from far away in New Zealand, you can also check out Thistles and Kiwis! Continue reading