Apple Pie

So it took some time to find all of the ingredients for apple pie.  Nutmeg and a pie pan were difficult to come by here!  But we finally gathered it all.  We were so excited.  We were sure it would be the best apple pie ever together with Kayla’s Mom’s filling and Gram’s piecrust.  Mom, I didn't even overwork the crust this time! 

And I do have to say it turned out pretty amazing for our first pie!  Then a few weeks later we made another one and we are planning on making yet another one to take to work on Thanksgiving!  

And with the extra dough we of course had to bake it with cinnamon and sugar

Translation

We were at a toy store when we were visiting Karkow last time.  And this is what I saw in the doll section.  It isn’t a bunk bed. It’s a 2 floor bed!!  HAHAHA

Sushi

Something I had been missing about home and camp was Sushi and even more than that good seaweed salad.  MMMMM I love that stuff.  There is a Sushi restaurant in the mall so we decided to check it out.  Naturally I had really high hopes and though it was pretty good I still miss home's.  

P.S. I don't know if Mom or Karen noticed that the I <3 lists paper us under the Sushi.  We actually use it a lot especially for grocery shopping.  So though I don't usually love lists this has been great and lists written by me aren't as bad! 

Here is Another Quiz for Everyone

We are teaching English here in Poland and to help us in our mission we often use flash cards.  Usually we can just look at the front and know what it is.  But this one I had no clue.  So to all those native English speakers give this a go.  What is your best guess, then scroll down to see the reverse side and see if you are correct.  GOOD LUCK!

Really it is a ghost train and this is apparently very important for my students who are very beginner English learners.  All this time you thought you could speak English but I bet you didn't guess ghost train.  If you did WOW I'm impressed.

Halloween

So I know it is now nearly half way through November but I wanted to share about Halloween anyways.  Better late then never I guess. 

On Halloween we had Trick or Treaters!!! In Poland where they don’t celebrate Halloween at all!  I was pretty excited.  If you also read Kayla’s blog you may recognize these boys as the ones that come around on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings and collect garbage for 1 zloty.

The boys painted there faces and had a Jack o’ Lantern.  They didn’t turn on the hallway light so it was dark when we opened the door.  They know that we are from The United States so we think that they only came to our door this way to see if it would work!  IT DID.

We gave them each some candy and that was it.  We had three Trick or Treaters, which was three more than I thought we would have.

Thanks to Mom and Dad for sending this fun Jack O' Lantern Rice Krispies Treats kit.  They were fun to make a few days before Halloween and Ilona was so excited about them too!

Day Three

On day three we headed to Vysehrad right away in the morning.  It was defiantly off the main tourist path.  I saw very few other people with cameras as we headed into the New Town part of Prague.  Vysehrad is called “a cliff top fortress” by Lonely Planet (We Believe that Lonely Planet publishes the best guidebooks).  It was a hike to the top but there were some pretty cool views!  You can look our in all directions from some point of the hill. 

In the middle is the Church of SS Peter and Paul and an old cemetery. 

 Then we walked back to Old Town along the Vltava River.  On our way there we stumbled upon a charming farmers market.  Many locals were purchasing their fresh produce for the week and it seemed to be the norm to carry a wicker basket to put everything in.  Several children also had smaller baskets.  At this market they had apple cider so of course we had to try some.  Much to my surprise it was maroon, but still tasted like apple cider.  It was just the thing to warm us up on a chilly day.

Then we went to find The Lennon Wall.  It was started in 1980s as a tribute to him after his death.  In 1988 the wall was an irritation for the communist regime.  Young adults and teens would write on the wall about love, peace, happiness and grievances they had suffered.  This caused disputes with the security police on and nearby the Charles Bridge.  The movement these students followed was called “Lennonism”  They whitewashed it regularly but could never keep it clean long so eventually gave up.

 Today the wall is owned by the Knights of Malta who allow the graffiti to continue on this wall.  The wall is continually undergoing changes and the original portrait of John Lennon has long been lost under layers of new paint.

As we left the Lennon Wall we walked by the canal and came across the official Lovers Locks.  There were tons of locks but as we looked closer we could not find any that were very old so we speculate that they cut them off from time to time.  Then a group of couples came by and put some locks on.  I hope they were in love because otherwise I think they are screwed! 

 We then went back to the markets where we had Trdelnik and the potato chips on the first day, we tried Trdelnik one or two other places and determined this was the best one, and had a few last Czech treats before it was time to go.

 Then we saw this street performance.  This way by far they best one we had seen in Prague.  I mean they guy playing the kazoo and that other girl with a recorder were something I guess … NOT.  But this was incredible!

And that wrapped up our long weekend in Prague! 

The Swans!

We were on our way back across the bridge when we spotted tons of swans.  Now I know what you are thinking.  Maybe 5 or 6, I myself had never seen more than a few together at one time but here they were all living in the Vltave River right in the middle of Prague.  Are you ready!!! Here they are. 

 We noticed that people were feeding them so we decided to try.  We had some subpar crackers that the swans seemed to love!!!  Here is a picture of a large gathering of swans.  They were here and across the river in an equally large group swimming in the middle.  EVERYWHERE!

 We noticed several things that I have never noticed about a swan before, probably because I had never been so close to them before.   One, they have a hole in their beak that you can see the light through.  Two, swans are very mean to each other especially to the egrets (baby swans).  They bite and pull each other under the water if someone is in “their area.”  Three, they are very clumsy on land, makes sense if you think about. It they are large birds but, it was still funny because they are so graceful in the water.  Lastly, I learned that swans are very flexible. 

This is how my dog Bailey scratches his head!

Note how the one on the middle right is stretched so far for a bit of that food!

I tried so hard to capture a swan heart picture but it’s hard, especially because they are usually all facing the same direction.  But here is what I came up with.