Time flies

I woke up, looked at Libor's watch without glasses and told him we'd slept in until noon. He rushed out to the bathroom, while I'd gotten up to check my email. Then I realized it was only 10. Oops. He's back in bed now. 08^D

Yesterday was the 2nd gloomy day I remembered since arriving in Czech - I woke up late because the sky was gray... a sign of the winter to come! The past few days we'd stayed in the apartment - me studying, and Libor looking for a job (or just slacking off).

However yesterday we absolutely ran out of food. *ha* So we had to go shopping, and I wanted to check out this bookstore that Vít recommended in Freedom Square. So, off we went. The day was gray and gloomy, but it was still beautiful. Fall is in the air. Everyone is dressed for fall, and they look great! :-) I think Czechs look much better as the weather gets colder and colder. ;-) We missed the tram we wanted that would take us straight to the train station (and the supermarket we wanted), so we took the other one that takes us north of the Square, near Masaryk University. Wow. You want to talk about college town? Get off at the Masaryk University stop. There were HUNDREDS of young people milling around, all with a purpose and a place to be.

There's this TINY little pizza place right near the stop, and its smell was too tantalizing for Libor so we stopped for their ultracheap slices of pizza. They didn't have the kind I wanted (mushroom and onion :-() so I had to make do with ham and onion, which tasted kind of old. Oh well. Usually their pizza, WOW. This place is a LOCAL place because it's the size of a closet, and hidden behind this construction booth, but you will find lines going around the block on a good day. :-)

It was nice to see the Square without all the construction cordons and after the celebrations - it's now a pedestrian zone with the exception of the trams that go through. The newest feature of the square is the water fountain, and I really had fun watching all the people staring at the new fountain. I'm serious, there was a huge crowd around the fountain, just staring at it. There was an adventurous little girl who went right up to the fountain and dipped her finger in it after looking around at everybody to see if they would admonish her. It was as if these people were thinking, "should I like it? This is too new for me. Does this really fit in the square?"

The bookstore was indeed as nice as Vít promised, but Libor is NOT a good companion to go to the bookstore with (especially for a book lover like me). After 10 minutes of my browsing, he was like a magnet at my side, waiting for me to go. Grrr... I guess this is just punishment - I finally am very happy with someone and he happens to be a non reader. *sigh* Give me a few years. So I looked at the books in Italian language (not very many), and grabbed, "La Talpa in Inverno." ("Mole in Winter") I gotta start somewhere, okay? And I just think Krteček (Mole) is so cute. He's a popular children's cartoon here in Czech. I haven't seen him on TV yet, but he's everywhere. :-) Libor just looked at my book choice and said, "you're going to get THAT?? *head in hands* are you serious? *looking around* a book about Mole? Why?" I just said, "I have to start somewhere," put the book under my arm, and headed straight to the checkout counter amidst protests coming from Libor. As we were waiting in line, one of Libor's friends came in and saw Libor, asks him what he's doing there (he's obviously a well-known non-book person), Libor starts rattling off in Czech about me buying a book about Mole. *starting to blush* "Ah, you like Mole?" the guy asks me very politely, in his heavy Czech accent. I said I don't know Mole, but I'm learning Italian. "Ah," he says, smiling politely. *evil thoughts to Libor, turning to line* I have it sitting next to me now. :-) If I can accomplish this easily enough, and others, I want to read the Italian version of "The Little Prince," and Libor's definitely not gonna stop me. :-P

Today is voting day in Czech - yesterday too. We are home alone - both roommates went home to vote. It's not voting for president, it's voting for members of Parliament. I asked Libor why he's not voting and he said, I don't want to go home this weekend. MM. I said it was his right to vote, so... he knows. I know both his roommates and his mom are going to ride on him for not voting, and I think he knows it too. They say that you have no right to complain if you didn't vote. There's a point there! Voting is not as big in the US, but I can understand why voting is so important here - after so many years of Communist rule and not being able to have a say in government, people want to make sure they continue to have the power of voice.

Here's some shots of the views from our balcony, and our bedroom. I don't really want to take pictures of the other rooms because our bedroom is the nicest one. :-) I'm sorry I don't know how to label the images... I used to be able to, but this time I can't, don't know why. The gardens you see with all the leaves, that's our building garden. In the back of the picture you can see the plastic table and chairs? That is the plot that belongs to our apartment. I don't need to explain that it's obvious the people who live here aren't green thumbs. ;-) I also took pictures of the neighboring gardens, so you can see what a typical Czech garden would look like (although these are "minature" gardens compared to gardens that people like Libor's mom have), but it's fall and most people have dug up their gardens by now to prepare for winter. If you look left from my balcony, you can see Spilberk on the hill in the distance. The view is MUCH prettier at night, when the castle is lit up. Spilberk is the castle of Brno. We are hoping to go there today once we stop slacking off! :-)