Zlaté město, or "The Golden City"

We use adjectives as descriptive words, to give more information about nouns. In this case, our noun is the city of Prague, and as its Czech nickname "Zlaté město" indicates, the adjective is "Golden." As an adjective, "Golden" means a lot of things: bright, metallic, or lustrous like gold; radiant, having glowing vitality; full of happiness, prosperity, or vigor; highly talented and favored; and richly soft and smooth. Unsurprisingly, golden also has a slew of of synonyms: flourishing, illuminated, optimistic, honeyed, and gracious. The poetic part about it, of course, is that regardless of the definition or synonym one chooses, Prague is indeed Golden in every sense of the word.

Having had a relatively long and tumultuous history, the Czech Republic was only actually born in 1992, when it officially separated from Slovakia, having divorced its communist roots only three years prior during the "Velvet Revolution" in 1989. Consequently, Prague is a city still beaming with a relatively new sense of freedom and prosperity. The locals are proud, optimistic, and gracious, and the city is profoundly alive, currently existing perhaps in its most golden of modern eras.

Flourishing with architecture and breathtaking views, Prague is a city that spans time. Its five districts - Castle District, Old Town, Lesser Quarter, New Town, and Jewish Quarter - boast buildings from Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, and Modern periods, making a stroll through the city an absolutely radiant sight to behold. Every street corner hosts buildings and sculptures from different time periods, in no particular chronological order, jumbled together and offering a charming tour of the last seven or so centuries...

Old Town Square

The Charles Bridge

Ascent to the Castle District

Louise, Ben, and Bryan drinking mulled wine
and taking in a city view from the Castle

The Old Jewish Cemetery, an architectural
maze of tens of thousands of headstones

Views from Melnik, small village outside Prague
(where Vltava and Elbe Rivers meet)

Prague is a city of art, radiating talent from its puppet theaters, classical music and opera houses, and smokey live jazz bars. With a rich Bohemian history, Prague is home to a large collection of antique furniture and hand-blown glass, jewelery shops boasting polished silver and garnets, and of course, street vendors with watercolor and pencil sketches of the city's architectural gems. With the region home to the original Pilsner beer, some might even consider the local beer industry to be an art form in its own right. Inspired, we brought a bit of the arts home with us, including three very small watercolor paintings, and Brandina's birthday purchase - a classic, century-old antique pocket clock, to garnish the neckline on special occasions...

The House of the Minute,
iconic Renaissance building in Old Town

Astronomical Clock in Old Town, build in 1490Jazz Band on the Charles Bridge

Padlock art on Kampa IslandThe John Lennon mural on Kampa Island

Prague is a city of lights, completely illuminated once the sun has set. The Vltava River, smoothly winding through the city and passing along Prague's most beautiful and iconic buildings, is home to countless dinner and jazz cruise boats, upon which we celebrated Brandina's birthday. Old Town is blanketed in a yellow-ish hue at night, with street lamps reflecting off the cobble stones...

Vlatava River CruiseOld Town at night
Church of Our Lady Before Tyn at night

And, especially in the month of October, Prague is a city of color, illustrating just how stunning and lustrous the Autumn season can be...

Colors in Melnik

It may not have been Brandina's Golden Birthday (as you recall, that was last year), and certainly isn't our home Golden State, but it is, in every sense of the word, a Golden City indeed. Thank you to Ben and Louise, our Kiwi friends, for joining us on such a lovely holiday!
-B&B

"How can one take delight in the world unless one flees to it for refuge?" - Franz Kafka, influential German, Prague-born author

Once Upon A Time...

Though previous trips and destinations have been rather easy to describe, the city of Copenhagen is a bit more perplexing. It is almost like a storybook without a proper ending. The setting is reminiscent of Amsterdam - interlocking canals, streets draped with bicycles, and waterfront buildings with fairytale windows, almost as if one should be dropping bread crumbs along the way. The local characters are quite Nordic - light-skinned, blonde, and speaking a language that sounds like a distant, yet obvious blood-relative of Swedish. The city's chapters are short and clearly defined - North, South, and Central, all compact and within close walking distance. It has the iconic features of a storybook - the palaces, the horse-drawn carriages, the bustling town squares, and the wistful town maiden, a bronze Mermaid sculpture that sits perched on a rock in the harbour (which, unfortunately, is currently on exhibition outside the city). Somehow though, Copenhagen is lacking a bit in charm, as if the Prince has yet to arrive on scene. Or perhaps he has arrived, but no official transformation has taken place - the beast remains the beast, and the mermaid remains, well, a mermaid.

But, as we all know, the beauty still loved the beast - his princely transformation was merely an afterthought. How is this possible? Perhaps because the not-so-obvious moral of the story is this - a fairytale is only as good as the voices of those who read it aloud, and the people with whom it is shared, regardless of the written ending. Even children realise that a ho-hum bedtime story can become magical when read with excitement, and meaningful when one is curled up next to Mum or Dad. Similarly, we read each chapter of our weekend in Copenhagen with passion, as the day we arrived, 15 October 2010, marked our one-year anniversary of moving to London! An anniversary such as that one breathes passion, passion for our lives abroad and our ability to travel. We also read each chapter in the pleasurable company of Ingrid, our American friend who lives in Stockholm, who we have not seen since New Year's. Copenhagen was the perfect setting for a meet-in-the-middle rendezvous point, an opportunity to meander through the streets, window-shop, eat at canal-side cafes, explore contemporary Danish art and design, and swap stories about living abroad in London and Stockholm. Below are a few of this storybook's illustrations...

Bundled up in Nytorv Square,
along Stroget street (Central)

In Hojbro Plads square, near Stork Fountain,
along Stroget street (Central)

Kongens Nytorv square (Central)

Nyhavn canal district (Central)
Inside Kunstindustrimuseet,
the Danish Museum of Art & Design (North)
Outside the entrance to Tivoli,
an amusement park/cultural venue,
considered by the Danes to be a national treasure
Out for the night, in a Scottish Pub
Christianshavn, otherwise known as the
"Little Amsterdam" district (South)
Vor Frelsers Kirke, Our Saviour's Chuch
(notice the exterior spiral staircase!) (South)

Cityscape view from Vor Frelsers Kirke
Heading back to the train station

Though Ingrid's husband David was not able to join us, and we missed him so, all in all, it was still a lovely, fairytale-of-a-weekend away...

--THE END--
B&B

"Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale." - Hans Christian Andersen, Danish author and inspiration to Copenhagen, most known for writing storybooks such as the Little Mermaid and Thumbelina

3:33:33

Almost one year ago, just after we moved to London, I boldly went on my first blind friend-date. I was to meet up with a girl named Jen, whose uncle is my parents' neighbour in Hawaii (such is the nature of meeting new people! Everyone knows someone...). After a few introductory emails, we met at a pub one night last October, and have been instant, close friends ever since. For several months now, Jen and I have been meeting up at least one evening per week, to go on a walk in the city - it's an opportunity to catch-up, vent about work, explore new areas, and exercise together. Our walks have become a stable part of my weekly routine, much like Jen has become a stable part of my life here in London.

About a month ago, we decided to take our walking to a new level, and signed up for a half-marathon walk in London. Since then, we have been increasing our walking distances in preparation. Last weekend, we completed a 10.5 mile walk along the Regents Canal in London, starting at Paddington Station and ending near Canary Wharf, passing through Little Venice, Regents Park, London Zoo, Camden Town, and several other unique pockets of the city.

And now, I've propped up my sore feet, literally, as we successfully completed the half-marathon walk (13.1 miles) this afternoon! As walkers of the inaugural Royal Parks Foundation Heritage Walk, we trekked through 4 Royal Parks in the city, up and down both sides of the Thames River, and passed by London's most iconic sights. At each mile-marker along the way, we received information leaflets, providing interesting trivia about the sights we were going to pass within the next mile. Without a cloud in the sky, we couldn't have asked for better weather today, and even had a mutual moment of awe along the Thames, thinking, "We can't believe we actually live here!" While the last couple of miles were brutal, the homestretch was livened up by a star-sighting in Hyde Park - actress Rosamund Pike, most known for her role in Pride & Prejudice alongside Kiera Knightley. With a walk completion time of 3:33:33 (no joke!), we have plenty of photos, fun facts, and sore muscles to show for it...

Heading to the Start Line

Outside Westminster Abbey

Trivia: Westminster Abbey, founded in the 11th Century by Edward the Confessor, has seen the coronation of every English monarch since William the Conqueror in 1066. It is the resting place of many famous names, including Charles Dickens.

Outside the Tower of London

Along the Thames (my favourite part of this city)
Trivia: It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament! It's been suggested that this is because the State would have to pay for the funeral, just as it would in a Royal House.

The 10-mile marker in Green Park
Trivia: It is believed that The Green Park owes its name to the notorious wandering eye of Charles II. King Charles reputedly picked some flowers in the Park to give to a beautiful lady and when his wife, Queen Catherine, realised that they weren't a gift for her but for his mistress, she was furious. So furious that she had all the flowers removed from the Park, leaving nothing but green grass and green trees!

The Serpentine, Hyde ParkTrivia: The Serpentine was one of the earliest artificial lakes. Its 40 acres were specifically designed to appear natural. In the mid-19th century more than 10,000 swimmers at a time used to enjoy its waters.

Just Crossed the Finish Line! 3:33:33

Also, for those of you who plan to visit us sometime, I've saved the trivia leaflets and the route map, in case you fancy a walk :). It really is the best way to see, explore, and appreciate this majestic city.

-Brandina

The sum of the whole is this: walk and be happy; walk and be healthy. The best way to lengthen out our days is to walk steadily and with a purpose. - Charles Dickens