we are home – we are good – the kitties are happy to see us.

very tired – more when i can – pictures should be up soon-ish as well.

the countryside is just so green, with rolling hills and field after field of bright yellow flowers. strange combinations of places long abandoned, new modern construction and places old and wonderful off the sides of the river that the tracks follow. large abandoned warehouse sized buildings with rows upon rows of broken windows, sitting right near a farmhouse or an old garden house still in use. just amazing. there is something so unique about seeing the world by train that no other form of travel compares with.

we passed the borders between Czech Republic and Germany about an hour or so back, so the teams of both Czech and German passport officers working to get through everyone in the train between stops. they seem to work pretty efficiently as they pass your passport from one to the other, one checking you out of one country and the other checking you into the next. pretty smooth operation all around – and we got stamped! so cool.

Prague (Praha) was nothing short of amazing. it is truly one of the most beautiful and amazing cities that i have ever seen. every time you look up or over on your walk from one place to the next, there is another “wow” moment. all of the classic gothic and art nouveau architecture works so very well together. mosaic and panted frescos on every other building – like i said – wow. and the metro system was amazing as well. clean, efficient, and very easy to use. San Francisco could learn a lot from these people. so easy to use, and damn was it fast! almost no waiting for trains!

the city has grown very touristy very very fast, and without planning to do so, but i think that they are doing the best they can at this point, it must be hard to go from a classic Soviet Block state to a democracy, and one not even part of the EU yet. having to deal with the sudden overwhelming stream of tourists must have been, well overwhelming, but i just saw a charming and beautiful city that was beyond any expectation that i could ever have had.

if i spoke the language i would have been tempted not to leave. Amsterdam holds a lot more appeal in the long run, but Praha is really something else.

in a couple of hours we will be back in Berlin, and will be there for a few more days. we are taking a boat ride around the city with a friend of my sister tomorrow, so at least we will be sightseeing, but doing it sitting down! sitting down is good! Saturday is another performance by my sister out of town. it should be a short trip – back on Sunday to pack and then airport Monday and damn-thirty in the morning.

we are really enjoying ourselves, but for me the trip is getting long and i am getting more than a bit tired. the next couple of days should be a little more low key at least, so hopefully we can keep our strengths up and stay happy.

last few days have been pretty much non-stop. we got to see my sister perform at Quasimodo on Saturday night. her group Disco Inferno was paying, and the house was bouncing! first time to see her perform, and i am happy to say that she sounded great! lots of high speed disco numbers, and the whole band worked well together and played so well. the place went wild – bouncing and dancing until well after 2am. we closed the place down after a few beers after the show, and got home at sometime near 4am. tired but happy.

Corie’s beau Torston met up with us after the show so we finally got to meet this guy after so many years of hearing about him. happy to say that i like him already. he seems a good man, and also a good match for Corie. you all know the “dating rule” – no bartenders, go-go boys or musicians – but i guess it can work if you are one of those dating the same. two musicians/performers can complement each other, and probably are the best match. anyway, they are cute together.

Sunday was a museum and walking about day with momma. tired her out, and M was a bit “museum’ed out” after a while (all that shuffle-step-shuffle-step and pushy old ladies) but it was a good day. nice dinner with the whole family after – Corie and Torston, his mom and ours and a friend of Corie’s that used to live and perform in Berlin and now lives in Ukrain. some good wine and some great food.

so up early this morning and off to the train station! we HAD planned a 7:30am train – but we rebelled against Corie’s original plan and went for a 9:45am instead. we are on vacation after all – why get up early if we don’t have to! i mean really!

so tonight we get to stay in a “Boatel” – yes you read that right, a boat-hotel! i can not wait to see it!

we go back to Berlin Wednesday after 2 nights in Prague, and should get home late afternoon. M and i are going out for a day on our own to explore a little on Friday, and there is a boat tour/cookout planned for Thursday. a friend of Corie and Torston has a boat that he is getting ready for us, and we are getting a special river view of Berlin for the day. sounds good to me!

Saturday and we are off to a out of town Music Night performance that will have us stay overnight, then home on Sunday to pack for home. our plane leaves at 6-frakkin-30 in the morning, so we have to be ready to go at sometime near 4-4:30-ish Monday morning. going to be a long day…

i will be happy to get home i think – sleep in our own bed and see kitty-kittys. this has been an amazing time, but we are getting tired. we would love to see and do more, but on this fast-track schedule you can wear out pretty damn fast.

more if/when i can – i hope the boatel has internet, but in Czech-Republic i kinda doubt it…

the streets are pretty much ALL brick/cobblestone, so walking with a roller-bag is a task that leaves a lot to be desired. thumpa-thumpa-thumpa all the way. and of course not knowing the city, we got lost. we got here, but oh my what a walk.

we have visited a few pubs, had some good and some “meh” meals, mostly quite good though. and beer – we likes the beer. breakfast as we know it is a wash. i might have to go for a breakfast out as soon as we get home.

this place is pretty amazing though. as i said, we have been walking everywhere. places that look pretty far on the map seem to be right around the corner, or at the least a lot closer that we expect them to be at times. it does mean some pretty tired feet and sore legs at the end of the day, but it is so worth it.

the one low point for me was Monday night.

just a door or so down from the hotel (almost next door actually) is a cool little “green coffeshop” called Cafe Amnesia. well we debated and thought about it and just decided that “why the hell not” and went. actually our first shot for the night was to a well-known leather bar, but the deserted street and the unknown quantity behind a closed door made us a little apprehensive, so coffeshop it was. i should mention that i was the hold-up in going since typically i have had a little trouble with the green in the past, but we were here, it was close and i figured things would be fine. i was wrong.

first off – the place was way cool, great decor and quite comfortable. as you walk inn there is a menu on the counter turned upside down. i guess they want people to actually come in and ask or be sure that this is what they are looking for – whatEver. so many choices! we opted for a pre-rolled since the extra bother of renting/buying/borrowing a pipe was difficult to figure out. not too expensive – i think 4 Euros or something per pre-roll. and funny – buy 5 get 1 free!

so we order that, and then some hot tea with mint (which was way good by the way) and sat a table in the middle of the room. after sitting and getting comfortable and watching folk a bit to make sure that we were not missing and etiquette rules, one must be proper in these things, and then lit up.

the pre-roll was tobacco laden, so cool and easy to smoke. we got about half through and i decided that i needed to slow down and take a break as i lost feeling in my feet. the numb tingly feeling slowly crept up my legs and i started to get quite dizzy. M was telling me to just sit back, relax and enjoy it. well at this point i pretty much felt like i was about to projectile vomit across the room so laying back to relax was really not my goal. the mint tea was helping, but when my vision went all grey and fuzzy, my heart started racing and i was pretty sure that i was not going to be walk very soon, we headed out. i felt like i was in that “had far far too much to drink – room is spinning and you need to throw-up as soon as possible” feeling for the next several hours.

i felt like we were quite rude since we just up and walked out – i am pretty sure we even left the unsmoked half behind, which must have been odd.

next day after a hot hot shower i was doing a lot better, but the night was not very good to me. head running at a million miles an hour and the nausea was basically preventing any kind of sleep for most of the night. after the main effect wore off i did manage some sleep – until after 10am actually!

but at least we know for sure now – the green hates me…

Heineken is a good thing

he was so very very cute – but looked so sad and all alone. M said “cute and oblivious” and i had to agree.

just a little bit of arrrrggghhh involved here.

laundry is finishing up, so it is just the decision part. weather on the other side of the world is strangely about what it is here, so at least i know how to pack. it is now just a matter how what and how much.

the latest issue of WEMR is just barely done from my side. we had a few close calls this morning, but i am pretty sure that all is well. gods i hope so. so now i can leave with clear mind and just concentrate on enjoying myself and the much much needed time off.

still working on the picture thing – we will see what happens!

for those of you who may not know this, M and I are off to Europe on Saturday!

a few days in Amsterdam then over to Berlin to visit the momma and sister for almost two weeks! this trip has been a long time coming, and we are pretty exited about it. actually, M is vibrating already. everytime he mentions it he gets so crazy-faced-happy that it makes me laugh.

i need the vacation in the worst way. it has really been years and years since i really had one, and most of the time the vacation time was also work time as well. this time i will have none of that work stuff!

we are taking at least one laptop with us, and both cameras. i know that M is getting himeself all “workflow ready” to upload to blog with pictures, i may have to work on that a bit. maybe after we get back, but it would be cool to get that working before we go.

now all i really have to deal with is the end of this rush production on the monthly magazine, and dealing with “getting on an airplane for 13 freakin’ hours” stress!