beauty and the building...

just another pleasant introduction.

by tomorrow...

Jeremy and I will have each given our first 45 minute lesson to Czech students(!) Please read back for details... there's much to say about how warm they are, how bright they are, and how silly and difficult it is for me to give clear instructions. But from what I'm seeing teaching is quite the job for me.

Prague babies...

This post is dedicated to all the babies in Prague. First the real babies: While sitting in Kampa park there were so many tiny tots running around and trailing slowly after their beautiful mothers I wanted to rent a stroller to play along.

I then realized how baby filled my day had been.

1. Infant Child of Prague.

2. One of the many baby angels that adorn The Loreta. This was my favorite.

3. (Not quite babies) but tiny light up penguins comically displacing the view of Prague across the Vltava.

4. Larger than life barcode face babies just hanging out by the Kampa museum compliments of David Cerny's genius.

I am confident there's more to come.

"Fred and Ginger"

the famous dancing building... more and more the objects here are coming to life.

Dawn at Karluv Most: blog of thanks to friends and inanimate objects.

I will one day compose a complete collection of photos entitled "In a setting where Jeremy seems small." Here we see No. 2.

I expressed much gratitude to the anonymous bird who had enough aesthetic sense to land so gracefully on the middle statue's head right as I snapped this photo. I exclaimed any old bird may have cluttered this photo but not you. Perfection.

A bit of construction work and sleepy eyes did not lessen the effect of this.

(At 5.30 yesterday morning, thanks partially to jetlag but mostly to Charmaine Taylor, Jeremy and I rolled out of bed and then ran out into the Prague streets to see the Charles Bridge before it filled with people. We took the long way and walked along the Vltava getting us there just as the sun was rising. It was especially cold and I was surprised to see so many early risers & commuters. We stopped into a small bakery and had espressos and took whatever pastry we could point to and mumble in something that sounded like Czech and seem polite. Without all the vendors and sight hungry tourists we had the joy of experiencing all the saints (on the right hand side) personally. I apologized to a few for not brushing up on my Latin and not recalling having met them before.)

Lastly, I made sure not to snub the rusty waterworks in favor of our beloved bridge only. Just look how lovely they align.

Old Town Square

Many people clapped when the clock struck 10 as Jeremy tried to figure out what The Astronomical clock meant. I concerned myself mostly with the tiny skeleton ringing the bell.

Jan Hus and me. A Reformation comedy.

Just your average back alleyway.

The Black Madonna House

The Museum of Czech Cubism and "the destruction of the right angle."

Designed by Josef Gocar is our new favorite building for now. I was hoping to get stuck in an elevator and ride it out its glass roof like Charlie and the Chocolate factory. Jeremy and I are now inspired to track down all the cubist architecture Prague has to offer.

now matter how poorly you order...

...the goulash and pancakes are still amazing.

you pass a lot of saints to get here....

here is a happy jeremy in Mala Strana. notice the tall tower directly above his head that

we climbed and despite my relentless vertigo i just really appreciate all the beautiful roofs.

i hope to have more photos like this and know why they amuse me. translations to come.

just trying t0 blend in.

mostly an "en route" montage...

succinct chronology will not regularly be one of the fantastic features of this blog... but by all means enjoy!

-the collective scent of bad sleepers breath is pungent on long flights.

-Jeremy was thrilled to buy "The Economist" in pounds.

-in the airport we ate "The Giraffe cafe" which amused me for its high english prices and its fusion of the rain forest cafe and the go green mentality. i did finally enjoy malt vinegar as table condiment.

-i will never have enough time in Heathrow to gaze at the kaliedoscope of well-pressed men's shirts. i'm immediately struck with visions of a prep school upbringing and am lost imagining "could I play polo?" this also means i will both walk into and separate any pre- dilluvian travelers (walking in two's).

-we are in prague.

-it is strange to see the name jeremy king on a sign after 15 hours of travel. especially when held by someone who looked 15 donning a blazer spray painted with che guevarra's mug.

-i was given the happy omen that my face may finally be at home because a charming grandmother ignored my request to cross over her to find the w.c. to ask me instead "but you speak czech don't you?"

-our driver happened to study at the Caledonian School where we will be teaching at and affirmed "it is... the best school in Prague"...which means to me despite what i previously believed hyperbole is not an unbridgeable gap between Americans and Europeans.

-it is all true as it so beautiful that i happily gazed from our car enjoying a few scattered soviet block buildings and the river. jeremy and i both agreed...then i happened to turn to my right and realized he was looking at a sparkling "Prague Castle" with all the laden rain clouds hovering its spires.

now a little story. there is cobblestone outside our charming hostel. there are at least seven keys needed to open each old or new door leading to a bed after too many upright shut eyes. we have a private sink but a shared toilet and shower. because i am tired and it seems silent i assume no one checked in* to the other adjoining room and am pleased because i would prefer to sleep before any shocking bathroom encounters. i confidently open door four and a bone chilling draught is felt as i feel the presence of a new arrival and there he stands portly in tiny underwear only europeans brave, soberly and respectfully saying goodnight ( i hope) in czech and quietly shuts his door.

*there could by no means be a pun here.