A Walk Through Letná Park

I am really enjoying this whole two-day weekend deal. I know some of you who aren't so familiar with my life are wondering what I'm talking about. "Haven't weekends always been two days?"


In Taiwan, I had Sundays off. Only Sundays. Saturday was actually my busiest day of the week. Sure, I only worked four hours a day during the week, but it sucked not having two full days off. 


This is literally the first time since I started my first job when I was 15 (Sonic Drive-In carhop, what what!) that I have had weekends off. When you're in high school, you work weekends. In college, I worked weekends at the bar and weekdays at the newspaper (not to mention those pesky classes I was supposed to be going to). 


The point: having two days off is akin to being in heaven.



Everyone looks forward to going out and having fun on the weekends, but living in a foreign country, it's expected that you'll spend some time on the weekend exploring. Otherwise, what's the point? When you work all week you also want a day to chill out, let your brain recover from the stress of the week and maybe get things done around the house.


This means it's absolutely necessary to have a two-day weekend. This weekend was put to good use.


Saturday morning we met our new roommate who will move in next weekend when one of the long-term roommates moves to Paris (jealous, anyone?). Then Zuzka and I went to meet up with a couple she knows. 


Best part: They're from Texas. 
Cooler part: They're from the Austin area. 


Zuzka was definitely outnumbered but at least she holds the mentality that Austin is a place she seriously needs to visit at some point. Personally, I think she's collecting Texans. Who wouldn't?


We ate brunch (pigs in a blanket and a bloody mary!) and then we went for a beautiful walk through snowy Letná Park. 

Letná is on the north side of town.

There are amazing views across the river.

There's more David Černý art (which actually replaced the world's largest statue of Stalin...) 

Did I mention the phenomenal views of the city?

Check out my Picasa web albums for a few panoramic shots. I couldn't resist. Though I will say, it's really difficult to hold the camera steady when you're a little chilly and trying to perfectly match up the pictures. 

After Letná we went over to the monastery brewery by the castle since the Texans hadn't been there yet. (Mmmm, monk beer!) We just sat there and chatted for hours about all kinds of stuff. It was a really great day. 

I so enjoy meeting new people, especially when we hit it off so well. I guess it helps to have so much in common right off the bat.

Zuzka and I were home by 7 p.m., had another beer and chatted about what's next on our list of travels. 


We were both pretty ready to pass out but I got talked into walking over to the Crazy Flat (a story for another time) and hanging out with lorn and some friends. I was there way later than I meant to be, but we played games, sang along to iTunes and overall had a lot of fun so I don't regret it. 


Good thing I had Sunday to recover.


Sunday I woke up at a relatively decent time all things considered (10 a.m.), turned on a movie and drifted in and out of sleep. I watched a couple of movies and munched here and there. It was wonderfully successful in helping me recharge my batteries. 


By 5 p.m. I had done essentially nothing but I was ready to get things done. I finally did laundry (first time in two weeks) and I went grocery shopping (Yay, food!). I even did my lesson plans for the next couple of days. 


I feel like I had a wildly productive weekend. What about you?