Random thoughts

I was beginning to think no one really cared about this blog, but slowly I have learned that many of you are addicted readers and keeping up with our tales. So,....I will continue. Last Thursday, Ken and I went to Vienna to pick up my work visa and to celebrate our 37th wedding anniversary,...37th is Vienna, isn't it???? Anyway we had a great time and it is only a 3 hour train trip from here. Road the train down there, bought a 24 hour city transit ticket and enjoyed the rest of the day. The Kunst Museum is fantastic with rooms full of Rembrandts, Rubens and all of the biggies. Late in the day, we road the train home and were snug in our beds by 10:00.
Last weekend we made another trip to visit our friends in Hamburg, Germany and to see a GREAT Otto Dix art show. If you don't know Otto, google him,...a very interesting 20th Century artist whose art calls to Ken. We took along a large helping of our now infamous Barbecued ribs. We have gotten quite good at making these, complete with homemade barbecue sauce. The word is spreading and we are getting requests,.... Of course there have been short trips like to the castle at Sovinec, pictured here and about 30 miles from our home.
The papers are all signed now and the deal is done so that I will be teaching full time for Palacky University in the fall. It is the second oldest University in the country, founded in 1573. It should be interesting teaching Czech Students and not speaking very good Czech!! Actually they want me because I am a "native speaker".....strange to be exotic for speaking American English!! More about the job later.
Had my first experience with a Czech dentist today and it was ok. We had heard horror stories about how under communist, there was no Novocaine. So even root canals were done without any pain killers. I had an abscessed tooth, but the dentist took xrays and thought she could save it and cleaned and flushed out the abscess. Maybe because they learned how, she did all of this without causing me any pain and there was no need for novocaine. I would never call a Dentist experience pleasant, but it wasn't bad!! The interesting thing is that when this same thing happened on the other side, in the states, the dentist just looked at it and said, "Oh we need to pull it" and I lost that tooth. Interesting,....
We finally have an offer on our house and we are hopeful that the deal will go through. We should know in about a month when all of the inspections are done and contracts are written.
For now it is hard to believe that the summer is almost over. For those of you who made the trip across the great pond to visit, thanks. We enjoyed your company and it helped with the transition. To those of you who have not made the trip yet,...
some European/Czech tips:
1. Everyone walks here. So get in shape and find good walking shoes. It is not abnormal for us to walk 2-3 hours a day. In addition, our flat is in the 2nd floor, so there is a set of stairs to go up. We don't notice it anymore.
2. Czech beer is known as the best in the world and who am I to disagree. It has a higher alcohol content but less carbonation, so you can drink a lot more and not feel full or bloated. So "get in shape" for the beer drinking!! (and wine tasting). Check out: http://information.travel.aol.com/article/europe/_a/fairy-tale-villages-and-castles-come/20070807141809990001
3. Czech weather is similar to Iowa,....hot/cold/wet/dry/humid/,..get the picture???
4. Because there is no heat in most of the castles, many of them close from Oct 1st to May 1st. There is still a lot to see and a great country to explore. see above link. Most have their own web page now, so you can decide what you want to see. We will go anywhere!!
5. The Lewis Hotel, is always open, so just email ahead to book your room!!
See you soon!!