OCD-ing Out My Suitcase

So in preparation to go to Barcelona for four days and then Paris for four days I have to pack my overnight bag. I was debating whether to do the flat pack or the roll method. As you can see I opted for the roll method, I figure it will just be easier to grab a pack of clothes and change. Just thought I would share the above picture to those who know me, I am just as surprised as you are that my bag is packed this neatly.

One of my Favorite Czech Dishes Yet

The picture above is a slight variation that I had in Olomouc made with gniocci. The original dish consists of potato dumplings, sour kraut and pieces of bacon. They put a generous amount of pepper on as well. Its a real hardy, very flavorful dish, it also goes great with a nice glass of pivo.

Super Cheap, Super Cool Decorating

I am completely inspired by Charlie Kratzer's work in the basement of his south Lexington home. He painted all of the walls a creme color and then used ten dollars worth of sharpies to create this incredible space. Here is a full view around the room. I love the imperfections and hand drawn look, no straight lines or realistic pictures. I am seriously considering something like this for my room when I get back. If I can get myself together to pull this off, its going to be a mix of the library look and the squares in between the two sections of library. Perhaps some other designs that I'll think up between now and then.

A Political Plea Cookout!

So heres a brief political break down of what is happening in Old Town Square in these pictures. The Czechs have a two step election system. The current party in power is a conservative, rightest party, who is throwing the party (haha). No one particularly likes them, and everyone thinks that there leader Mr. Klaus is a racist idiot. (He threatened the social democrats that he was going to show them a kristallnacht of their own and he used a famous hitler line against them, just to keep it straight he didn't say this about the jews, but still a bit scary) Anyhows, in the first wave of elections they were bombed, surprise! So in order to gain a few more votes before the second set of elections the conservative party decided to throw this crazy party in old town square, there was tons of bands and professional dancers and speeches from the candidates and the president himself. Normally I really wouldn't care about Czech politics, we have our own problems, buuuuuut I got an excellent free dinner out of it!

It was an all you could eat and drink extravaganza. Firstly lets deal with this picture above. They had an army of grill masters prepping the kielbasa troops. The kielbasa was amazing, it was slightly smoked, so it had a great garlicy, highly seasoned flavor, but it was still really juicy since it was not completely smoke cured. They were also cooked over charcoals so there was char blackened goodness all over them. Once I got my kielbasa, I moved on over to the condiment table. I decided on traditional eastern European preparation, I grabbed a big slice of a rye/sourdough mix spread on lots of white horseradish and mustard and then sandwiched the kielbasa in between, it was perfect. Now to get a drink. There were two carts of all you can drink Gambrinus. I felt bad for the poor girl who was pouring beer in the picture below, it looked like she had been pouring a constant stream of beer the whole night. Gambrinus is the third of the three great beers of Prague. It is the least expensive of the three as well. Gambrinus is a very creamy beer that goes great with kielbasa, but then again what beer wouldn't. Once I had my beer it was time for the second course, Goulash. (it was a free diner, I was going to stuff myself) Even though this was mass made Czech tax money goulash it was some of the best I have had yet. The broth was incredible, it was so spicy, with lots of pepper and other spices that make a soup warm and wonderful. There were also huge chunks of deliciously fatty beef. It was apparent that they had been stewing all day as they melted in my mouth. The goulash was literally steeped in the mouthwatering fat of these beef chunks. I could not have asked for a better free dinner from the quickly slipping out of power political party. Maybe the new party will throw a delicious Old Town Square party too! If only US politics were this gastronomically generous the US would be a much better place.

Cool Car on the Way to School

Across the street from the metro stop by school is a cuban restaurant and smoking room.  Out front they have this beautiful car that looks like it belongs cruising through Havana.  It's a massive behemoth of a car that takes up most of the store front.  The back of the car has distinct features that reminds me of a scowling old face.  The red and black combination makes it look almost like the old style bat mobile.

Nice Night

For a change it decided to be a nice and balmy 65 degrees tonight.  I was walking around for my architecture class and the sky was displaying a whole range of blues that were really beautiful.  So I took a picture to share.

Medovina

While in Olomouc (yet another Czech town) we went to a local wine bar.  Olomouc is in Moravia so there is a strong pride in wine and wine bars.  We ordered a massive cheese platter that had particularly good blue cheese and young feta among many others.  I ordered medovina, or honey wine, to drink.  To make honey wine, they add honey to the wine before the fermentation process begins.  The result is a slightly sweet wine with a really flavorful kick.  Usually it is served warm, and many times there are different flavors that they infuse into the medovina.  Since they were out of cinnamon I was given the house flavor, monastery.  It was perfect for a cold night, the nice kick of the fermented honey sends a warming wave right through you.

The Bone Church at Kutna Hora

One of the main attractions of Kutna Hora (a city about an hour outside of Prague) was the bone church.  Some crazy monk decided to use the remains of 40,000 people to decorate the space.  Each and every bone was cleaned and bleached.  The picture above is the crest of the Schwarzenberg Family, the family that ruled the surrounding area.  The skull on the bottom right with a bone stuck in its eye represents the Turks who were defeated in this territory by the forces of the Schwarzenberg family.

All arch ways and many parts of the walls were decorated by patterns of bones hung on strings, almost like the popcorn strings that go around Christmas trees.

This was the grand chandelier in the center of the bone church.  It contains at least one of every single bone in the human body.

Originally the church was filled with six of these "bone pyramids", today there are only four.  There are layers of what looks like leg and arm bones, skulls are used almost as a decorative piping and as the roof.  These pyramids were constructed by stacking only, they are not bound in any way.

You can look through the arches in the pyramids, its just a tad scary.

The ones that are not lit from the inside are even scarier.  This one almost looked like the skulls were riding a conveyer belt out from the depths of the darkness.

On one side of the main chapel, there was this figure of jesus looking down on you.  It looks like it was made in the same style of the claymation figures in Pee-Wee's Playhouse.

On either side of the entrance there is a massive bone chalice.  While it was appropriate timing to go visit, this bone church is not a Halloween ploy, its open all year round!

Mad Men

I have recently discovered the greatness that is Mad Men.  The show is consuming and great to watch.  The style is one of my favorites.  I love the slim suits, skinny ties, and super cool chairs and couches, not to mention that a five bedroom apartment in the city cost thirty-two thousand (I have to start working on a time machine).  This graphic designer Dyna Moe put together these swank desktop backgrounds in the style of the Mad Men era.

I love this one, it looks like a restaurant place mat but it has Sally serving the drinks.  The worlds youngest bar tender.

One day, I too will have an office and not allow anyone to wear shoes!

This was the designed that kicked them all off, it was originally an idea for a Christmas card.

Main Prague Train Station

Its funny, this is exactly how I would picture an eastern European train station.  It has the beautiful european arched glass structure.  But since it is eastern Europe it is tinged in the history of communism.  The glass panels were either tinted brown or a slight blue and there was an overall greyish ora to the place.  No matter what the european train station prevailed.  It felt exotic to be under that grand canopy and to be traveling by train.

Banksy's Pet Shop and Charcoal Grill

This is one of the things I really wish I was in New York for.  Banksy the famous street artist has set up a twisted installation piece in Greenwich  Village.  He put together this hilarious take on a pet store/restaurant that has some unusual inhabitants.  A few things of note, (I have scene in pictures) the panther coat in the front window, the self dipping chicken nuggets (above), the severely aged Tweety Bird, the "getting ready to go out" rabbit, the fish sticks in their natural habitat (the fish tank), and the wall of caged sausages of all different varieties.  I'm pretty sure that this installation is only around until the end of the month, so go check it out if you are in the city!  Hopefully this is the first of many Banksy installations in the city, I think that this one in particular was a grand fantastical and whimsical feat and I look forward to what ever he is going to do next.

Budweiser Budvar

So which came first?  This looks like a Czechization of Budweiser beer.  In fact the story is the other way around.  Of the three main Czech beers Budweiser Budvar is the only brewery that is still completely run by the Czechs (Pilsner Urquell is owned by SAB Miller, and Staropramen is owned in part by other another European brewery).  The founder of  American Budweiser toured the Czech area and basically stole the Budweiser brand from the Czechs.  Subsequently they have been in lawsuits ever since.  So as not to get confused, the Czech brand is called Czech Budvar in the U.S..  It's a nice beer, more hoppy then the Pilsner or the Staropramen, so the flavor has a nice little kick to it.

Czech Construction Sites (Death Traps)

This was the street that our hotel was on in Brno.  They were in the middle of completely ripping it up.  The most bizarre part was that the street was completely open to walk through.  They did have some fencing off but there were large gaps between the fences so they were completely ineffective.  For example in the picture below, the hole is blocked off but there is a four foot gap in between the fences so that anyone can go through.  In Prague too, they don't bother to block off construction sites.  We once walked by a newly built structure, the inside was wide open, i'm sure there were tons of squatters inside.  A little bit of light was shed on this odd bit of culture by one of the RA's who explained to us that in the Czech Republic people are not sue-crazy and there are hardly any lawsuits, very much unlike the culture I am used to in NYC where people sue for splinters and hangnails.  

Czech Condiments

Just like everything else in a restaurant (bread, water, etc), unless you go to a high end restaurant, you have to pay extra for everything.  This includes condiments.  Luckily most places have Heinz, the Czech brands are not that great.  A single packet can cost up to fifteen crowns, which is a little under a dollar!  The upside is that they have these nifty blister packages that you can see in the above picture.

Medieval Bar in Brno

While on our trip to Brno a few weeks ago we went to a medieval bar!  We intended to go for the mead, which they were out of, but we did have grog.  Grog is warm Czech rum with lemon.  The bar itself was really neat.  It was in an old romanesque basement so basically it was a really long stone arch.

There were authentic iron work grates over the air shafts.  Also, the brick leads me to believe that this is not the original stone work but that it was probably redone in the last fifty or so years (Very recent for Czech standards).

Some nights they have fire-breathing, the night that we were there they had a three way knight fight.  These three guys battled up and down the length of the bar in full armor.  There was one point where one knight ran from the other room and unleashed a mighty ax swing onto the back of one of the other knights, it was really loud.

There were little coats of arms all over the bar.

And animal skins.  I'm pretty sure this one was a wolf.  The benches were even covered with piles of furs instead of cushions.

Most of the lighting was from candles, it gave the bar a really great atmosphere and very warm lighting.

This is the second half of the bar.  It is all communal tables, next to us were some Swedes who kept to them selfs.

This is one of the private rooms in the front of the bar.  Check out the cascades of melted wax on the right wall.

Fascinating Font Caricatures

In desperate attempts to further procrastinate and push off writing a midterm essay, I came across these amazing font caricatures.  It took me a minute or looking before I made out that they were entirely made of font characters.  I wonder what fonts they used exactly, I'm not sure whether it is the font itself or the placement that makes it look so flowing and natural, almost like a Al Hirschfeld sketch.  The most intriguing aspect of these figures are the small details like the buttons, the shoes, and the hair, the fact that they could make the hair seem so natural and curly is what really impresses me.

Cool Czech Jobs

One of the coolest jobs to have in the Czech Republic would be a tow truck/crane game operator.  In Prague if your meter runs out then they call in the crane game.  They attach a boot to each wheel and then they lift it straight up out of the spot.  They have a whole bunch of levers that control different functions.  Once over the flatbed, they spin the car around until it faces forward and then lower it down onto the truck.  These operators must be amazing at carnival crane games.

Kofola (A Post on the Epic Soda Quest Front)

I thought that Kofola was just a generic Czech brand cola so I have not tried it yet, I was very wrong!  Its got a crazy complex flavor.  It has accents of cola, but seems more to be a herb infused soda.  At first there is a strong citrus burst.  This intense citrus explosion caramelizes into a slightly sour (but very pleasant) licorice flavor.  At this point there is a creamy fade out of flavor while hints of cumin, cinnamon (the combination of these last two remind me of a dark, incense infused tea shop), and sour apple surge to a crisp finish.  One of the best features of this soda is that you can taste the seltzer, meaning that it is not overly sweet or syrupy.  Great advances were made today on the Epic Soda Quest!

Autumn Festival

About two weeks ago there was an Autumn Festival down at the local square.  It was nice and quaint, there were lots of little stands that had local goods and food.  The main attraction were the stands above, burchak stands.  Burchak is young wine, it is made from young grapes and is the primary step in the wine making process so it is sweet and a bit bubbly.

There were candle stands.

Lots of homemade scarfs and sweaters.

Here are chimney cakes.  its dough wrapped onto a metal tube and then rolled through cinnamon sugar, or cinnamon and nuts. then coated with some butter and rolled over a fire to bake.  They are delicious and are starting to show up in NYC at street fairs.

This is a Honey Wine stand.  They served it hot and cold,  the hot honey wine was great on a cold day.

I have no idea what this was but it looked traditional.  First they made fresh, what seemed to be Czech tortillas.  They then spread a herb butter on and added lots of different herbs spices and spreads.  The smell was amazing.

I opted for some Czech kielbasa.  One of the local wineries had a huge wood burning grill that smelled like the perfect winter fire, it gave the kielbasa a great double smoked flavor.

Out of know where came a traditional Czech band and flag throwers.  The had traditional czech costumes too.  The flags were spun around their bodies and then they soared about fifty feet up into the air.  Czech festivals are fun!