“ By the way, the mint “garden” died a long time ago. No picture necessary.
And THAT’S why you never try to grow your own mint.
Prague Club
I May Never Go Back
… to the posts I wanted to catch up on. I realized that I tried to do too much with this blog. I wanted there to be a post almost every day. It obviously was never supposed to be just what I did that day. But let’s be real: if I really try to go back 4.5 months with this thing, I will be too daunted to ever make new updates. I still might, but here’s to moving forward.
I also realize that I have neglected Facebook pic-posting and such when blogging here. I will try to pop each one where it counts.
That’s what she said.
I Just Got Better At Sudoku
I feel like most skills that I improve, I improve gradually, usually to the point that I don’t notice. Sudoku was one of these skills, until today. Two days ago, my phone’s SIM card took a crap on my face and totally stopped working. As suddenly as it chunked it, it miraculously started working again. Of course, all of my phone numbers and settings on the crappy phone* were erased. Today I realized that included my sudoku high scores. I decided that I would no longer play on Easy or Medium. And then it happened: I beat Hard in ten minutes. I’m not saying this is incredible, but it was pretty good. Then I did it again just now. I guess the days of me needing to pencil in numbers on Hard are over.
My crappy phone that used to crash roughly once a day, until the major crash where I lost everything. (It now seems to be stable but informationless.):
Nevermind, it’s so discontinued, it’s not even on the discontinued list on LG’s site.
* This may be because I am using an Austrian T-Mobes-linked LG phone in Czech Republic with an O2 SIM card. But that actually shouldn’t matter.
For the Time Being: Summer Travels
Yeah, I suck. Until I catch up on the last four months, here is a quickie on where I was over the summer:
with chris and brandon
prague, czech republic
munich, germany: mmmm weissbier. at the end of the tour, the guide was saying how bavarians drink average 1.5 liters per person per day. dave: “don’t czech drink even more than that?” tour guide: “czech are alcoholics.” guess who’s winning.
salzburg, austria: went to mozart’s house. he was nuts. there is a neon sign on one outdoor wall that is a quote from his MORE sane later days: “Madame mother, I like to eat butter.”
rothenburg ob der tauber, germany: the second stop on the romantic road. we’ve realized that 2/2 trips that just the three of us have taken are at least partially fairly gay, the first being wine tasting in napa.
frankfurt, germany: not a whole lot to see, to be honest. outside of bavaria, germany was really protestant! i had a frankfurter.
with heidi and jessica
heidelberg, germany: heidi’s dreams came true as we couchsurfed in the city of her namesake. it’s very pretty. heidelberg in english means huckleberry hill. heidi is not a fan of that.
berlin, germany: one of the smellier cities i’ve … smelled. best doner kebab award (maybe i have to wait till i’ve been to turkey to give this out?). also the best holocaust memorial i’ve seen.
krakow, poland: personal record for distance below sea level as i explored wieliczka salt mine and visited katrina, whose family goes to krakow every other summer.
prague, czech republic
summer camps
nove mesto nad metuji, czech republic: it’s a small town. there’s a castle. the highlight was my kids writing me into their end project, “The Truth About Titanic,” where i played rocky balboa.
krivoklat, czech republic: it’s a small town. there’s a castle. i met a british redhead with dreads way past his butt.
frankfurt, germany: the first and last time i’ll ever walk around a city all day with a big backpack on. i don’t like frankfurt.
with linda
taipei, taiwan: the gourmet food is RAGING in this place, and everything is SO cheap.
jioufen, taiwan: a town known for its red paper lanterns lining the streets, as seen in miyazaki’s spirited away.
beito, taiwan: hot springs resort town. i loves me some square bathtubs.
taipei, taiwan: i’ve never had so many boba teas per day in my life.
frankfurt, germany: yes, i keep going here because of cheaper flights. but this time it was actually much better. the part of town near the university was hip and kinda sweet.
with matt
prague, czech republic
oslo, norway: this is the most expensive place i have ever been.
stockholm, sweden: i drunkenly climbed a very tall statue and bruised my ass getting down. i went to my second ice bar (the novelty dies after the first time, but when your friend is turning 25, you don’t have a choice).
copenhagen, denmark: stayed with my friend jonas, who took us to Ãl, a bar. Ãl means “beer” in danish. it was my second time having a man crush on a bartender who half mixology educator/half baller guy who wins at life in an unpretentious way. the first being in portland at this bar in a thai restaurant.
amsterdam, netherlands: i failed to see where brian grew up or where he went to school, nor did i get the pancake he recommended. but the pancakes and the fries ARE amazing. the red light district is totally ridiculous. the van gogh museum was the best i went to all summer.
solo
bruges, belgium: my new most beautiful place i’ve ever been. medieval + UNESCO + canals = superb. belgian beers are so good. so so far exceeding stella.
antwerp, belgium: relatively boring, but there are some sweet fashion stores (it’s the belgian fashion capital). belgian waffles are delicious.
strasbourg, france: stayed with my friend alicia. alsatian cuisine is delish. her dad is sweet but believes in conspiracy theories. i listened politely as i drank another glass of red wine from the region. CHEESE courses. also, three brewery tours is too many in one week. either the barley is malted, or it’s not. just kidding, but really.
luxembourg city, luxembourg: apparently the view from above the casemates looking at a monastery and lower town makes it “the best balcony in Europe.”
bergamo, italy: more medieval times, but i was in town from 10:30pm to 6:30am, and since i wanted to see it, i didn’t book a room. ended up sleeping on a park bench in a sleeping bag for two hours with a beanie on. this is after i haven’t shaven for three weeks. i’ve never looked more homeless.
prague, czech republic
I'm Sorry
I know a lot of people are like, Dave, WTF. Mid-June? I know. This thing is ridiculously out of date. I am leaving today to travel for three more weeks in Europe, and then I promise, once I get back and am in Prague for more than six days at a time, I will catch it all up. And you will get an email about it. And then you will have TOO MUCH to read, and I apologize for that too, but there will be mad pics as well.
In the meantime, please don’t forget that i do actually have two blogs, and the other one is not nearly as out of date. Plus, only one person reads it. So, “it’s new to you!”
