Twin Visitors

The two twins returned on Friday afternoon to run back and forth in the backyard...

A year ago today

A walk through Cibulka Park in Prague 5; a year ago today.

In todays Czech news...

Oscar-winning Czech singer Irglová marries U.S. guitarist

Prague, July 22 (CTK) - Czech singer and musician Marketa Irglova, 23, who won an Oscar along with Irish musician Glen Hansard for the best film song in 2008, has married U.S. guitarist Tim Iseler, she wrote in an e-mail to CTK Friday.

Irglova became the first Czech woman to win an Oscar, and at the age of 19 also the youngest person to win an Oscar in a music category.

She wrote that the wedding was in Chicago and without guests. "There were only the two of us, ( to je skoda ) even though it was no secret and no surprise for our families," she wrote. Irglova wrote that she has taken the name of her husband, but will use her native name Irglova when performing.

Irglova, born in Valasske Mezirici, north Moravia, now stays in the United States. She became world-famous in 2008 after she and Hansard won an Oscar for Falling Slowly, a song from the Irish film Once (2007) directed by John Carney in which they both starred.

She wrote to CTK Friday that she is completing preparations for a musical after the film Once in New York. Irglova is also preparing the publication of a solo album Anar.



Irglova became the first Czech woman to win an Oscar, and at the age of 19 also the youngest person to win an Oscar in a music category.

See...Yet again...

WWII air bomb evacuates people in Plzeň

Plzen, West Bohemia, July 24 (CTK) - The unearthing of a World War Two aerial bomb during the reconstruction of a tram line in Plzen compelled the evacuation of people within a 500-metre range for six hours Sunday, regional police Martina Korandova told CTK.

"A bomb-disposal expert put the old bomb with 40 centimetres in diameter on a special vehicle and took it away to be defused," Korandova said.

The police dealt with a similar case in Liberec, north Bohemia, on (last) Tuesday evening.

After the rain

103 F today ( 39.4 C )

A very Hot Day today. These days are rare here in Rochester for July and even for August.

...and now as I write this at coase to 10pm. It is still 90 F or 32 C. At 22:00 !!!!

The 103 F temperature today most likely shattered all sorts of records.

Another Difference, CZ vs US - Finding unexploded WWII bombs

WWII bomb find leads to evacuation of thousands of people

In today's Prague Monitor. Quite often, one can read about this type of event occurring somewhere in the Czech Republic.

"Liberec, North Bohemia, July 20 (CTK) - About 3,500 people had to be evacuated over an unexploded World War Two bomb that was uncovered during construction works in the vicinity of two shopping centres in Liberec on Tuesday, firefighters have told CTK.
Firemen took the 100-kg bomb on a special vehicle away to the military area in Ralsko, north Bohemia, to be disposed of."

Roofing: Here and There

Here is a Picture of A Friend's latest project at his home outside of Prague; expanding a work shed and putting a new roof on it.

Note the roofing material.

This is the normal/typical type of roofing material used in Central Bohemia and throughout the Czech Republic: Real Pottery Tile ..and red(ish).

In the US, most roofs consist of a black "tar paper" covering over the plywood roof, which is then covered in black Asphalt shingles, which are overlapped and nailed into the plywood using a 1.5" inch roofing nail.

Not exactly sure how these Pottery Tiles are attached; Most likely some sort of nail, but much larger I am sure.

It's My Party - "A Girl Group"

...Tonight's Cruise Night in the Village once again featured the 1950's style "Girl Group" named: 'Its My Party'. Here are a couple shots of them before and during the show.

I also videoed many of their songs this evening and will try to post one in a later post.

The group was fantastic once again just like a month ago when I happen to catch them here in Fairport at a Tuesday evening's Car Show.

This evening was cloudless and warm and very mild right until the sun set. A nice way to spend a summers eve.

Blue Angels

This past weekend the US Navy Flying team were here in Rochester at it Annual Air show.
Caught this one streaking by....

Found a good cup of Coffee

What: Found: A Good Cup of Cappuccino
Where: At Nina's; my Czech Teachers House
Why: Nina is Slovakian
Why #2: She and her husband have a fancy espresso maker made in Central Europe
When: Last Week
Wow. Vyborne!

But still, I continue to search Rochester for another...there has got to be one out there ..somewhere.

Something else you don't see over here...

I miss these....

End result of 6 cups of those Blueberries...

One of the best things about July are Blueberries. ...and one can make many flavorful things from them.

...this morning, I dispensed with 6 cups of the pickings from yesterday and made a "Deep dish" Blueberry Pie.

..It is cooling as I type this entry.

Blueberry picking with my Daughter

Yesterday, my daughter had the day off, so I suggested that she and I take a long drive out into the country to go Blueberry picking. We picked two buckets full, which totaled 9 pounds or about 4 kilograms.

Went back to her apartment and then she and I made/baked a sweet Blueberry bread. Mnam ! It was great!

A beautiful day all around. Thanks Allie.

Top Photo: Look at the size of those blueberries !! when compared to the Czech 50kr coin and the 1 EURO coin.
2nd photo: The Two Buckets of Beautiful Blue Blueberries.
Middle: Typical Blueberry bush where we were.
Bottom: THE Blueberry bread

'My' Bottle Tree

...well it was 'My' Bottle Tree, when I owned my home here in Fairport.

This tree was a half dying Plum tree and I thought I was an advant-garde artist when I put together this "bottle" tree with Wine Bottle Made of Blue glass.

well, my kids laughed at it and me, but still, I kept it there. You couldn't really see the bottle in the summer with all the leaves, but in the Fall and Winter; the setting sun would shine through the many of the blue bottles.

Hummm,,,,I wonder if the new owners got rid of all those bottles??? Don't know.

...and my Dear visitor

..my backyard continues to be frequented by this female deer, who sometimes brings along her two Fawn as well; but not on this photographic occasion.

WoodChuck

..or the more common name: Groundhog.

These little ( > to big ) creatures are found in many places throughout the eastern US. They live under ground in their burrows. Perhaps like a big Krtek. But they look much different.

This is a youngster, who I saw out in the back yard of my apartment building. As you can see: I have seen quite a lot of wildlife from my windows, especially in the early evening..

plus many many lightning bugs in the evening, as the sun goes down.

The 3rd Car I owned

The 1975 "Classic" British MGB convertible, with the ugly US mandated Rubber front bumper and all. I use to own this identical year roadster in my early twenties but My MGB was a golden-butterscotch color.

A great little car, but with hardly any horsepower(perhaps like the early Czech Skodas ( ze? )... 67 bhp as I recall. It didn't go fast but this car was fun...especially with the top down and a scarf around ones neck.

The only thing that went fast with this car, was your money. It was always broken and always in the shop getting something done to it; A Typical British Leyland Car. They have since, of course, gone out of business.

Alas..more memories. ...but There you go, in case you are interested.

American Ambulances

I wanted to post a picture of a typical American Ambulance. This one is one of three that serve Fairport and the surrounding community. It is Volunteer-only based.

Yes, as you can see it is Typically American in size. The Ambulances in the city of Prague can be quite large as well, but I also saw many many really small Ambulances and always wondered how a person could be stretched out in it, it was so tiny.

Over here ALL the Ambulances are this size: Just Big. I had the "pleasure?" of riding in one to the hospital Emergency Room a couple weeks ago. Fun, no! But Amazingly Functional and Roomy (read: Big) inside, yes. ...and lots of Colorful Lights!

You can compare Perinton's Ambulance to the one below it that I saw in Brandys nad Labem, a small town north of Prague.

Bottle Tree

Interesting Tree. Just a few doors down from my apartment.

I use to have a 'Bottle tree' of my own making when I owned my house. I will post a picture of 'MY' Bottle tree in a few days... I only used BLUE bottles. The person who made this one, used many different colors.

Everyone thought I was strange for making it... but, I liked it. It was "art", right?

More on that later...

My First Car

This a photo of a Car I noticed at a recent Cruise Night in Fairport. One can see many different models/makes/types of Older Cars at these shows.

This is a 1965 Ford Fairlane. This Model Type, was my very first car. First owned by my parents, then me. But the one I had was a Gold color and had two black racing stripes down the hood and on the truck.

Talk about bringing back memories... Now where is my cane... ??? ;-))

Not seen here....

Something that one never would see here.....

Mushroom House Price

The Asking Price for the Mushroom House is:

$1,100,000.00 USD $One Million, One Hundred Thousand Dollars.

With $220,000 down, that comes to $6004 a month for the next 30 years.

Here is the Listing by ReMax Reality. It has some interior photographs on it.

http://www.richtesta.rochesterrealestateonline.com/propertysearch/propertydetail.aspx?MLSNumber=R159665

Grand Slam! Petra Kvitová wins at Wimbledon

Czech tennis player Petra Kvitová has defeated Russian favorite Maria Sharapova on the world’s most famous grass courts of Wimbledon.

Petra Kvitová, a powerful 21-year-old left-hander, won the women’s singles title at Wimbledon, defeating 24-year-old Russian favorite Maria Sharapova in two sets (6-3, 6-4). Kvitová has become the first Czech woman to win on Wimbledon’s grass since Jana Novotná triumphed 13 years ago.

Kvitová started the year ranked 62nd on the WTA Tour rankings but began 2011 with only her second career title at the Brisbane International and went on to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open.

With 36 matches won against eight losses, she had rocketed up the rankings in 2011 after being placed in thirty-fourth position at the end of 2010. After Saturday’s victory at Wimbledon, she will be No.7 on the WTA’s Tour rankings.

4th of July Parade

As I have stated before, American's Love their parades. And on the 4th of July it is no exception. So at 10am this morning, Fairport had it's Parade to honor our national holiday. They always start off with at least one of Fairport Police vehicles, then Marching bands, Firetrucks, town and country Politicians walking along shaking hands, and the town of Fairport even "threw" in some of the Town vehicles, all polished and shiny. There was even a Clown Car.

One thing that is most likely very different with Fairport's parades is perhaps it caters to the youngsters, as well as the young and older residents as well. Fire companies and other organizations throw candy out to the children on the sides of the street, all along the parade route, and little ones rush out to grab the candy and gum as quickly as possible. A nice touch and perhaps different from parades attended by my friends in the Czech Republic, perhaps.

and of course, today, there are American Flags everywhere; on houses, buildings, hanging from street lamps and of cars and motorcycles.

Fourth of July - National Holiday

The 4th of July or July Fourth, either way you say it, it is our National Holiday to celebrate the date.... way back in 1776 ...when we won our independence from Great Britain at the end of the American Revolutionary War.

There are even more US Flags out today, then on our Memorial Day, which I posted back at the end of May. Flags are everywhere; placed throughout towns and villages and cities and even in Cemeteries as pictured above. The usual BIG excitement in the US are Fireworks displays. Each City and many towns/villages have their own Fireworks shows when the sun sets. Rochester will have one tonight.

Funny how over here we think of the mid-1700's as really really ancient.

Back in Prague on 1776, they had been walking across Charles Bridge for over 500 years. How is that for perspective.

Guess how much?

Remember the Mushroom House? I posted some pictures of this house back in April before the leaves had come out. It is located in a Powder Mills Park, not too far from where I grew up. Here is how it looked yesterday.

It is now For Sale?

Guess how much?

Will post the asking/selling price tomorrow.

Buchty

I went over to my friend Nina's house yesterday where she and I made Buchty yesterday afternoon using her Home recipe from Slovakia.

Buchty is (are) a simple Czech pastry made from basic ingredients: flour, milk, eggs, butter and sugar. They are sweet yeast buns baked with Povidla (thick plum jam) filling. Thinly rolled squares of dough are dabbed with the preserves then pinched together so that the jam is sealed within, then baked. You can also use other types of fillings( other jams, sweet cheese, etc ).

Really good. We even made a spur of the moment variation when we ran out of Plum dzem; using Lentilky. We added 4 or 5 Lentilky(like US M&M's) in place of the Plum preserve. They melted while being baked and provided a different and nice chocolaty treat.

I can not find a good cup of Cappuccino over here

The photo above, alas... if from 'My Cafe' in Prague. I miss it.

I have noted that I just can not find a good tasting cup of Cappuccino over here...

My apologies to places I frequent, but it is true and I don't know why. The cappuccinos I have ordered at various places ( read: many places ), tastes like liquid stainless steel with some bitter coffee taste. Why is that? I buy it and then can only drink less than a quarter of it.

and if I buy just a plain cup of coffee, well, it is not much better. Strange.
We drink coffee all the time over here...

I guess.. after over 2 years of drinking the above cup at Kávovarna... my taste buds
got very used to European style Java