Exploring our New Homeland!

Well I guess its time for a new posting given it has been nearly a week since we last gave you all some love. The new house is shaping up to be a blessing considering all the places we could have ended up. It is in a great neighborhood just outside the heart of the city and it is super easy to get practically everywhere in Prague. We have located some good grocery stores, but we have yet to figure out the best place to buy produce. Damn those little things! There are these little convenient store type places all over the city (called Potroviny) and some of them offer a good selection of fruits and vegetables, but we have not really had the time to get down to the nitty-gritty details and compare their prices. We trekked across town to the end of one of the Metro lines to seek out the infamous IKEA to buy sheets, pillows, and a cheap wok (the one that was left in the apartment by the former roommate was flaking off its toxic coating..."Out with that old shit!" I said, almost immediately after seeing it). The hardest thing to find in Prague, and we have been searching for an entire week, is a blanket. This may sound utterly ridiculous, but we are dumbfounded at how hard it has been. On another note, and this might just be my inexperience with traveling the world, but Prague is the only city that I have ever been where there are bars in the tanning salons! I walked by one with Nico yesterday and I had to stop to make sure my eyes did not deceive me.
Saturday was an extremely beautiful and sunny day! It was a great excuse to get outside and do some walking around the old block to explore our new home and the surrounding area. Nico and I strolled, literally around the block, and came across an amazing park with a beautiful vineyard that lay on the southern facing slope of this hill behind our apartment. I guess Vinohrady, which is the area that we now live, means vineyard! Who would have guessed? We walked around this vineyard and came across an open gate with a little sign in Czech (It is in the newest photo album…and no it was not the one directed at dog owners!). We obviously could not make out what it said, so we just claimed ignorance and went in. Expecting to be yelled at, we walked down a set of stone steps and built into the side of the hill, underneath the vines, was the winery itself. It was very small, but there was a kind man standing behind a counter giving samples of the new harvest’s Muller white wine. It was the first fermentation step so it was called their ‘soft’ white, which was roughly translated as he only spoke a little English. It was the most delicious, slightly alcoholic fruit juice I have ever had. Towering at a whopping 1% alc by volume, Nico had finally met her first alcoholic beverage that she could digest without feeling immediately nauseous. Yes, It was a glorious day in history. The rest of walk was spent throwing around the Frisbee above the vineyard enjoying the view facing south Prague.
We spent our Sunday, as most of our days normally begin, starting off with a fresh cup of instant café and some crepes. We had very big plans as far as the rest of our days are typically spent because Sunday is the day that we Americans love to sit back and take in the glorious gift pasted down to us by our ancestors. That’s right, you know what I’m taking about...The NFL Countdown immediately followed by the New England Patriots vs. the Baltimore Ravens. We were luckily enough to join our good friend David at his house for the festivities. As we watched the destructing New England defense barely hold on as the Ravens offense collapsed, we enjoyed some delicious pizza made for us by our generous host and took a moment to thank the Ravens for their great effort. Maybe next time!
Nico had her first Intro to Czech class and we both were practicing our simple Czech sentences. It is a very hard language, but we will get the hang of it. Difficult to master in 3 months, but we will try our best. Nico has her first real studio class tomorrow, so she is super stoked to start up again. I have been keeping busy with books and exploring the city. David introduced me to one of his co-worker’s partners, Shay, and we played tennis on the red clay court behind the Ambassador’s residence, which was incredible. Until next time…check out the new photos...Love to all!

-Jack