Lednice

Well we finished up the intensive English school at Lednice and once again it was fun and successful. It is always so much work to prepare lessons for beginners to advanced speakers. I often wonder if it is worth it. Then once it starts it is so much fun and everyone is so appreciative that I know all of the preparations were worth it. Ken came along again and taught a drawing class and I organized a treasure hunt and a spelling bee. One of our friends knew a man who had his own little wine cellar, so Helena took us there one evening. We had to sample all of the man's wines (about 12 different kinds). This was not like a wine tasting in the US where you get an inch in the bottom of the glass. We got a full glass of each of them. I finally had to quit after about 5 different kinds and just took sips off of Kens. We stood around in his cellar and listened to his wine stories (translated by our friend) and drank LOTS of great Czech wine.
The final party of the school was a lot of fun and Ken took his banjo along. He and the Vice-Dean, got very drunk and sang all sorts of old American folk songs and Communist workers songs. I left them singing around 1:30 and went back to the hotel. We all had a great time.
Last weekend, after the school we ran over to Prague to go to the big flea market. On the way we stopped at a little town, Ledovice. Very similar name. Anyway we visited a castle that they are just starting to restore. It was really interesting to be able to just wander through the 60 some rooms and imagine what it must have been like and what it will be like.
The Faculty of Science where I teach moved into a beautiful new building this month and I thought you might like to see the view from my office. I don't know why our department rated the best view, but we really have it! That is the sky line of Olomouc and a rose garden below it. It does make it a little hard to work with such a great view!
This weekend we are off to Budapest,...

A Passing

Last week we received word that our good friend in Paris, Rene Bruyeron, had died suddenly of a heart attack. A week earlier, Jiri's father had passed away after battling with pancreatic cancer for many months. I don't know which is worse,..a slow lingering death so that when it finally comes, it is in some measure a relief,...or the sudden unexpected death that leaves you in shock and unable to comprehend that they are gone. Certainly neither is "better". Rene was a good friend and we had just contacted him and made plans to go to Paris in September for a visit. We had been so busy since arriving that we had not had "the time". Funny how time is so relative. Rene taught us about collecting watches, fountain pens and paintings. He taught us, as only a Frenchman could about drinking good wine. We shall miss him a great deal. I have not noticed or cared so much about getting old. The skin may sag a bit more but the hair color is renewable with a bottle. What is bothersome is the loss of friends and family. We hold you all so dear,..please take care.

Mushroom time

Sunday was a beautiful day, sunny, mid 70's and a slight wind. A perfect day to go mushrooming. So we headed off to the local woods with our good friend Veronica, her daughter Barbara and boyfriend Zdenik. We went to Veronica's parents cabin and into the woods behind it. It had been a nice weekend, so many people were out and the woods had been a bit cleaned out. We were lucky enough to find a basketful of about five different variety. Under the watchful eye of the expert, Veronica's father, we cleaned them and prepared them for lunch. Then Veronica's mom took over and boiled then fried them. We all gathered for the final part,..eating them!. They were wonderful. Now I just need to go back and get some to dry for the winter. What a great way to spend an afternoon!

Back in the CR

I realized when I typed in the title how ambiguous it is. We were back in CR (Cedar Rapids) for five weeks and have now returned to CR (Czech Republic). Next time we pick a place to move to, it is going to have entirely different initials.
The trip to the US was great and we had a chance to see many friends and family. If we missed you this time, we will try to catch you next time. It is just so hard to squeeze everyone in. We are especially grateful to our good friends (really more like family) Leslie and Dennis for sharing their home with us when we were in CR. We would stop in for a few days and then take off again. The bed and the wine was always waiting when we returned. Love you guys!
We did manage to get out to New England to visit Quentin and Alana. They have moved into temporary housing as they wait for the bigger move to Toronto. That should be in the fall for Alana and around Christmas for Quentin. She will have a post-doctoral position at the University in Toronto and Quentin will be finishing up his doctorate,..or so he promises. They are discussing a wedding in June or July and probably in Toronto. They have also kicked around the idea of doing a party in Cedar Rapids, so that Quentin's family and friends don't have to travel to Toronto. More details will follow,... We also got to visit with old friend Jon Ploof and his friend, Brunna. Really wonderful to see them.
We also got to Sioux City to visit Ken's sister, his nephew's family and good friends Roger and Roger. Now that Ken's Mom is gone, our trips to western Iowa were fewer and I had forgotten just how beautiful and different that part of the state is. It was a good trip and we picked up with visits to other friends along the way. I think that the next trip we will have to head south to visit Ken's other sister and then out west to visit good friends.
The antique shop is up and running and so far things seem to be good. The city is something else. Even a year later, it still looks like a disaster zone. Abandoned houses, broken windows, trash and litter. It is really sad.
I am attaching to this a picture of the poppy fields here in the CR. The white ones are the most common and they are grown for their large seed pods, about the size of an apricot. The orange ones are rarer and have smaller pods. Not sure of the difference but the fields only last for a short time before the flowers get knocked off. As much poppy seed as they eat here, there has to be lots of fields. So Joyce and Perry, here are your pictures.
I have to make this short as we are having about 12 Czechs over for a 4th of July potluck. A new experience for them,..