Hmmm...I must now ponder the meaning of life...
Ronan, our new son
Since we know our baby's gender, we can call him his name. It makes it more convinient, instead of saying "you Ronan or you Tara". First ultrasound in US was done in 18 weeks, and we were told it's BABY BOY. Ronan's measurements were right in line with what they should be. I started noticing his kicks in 19th week very low.Kdyz uz zname pohlavi naseho mima, muzeme mu rikat jeho jmenem. Je to pro nas snadnejsi, nez rikat " ty Ronane, nebo ty Taro". Prvni ultrazvuk v USA byl delan v 18 tydnu, bylo nam receno, ze je to KLUK. Ronan mel miry presne podle tabulek. Pohyby jsem zacala citit v 19 tydnu velmi nizko.
Our Wedding Anniversary in Paris / Nase vyroci svatby v Parizi
We were thinking about doing something special for our 1st year wedding anniversary. We thought about going to Ireland, but than Randy came with the most romantic idea, how about few days in Paris. I always wanted to go, but it never seemed like the right opportunity. Our first aniversery was the perfect reason.We made it to our hotel in La Defence fairly easy. It was cute little hotel on a little street, little plaza with fountain. First sightseeing we decided to do was Chateau de Versailles. Because we arrived to Paris in the morning, we were fresh and excited to go. So we hoped on train to Versialles which got us there in about 30 minutes. Randy would push me to use French everywhere. It was so laughable in Versailles, when I asked for 2 tickets for Chateau. The young guy in the box office knew right away, that’s probably about it in my repertoire of French. Anyway, he gave us our options and told us about the discounted rate after 4pm. So, we decided to start with the magnificent gardens first and come back after 4 to see the palace and get the discount rate.
What could be a better romantic stroll with your partner, then taking paths in tree alleys ending with less or more glorious fountains? Which must be even more stunning when blooming in summer. When we came back to get the tickets, actually around 5, the ticket guy gave us one ticket free with words ”Somebody must have lost it”. So, my friends don’t be shy, use the language, you never know whom you will charm with your bad language skills. J
Versailles was insignificant village until Louis XIV, son of Louis XIII, transformed and enlarged his father’s former hunting lodge into a palatial centre of court and government in French Baroque style for an absolute monarch, him, the Sun King.
The most brilliant years of Louis XIV reign were the 1st 20 years, he and his Minister Colbert reorganized the kingdom, trade and manufacture were developing, and the King had many triumphed victories. The sun emblem was picked by Louis XIV himself, in association with Apollo, god of peace and arts. He indeed encouraged art and science by founding royal academies. As today Chateau de Versailles covers 800 hectares (2,000 acres) of grounds, 1/10 less then it was started on.
We couldn’t go to Paris without going to the top of one of the world’s wonders, Eiffel tower. Gustave Eiffel built hundreds of metal structures of all kinds, all around the world, railway bridges, viaducts, fine buildings, also the under structure for Statue of Liberty in New York. Eiffel finished his 300 m- tower in 1889, in occasion for preparation for universal exposition in 1889. We also went to see the Statue of Liberty replica, which stands on the island off the bridge De Grenelle.
One evening we took boat trip on the river Seine, which gave us an excellent opportunity for a different view of Paris and its beauties. We also went to Montmartre, the only hill in Paris where the white domain of Basilica of the Sacré Cœur sits. This area used to be the artists center, where they lived, apparently because it used to be cheap area, with vineyards, so easy resource of cheap wine.
We walked on one of the most famous streets in the world, The Champs-Elysées, to us just another busy, dirty street. We are fans of smaller, more romantic “rues”, but anyway, this one took us to our point of interest, which was the gigantic Arc de Triomphe with its height 51 meters (165 feet) and width 45 meters (148 feet). Where we did our best pictures of Paris, because the day we went to the Eiffel tower, weather was too hazy for any good pictures. Arc de Triomphe was built to honor Napoleon I vicory in battle of Austerlitz (battle of the three emperors) in 1805. Austerlitz is town near Brno, Slavkov u Brna in Czech. Yes, this historical battle took place in Moravia region, which is part of Czech Republic.
The evening of Jan 25 was our anniversary, we got nicely dressed, and even called for taxi, so that we’d come to the Hotel de Crillon in style. Well what a stressful experience taking a cab in Paris. It was something to be experience but, once being enough. But everything bad was forgotten with the first steps into the Les Ambassadeurs restaurant, where we celebrated our 1st year wedding anniversary by the most exceptional dinner we ever had. We felt like king and queen because of the service we got, and the courses of delicious food and wine so good, and never having had tried before. This was a lifetime memory we experienced.
We didn’t make it to the Musee D’Orsay, so we didn’t get to see the French Impressionist collection. That is on the list of the things to see on our next visit.
Premysleli jsme, jak vyjimecne oslavit nase 1. vyroci svatby. Temer jsme uz zacali pripravovat cestu do Irska, ale pak prisel Randy s tou nejromantictejsi myslenkou, stravit par dni v Parizi. Vzdycky jsem se chtela do Parize podivat, ale nikdy nebyla ta prava prilezitost. Nase vyroci bylo tim perfektnim duvodem.
Do naseho hotylku na La Defence jsme dorazili celkem jednoduse. Byl to rozkosny maly hotel na male ulici, s malym namestickem s fontankou.
Rozhodli jsme se, ze jako prvni navstivime zamek ve Versailles. Protoze jsme prileteli do Parize rannim letem, byli jsme svezi a plni nadseni vyrazit. A tak jsme skocili na vlak, kterym jsme do Versailles dorazili ani ne za 30 minut.
Randy me tlacil, abych pouzivala francouzstinu pri kazde prilezitosti. Jak usmevne, kdyz jsem ve Versailles pozadala o dva listky do zamku. Ten mladik v pokladne razem vedel, ze tim muj repertoar francouzstiny zrejme konci. Nicmene nam nabidl moznosti slevy vstupenek po 16 hod. A tak jsme se rozhodli, ze zacneme s nadhernymi zameckymi zahradami a prijdeme si pro slevu po 4 odpoledne.
Co by mohla byt romantictejsi prochazka, nez v alejich lemovanymi stormy vedoucim
k vice ci mene skvostnym fontanam?
Kdyz jsme prisli zpatky k pokladne, abychom si koupili vstupenky, vlastne uz kolem 5 odpoledne, podal nam ten nas pokladnik jednu vstupenku zadarmo se slovy ”Nekdo ji tu musel ztratit”. A tak mili pratele, nestydte se pouzivat cizi jazyky, nikdy nevite, koho svou gramatikou a prizvukem okouzlite. J
Versailles byla nevyznamna vesnice do te doby, nez Ludvik XIV, syn Ludvika XIII,
premenil a rozsiril puvodni loveckou chatu sveho otce v palacove sidlo dvora a vlady, to vse ve francouzskem baroknim stylu pro absolutniho vladce, sebe, Krale slunce.
Nejzarivejsich bylo 1. 20 let vlady Ludvika XIV, kdy se svym ministrem Colbertem reorganizoval kralovstvi, obchod a vyroba se vyvijeli, kral slavil vitezstvi.
Emblem slunce si vybral Ludvik XIV sam, mel asociovat Apolla, boha miru a umeni.
Kral slunce opravdu podporoval umeni a vedu zalozenim kralovskych akademii.
Zamek ve Versailles dnes zabira 800 hektaru pudy, o 1/10 mene nez puvodne.
Nemohli bychom prijet do Parize a nevyjit na vrchol jednoho ze svetovych divu, Eiffelovu vez. Gustave Eiffel postavil stovky kovovych konstrukci po celem svete, zeleznicnich mostu, viaduktu, uslechtilych budov, ale i konstrukci pro sochu svobody v New Yorku. Eiffel dokoncil svou 300 metrovou vez v roce 1889 u prilezitosti svetove vystavy v temze roce.
Taky jsme se sli podivat na repliku sochy svobody, ktera stoji na konci ostrova u mostu De Grenelle.
Jeden vecer jsme si vyrazili na vylet parnikem po rece Seine, a tak jsme mohli videt Pariz a jeji skvosty z jineho uhlu. Taky jsme jeli na Montmartre, jediny kopec v Parizi s domenou basiliky Sacré Cœur. Tahle cast Parize byla centrem umelcu, kde sami zili, snad prave proto, ze Montmartre byval levnou ctvrti s vinicemi, tedy hlavne i se zdrojem levneho vina.
Prosli jsme se po jedne z nejslavnejsich ulic sveta, Champs-Elysées, pro nas vsak jen dalsi ze spinavych, prilis rusnych ulic. My davame prednost mensim, romantictejsim ulickam, ale nicmene Champs-Elysées nas dovedla k cili naseho zajmu, gigantickemu Viteznemu oblouku (Arc de Triomphe) s vyskou 51 metru a sirkou 45 metru. Z neho mame vlastne nejlepsi fotky Parize, protoze kdyz jsme byli na ‘Eiffelovce’, pocasi bylo prilis mlhave na pekne fotky.
Vitezny oblouk byl postaven k pocte vitezstvi Napoleonovi bitvy u Slavkova, tzv. Bitve tri cisaru, v roce 1805.
Vecer 25. ledna prislo nase vyroci, pekne jsme se oblekli, I si zavolali taxi, abychom dorazili k hotelu de Crillon stylove. Netusili jsme, jaky stres taxikem v Parizi zazijeme. Byla to zkusenost, kterou jsme chteli zazit, ovsem jen jednou. Ale vse spatne bylo razem zapomenuto nasimi prvnimi kroky do restaurace Les Ambassadeurs, kde jsme slavili vyroci 1. roku svatby tou zvlastne neobycejnou veceri poprve v zivote. Citili jsme se jako kral a kralovna tim servisem, ktereho se nam dostalo, temi chody vytecneho jidla a vina tak dobreho, ktere jsme neochutnali nikdy predtim. Tahle zkusenost nam bude opravdu celozivotni vzpominkou.
Nedostali jsme se do Musee D’Orsay, tedy jsme nevideli vystavu francouzskych impresionistu. To nam tedy zbyva na seznamu pro pristi navstevu Parize.
Trip to Tallinn / Vylet do Talinu
Tallinn, the Capital of Estonia lays only about 80 km / 50miles south of Helsinki, across Gulf of Finland.
We hopped on an overnight ferry, had few Bacardi Breezers, and slept in our tiny cabin. The ferry arrived in Tallinn around midnight, but part of the deal was that we could stay in our cabin until 8am next morning. We had cold buffet breakfast on the boat and then took off.
We brought our Lonely planet: Scandinavian Europe guide with us, mainly because of the town map but ended up helping us find a wonderful place to eat lunch.
We decided to head in the tallest spire direction. Which we found out later was the spire of St. Olav’s church, it was once the tallest building in the world with height of 159m / 521ft (Between 1549 and 1625 AD precisely).
We entered through Lower Town, continued to Dominican monastery, which was built in 1246. Then we headed to Toompea limestone hill, or so called upper town.
The largest orthodox cupola cathedral in Tallinn is situated on the castle square, built in Russian revival style during era when Estonia was part of the Russian Empire.
We checked one of the oldest pharmacies in Europe, mentioned in historical documents in 1422, and tiny marzipan museum where marzipan was invented near by Town Hall square. We wondered around being astonished by the architecture of old town merchant houses belonging to guilds and the castle walls and towers (they are still about 26 in Tallinn) which look right out of medieval times with the stone and wood works.
Olde Hansa is name of a medieval restaurant, where we had our lunch. Medieval with everything you can imagine that belongs to it (historical building, waiters wearing historical costumes, food and drinks served in replica pottery and glass, medieval music, candles everywhere, even medieval type of restrooms), food was delicious and service was really good.
The whole Tallinn old town belongs to UNESCO world heritage list for being unique, complete and a well preserved example of a medieval northern European trading city.
Vylet do Talinu
Talin, hlavni mesto Estonska, se nachazi jen 80 km jizne od Helsinek pres Finsky zaliv.
Koupili jsme si listky na nocni trajekt, dali jsme si par Bacardi michanych napoju a prespali jsme v male kabince.
Nas trajekt dorazil do Talinu uz o pulnoci, ale listek nam platil az do rana a tak jsme mohli pouzivat kabinu az do 8 rano dalsiho dne. Dali jsme si snidani na lodi a vyrazili do temneho rana.
Vzali jsme si s sebou naseho pruvodce po Skandinavii, hlavne kvuli mape Talinu, ale nakonec jsme diky nemu objevili uzasne misto, kde jsme poobedvali.
Rozhodli jsme se vyrazit smerem k nejvyssi vezi, kterou jsme videli z pristavu. Pozdeji se ukazalo, ze se jednalo o vez kostela Sv. Olafa, tato budova byla v davnych letech nejvyssi na svete – 159 m, presne mezi 1549- 1625 nl.
Do stareho mesta jsme prisli dolnim mestem, pokracovali jsme do Dominikanskeho klastera, ktery byl zalozen 1246. Pak jsme se sli podivat do Horniho mesta, neboli Toompei. V centru hradniho namesti se nachazi ortodoxni katedrala Alexandra Nevskeho, ktera byla postavena v ere, kdy Estonsko spadalo pod nadvladu Carskeho Ruska.
Podivali jsme se i do jedne z nejstarsich lekaren v Evrope na radnicnim namesti, tato byla zalozena r. 1422, a taky do malinkeho marcipanoveho muzea, kde jsme se dozvedeli, ze vyroba marcipanu vlastne pochazi z Estonska, marcipan byl puvodne vyraben jako lecebny produkt.
Prochazeli jsme se po starem meste s uzasem nad stredovekou architekturou kupeckych domu rozlicnych cechu, domu se zachovanymi vetrnymi korouhvickami, a kladkami na stitech pro vytahovani zbozi do skladovych prostoru. Zasli jsme nad zachovalosti mestskych hradeb a obranych vezi, kterych ma Talin kolem 26.
Olde Hansa je stredoveka restaurace, kde jsme si dali bajecny obed. Stredoveka se vsim, co si dokazete predstavit ( stredoveky interier, obsluha ve stredovekych krojich, s dobovou hudbou, jidlo a piti podavaji ve stredovekych replikach, dokonce i toalety v duchu davnych dob). Jidlo bylo vytecne i obsluha moc dobra.
Cele stare mesto Talina patri na seznam UNESCO svetoveho dedictvi. Je to jedinecne celistvy a zachovaly priklad stredovekeho obchodniho mesta severni Evropy.
Living in Finland / Zijeme ve Finsku
It happened too fast, but we are happy for the change.
How it all came together?
Well, one day they called Randy and offered him a job, starting with a ½ year project in Finland.
It happened so close to my passport being expired, we had to hurry and move fast otherwise I would have problems with traveling. With a stop over in the Czech Republic to renew the passport, we arrived in Finland on Nov 11 2006.
After staying a week in a cramped hotel room with two people and a dog we found a place, big enough with a back yard for our hyperactive doggie so, she could be happy.
The house was unfurnished (no furniture, no utensils…) so, we started from a scratch, we knew we were only here for ½ year so there wasn’t much sense to buy nice…IKEA here we come… . After IKEA we now have a bed, nightstand, table and two chairs with just enough kitchen items to get by. Because of the complexity and price of buying a car in Finland we decided against it. Everything we get needs to fit into our two backpacks.
Zijeme ve Finsku
Stalo se to dost rychle, ale jsme radi.
Jak se to vsechno sebehlo?
Proste Randymu jednoho dne zavolali a nabidli mu praci, zacinaje ½ rocnim projektem ve Finsku.
Platnost meho pasu se blizila ke konci, tak jsme museli spechat a vse urychlit.
Prileteli jsme v listopadu 2006, po zastavce v Cechach, kvuli nutne byrokracii.
Pote, co jsme s nasi terrierkou prezili tyden v malem hotelovem pokoji, jsme si nasli domecek, dostatecne velky, aby nase hyperaktivni fenka byla stastna. Zacali jsme prakticky od nuly ( bez nabytku, nebo vybaveni). Vzali jsme nejlepsi najem, ktery byl k dispozici s okamzitym uzivanim a se smlouvou na ½ roku. V IKEA jsme nakoupili par zakladnich kousku nabytku a tak, abychom vysli, kuchynskych potreb. Uvazovali jsme o koupi auta, ale bylo by to slozite a zbytecne drahe. Hromadna doprava ale funguje.
How it all came together?
Well, one day they called Randy and offered him a job, starting with a ½ year project in Finland.
It happened so close to my passport being expired, we had to hurry and move fast otherwise I would have problems with traveling. With a stop over in the Czech Republic to renew the passport, we arrived in Finland on Nov 11 2006.
After staying a week in a cramped hotel room with two people and a dog we found a place, big enough with a back yard for our hyperactive doggie so, she could be happy.
The house was unfurnished (no furniture, no utensils…) so, we started from a scratch, we knew we were only here for ½ year so there wasn’t much sense to buy nice…IKEA here we come… . After IKEA we now have a bed, nightstand, table and two chairs with just enough kitchen items to get by. Because of the complexity and price of buying a car in Finland we decided against it. Everything we get needs to fit into our two backpacks.
Zijeme ve Finsku
Stalo se to dost rychle, ale jsme radi.
Jak se to vsechno sebehlo?
Proste Randymu jednoho dne zavolali a nabidli mu praci, zacinaje ½ rocnim projektem ve Finsku.
Platnost meho pasu se blizila ke konci, tak jsme museli spechat a vse urychlit.
Prileteli jsme v listopadu 2006, po zastavce v Cechach, kvuli nutne byrokracii.
Pote, co jsme s nasi terrierkou prezili tyden v malem hotelovem pokoji, jsme si nasli domecek, dostatecne velky, aby nase hyperaktivni fenka byla stastna. Zacali jsme prakticky od nuly ( bez nabytku, nebo vybaveni). Vzali jsme nejlepsi najem, ktery byl k dispozici s okamzitym uzivanim a se smlouvou na ½ roku. V IKEA jsme nakoupili par zakladnich kousku nabytku a tak, abychom vysli, kuchynskych potreb. Uvazovali jsme o koupi auta, ale bylo by to slozite a zbytecne drahe. Hromadna doprava ale funguje.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
