Weekend in Lake Como

We had a 3-day weekend in September & I finally have a few minutes to write this update about the weekend in Lake Como, Italy.

We met Chuck and Laura there & rented a real cute little house overlooking the lake. Here we are out on the balcony having our morning coffee.On our first day we went for a hike into the Italian Pre-Alps. It was a TOUGH hike...here we are catching our breath.And the good news is...We found out where the Smurfs live. Chuck and Cisco tried to find Smurfette, but she was must have been out on a date with Handy.We also got to see some beautiful scenery on the way.Later that evening, our friends Lori and Dave came up from Genoa and met us. We had a fun night of cards and, of course, Italian wine. Not that you could tell from the picture :)
We spent most of the next day wandering around Menaggio. Here's Cisco relaxing with Lori's dog, Cagney. How cute is she?
Later in the evening we made our way to Belaggio via ferry.

Belaggio was really charming...beautiful narrow streets with lots of fun shops.

And we had a glass of wine while we watched the sun set before heading back to Menaggio.

Here's one for the cover of our next album.

Weekend in the Czech Countryside

One of our first excursions outside the city of Prague was to a village at the base of small ski mountain (hill really). We went with a whole bunch of Cisco's colleagues in the high school.We stayed at a cute lodge-type place, relaxed, played games, and just hung out for the weekend.
We went out for a walk with a group of our colleagues to try to find a castle that was supposed to be on a nearby trail. We didn't find the castle, but we did find:

REALLY big chickens...
and a kitten...we actually almost became a 3 cat home...but our litter box already has enough poop in it for 5 cats. Is that too much information? :)

and some gigantic turkeys...

and a huge snail...
and, some really beautiful countryside...
All in all, a lovely walk and a nice view of what lies outside our beautiful city :)

More beer?

Yes! The Czech Republic is famous for its beer. And you can't have beer without hops, right? So, the Czech Republic is full of hops, too! Each year there is a hops festival, celebrating hundreds of years (in fact...420 years) of hops production in the country.

Here we are on arrival. We stopped by the "hops park" first thing so that we could make ourselves a couple of crowns :)

Then it was time to go have our first beer. Here we are sampling a new brew with a couple of our work colleagues.The festival was packed...which became extremely evident as soon as this guy (aparently the Frank Sinatra of the Czech Republic) started his portion of the musical entertainment. You could hardly move the crowd got so packed!Another thing the Czech Republic is well-known for is the meat...sausage in particular. At the Hops Festival, there was meat roasting everywhere...and it all smelled really delicious.Before too long, Hannah found a wig stand & picked out a fairy princess wig to go with her hops crown. Here she is with a couple friends from work. They joined in on the wig trend, too.In fact, by the end of the night, nearly everyone had picked out a wig...This is just part of the crew that came with our school. It's a really fun group of people :)

We love Pilsner...Yes we do...We love Pilsner...How 'bout you?

That's right! Just a week and a half after meeting them in Amsterdam, the Baines duo made their way to Prague for a visit. They explored the city during the days when we were working & we all hung out in the evenings and on the weekend. I think the highlite of the trip for all of us was our trip to the town of Plzen, where Pilsner Urquell is made.

Here we are on the train trip to Plzen. The beer we're drinking, Gambrinus, is one of our favorites here. And it happens to be owned by Pilsner Urquell.

Upon arrival at the train station in Plzen, Laura, Chuck and Cisco thought they'd try to make a bit of extra cash through street performing. This is their robots routine.

Alas...no money was made. As we walked through Plzen we saw that the "Earth from Above" exhibit was visiting. We strolled through the exhibit & enjoyed the town. It really is a fantastic display of pictures from around the world. If you haven't seen it, it's amazing...and I think there's a website.Enough dilly-dallying. It's time to head to the Pilsner Urquell brewery for a tour. Here we are walking up to the 14 century gate of the brewery.We were all very excited as we entered the brewery grounds & then we were elated when we saw the "Beer World" sign...It's like the DisneyLand of beer :)Inside beer world, Hannah stopped to pose with a very friendly looking wax man. Pretty realistic, huh?Then it was on to the tour. We went to the packaging area first. This SO reminded me of Laverne and Shirley. "Schlemiel, schlimazel, hasenpfeffer incorporated!"
Then to the storage room. Aren't those copper vats awesome?And then down, down, down into the tunnels where the beer sits in barrels as it matures.Yes...these are all full of Pilsner Urquell.See? Hmmm...not sure if I want to drink from that one.In the last part of the tour, a Pilsner Urquell brewer pours each person a special glass of pilsner straight from the barrel. It was delicious...just like beer tasted in the old days (so they say). It's purified, but unpasturized so it's not clear like it is once it's bottled.
Outside the brewery, the gang enjoyed a good old-fashioned game of beer chess. Only, I'm not sure anyone really knows the rules. Oh well...at least we're all having a good time!
Yummmm....Pilsner Urquell...our favorite!

To Dresden for Visas

In order to get work visas in the Czech Republic, you have to apply for them out of the country. So, our school took us to Dresden, Germany (a 3 hour drive away) to go sign some paperwork. We also got to enjoy a short time looking around the city. Here are some pics from that day.

This church was beautiful. Much of it's structure was bombed in WWII, but it has been repaired. I love the statues of saints all around it. There are views from both sides in the pics below.

We made our way through the streets and came upon another church that just reopened in the spring after being closed (from damage) since WWII. Dresden was one of the German cities hit the hardest toward the end of the war. In fact, it was hit after the war was technically over, but the English general who ordered the attack wanted a bit of retribution.Inside the church was very ornate...with LOTS of gold.

Finally we hit the old palace grounds. This place was incredible! The architecture was beautiful and the grounds were covered with sculpted gardens & fountains.

I got to be queen for the day when we stood outside the palace grounds & Cisco caught a photo of me "wearing" the royal crown. :)