From the archives

July 4, 2008
I've been feeling homesick lately and started to sift through photos from my years in DC and NYC. I almost forgot about this one, which remains my favorite photo I've taken. See you in a couple months, DC.

Chilly

What little summer we had has already slipped through our fingers and now day after day is cloudy, grey, and foggy. Rides have been few and far between- it's commuting season. This was probably the last one with nice weather.

On the water

We took a ferry to Aegina, an island near Athens. It was a great and relaxing way to end the trip. And, we checked off our final mode of transportation.

On the road pt 3: Athens, Greece

Tourists. Everywhere.

Mostar, Bosnia i Herzegovina

We took a day trip to the city of Mostar, best known for its bridge. My favorite part (perhaps of the entire trip) was the train ride back to Sarajevo. I have never seen anything so beautiful.

On the road Part 2: Sarajevo, Bosnia i Herzegovina

After Budapest, we took a very long train ride to Sarajevo, Bosnia i Herzegovina. I must say, this long ride was completely and totally worth it - Sarajevo is an amazingly beautiful city and the four days we spent there passed very quickly.

On the road Part 1: Budapest

I took a couple weeks off work and traveled with a friend from home. It was really great to get away for a bit and see some new places. The first stop was Budapest, where we spent a few days taking in the city.

Vienna, 5.30 AM

Goodbye summer

Well, this cold and rainy weekend was the nail in the coffin: summer is gone. There wasn't a whole lot of summery weather in Prague, at least not what I'm used to from years spent in DC and NYC, but nonetheless it was a really great few months spent with wonderful people. It seemed fitting that yesterday I finally got film processed after it sat in my camera for the duration of the summer.

Bike funs

This blog is starting to become just about biking, much like the rest of my life. I just got back from a two week vacation where I didn't bike at all though, so I guess there will be a few posts without mention of it. These are from the couple weeks before I left- I did a few long solo rides (record is at 110km/70mi so far!) and a bunch of rides with some friends.

Hay-o

I'm doing a really spectacular job of not having enough work which gives me a lot of time to go on long rides. Pete and I found an awesome route out of the city through some farms. Decided to hop off our bikes and jump on bales of hay.

Mushroom Picking at the Cottage

On Sunday, I had a very Czech day. I rode down (okay not so Czech) to Vojta's cottage and went mushroom picking with him and Andrea. We went through the forest with a thick reference book to make sure we weren't going to poison ourselves and hunted for edible mushrooms. After filling our basket, we got Vojta's neighbor to approve our mushrooms so we were really sure we wouldn't get sick. We grilled a couple of them that evening and took the rest back to Prague with us.

More from the bike

Being an English teacher in Prague means during the summer, work is incredibly slow. I've been trying to make the most of my free time by riding as much as possible. Lately, I've been choosing a direction and following it out of the city until I'm tired. These are from my last ride - I headed East and ended up in a town called Kolín.

To Karlštejn

One of my favorite rides is the hilly route to Karlštejn. It's about half the length of the route by the river but you feel it twice as much with the climbs. This past weekend I finally pushed myself to ride there and back.

The Black Lips

Bikin' with Pete

Back in Autumn, the first person I started riding in Prague with was my buddy Pete, who I met through my bike shop. For various reasons, we both had a difficult Spring in terms of being able to bike. So, now we're making up for last time and climbing hills as much as we can. Yesterday we went 60km to a town called Beroun.

Barcelona by night

This past weekend I was lucky enough to go to Barcelona with Erin. It was a fun, relaxing weekend and Barcelona is gorgeous. Unfortunately, it seems that just as I was pushing myself to shoot more, my digital camera breathed its last breath. So it goes.

Jezdí vlakem

And finally, the last leg of the journey: a train back to Prague after a short ride over the German border. A beautiful, scenic trip through Czech countryside. When I take trips in the Czech Republic, between biking and trains the journey is often my favorite part.

Na kole, vole!

On the way back from Dresden, our bike gang stopped at a small pub in Děčín for a few much needed beers. We decided we needed a name to embroider on our forthcoming matching cardigans (ha?) and after quite a few duds, Vojta announced "Na kole, vole" (By bike, dude!) which received a warm reaction from our inebriated server. So, that was that.