Off to Poland

I used to work for T.G.I. Friday's and they sent me to Gdańsk, in northern Poland, for a month to open a restaurant in 1998. That was the last, and only, time I was in Poland. And I loved it!! It was just awesome. But I just haven't had the chance to get back to Poland until now. Only this time I'm off to Kraków.

You can get to Kraków by train but from Brno it takes 7 to 12 hours and requires you to change trains 4 or 5 times. Too much hassle.

You can drive there in about 3 or 4 hours but I don't have a car. Plus, since I'm on a long-term visa, my American license isn't valid here. I need to get a Czech license if I want to rent a car. But that also means I need to learn how to drive in ice and snow. No time for that now.

I found a deal on AirBerlin that will work. Tonight I'm going to take the train from Brno to Vienna. Then I have a 7 AM flight from Vienna to Berlin and then a connecting flight from Berlin to Kraków. Apparently, no one here flies to Kraków so my friends think I'm nuts. But I'm sure going to do it. I bet I will feel like a DHL package being routed all over Europe but oh well.

I have tours planned to go see Auschwitz and the Wieliczka Salt Mine. I plan to check out Old Town and I'm sure there will be a Christmas market going on.

I also plan to have some Żubrówka - the best vodka ever. Żubrówka, Buffalo Grass vodka, is an herb-flavored vodka that is distilled from rye. The best way to drink it is with apple juice. It is so dang good!!

There is a single blade of buffalo grass in every bottle. Back in '98 you could not bring Żubrówka back to the USA because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had a problem with the blade of grass. You can be sure I will bring a few bottles back to Brno.

PF 2011

I've received a few Czech Christmas cards and they all have "PF" on them. Czechs use the abbreviation "PF" for Merry Christmas & Happy New Year. I'm sure that this is used in Slovakia also. The "PF" stands for "pour féliciter", in French. I've never seen this phrase anywhere else. The French don't even use it. From what I understand, the phrase was used by diplomats back in the 17th & 18th centuries when French was the lingua franca in Europe. Somehow the PF has survived. Veselé Vánoce a šťastný nový rok! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Advent Brunch

Sabine and Natalie hosted an advent brunch at their flat yesterday. There was plenty of good food and mulled wine to go around. And I had my first "proper" flapjacks with syrup in over 18 months!! So dang yummy.



There were people from the ČR, Germany, New Zealand, Scotland, Ukraine, Hungary and the USA. I enjoy these multicultural gatherings because there is always something new to learn.

The tree was decorated but apparently it was too early for Europeans. In the USA most people have their Christmas trees up by December 1 and they come down right after New Year's. In Europe, the tree is decorated on December 24th and it comes down on January 6th (Three King's Day).

We also had a secret Santa gift exchange. But here, it's not Santa that brings the gifts. Ježišek, the baby Jesus, puts the gifts under the tree. So after each person opens their gift we say "děkujeme Ježišku" - We thank you little baby Jesus.

The Nutcracker

It's December so this means that it's time to go to Janáčkovo divadlo, Brno's largest theater, to see a performance of Louskáček (The Nutcracker).

One really nice thing about living here is that the theater is top notch and not expensive at all. What I can see here for $15 - $20 would cost me at least $50 - $100 back in Atlanta. Every time there is a performance at Janáčkovo you'll see Austrian tour buses because so many people from Vienna come up here for shows because it's less expensive than in Austria.

The performance was good but I thought the lead dancers were a little better last year. But the company was excellent and we had a great time at dinner after the show.

2010 Department Christmas Party

On December 1st, the Project Management Department held a Hawaiian Christmas party at a pub in town.

Everyone was allowed to show up in winter gear but was expected to change in to something a bit more tropical. Some people really got in to the spirit of things.

There was snow outside!! And still way too cold for me. Sorry but there was no way that I was going to change in to shorts.

We had a secret Santa gift exchange and it was a lot of fun to hang out with people, outside of the office.

I heard that the party went on until well after 3 AM. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), I was unable to make it an all night event. I had an early morning planned the next day so I was home in bed by 11 PM. Smart!

Thanksgiving 2010

The 2nd Annual Brno Thanksgiving was a success. It's a lot of work putting on Thanksgiving in Europe. Trying to find all of the ingredients is a chore...thank goodness for care packages from home. Plus cooking in metric is not fun for me. There is no 350°F on my oven over here. It's work, but it is oh so worth it.

Friday was spent baking and starting almost all of the side dishes. I was up on Saturday morning at 5 AM to prep the turkey and have it in the oven by 5:30 AM. A short 8 hours later and Tom was done.

People are shocked that my oven is large enough to cook such a big turkey. I guess it's a matter of perspective because I think my oven here is tiny. At 12,6 kg (27.7 lbs) this is the 2nd largest bird I've cooked, only slightly smaller than last year. I called it "Frankenturkey" because it was larger than my nephew. Somehow we ended up naming it "Tom".

Kamila, Tomáš and Ross came over to help with the last minute details and to sort out the music. After everyone arrived and we had been warmed up with enough wine, I explained what Thanksgiving is all about. We went around the group and each person said what they were thankful for.

The food was a big hit. It is so cool seeing all of the reactions to the different items. To Czechs, our holiday foods are very unusual.







We had Tom (the turkey), cornbread dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, glazed carrots, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes with marshmallow, broccoli cheese casserole, cranberry sauce, corn bread muffins with honey butter, macaroni & cheese, marshmallow fruit salad, black beans & rice, deviled eggs, red velvet cake, pecan pies and pumpkin pies. Plus, Claudia made her famous pumpkin soup and Rose hooked us up with some real Mexican queso dip. Yummy!!

Claudia and Tomáš were the only ones who were here last year. I guess that's what happens with a big group of expats...people are always moving on. But on the bright side, a whole new group of Euro-folk discovered what a "turkey coma" is.

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving 2

So last week I was in Turkey and now it's time to cook a turkey. I ordered a turkey from the same company as last year. They have moved their location to outside of Brno so that's where the adventure begins. The new location is in Židlochovice, about 10-15 minutes south of the city. Check out these directions... totally insane. Claudia and I had fun trying to get there before they closed at 3 PM.

Take the D2 highway, past Modřice and exit at Bratčice. Drive through the village and head towards Žabčice. Before reaching the end of Židlochovice, turn left. Go down the road that has a traffic sign that forbids entry. Look for the only building on the right. This is a new location so there is no house number nor street name. We made it with just 10 minutes to spare. Whew! But the important thing is that I got a 12,6 kg (27.7 lbs) bird for the second annual Brno Thanksgiving.

This is going to be another international Thanksgiving with 20 people from the U.S., Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, New Zealand, Japan, England, Romania and France. The housekeeper came yesterday so today I'm going to the market and will begin baking for tomorrow. We're getting a bit of snow so this will be my first ever White Thanksgiving.

BIG PROPS to Mom & Dad and Steven & Michael for the care packages from home. They've both gotten very good at packing as much as possible into these boxes.

In order to maximize space they remove the excess packaging, sometimes putting things in plastic freezer bags. For the dressing, they took the bags out of the boxes, wrote "stuffing" on the white bags and folded up a single box so that I would have the cooking instructions.

Now it's time for the market and then to start cooking. Wish me luck!!

The Grand Bazaar, Turkey

Kapalıçarşı, Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar, is one of the world’s oldest and largest covered markets.








It is huge!! There are over 58 covered streets and 1,200 shops in an area around 31,000 square meters (+333,000 square feet). You can get anything here. There are sections for jewelry, pottery, leather, spices, carpets, clothes…whatever you’re looking for.

You have to be able to haggle, and prepared to walk away from a deal, in order to get the best price. You will get better prices by buying multiple items or if you pay with Euros or American dollars. Shopping is also social so you are offered apple tea and coffee while you are making your selections.

For some reason, clothes in the ČR are very expensive and not necessarily of the highest quality. I find that clothes in Germany are higher quality but still a lot more expensive than clothes in the USA. I need to go back to Istanbul with an empty suitcase just for the clothes. I found three pairs of designer jeans for only $100. The same jeans in the ČR would have cost me at least $600.

The Grand Bazaar opened in 1461 and attracts between 250,000 – 400,000 visitors per day, Monday through Saturday. Except during holidays.

I only got to visit the bazaar on my last day in Istanbul because it was closed the rest of the week for Kurban Bayrami, the “Feast of Sacrifice”. This is a major holiday in Turkey. Every Muslim home is obliged to sacrifice a cow, goat or sheep and the generous portion is shared with the poor.

Turkish Bath, Turkey

The Romans passed down the tradition of public baths to the Byzantines and then on to the Turks. Over the years, the importance has declined as more homes now have running water. Many of the hamams in Istanbul are geared towards tourists but it is possible to find local baths that aren't ridiculously overpriced. So I decided to treat myself to a visit at a historical bath.

The Şifa Turkish bath was built in 1777. The water comes from a spring that is 160 meters (~525 feet) underground. When I entered I was given a cotton wrap, a pair of slippers and a key to a private changing room. After stripping down, and the wrap around me like a skirt, I was taken to a humid room and made to lie down on a big, heated marble pedestal. After about 20 minutes of sweating it out I was taken to another room for my bath.

My attendant only spoke Turkish so everything was done through sign language. I had to sit down on the marble floor and had bowls of water poured over my head. Then an abrasive mitt was used on me to remove the outer layer of dead skin. Fun. After that my hair was washed and I had more water poured over me.

Then I was made to lie down on another marble slap. Marble was everywhere. The attendant blew into a lacy cloth that created olive oil soap bubbles. After being soaped up there was a brief massage followed by another thorough dousing of water. Then I was wrapped up in a couple of dry towels and taken to a cool down room and served hot apple tea.

The whole experience took about 45 minutes. I would have preferred a Spa Sydell session in Atlanta but the whole experience was interesting. And now I can cross "Turkish bath" off of my bucket list. However, the olive oil soap was awesome and I slept really well that night.

Dolmabahçe Palace, Turkey

Istanbul's Dolmabahçe Palace is the largest palace in Turkey. It is on the European side of the Bosporus and was built from 1843 to 1856.
It was the Ottoman Empire’s main administrative center. It was home to six sultans from 1856 until the end of the Caliphate in 1924.
This place is huge! 45,000 m² (11.2 acres). There are 1,427 windows, 285 rooms, 46 halls, 6 Turkish baths and 68 toilets.
The inside is awesome but there is a strictly enforced no photography rule. Dang it!

The palace is home to the largest collection of Bohemian and Baccarat crystal chandeliers in the world, including the world’s single largest chandelier. The great staircase even has Baccarat crystal banisters. Very fancy.

Turkey’s first President, and founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk used the palace as a residence until he passed away on November 10, 1938 at 9:05 AM. All of the clocks in the palace were stopped at 9:05.