A little reflection and a lot of adventures

It has been several weeks since we posted and perhaps it is time for a little reflection. We learned a week ago that a friend and fellow antique dealer passed away suddenly. He was 67 and had recently retired. He had just returned from spending his first winter as a "snow-bird" in the south. He had promised to come and visit,....With Ken's birthday a week away, and mine just past, it made us reflect on what we are doing and how glad we are that we threw caution to the wind and started this adventure. I have been reading the Czech writer Milan Kundera "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" and found it very appropriate this week. Kundera talks about how making decisions can be difficult because each event is a one time event. There is no rehearsal and no chance to "try it again." Because of that we have no frame of reference for our decisions and are often left to take chances. With the dollar falling in value and our house sitting, unsold, the chances that we took seem overwhelming some days. But what is the other option? Not an option at all! We are so glad to be here and to be using every day for a new adventure!

Ken and I try to take a little road trip every Friday and explore a new town. Imagine our surprise when we got out of town and discovered that the Czechs have matched Ken's yellow bench with fields and fields of electric yellow flowers. It is amazing. They are everywhere and stretch for miles. You look across this beautiful landscape that is green with spring and there sitting in the middle of it is an amazing intense yellow field. After a little research we were able to discover that it is Canola, for making oil. But what a beautiful spring color!
On Sunday we visited a little village near here that has a palace. Unfortunately the palace belongs to the village and so there is little or no money for the restoration. During communism, it was used as a home for handicapped children. Today the city has restored two of the rooms and recovered some of the paintings. There are 82 rooms in the palace and a hugh formal garden, woods and ponds that are in serious need of restoration. This is a picture of a neo-gothic greenhouse. As we were leaving, the ticket taker/tour guide/local historian asked us if we would like to buy it. It's only 3 million dollars and that includes all of the paintings, furnishing and grounds. Ken thought it would make a great art school or art retreat. Any of you interested???

Today we went to Moravska Trebova. This is a wonderful town that we first visited in 1993. At that time the local palace was in shambles and most of the town in sad repair. We went there because of the local church that has Baroque (1600) frescoes( paintings) on the out side of the church. You can see the frescoes in the background of this photo.
We went to the city palace and discovered not only had it been restored, but it was now possible to tour some of it. We had a wonderful young woman who gave Ken and I a great tour of this late renaissance castle. She spoke a little English and with our little Czech it was a marvelous experience. We were there for almost two hours, while she shared with us the secrets of the palace. Another great day!
We will be returning to the US the end of May for about three weeks and I know we will not have time to visit all of you. I guess that means you need to throw caution to the wind and come and visit us!!!

Dealing with "Cultural differences"

This last weekend was Easter and after some discussions it was decided that we would not stay and partake of the Czech Easter Customs. The Czech's, particularly in the rural areas have this tradition that on Easter Monday the males, from little boys to old men, go door to door and carry switches that are made from willow branches woven together and with ribbons on them. They use these to hit the women who then are suppose to traditionally give them eggs......a little too pagan for me!!! In reality, the little boys get chocolate eggs or decorated eggs, the men get shots of liquor and end up really drunk. The smart ones ask for money and in general the entire thing can be quite unpleasant for a feminist with an attitude. Ken thought it would be best to get me out of the country!
Actually we were looking for an excuse to visit our friends in Hamburg Germany. We travel there by car,..took about 10 hours,..but to someone from Iowa, that is only a "hoot and holler" down the road. We had a great time,...ate too much and drank too much great wine,.. but other than that we really enjoyed ourselves. Ken had to also deliver his first commission work. Our friend in Hamburg just bought a house and the bathroom had no outside walls or windows. So she had the carpenter put a fake one in that did not go anywhere and then commissioned Ken to do 4 seasonal paintings to go on the wall behind the fake window. Ken did the spring one and we delivered it. It really looks great and certainly helps the bathroom!! I've heard of "sofa painting" before, but not "bathtub paintings"!!
We had more visitors this last week. The daughter of an old friend and her boyfriend from Denmark stopped by for a couple of days. It was great having "young people" around. Did the usual eating, drinking and castle hoping.
Ken is working on more paintings. We saw a great show of a woman artist from Finland while we were in Hamburg, Helene Schjerfbeck. She painted from the age of 8 until she died at 83. Ken has a little catching up to do. I am trying to put together some lectures for translators on the basic concepts of American Law while he paints. The weather has been so beautiful that we haven't worn coats for a week....sorry you guys in the middle of a blizzard.
But for now the Lewis hotel is empty,..so get your tickets bought and put in your reservations!!

Cultural Exchange

Each day we gain new experiences and gain insights into this rich and wonderful country. Sunday we decided to return the favor and introduce this country to a real American picnic. So we bought a picnic table, got a checkered table cloth, found a barbecue grill and some hamburgers, potato salad and bake beans. The weather was gorgeous, in the mid sixties and the food tasted great. Our Czech friends (Jiri, Eva and Dasa on the infamous yellow bench. Lada, Eva's daughter and Jachym playing at the picnic) accepted this as just another strange event with the Lewis's. I'm not sure what the neighbors thought. Please notice the bright yellow bench behind Ken in the photo. This very sad and weathered bench has been in the yard since we started visiting almost 15 years ago. So Ken asked the building manager if we could paint it,...little did they know they were dealing with the "mad American Artist." After getting the go ahead, Ken went out and bought the brightest yellow he could find. It really looks wonderful and matches the daffodils and forsythias. You can also see our little barbecue grill that works great. The hamburgers were so good, that everyone had two!!
This has been an interesting week. The 29th was my birthday and I had made an appointment to meet with an Expat American to talk about doing some work at his Language School. He invited Ken to come along. After a two minute tour of his facilities, he suggested that we go and get a beer. We went to this wonderful pub that was under one of the original buildings of the city. We had the local beer and a big wooden platter filled with smoked meats and cheese. After a few beers, Ken had three wines and let it slip that it was my birthday. Well, more expats were called to join us and we all trouped off to hear some Australian band in a very small, smokey Czech bar. The band was a bust head rock and roll band complete with all the local color, some English majors from the local university, a doped out American from Poland and one homeless guy who kept bumming cigarettes from everyone. Several beers and shots of the local liquor later, Ken and I had to call it a night and leave. The walk home took about 40 minutes and gave us time to sober up a bit before we had to climb the steps to our flat!! I haven't celebrated my birthday like that since I was 27,..certainly not at 57!! Maybe this country is making me younger!!