New Wonderings

We awoke early before the town started moving.

 

We tried a new place for breakfast that Doug discovered that served melted chocolate in a cup!  It was so rich and amazing

Then we headed over to a Christmas market that Doug, Kylie, and Karis found the day before. 

It was set up in front of the cathedral that's pictured below. We went inside the church and found all the walls and columns painted BY HAND in intricate design!

And we decided to take one to be like others we have seen in some of the places we have lived.

My first ever successful picture with all 6 of us.

So, we did it again.

Czech National Museum behind us and Wenceslas Square in front of us.

These Christmas decorations reminded me of my hometown in Texas. I could see some creative person there designing these for their front yard.

Our Airbnb was near the famous Prague Astronomical Clock, so we stopped and took pictures when there weren't crowds around it (which was hardly ever).

Cold nights wondering around the markets never seemed to get old.

An Unplanned Getaway

My last post came out May 2020.  

Life happened.

Hopefully, since there wasn't much to report for most of 2020, I can get caught up again soon, but who knows. The trick is making the time to sit and do it.

For now, instead of starting current, I'm going to back up to December 2019 where I left off before the world went crazy. It's funny to look at all of these pictures where so many were gathered before we had to social distance.

We had a meeting in late November with our friends talking about Kylie's last Christmas at home, our friends' son turning 16, and the fact that it was time for a break, and we decided to quickly plan a Christmas getaway to celebrate all of it. None of us had ever been to a Christmas market in Europe, but we had heard great things about them, so we decided we would give it a try. (In hindsight, I'm so glad we went because lockdown was coming in a few months)

My sister has told me in the past how much she loves Prague, and we decided it would be a great city to explore.

We had REALLY early flights, and unbeknownst to us, Karis took photos of our exhaustion during our layover.

We arrived late in the afternoon, and right outside our Airbnb's window was a magnificent tree and one of many markets in the city.

Our window.

Keira taking it all in from the window seat while we rested from travel and got settled in.

Later, we went out to experience a little Christmas spirit and find something to eat. We found all sorts of food that didn't disappoint.  You just can't find this sort of thing where we live :)

Boys

This is the Czech Republic version of St. Nicholas. He was posing with people in the town square.

(Caleb thinks this could be Professor Trelawny with Dumbledore ;)

December 6, 2019

What a fun first evening. We planned for an early morning so we wouldn't miss a thing.

Garage Sale on Fire

Last fall, one of my favorite places to shop for treasures was destroyed by fire.  Historical and cultural significance were not anywhere near the scale of Notre Dame, but it was just a cool "garage sale" to wander around in.

I've written about this bazaar before, so if you look back at pictures, you can see that there was plenty in there to feed the fire.

Reports of the rescue effort were just as sad as the fire itself.  One news station wrote about shop owners beating up the firefighters.  Each shop owner wanted their shop's fire extinguished first, and in their anxiety and selfishness, they couldn't see that the firefighters were doing the best they could.

With rain falling steadily, the fire department requested help from a helicopter.

But sadly, you can see how little of a difference it made.

This bazaar is a FULL CITY BLOCK of small shops connected by brick walls and tin roofs.

The fire started in the early morning hours, before opening time.  Shopkeepers who arrived early tried to drag their belongings out; however, the bazaar is made up of about 2,400 shops, with long, long walkways far away from the edge.  It was reported that about half (1,200) of those shops were destroyed.

The good news is that they are re-building.

With brick this time.

And it's almost finished.

Garage Sale on Steriods

Well, I've shown you pictures of the bazaar near our house, but I don't think I've shown you pictures of a bigger bazaar in town. 

I have been there over seven times, and I STILL haven't seen the whole thing.  It goes on and on and on.  

Some of the items are used, but most are new.  I find it a fascinating place to go.

For example, we weren't sure we could find roller blades in this country, but here they are.

Who knew this even existed?  We were shocked to see Kylie's name all over the place.  I'm guessing this is "in" in America...

Sports shoes/gear

Overwhelming sometimes.

Well, if you're gonna sell one item, make sure it's a cute shirt...

What in the world?!

One of 6 or 7 toy stalls. 
It's basically hunt and find. 
There's always a man sitting in the shop trying to fix broken toys he's received.
Most of these toys have been owned and loved by someone and now they are up for re-sale.
The one exception is the LOADS of McDonald's toys that somehow make their way over here.

That is Doug's hand, and one giant fish!

Need some pots?

The one thing that does drive me a little crazy is the lack of organization.
It's like shopping at TJ Maxx or Ross, which are also not my favorite.

Why build shelves when you can use the floor to display your merchandise?

I didn't even photograph the curtains, fabric, bedding, children's clothes, kitchen wares, dishes, camping equipment, cobblers sewing shoes, plastic flowers, baskets, food, under-clothes, high heel shoes, carpet, etc. etc.  It goes on and on and on.

Let me know if you want to go sometime, and I'll be glad to take you :)

To market, to market

To market, to market, to buy komash...home again, home again, I'm looking so posh.

Bad, right?

But hey, did I tell you about the time I was taking a taxi and I needed him to turn by a place called Saad's Palace, but I said "Saad's Material" instead?  Awesome, right?

"Komash" means material, but at the time, I had it a little confused with "palace."

Anyway...back to my material story.

This is inside one of the bazaars I frequent during the week.



It reminds me of Africa in that everything that is similar is clustered together.

For example, hardware stuff is all together (it might look like 7 hardware stores all next to each other in a row); food is all together; houseware stores are all together, etc.

This is the tiny aisle for material stuff.  I just stood out of the way and sneaked in a few pictures.  It's crazy, and getting knocked down is not out of the question.

I was waiting for my neighbor, Jasmine* and friend, Jennifer* to buy what they needed.

BUT, something different about this part of the market is the white grate cover you can see running down the middle of the path.

Most of the time, it is just the ditch under it you see, with no cover.  It has filth, liquid, trash, and who-knows-what running all day long.  

It's pretty gross, and walking down the path, holding hands with Keira is quite the game as we cross from one side to the other multiple times trying to stay out of the way of people, the ditch, and huge rolling carts of drinks and snacks pushed by men that regularly make their way up and down the path all day, pushing people off to the side.

It should be an Olympic sport!

Some of the material is glittery and organized, but as you can see on the floor, some of it is just in piles for you to look through.

A JoAnn's Fabric store manager might have a problem with the organization of this place.

The power went off twice while we were there, and it was pitch black, but no one said a word.  Everyone just stood still until the power came back on.

I can imagine that kids in another country might scream if the lights suddenly went out.


Look below at the big silver tube hanging down from the ceiling.

That is their "air conditioner."

It's attached to a swamp cooler somewhere, and it sends air down that tube.  So basically, in this case, only the pile of material scraps on the floor is getting the benefit of any cool air.

I looked around, and besides me, I only saw one other woman with beads of sweat on her head.

I guess everyone has simply spent their entire life adjusting to the heat.  And they are wearing two more layers of clothes than I am.


This is a typical fabric dukan, and several people crowd in here at once.  Usually you are stepping on each other's feet and the material constantly.

 This is just a big pile of fabric.

I took this picture at the same shop where I bought material for my national outfit.  The man selling the material just walks barefoot up and down the pile all day screaming out his prices until someone asks him to cut some for her.

 On a side note, I really like this green paisley fabric.

I'm on the look out for something a little bit shinier and fancy than what I have.

After watching three wedding videos, I know that if I ever attend a wedding, my outfit is not going to cut it in the "glamour" department.  I would mess up the whole dancing video if I showed up in my mostly brown dress.

 Outside the fabric market, I definitely felt a little cooler.  Just getting away from all of the bodies helps.

They've got everything you need.

And one last shot.  I told you about my neighbor picking out a maxi dress for me, and I told you they are a little like muu - muu's.

Well, here they are.  They come in all colors and either glammed up or simplified down.  Both of mine are pretty plain because it just doesn't seem natural to clean and visit neighbors in a dress with fake jewels all over it.

However, I'm sure I haven't seen my last maxi.  Who knows?  Maybe I'll get some glimmer and shine and show you sometime.