BMA, blisters, bbq + books

last saturday we ate a giant fake-full english with non-heniz baked beans and veggie dogs instead of sausages. it tasted much better than it looked. afterward we walked out to the BMA scupture garden and stopped along the way at poe's grave site and then got iced bluebird coffee at an art mart in mt. vernon and peed in penn station. on the walk back into town we were zombies.. and i was wearing evil sandals.. so we were hot and tired and hungry and i was whining about my blister feet. as usual. eating giant sandwiches at trinacria made things better. later that afternoon we met peter's co-worker at max's for a beer and tried not to fall asleep. then i re-arranged furniture and did some sewing.

last sunday our super new neighbors/friends hosted a bbq with lots of good people and food and drinks.. we had chats and shared stories about the neighborhood. it was a good time.

this past week was week #2 of temping. i only work part time but it has caused me to stall on my search for permanent employment. hopefully i will remember how to be productive with less disposable free time. i am slacking.

friday night we picked up another bookshelf via craigslist [woo!] then we watched breaking bad and i drank wine out of a plastic bottle. it was alright.. it made me pass out early just like wine out of a glass bottle.

yesterday we went to a church sale and found the most perfect, giant 70s fabric wall art. then we posted flyers for the sowebo festival and ate lunch at the acropolis. i had lamb giouvetsi. it tasted kind of like spaghetti o's but in an alright way. it also could have fed a family of four. after lunch we did some more flyering then went to the library to hear michael pollan speak. there were lots of people wearing sandals and also lots of dad beards. i like it. then we met friends to drank beers and eat yummy garlic fries at the brewer's art. then we tried to watch pecker but i fell asleep.

today we went to the farmer's market then finished watching pecker.. now peter is working on his thesis and paying kongregate games simultaneously. i finished re-arranging the books. go me.

sleepy sunday

i am feeling delirious. we just ate cold chicken rico and watched the first two episodes of the wire. i think i saw michael phelps at sip and bite this morning. i also think having your first drink at 4 saturday afternoon ruins any chance at a productive sunday.

here are photos from this weekend of alice-cat, a cute house i want to live in, henry and his new friend, the stadium hid[e]away and some hot and delicious chicken rico.







i am too lazy to elaborate but must note that i:
enjoy pure michigan commercials and the fudgey german chocolate brownies from sweet tooth
just saw my first acid washed denim trench coat walking down arlington
do not intimidate dealers or junkies
recently learned lithuanian hall is home to a monthly hipster dance party ala funk night?
knew my mom was right.. i should call to follow up after sending out my resume + cover letter. i obviously lose
learned on saturday that lady pirates like to show boobs just as much as lady renaissance festival goers
have noticed an increase in graphic design job postings. this is encouraging. i think april is my month. or may.

ehhh

i've been feeling very antsy this week. it has been six months since i've been employed [minus three or so days i was a temp in my mom's office]. to be honest it feels more like three months. hopefully sometime very soon i'll look back and wish i had all the free time i have now. i have kept somewhat busy hemming thrift store dresses and vacuuming. and baking. and job hunting. things i won't do so much when i've got a job.

i made this lemon bread/cake today. it is yummy even though i used half whole wheat flour. trying to keep it healthy. ha. we have been planning and failing to run for about a month now. in the good old days [2003/04] we used to jog together on the weekend and even ran some road races. now we hit snooze a lot and get pudgy.

last weekend PCF#1 and joe visited from NY. it was lots of fun times.. joe made me really miss my lady friends. we took them to zella's, as per usual, and tried out the diner brekky at sip and bite. the hash browns were excellent. unfortunately eric ate scrapple. he didn't know what it was so the waitress brought out a giant brick of it. should have just left it a mystey. it tasted like mushy meat.. kind of what i imagine wet dog food would be. after we took a walking/driving tour of some baltimore highlights and ate at nak won for the third time in about four weeks. at night we played games and drank college style. can't wait to visit CA/NY.

this weekend the weather forecast is beauteous and i'm making peter go to the topiary gardens. and as many garage sales as he can stand.

- the guy who picks the lotto numbers on tv is a bro-dad. he makes me crack up. and his name is stash.
- this blog, bags in trees, is peter's favorite thing to mention to visitors, or anyone, really.
- haha.. detroit + iverson = fail
- i really love this blog. it really makes me wish i was a better writer.. and storyteller.. and baker

now i must watch the office

mom + dad's visit

henry found a new favorite spot. he's been sneakily sleeping on the guest bed's pillows for the last few days.

my parents departed this morning after a long weekend in town. i enjoyed lots of good dad stories and mom gossip. we've eaten tortillarilla sinaloa, pho, attman's sandwiches, homemade nigerian goat stew w. plantains at "uncle" vincent's, nak won korean bbq, chick'n'trout and crab cakes at duda's. we visited the aquarium, cylburn arboretum [it was closed!], lexington market, antiques row, the downtown enoch pratt library and wandered until we wore them out. i don't have any photos of them from the visit.. just my dad's arm, below.

they needed a vacation as there is a lot of stress back home. grandma and grandpa are showing their years. my mom talked about the possibility of packing up and moving out of state if my father looses his job in the forthcoming 15percent job cut in his department GM. he's been working ungodly hours for over a year now and set up an impromptu office in the living where he continued to work each morning. if he survives this round he'll take another 7percent pay cut, on top of the demotion he was forced to take late last year. but, they are being realistic. so are my oldest sister and brother-in-law who are moving to a smaller place after the company he was working for went bust.

sorry to be a downer. i really do hate talking about the economy. i feel like i've had the same conversation repeatedly since last fall when we moved home. people here are more positive about things, but baltimore does not have 22percent unemployment. this article/video about the couple/neighborhood mentioned somewhere is the past couple years on here [i tried buy couldn't find the actual post] is worth reading/watching. hamtramck is also home to many hole in the wall bars and an excellent all-night diner.

peter has been working diligently on a thesis-related paper. why is everyone around me an overachiever?

something to look forward to:

cake

feeling a bit nuts. i just ate a giant bowl of popcorn for dinner. i am turning into my mother. if i start talking about decorative painting or buying miniature dogs please stop me. pleeeeease.

so, today marked a milestone. i've been to europe, ran a marathon, graduated from college, gotten married, lived in another country and now i saw someone get shot. not really, but close enough. at least it wasn't me.

i was heading for the door at villiage thrift i heard a thud sound and then gasps. i didn't see anything outside, but the other ladies nearer to the door assured me that someone has just been shot. i called 911 and tried to give them the address but no one would tell me the street number. by then the store manager had also made a call, but they would not let me off the line without a complete address so i bounced from person to person around me asking for the street number and no one could tell me. this made me frustrated. then i went to the entrance to see if the address was printed on the front door and instead saw the man who had been shot.. someone was asking him why the other shot him or if he knew who did it. he shook his head no and kept pacing back and forth slowly and dripping blood on the sidewalk. he looked dazed. then someone told me the address. then i started crying and couldn't spell my name out for the operator. then i had to leave.

in happier news, a sweet shop opened up in the neighborhood and there's been a duo playing sweet tunes out front all afernoon.

here are some photos of sweets:







1. i made this chocolate cakes w. cream cheese frosting for mom's birthday in 2006. i think.

2. alicia helping ice peter's carrot cake with blue creamcheese frosting. 2006 again. i think

3. chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting [again] and blue coconut + mini cupcakes. 2007

4. rachie's birthday cake.. back in MI wooo!

5. my quarter century cupcakes. amy sedaris's white cake dyed blue w. green cream cheese frosting and twizler pull-and-peel decorations. these made val throw up. sorry val. 2007

6. abby made me an extra special christmas sugar cookie with my name on it. sweet! 2007

7. petey's birthday carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and rainbow candles. 2009

fuck this cake.

valentines, visitors + vito

for valentines day we ate deviled eggs. i made peter a card, just like the old days. that night i drank too much wine. then i ruined a giant batch of chocolate covered strawberries. per usual.

last sunday cousin ian and alex came for a visit. we ate at tortillarilla sinaloa and zellas and lexington market. we also climbed federal hill, saw the laure drogoul exhibit and made them squeeze into the backseat with our defective ikea file cabinet. next time i promise we won't go to see the flamingo in hampden or eat hockey puck-ish pancakes.

last thursday, in an effort to get out of the apartment, we planned to drink beers at the brewers art. unfortunately it was full of old dudes in sports coats. it reminds me too much of the clarkston union.. or a hotel bar. we tried to go to the wharf rat but it was under construction. so we went to the harbor way inn. it is close to home and was completely empty except for vito. we drank lithuanian beer and he told us lots of good stories about the fake dollar behind the bar and getting shot. i marveled at his handiwork and excellent collection of bric-a-brack.

friday i drove peter to work and went to drop off my broken sewing machine at the post office. then i picked out my bridesmaids dress for alicia's wedding. then i went to every thrift store in the severna park/pasadena area, then to a giant mall, then to aldi and more thrift stores. then i was pooped.

saturday we went to attman's deli and ate our corned beef, brisket and pickles in the park. and drank cream soda. and dog-watched. after we went to lots of thrift stores and got shopped out. peter found good records. i found a mini steelmasters card catalog.

sunday we finally finished watching the last three episodes of the wire. now we get to start over with season 1.

i have been somewhat seriously considering going back to school.. that ended and now i'm somewhat seriously considering opening an etsy shop. except i don't have anything to sell.

more excellent news [from oh no they didn't]

more bad news.. and it's still getting worse. i've got an eye twitch.

it's our favorite store..

this was stolen from peter via boingboing

very reminiscent of mr rogers.. especially when the bell rings.

this is why you're fat.

peter is playing fallout. SO..

it was 65º today people. we took henry for a long walk. he walked slowly and pooed his heart out. we found a pink crack pipe in union square park.. saw a lady passed the fuck out on her stoop.. her mouth was wide open and everything. two older ladies sat just two stoops away, chatting. a little boy was playing hide-and-go-seek with himself. i asked him if he wanted to pet henry and immediately felt real creepy about it.

we finally bought some book/record shelves but they are still in the box. i need a long break from ikea.. i went to two different stores three times in two days. also bought some privacy curtains for the guest room/office, end tables, a desk-ish table, file cabinet, rugs + three tiny plants [in an attempt to re-create my now scattered houseplant collection]. AND i kind of finished painting. wooo.

friday we ate pizza and drank brewskis at zellas. also made friends with some neighbors. go us! saturday we ate lunch at big bad wolf and it was the yummiest. if you come visit us we'll take you there..

happy BIRTHDAY!

i read on a random blog sometime over the past week that my beloved sparks was discontinued. after learning zima was gone forever i was saddened by not surprised. i did some research and wikipedia did not corroborate said blog, but they did give me this interesting tidbit:

Sparks also has a tendency to change the color of the tongue and teeth temporarily, after consumption of several of these beverages due to FD&C Yellow No.5. In some regions this discoloration is referred to as "Sparks Mouth". The drink caught on within the American hipster community, which has been known for its ironic glorification of several other cheap, low-grade alcoholic beverages.[1] As the can looks very similar to other, non-alcoholic energy drinks, some students may or may not have consumed them on school campuses without the faculty being aware.

ahhh how i miss my yellow-tongued sparks mouth. AND, does my taste for low grade alcoholic
beverages [i always thought drinking a 40 oz of king cobra brought out the thug in me] mean i
am being influenced by the "american hipster community".. ha!

so.. last monday i started painting the apartment after pulling out nails and staples and sanding for three days straight.

last tuesday it snowed an inch and they canceled school for TWO days. then another.

last wednesday peter turned 26. there was an ice storm the night before so he didn't leave for work until late. we took henry for a walk and saw a man dressed in a full snowsuit eat it. he managed to no spill his coffee though. i walked [very slowly] to safeway to buy provisions and made him a birthday dinner of ribs, cole slaw and birthday carrot cake. we ate it while i had chats with kelly. i froze the cake leftovers but there is only 1/4 left because i always want to eat it.

thursday and friday i painted some more.

saturday we went to a giant value village and international market in college park. that night we met tim + sherry in DC. the last time we saw them was christmas day, after a few vodka cranberries but apparently before my carlo rossi wine spill. i apologized for my sloppyness. we had dinner at sticky rice then drinks with some more ex-MI friends at the lonely hearts club. i forgot that socialising is fun.. it was nice to talk to someone besides petey and drink alcohol somewhere other than our couch.

sunday was warm and sunny so we walked downtown and around the harbor. i saw an ad for harbor street entertainer auditions. it is going to get sick in the summertime. we stopped at a bakery across from tortillarilla sinaloa to buy some jarritos, a cookie and a bag of tortas then went home to eat giant torta sandwiches.

monday it was warm again so , before painting, i went back downtown to cash my sweet tax return check from the UK. not only did i take advantage of nationalised health care and the extensive public transportation system while i was there, but they gave me a ton of money back for working. thank you HM revenue & customs. to celebrate i went shopping and bough a pencil skirt to wear to the job that i still don't have. go me. because of this check we decided it was OK to buy a tv and hopefully we'll be purchasing some shelves and a desk soon so i can unpack the last dozen boxes and i can use the sewing machine i got for christmas that has yet to come out of its box.

tuesday and yesterday i painted some more. and sanded and caulked. today i scraped old caulk off the counter with a razor blade for THREE hours.

tomorrow i am going shopping for house stuff and thrift all day while peter is at work. i told peter that we have to do two things this weekend: drink at a BAR and find a good diner. we are getting ready to have house guests.. woo!

we heard about this on npr. for some reason i often have a feeling i'm about to discover a body.. i used to mostly get that feeling when we were driving down the freeway just after the snow had melted. now i get that feeling when i walk henry and look down the alleys for stray cats.

sunday's episode of the office, stress relief, was so good i want to watch it again. stanley you will not die - barack is president - you are black stanley!

witness the history of the hair bow

the end.

just some nonsense

i just saw pablo of pablo's panaderia in the ikea catalog. then i found this! when i still lived in lansing, peter and i would walk up to oldtown saturday mornings and have a brunch of coffee and burritos there. we went back for lunch last october with my old co-worker abby and it was just as good as we remembered.

as i type a police helicopter is flying in circles over the neighborhood with its spotlight on while a couple fights outside on the corner.. something about love and violating probation. jesus - he really LOVES the f-word. ahhh. home sweet dysfunctional home.

oh. so i tried to reclaim any taxes i had overpaid while working in manchester. i filled out tons of nonsense paperwork and finally heard back. they owe me 445pounds! BUT they are rolling it over for 2009.. so i get no money? bastards!

p.s. get your aretha bow hat here. yeah detroit!

..that reminds me of the list of banned baby names.

this is so sad. and sweet. but mostly sad.

we moved

today is day five in our new home. yesterday the movers brought us all our crap and we finally got to sleep in a real bed again. woo!

the car ride out here went smoothly. alice was mostly silent, even without her kitty tranquilizers. henry slept and occasionally tried to jump out the closed window. we arrived last thursday night ready to unpack the car and inflate the air mattress but it took a good 15 minutes to unlock the front gate. once we got inside alice disappeared and i got a side cramp and minor panic attack all at once.. so peter emptied the car while i paced and tried to find the cat. eventually we realized she was in the drop ceiling. i calmed down and we ate pho, drank beers and went to bed.

in the morning we woke up early and watched the kids walk to school and the sun rise. it was excellent. since then we've gone to five grocery stores and eaten at the following places: [pho at] baltimore pho, [the best tacos at] tortillarilla sinaloa, [perfect pizza and salad with creamy balsamic vinaigrette at] zella's, [coffee and egg sandwiches from] eddie's lunch in hollin's market, [bbq ribs, collard greens, slaw + bbq beans at] andy nelson's, [coffee and egg sandwiches from] chick n' trout, [lake trout, chicken wings, western fries, mac + cheese and sweet potatoes at] chick n' trout AND [sushi and ddeok bok ee at] h-mart. now we have to try and not eat like fatties. here are some photos:




also in the news..
this is yummy
seems as if detroit and baltimore have quite a lot in common
we will [attempting to] attend the bmore whistle stop tour event w. barack
anthony bordain does the rust belt!
MADE IN MICHIGAN.

baltimore, hon

baltimore has been good to us the last couple days [except for the incessant rain].. we ate good food and found an excellent new home in hollins market.

i cannot wait to have visitors!

boozing, baltimore + bi bim bap

this weekend was filled with lots of good times. friday we were hermits with val. saturday there was a snowstorm and i almost crashed at the end of our street. that night we drank vodka in the car, just like the old days, before going to see friends at the crowfoot. sunday was johana's [and my first ever] surprise party, organised by ad. we made cough syrup-esque jungle juice and celebrated birthdays with lots of friends. it was most excellent. monday we slept in, did not takes showers and ate too much hungry howies pizza for dinner.

today we made lots of phone calls.. well i made two and peter made many more. we have six appointments to look at places and plan on making a few more. it is good we are leaving tomorrow because our cupboards and fridge are depressingly bare. we made this for dinner [with petite tomatoes and extra parsley] and it looked like christmas.

wish us luck in baltimore. hooray!

p.s.

bibimbap - mmm.. so good.. delicious!

Bibimbap from Maangchi on Vimeo.

yay!

today we feasted on this and this and this and some greens with pa charlie. we also celebrated with cava because peter got the job! we're moving to baltimore - the city that i've been borderline-obsessed with since falling into "the wire" abyss.. woo hooo.. hooray.. yippee!

also been drinking far too much and having chats with friends. it has been an excellent week.

saturday we get to visit 30 of my family members and eat a real, meaty thanksgiving supper up north. happy thanksgiving!

day tripping: blackpool

last saturday we went to blackpool. it was warm-ish and sunny and we had an excellent time walking the promenad and piers, people watching and exploring the pleasure beach amusment park. we also ate fish + chips + [canned] peas that tasted like a school lunch.. and saw some strange people and strange good [check out the osama bin laden masks]. the highlight of the day was the steeplechase ride. we didn't actually ride it, but we watched other people ride it and that was enough.

today i brought in crispy cremes as my almost-last-day-of-work treat. i hadn't had a doughnut since i worked in lansing and almost forgot how heavenly they were. i wish they made doughnut perfume. that reminds me.. there was a quality dairy [neither peter or i could remember the name of the store.. i had to google "lansing convenince store".. we are old] doughnut factory down the road from my apartment in lansing. every morning you could smell doughnuts in the air. i think it was the best part of living there. that and the thrift stores. and pablos. but that was about it.

anyhow, i am anticipating a lot of things in the next 12 days, but mainly just looking forward to going home. i am also dedicating the rest of my time here to visit and photograph my favorite manchester-ish things. happy almost-friday.

i ♡ franz ferdinand and fridays.. falafels..

finally re-downloaded franz fernidand's first album. i listened to this album lots when petey and i first started dating. brings back lots o memories. mostly of making out and/or driving home [to east lansing.. shaw hall actually] after making out. it is all very nostalgic and romantic. so romantic that i just kicked a glass of rose off the coffee table and all over the carpet.

today we slept in, ate eggs and toast then walked up to cheetham hill for the best green grocer/grocery store. ate some macaroons. found an excellent navy suit for petey's interview this friday. wish him luck. this would be excellent! then we went into town and got grumpy due to the large amount of slow walkers clogging market street. it is seriously ridiculous.

anyhow, we're enjoying our very fair-weather, rain-free weekend. it is a miracle.

p.s. i shared laurie's hummus recipe with a co-worker this week. he asked about tahini. i said it was sometimes used on falafels. he asked if falafels were jewish. i just stopped taking.

bruges, bunkbeds + barak obama

i just read this and laughed until my eyes teared up. it reminded me that i haven't run down our trip. i am not going to now because i am lazy, but i will document a funny story. well, i think it's funny. you probably won't.

so. we got to bruges on a very wet sunday morning and checked in to our hostel. they told us what beds we were in and we stashed the bags in storage as our room was still occupied. but, the good thing about bruges [and brussels and antwerpt, even though we didn't go there] is that some company had provided the hostels with excellent, very cheap-traveler friendly maps with excellent suggestions on where to eat and what to see. so, we consulted the map and found a place where the owner looks like freddy mercury and you can get 3 euro spaghetti. because we had spent the night before drinking an entire box of wine in the park [that only cost 1.92 euro] we were hungover and needed drunk belly meal. so, we found said restraunt, medard, drank cheap belgian beer and ordered large spaghettis, even though freddy thought we might be better off with the smaller size. i told him i could handle it. when our bowls arrived, filled with [what looked like an entire pound of] pasta covered with cheddar [why?] cheese i felt a little sick but tried to eat it all. peter kindof accomplished this but i failed.

anyhow, after the pasta we were zombies and tried to walk it off.. we climbed the tower [which looked nothing at all like the one in the movie] and walked along the canals, checked out some shops and got stuck in a rain storm. eventually we made it back to the hostel, got our bags and went to check out our rooms. first we had to squeeze ourselves and our bags up a very scary free-standing spiral staircase that moved with every step. it was dangerous. then we saw out room was the first exit for the third floor. there was a sign on the door that read "in case of emergency all key cards work on this door." which really meant "anyone can get into this room at any time!" anyhow, we had a fire escape/balcony so i guess it made up for it. there were two bunk beds in the room and bed #1 had mr. man beach towels on it so we went for the far bunk bed thinking those two beds were ours. while peter changed and hot on the interweb i made the bottom bunk for us [with two pillows] and hung our towels on the top bunk to air out. we also met our australian roommie who was going to take a nap after staying out [until 6am.. what! we're too old!]. having made out bed for the night we peaced out to go find a grocery store. we got kindof lost of walked in circles around town but finally found a market that was jsut about to close. all the normal bread was bought up so we grabbed what looked like whole wheat pitas, red pepper, tomatoe, zuccini and goat cheese. and three bars of cote d ore chocolate. [we still have one and a half left!] back i the hostel kitchen i made sandwiches for the next day's train ride [just like my mom used to for road trips] and headed off to eat dinner.

i was hungry for ice cream and frites so we consulted the map again and found a close place named cafe brituur snack. it turned out to be an american themed diner filled a couple old farts who were drinking tiny glasses of beer chatting. we ordered frites and burgers from the lady with a blonde bouffant hairdo and 60s style eyeliner and sat down in a little booth with a mini-table-side jukebox. peter went up to get a beer and started speaking to one of the old farts. when we heard we were american he yelled out "barak obama!" and called us yankees. he also brought his adorable flemish sheep dog to meet us. he was a very friendly guy. after eating we went went to see the old windmills and wandered town for a while. it was so quiet and you could see into everyone's windows. made me feel like a creeper. eventually we bought beers and sat around in the park. we spotted a kitty stalking the ducks near the pond and, using my skills, eventually got her to come over and hang out for a while. she was very purry and obviously someone's lovey house cat. i wanted to steal her.

because we were leaving for frankfurt the next day we figured we had better go and try as many belgian beers as we possibly could. with guidance from the map [again!] we went to brugs beertje bar, the only brewpub in town. it was tiny and crowded and smokey and everyone was having a good time. especially the giant table of brits and australians [including our wino roomie] sitting across the room. anyhow, peter and i tried a few of their specialities and chatted until we got sleepy and headed home, stopping in quick [the belgian equivalent to mcdonalds] to use the restroom.

when we got back to the room i spotted a very large pair of yellow crocks in front of our bunk bed. i knew that our roomie was a petite girl so i thought she may have borrowed them from a large-footed, crock-wearing man. so i moved them so they were in front of her bunk. peter, of course. took our his laptop, sat down on the bottom bunk and started doing whatever he does on the internet. i took my pants off and brushed my teeth then went for a pee, then changed into pjs and sat down next to peter. i was sitting there for a few seconds before i realized there were infact an asian man sleeping in the bed. he was the owner of the mysterious yellow crocks and he was sleeping with both our pillows in the bed i so lovingly made earlier that day. he was also a very heavy sleeper, or thought i was a voyeur. anyhow, i laughed at peter's inability to realise when he was sitting on someone and was angry that he stole out bed and two pillows! i then had to make the other bottom bunk and we had to share. i was angry.

the next morning we got up and showered early to be first to enjoy free breakfast. i am greedy like that. and i don't like people to watch me eat 5 pieces of toast. mr yellow crocks sits down at the table next to us and i make peter apologize for sitting on him. instead of apologizing fo sitting on him and disrupting his slumber, peter tells him he slept in our bed and he should pay more attention to the bed he is assigned. a few minutes later they start talking all about traveling and engineering so its no big deal. turns out he is from korea and we are the stupid ones and made his bed for him instead of one of our own.

that is it.

oh, and we discovered that those sandwiches i made were the most disgusting things imaginable. the "pita bead" was actually sickly sweat and that mixed with goat cheese and red pepper tasted like a regurgitated meal.

too tired to alliterate.

been feeling like something is about to happen lately. maybe because things are back to normal. sleeping in tiny, creeky hostel beds doesn't look so terrible now..

last friday i made sure to look through the paper to scout any garage/rummage sale opportunities. i found a giant, american-style second hand store in berlin and made sure to check out practically every rack, but it only made me miss my regular summer saturday morning routine even more. eat a giant breakfast and getting lost all day driving to garage sales and buying random nonsense. i found one "jumble" sale at a church only three miles away so i google mapped it and we set out to shop. of course we got lost on the way. britain needs to work on signing it's roads.. so, when we got there at 2 they were packing everything up! a lady asked us if we were here for the sale. i said yes, i thought it started at 1. she said it did but these things get over with quickly. what! i have been to a lot of church sales in my day and they do not last for only an hour. they have cookies and coffee and casseroles and make a day of it. this congregation must have had add.! i want to come and buy your old junk and you can't even sit there for an hour. goodness. anyhow, she let us look around, which was nice, but i went to pick up a coat and another lady snatched it up to shove in to a garbage bag and said, you should have gotten here earlier love... bah

after that disappointment we headed back, stopped on the way to get some veggies at the green grocers. we discovered they had joined two buildings together to form an almost grocery store. we were excited to have an option besides the ridiculously crowded tesco and aldi in town. they had a giant selection of chapattis/pitas and a better selection of italian pasta brands than tesco carry. we bought a bag of tiny star of david shaped pasta. later that afternoon we picked up goodies [stinkiest, stickiest, most rank piece of brie i've ever eaten] from the french market in st. ann square and went home to lounge and start season three of the wire.

sunday morning, in another attempt to find second hand stuffs, we took the bus to new smithfield carboot sale and market. it was not very impressive, but it was very crowded. mostly cheap electronics that will set you house on fire and polyester clubbing gear. and a strange meat auction-ish event that sounded like a creepy announcer at a carnival game.. afterward we ate asda sandwiches on the walk to victoria baths. There was a table-top sale but it was lame. mostly handicrafts and romance novels. last time we tried to see the building it was covered in scaffolding, so i'm glad we got to come back and explore the pretty (in a very creepy way) building.

also in the news..

sad but excellent NYT interview -ish with maurice sendak

strange and mildly aggravating story about rednecks and politics from BBC

been thinking about how baltimore would be an excellent home [can't be that far off from detroit] and falling deeper into the wire abyss.. did you know mcnulty is british? i love it when bubbles calls him mcnutty.. hahaaaaa

this make me frightened. i miss having a whole isle devoted to canned vegetables

praha, wien + cesky krumlov

i need to spell check this as it probably makes no sense.. but.. we are leaving to go on holiday again tomorrow morning and i have been feeling under the weather so i am going to bed.

this is the longest post ever. i am writing all this because my memory is horrible and unless i write it all out i will forget, and it was too good to forget. i recomend looking at photos instead of paying attendiont to the essay below.

day one
we left for the train station with plenty of time to spare, as we were not checking bags. after the third train to the airport was canceled due to supposed "signal failure," petey started to get antsy [angry, really.. even agro]. when we finally did get on a train after sweating on four different jam-packed platforms, we sat for a good half hour, ready to throw up. luckily peter was able to call a friend who assured us our flight was, of course, delayed. after getting to the airport ate a celebratory dinner of drugstore sandwiches and flew to prague.

at the airport it took way too long to figure out the ticket machine, even though i had [what i thought were] detailed instructions of how to get into town. luckily no one else could figure them out either. after a bus ride we rode the metro from dejicka station to muzeum to staromistska. Each station had a very 60s themed wall adornment that made an excellent first impression on me. the stations were also spotless.. no vagrant-poos or beer cans or gum seats. and, people do not steam-roll you on the escalator if you have luggage, unlike in the london tube stations.

of course we couldn't find our hostel so we wander around a bit before we found someone to get directions from and checked in to our [again] spotless dorm. after a pee break [the toilet paper in cz is like cheap office paper towel], we asked for suggestions of where to get an inexpensive drink. the man/boy-receptionist was very enthusiastic about a floating latin dance party on the river vltava [moldova in english.. which makes no sense..] but we decided to pass. it was 10-ish at night but still warm and old town was pretty much deserted. we found a cavernous bar where no one was speaking english and had some brewskis. i liked that the czech's enjoy very inexpensive adult beverages and even cheaper cigarettes. we sat, drank and watched the table of men across from us as they bought a bottle of vodka, some glasses and a couple of small mixies. after get yawny we searched for any open shop to get some snacks. after lots of slow walking and looking up at giant doors and windows with nouveau decorations, we found an "all the time" store with pretzel sticks. we continued to walk and stare and snack until we found our way back into the main square and went to bed.

day two
on the suggestion of a friend of a friend, we ate breakfast at zanzibar in prague 3. i had baguette, blue and brie cheese with fruits and petey had baguette, eggs and veggies [which just turned out to be lettuce. ha!]. and coffee. after we went to the tv tower, a space-aged looking silvery antena featuring a very creepy and fantastic planet-ish sculpture of [giant] babies scaling the outside. it was surreal and excellent. we took an elevator to the pastel-colored observation deck and got to see a panarma of pastel-colored prague. next we wandered through a park, past the national museum and bought our train tickets to vienna at the main train station, hlavni nadrazi, which looked like it had been bombed out, but was still beautiful, like all the buildings in prague are. then we drooled over everything at the muncha museum. the best things were photos of naked-ish modeling ladies in muncha's paris studio that he used as reference for his paintings. they were, of course, all gorgeous.

lunch was at beas, right next door to the hostel. yummy indian delisciousness, then a walk down to the river and some time in the shade cooling off and resting our feet before we went for beers [sour cherry and green nettle] and snacks [fried cheese and smoked herring] at pivovarsky brewery. more walking, passed by rudolfinum hall where we could hear the philharmonic orchestra practicing then through the jewish quarter to alberts where we bought a dinner of grocery store baguette sandwiches, then ate them in old town square and torrist watched. i know that after that we went back to the hostel to shower and.. the rest we forget.

day three
walked over charles bridge to eat at bohemian bagel which was alright. it had a fun spiral staircase to the bathrooms. i think that was the best part. then climbed a gazillion stairs to see the castle and tons of tourists. escaped to the almost empty letna park with lots of shade trees and views of town. the best part was a giant metronome sculpture atop a stone fascad, covered in graffiti, complimented by a power line with a collection of dangling sneakers. apparently a giant statue of stalin once stood atop the monument, but it was blown up in the 60s. it was by far the coolest/strangest thing we saw. kept walking towards the mysterious "yellow market" in prague 7. we figured out that the "yellow" was for asian.. very un-p.c., very, very terrible. it had some goodies.. like the cheapest gelato imaginable, death stars and the most mock-crocks i've ever seen in one place. we bought some sour cherries from the farmers market and walked back towards the park, taking lots of water and sit-down breaks along the way. ended up back at beas

day four
checked out of the hostel and ate more bagels with veggie cream cheese and had lates at the bake shop. cutest bakery in the world. got an extra bagel for the road and toured the jewish quarter, temples, monuments, cemetery and lots of prague-specific history. also saw a few very cute and very old volunteer ticket-checkers. they made my morning. afterward we went on the interweb and ate the extra bagel in the hostel before heading out to catch the train to vienna. it was packed with tourists. packed with tourists who were sweating and fanning themselves and miserable. it was hot but the sights were mostly excellent. we passed several naked swimmers, adorable baby deer, lots of sunflower and corn fields and other tiny towns and communities. we were already irritable because of the heat [and forgetting to fill up our water bottle] and the company made it worse. we were sat near to two canadian sisters, an older, unrelated canadian woman and another younger girl from some other eastern european country. the euro girl was asking them about canada.. what is a traditional canadian dish [poutine and tim hortons were the first things that came to my mind], what was the weather like, etc. the conversation turned to how canadians had a good sense of humor and could laugh at themselves, unlike americans. how americans don't have to take world history, only have to know how to find their state on a map to graduate high school and how american news does not cover international events. who knew the most anti-american people we would come across so far would be canadians. geez. anyhow, after the hot train we took showers at our night club-ish hostel and gulped beers and ate dinner at a turkish restraunt. afterwards we walked around and saw all the sights lit up at night. we also walked through the museum quarter where tons of hipsters were drinking gocery store beers and lounging on the giant purple louge/sculptures. i was jealous. after more walking, buying a very overpriced bottle of water and walking along the danube where there were many outdoor pee-ers, we found a bar and had drinks, then slept.

day five
rose early and ate pretzel breadsticks and pineapple yogurt drinks from the grocery store. so yummy. went straight to the eating baklava from naschmarkt [flea/veggie-market] and looked at old treasures and an excellent selection of produce, sweets and snacks from what seemed like all over europe. bought some bakalava and ate in in the museum quarter as a replacement for our morning coffee. next we decided to go to the albertina as it supposedly has the largest collection of european art in austria including lots of mark rothko. and it is in a giant gaudy palace. sounds excellent, but it was all a lie. after climbing a scary-ish staircase in the hotness and paying 7.5euro each, we found a hundful of restored, original palace rooms, one room full of paul klee, which was good, and a handful of empty rooms where the permanent collection should have been. it was a bummer. after that we ate our pain away at the tiny indian buffet the is vego. they had the most excellent deep fried sandwhiches with dosa filling. dipped in raita i could have eaten them all day.

the weather turned poo-ish so we took the bus up to the small town of grinzing. it was deserted. petey had a pee in a very suspeicious looking public toilet with funny warning stickers then we took another bus up even further to kahlenberg hill. there were some vineyards, a hotel or two, a shop and a scenic overlook. it was overcast so it was not so scenic. took the bus back to town and got stuck in a rain storm on our way to check out the crazy housing project, hunderwasserhaus. we made it almost all teh way there on foot before we gave up and went into a cafe to have some lates. it was a cute little place with old ladies drinking wine in the corner. we paid a ridiculout 5.6euro for two of the tinest lates i have ever seen. they were good, but if i pay 4$ for 4ounces of liquid it better be drugs. or booze. so after the rain let up we saw the hunderwasserhaus and went off to eat an early dinner of the most deliscious pizza at vesuvio de mario. it made us very happy and it was incredable inexpensive. we were so happy that i carried the leftovers around all night and after some outside beers [back in the museum quarter] we ate the leftovers on the walk home. having a purse that smells like pizza is wonderful.

day six
it was our last day in vienna we tried to find somewhere to have a real life eggs/toast breakfast. the diner that we wanted to go to was closed for the month. instead we went to a place that we thought was a diner but was really a night club.. it was described as the place to go if it is morning but you're not done clubbing. we were the only patrons. we drank 3euro lates and watched the giant, eastern-european bouncer play the fruit machine and dance to michael jackson songs. it was strange. we ended up eating yummy cream cheese, pepper, tomato and cucumber sandwiches from anker then visiting the MUMOK. this was the best museum of the trip and the best i've been to period. one exhibit included some very impressive coverage of 60s performance art and alternative architecture/lifestyle technology [that is the best description i can come up with]. lots of things that looked like they came straight out of a spacey 60s movie, in the best way possible. it was amazing.

it was hot and clear and gorgeious out so we took a long stroll, wandering towards vegatasia, well out of the city center. they had a giant, all veggie buffet with things i have never seen at eaten before, and they were all good. our favorite was desert.. deep friend pineapple chunks and coconut rice pudding. it is my favorite combination. it tastes just like suntan lotion smells. we were in such a good mood we went out to prater park, a carnival/amusment park. there were at least four different variations of bumper cars, the best being americna themed. there was an air brushed picture of a biker with a confederate flag and large-boobed lady on the back. it was hillarious. we stood and listened to a very enthusiastic carnival announcer for a good five minutes. something about a german accent gets me every time. there were at least 5 beer gartens and scary sculptures of children eating their way out of ice cream cones. we bought some beers to go and went to danube island. i am pretty sure we were the only tourist there. everyone was relaxed and having bbqs, swimming, boating, rollarblading and sun bathing along the river. we picked a spot near the water and drank beer until the sun went down. for dinner we ate a traditonal vienese pub. petey had fish and potatoe salad that was vinigary and delisious and i had a dumping filled with sausage and surrounded by saurcraut. we were so full that we tried to walk around but were also so tired we couldn't. after trying to drink beers in voksgarten we had to dump them out and go to bed.

day 7
ate more veggie samiches from anker and drank more pineapple yogurt on the way to the train station. took the train to a very deserted gmund then another, tiny one-car train [back into czeck territory] to cesky budejovice. we saw more excellent cz countryside, sunflowers, naked swimmers and deer. along the way the tiny train made quite a few stops to pick up people along the track, even though they were not always at stations. most of these were cute old men. when we got into town we had to catch a bus from the main shopping center.. after walking in circles we realized the bus station was on top of the shopping center and not underneath. the bus ride was smooth and scenic and when we got to cesky krumlov we were happy to be off public transport. our hotel is krumlov was called krumlov house and was the opposite of the wambat hostel we stayed at in vienna, which was good. there were no pool tables, no bar and no drunk americans/australians boozing it up. instead we were told there were no shoes allowed [i never even went barefoot in my own apartment!] and that the river was really dreamy. i don't mind as i am getting old and would much rather deal with hippies than drunken backpackers. and we were pooped from all the wondering and hot weather. so, we sat right on the river on ate a yummy veggie-ful dinner at laibon. afterwards we explored the almost deserted castle, courtyard and gardens. we ended up getting locked in the gardens with some italins, czecks and some other people who didn't speak english. we were all confused but eventually some guy with an impressive euro-mullet came to let us out and laugh at us. later we went to the horror bar, known for being spooky at night, and drank frankova wine. there were some skelatins hanging from the ceiling and a few coffin tables. people kept coming through to take photos and leaving without buying any drinks. it was odd. the scariest thing about the horror bar was the music. i don't know what it was but i was terrified.

day 8
bought bagels and cream-ish cheese and hiked up to the monestary. on the way we met many giant snails and slugs. it was like olympia natl. park all over again. we tried our best not to smooh any but it was a very uphill climb and i think i got too delerious to care about half way up. after the hike we wandered and bought groceries for a picnic. we made sandwiches and drank wine by the river and watched the canooers go by. it was excellent. wine in the afternoon is the best. next we climbed the castle tower. it was slightly more scary than it should have been, as we had been sitting in the sun drinking wine just before. there was good panaramic view and we could even see the monestary where we were earlier that morning. after we got back down we headed back into the gardens and visited the reflecting pond. petey took senior pictures of me. we watched the ducks chase eachother. after more extensive wandering we bought some beers from the brewart for later and ate bohemian feasts at two marys. it was lots of potatoe and other assorted goodness. then more wandering along the river. we sat for a while listening to some guy play classic rock covers on the piano. it was funny and entertaining. highlights were stairway to heaven and bohemian rapsody. then more wandering. lots of it. then drank our beers back at the hostel where petey plated guitar and i read rick steves. we were getting sleepy so in an attempt to extend the night we went to nearby bar bar. it was literally around the corner. but it was empty. there was the bartender lady and an old man she was chatting with. that was it. and they only had one beer on tap. and it poured incredable slow. must not get much business. being in there made me even sleepier so we went back and slept.

day 9
the shower smelled of pee and i realized i was not wearing shoes and then i freaked out. then i saw a spider and it was all over. i put flip flops on in the hostel. made sandwiches for the leftovers from the picnic the day before and brought them along for lunch on another hike. we didn't know where this one went [as the name was in czeck] but it ended up being a horse riding stable. luckily the walk was not all uphill, only mostly uphill, but pretty. we stood in the corner of the farm field and ate our sandwiches. it was strange but good. then headed back into town for a few more hours of wandering and had italina for lunch. homemade gnoccis and pizza. then ice cream bars from the grocery store. yummm. then back on the bus and into prague where we caught the metro and another bus to the airport. here we are the only bad meal of the entire trip. 15-ish euro for a [unimpressive] baguette sandwich, small greek salad and yogurt drink. then stood in line waiting to check in for our flight. the brits behind us wouldn't shut up and it made me remenice about how pleasant it had been not hearing any [well, many] garbled or hen-ish british accents for ten days.

the end.