Christmas Eve in Prague

Kelly: We left sleepy, sleety Vilseck and arrived in Prague this afternoon. Our hotel Aparthotel City 5 is great. The owner is so kind, friendly, and genuine. We spent two hours exploring the city...such an interesting place. The buildings are amazing...baroque and oozing with history but very cold and harsh, too. We encountered international travelers and heard at least half a dozen languages in a short period of time. We took respite from the cold in a cozy cafe appropriately named Cafe Cafe. We had a great dinner and yummy tea (and coffee with Baileys for Matt). I was actually tempted to smoke a cigarette...everyone here smokes and they are so glamorous. Sitting in the cafe, I inhaled enough smoke to equal smoking a few, so I quickly changed my mind, much to Matt's chagrin.

As we strolled the streets, I was struck by how my heritage was evident in the faces of those we passed. Even though I'm far from home, seeing the similarities in the faces of those here makes it a little easier. I still can't believe that I am in the Czech Republic. Crazy! I'm grateful for the opportunity to see more of the world.

We're planning to visit the Palace tomorrow and a tea shop (if we can find one that is open). Matt is on a quest for Absinthe...we'll see if we can track down the green fairy.

Holiday Blues

The holiday glow
Just a little too near
as the laughing coworkers
celebrated with cheer

The icy ground is
Coated in snow
as locals rush by
with places to go

The familiarity of holidays at home
Gone across the sea
surrounded by friends and family
is where I long to be

This Christmas experience
Europeans by will
glamorous it appears
not feeling the thrill

Make the most of it
Enjoying the holiday quirks
darkness and cold
constantly lurk

Our stockings are hung
The ornaments placed
stepping out of my funk
and into husband's embrace

The week that was

Kelly: This week flew by. Work was filled with more training, which was not actually helpful for perfoming my job duties, meetings, and paperwork. I found out yesterday that I'm being sent to a mental health clinic about 4 hours away for a few weeks in December and January. That was a surprise, given I don't even know what I am supposed to be doing in my current job yet...oh well. I've been told that that is just the way things go in the military, so I'm trying to roll with it.

Matt and I visited our town's Christmas market. It wasn't in full swing yet, so he went back to the house, and I checked out some adorable but expensive clothings shops in town. One store is similar to a boutique Anthropologie....loved it. Another one had amazing men's clothes.

Matt is in a bit of a funk. I think that he is feeling frustrated with not having a traditional, "full-time" job and with not knowing quite how to occupy his time (aside from the stellar cleaning he has been doing). Perhaps a trip to Trier tomorrow with D and J and visiting Roman ruins will shake his funk!

Sunday Stroll

Kelly: This week's Sunday stroll was a bit different. All of the stores in Kaiserslautern were open on Sunday for a few hours (happens once a year). So, with my birthday money buring a hole in my pocket, we made our way to the pedestrian shopping area and the Christmas market in K-town. The shops line a pedestrian zone that streches half a mile in each direction. The Christmas markets (located in the plazas in the midst of the pedestrian zones) were much like the ones that we visited in Heidelberg on Saturday...a stand with cheesey mugs, gluwein (spiced wine), beer (of course), pretzel/doughie baked-good, repeat, repeat, repeat. I did enjoy the music and the Christmas spirit until the downpour began.

Finding clothes is harder than it was in the states. The two varieties seem to be: 1)Expensive, well-made clothes and 2)Cheap, will-shrink-or-fall-apart-after-washing clothes. I'm used to buying the well-made clothes at cheap prices at consignment stores, outlets, or discount stores....I'll just have to keep looking...wearing my boots, of course!