HEAT
The heat is working properly. Rumors floated around about the possibility or rather impossibility of hooking up the basement wood burning furnace to the chimney. After a team effort and some climbing on the roof, it seemed the chimney was fine. So Karel and the workers from the cottage came over and rigged up the pipe from the furnace into the chimney and now we a re warm. We bought wood from Pepe in Lobendava. He is a former soccer player and I chat with him about his playing days. He is a pretty eccentric character and it is fun to speak Czech with him.
Goulash
Went to Svatopluk's the other day and made some chocolate chip cookies for them while they cooked a bunch of Kolac, a Moravian fruit pastry. I had dinner with them which consisted of awesome soup and pig's head goulash, with dumplings. It was the best goulash I have had, even though it was pig's head. It's fun hanging with them and working on my Czech and eating some true Czech food. I wish I could speak better so I could get their story, hopefully one day.
Sparta and Sean
I came to Prague on Monday with some members of the Sluknov soccer team to attend the biggest game in the Czech soccer league. Two teams from Prague, Slavia and Sparta, faced off in what proved to be an intense and exciting game. It was great traveling with the Sluknov team who were pretty evenly divided between Sparta and Slavia and they were always bantering with each other. The game ended 2-1 with Sparta coming from a goal down to claim the derby and the bragging rights.
Then on Tuesday in an awesome turn of events, Sean Sandoval, whom I played soccer with for Real Colorado, arrived in Prague. I didn't know much more than he was maybe arriving at 530 in the main train station but I went there and somehow it worked out and we met up no prob. He is traveling Europe for two months and it was awesome that it worked out this way. Since then we have been able to walk around Prague at night, go up the TV tower to get a great view of the city, and eat some ostrich goulash at a farmer's market today. All pretty wild. Tonight we are going to a concert of the Tiger Lillies, who are perhaps the weirdest band I have ever heard. But some friends are full-fledged fans so we are making an event of it. It should be an interesting show, for the Tiger Lillies don't do things only half-way.
MKDizzle
Tomorrow AM I head to MAcedonia to visit my friend Ladule who is playing pro soccer in the top league for Fk Bregalnica Stip. Should be an awesome adventure. I look forward to hanging with La, hopefully playing some soccer, and eating some great Macedonian food. Will be a great time to go even further east and see what Macedonia is all about. Hopefully we will get to go to Serbia for a Champion's League game, and maybe get to some other ex-Yugoslav countries.
Brittany
After Macedonia, I am getting picked up from the airport by David, Dusan, and Eli. (Both friend's of David.) We are making the trip to Brittany France. More specifically the town of Dinard, where David's mom lives. David has told me to expect to gain 5-10 pounds because the food is unbelievable. But we are bringing the road bikes too so hopefully I can ride some of it off as I take in the French countryside. AND on top of that Sean needs to be in Paris when we are going to France so he may ride with us and then come back as well, as he wants to check out Northernmost for himself.
It's all been a whirlwind, but it's been awesome and the next few weeks will be great. Sometimes you just have to go and see what happens. When I arrived in March who could have predicted any of the plans of which I just wrote?