Semester 16 XVIII: Family Time

Okay, here we go again. Back in my hometown, back in the Czech Republic, got some Kendrick on, all is well. Before I get to it, I’d like to mention a book I’ve recently read. I had a chance to go through Klara And The Sun and it was a beautiful read. Definitely can recommend. I would also like to say that the Kendrick recent show was so hip-hop, it gave me the biggest smiles and sometimes even goosebumps… Hip-hop is winning big time these days. Almost makes me feel sorry for Drake but I feel there’s a lesson there… Also for all the Czech idiot rappers imitating street culture. The “Not Like Us” message resonates strong… And there’s a video coming. And I’m pretty sure, there’s a Grammy coming, too… We’re alive and well over here!

 Back to this shit tho… I spent majority of this past week still in The Hague. Quite a lot of work but we squeezed some happy time in. On Wednesday, we spent a good part of the afternoon in our lovely sunny neighborhood and in the evening, we took it to one of many beaches nearby for some sun rays and waves, and later on we headed to this Beeschurgers spot for some burgers. Overall, this whole visit was super nice and if all goes well, I’ll probably head back there in couple weeks again. It all really felt kinda natural those last days… Oh, and I got a book as an early gift for my bday!

Friday morning, I taught some classes, stopped by in the Quench coffee spot once more and early afternoon, I was on my way to the central station to catch a bus to Prague. Arrived tthere Saturday early morning, transferred to a train and with one additional transfer later on, I made it to this tiny town and got picked up by my dad. See, this weekend, my dad’s partner threw one of her annual family reunions and since the stars aligned, I was able to attend. And that shit was just lovely. Weather was much warmer than back in The Netherlands, nature around there is awesome, it was great to see everybody… And even my nephew was extra friendly. Seemed like he’d been looking forward to seeing me. So yeah, good people, good food, happy days.

 

Today after lunch, we hopped in a car, took the little one to his other grandma and then took it to Brno. The drive was good and enjoyable. It’s cool stretching those muscles here and there. Got back home, did some shopping, about to go to sis’ for dinner. Life’s good. Hope y’all having a good start of the summer, too. Shout out to all my readers. Sending love to all my vegans and runners as well. One!

Highlights:

• The Kendrick concert.
• The Hague.
• The weekend.

Semester 16 Chapter XVII: Canals

Hey guys, here we go again. Another Monday morning, new Kehlani bumping out of speakers, everything is set. Got couple more days before leaving The Netherlands and we’ve finally got some proper summer weather here. When it’s sunny, sometimes you actually feel hot even in short sleeves which is definitely a welcomed upgrade.

 

Last week was mostly business as usual. Work, workouts and trips to my new outdoor workout spot, runs, evening hangouts, the good stuff. One of those evenings, I got out to this Bowie bar to meet for a drink and on Friday, we got invited to this b-day party. Before that, we got some cool vegan dinner at a restaurant nearby and some wine. I obviously didn’t know a single soul at the event. It took place at an apartment, there were loads of booze, there was a dj, people were dancing… To be honest, I’m not quite accustomed to such settings but it kinda worked. I also decided to have couple of real (alcoholic) drinks while at it. Pretty much to see what an extended time of not drinking does to the sensation, the vibe and all that. Now, I did have fun, it was all pretty entertaining but I also kinda confirmed that I’ve pretty much grown up from getting smashed. It’s not appealing, the alcohol high isn’t that great and it’s all really not worth it. Might experiment with it occasionally when to moment feels right but for the most part, I’m staying on this sober track. Works just fine.

 

Saturday was kinda lazy. A café visit, picnic in a park. There was this market in our neighborhood. They shut couple of streets and different vendors were selling out their goods. The day was gorgeous and weather stayed like that the following day too. Sunday was much more active. My friend invited me to this yoga class. She has just started going regularly and I figured I might try out too. So at 8am I was posted up at a yoga place for a 1 hour session. Once again, I got reminded how not great I am in terms of flexibility and once again, it felt pretty rewarding being able to do certain things a bit better by the end. Not entirely sure if yoga’s ever gonna become my regular thing but it might be worth considering at some point. After that, we took it to our favorite café Quench (I feel good having a coffee place I go to regularly here), got some lunch and then went for a Canal tour which my friend picked. It was a 90-minute thing which took us around the city center, we had an English speaking guide on the boat, it was all super nice. After that, we hopped on bikes and went to a beach. Oh yeah, we get to swim in the sea finally. After some time over there, we went back home for dinner and some more Twin Peaks.

 

And that’s that. June is slowly coming to its end which means a bit more time back in the Czech Republic but I’ll probably be here sometime soon. Hope you guys are doing well and everything’s going just the way you want to. Sending love to everybody out there. One!

 

Highlights:

• Canal tour. 
• Beach weather.
• Yoga.

Semester 16 Chapter XVI: Brunches

Hello world, I’m gonna keep it brief for this one. Last week was not that eventful; it was another work week after all and at this point, I don’t feel too pressured to spend every spare minute exploring the city. It was some classes, it was the runs, it was workouts, the usual. It was also some soul searching. I got an opportunity to really think deep about certain things, walk through some valleys and spend some quality time with my thoughts. Human psyché is one hell of a thing and never really ceases to surprise me.

 

We had a really nice weekend over here. These super long days feel like a cheat code. You get to do a super slow morning, you get to have your brunch at like 1pm and by 3pm, you’re still looking at around 7 more hours of daylight. Fucking incredible. So yeah, we did brunch at this super lovely café named Quench around the corner both days. One day, we took it easier afterwards (just some runs and Twin Peaks) and on Sunday, we took the bikes and went to Delft which might be like 15km away. I’d been there before but never on a bike and the day was just fucking picturesque. I can’t really stress enough how amazing the cyclist infrastructure is over here. It’s safe, it takes you around lovely residential areas, greenery, lakes… And it’s all flat so it doesn’t even feel like a real workout. We got some drinks at the Delft main square, went back, got some dinner and wrapped the evening up with another episode. This is my first time watching Twin Peaks. Shit is trippy as hell.

 

Oh, and for the past few weeks, I’ve pretty much cut out coffee of my diet. This one hurt as I fucking love coffee. Might be me getting old but I’ve realized that this particular beverage simply doesn’t go well with my stomach anymore. So these days, I do an occasional afternoon coffee but I’m really on about a cup or two a week. To think couple of years ago I drank like 7 cups a day easily… Shit changes. I don’t intend to give it up completely (like no fucking way) but yeah… Had to to something about it.

 

And that’s about it. It’s a beautiful day over here, I got one more class to go and then it’s probably some more time outside. Shout out to all my vegans, all of my sober fuckers and also those who had to cut down on coffee at any point of their lives. I see y’all, we got this. Sending love to everybody reading, too. One!

Highlights:

• Bike trips.
• Twin Peaks.
• Brunches.

Semester 16 Chapter XV: Windy Roads

What’s up y’all. Checking back in, this time from the rainy Hague. It’s Monday morning, just finished my breakfast, got some classes ahead of me, everything is set. Before I get to it, I gotta point out the difference between weather here and back in the Czech Republic. It’s probably mostly the wind but The Netherlands feels significantly colder. It’s still okay (by far the warmest I’ve experienced so far) but I still do spend most of the time with my sweatshirt on. Anyways, things have been going well so let’s dig in…

 

I spent the first half of last week in Amsterdam. It was quite a lot of work but I managed to do my regular runs, and me and my friend also spent quite a lot of time outside (went to a pretty awesome pizza place at some point as well). It’s cool experiencing this country without a winter jacket. Wednesday evening, I was on a bus to The Hague and I’ve been here since. And we’ve been out quite a lot too. On Friday, we were hanging out by the sea in the northern part of the city. I’d been there before but the whole evening and our bike ride reminded me that this city is actually pretty cool. It’s not only tribunals, embassies and international institutions. The city center is pretty small, actually. It’s also a lot of nature minutes away on the bike. And traveling by bike is obviously super convenient as there’s proper infrastructure for it. So we spent some time by the beach and we rode around woods, parks, meadows and hills a bit more inland. Oh, and sun goes down like 10:30pm these days which is just amazing. Days feel so long.

 

Saturday was a bit lazier but we still managed to ride around the city discovering some of its parks. Public space here works (found an outdoor workout spot around the corner btw). And it’s not just bikes and the surrounding sea and greenery. It’s also parks in the city. People go out for barbecues, games and picnics. And there’s animals everywhere. You see ducks and swans just walking around these little lakes. We even saw some deer in a fenced area. On Sunday, we took the bikes and went to the Hoek, which is a point by the sea around 15km south. There’s a beautiful cycle path leading to it with many opportunities to turn to the beach or to one of plenty villages nearby. On the way, we got some tea, we had some snacks with us and in Hoek, we visited a 2^nd World War museum. See, this area was pretty active during the war and over the years they have found many of soldiers’ personal items around. There were also some weapons and shit like that. Again, a fucking beautiful sunny day. Haven’t seen this place like this before.

 

So yeah, that’s about it. I’m happy things are the way they are and I’m feeling good. Hope you guys are well, too. Sending some love to everybody out there. One!

 

Highlights:

• Amsterdam.
• The Hague. 
• Bikes.

Semester 16 Chapter XIV: Lego Blocks

What’s up, everybody, here we go again. I’m back in the beautiful city of Amsterdam, it’s early morning and it feels good being here again. Taking these breaks from the Czech Republic feels healthy and I’m happy I got reasons to move around a bit. It’s also the first time I’ve traveled to the Netherlands without my winter jacket and even though the weather is colder than in Prague or Brno, it’s pleasant and you can see the effect all over the streets. People are everywhere, public space works, it all looks pretty optimistic.

 

Last week was pretty eventful. Since my Canadian connect was around, I spent couple of evenings with her and some of friends we have in common. I also took my sis out for dinner once. One of the highlights was Tuesday tho. In the afternoon, me and my dad hopped in a car, loaded it with all kinds of things and went to one of the parks near the city center. See, my nephew had his 5^th birthday (it’s fucking crazy how time flies) and my sister organized a party with some of his buddies from the kindergarten and couple of friends. It was all very cool. Kids running around, the bday boy all happy, lotta good snacks and a cake… It was also his first celebration after his moms had separated but that didn’t take anything away from it. Great event. I gave him this huge Lego Train kit and since I was about to leave couple of days after, I was perfectly fine with somebody else building it with him. But when talking about it he confidently stated that we’re building it together and I felt so shit about letting him down that I rearranged my Friday and made sure to make it happen.

 

Friday after lunch, I went to the kindergarten to pick the boy early and we went to my sis’ place. Now, the train is fucking huge so it took us couple of hours. But it’s cool, it runs on batteries and can be controlled remotely, nephew was excited and eventually fell asleep with it. Super happy we shared that moment.

 

In the evening, I hopped on a bus to Prague where I caught up with one of my bros and around 11pm, I was on another bus, this time to Amsterdam. Arrived here around 1pm the following day. Since then, it’s been long talks, long walks, evening movies and lots of good food. I even managed to do my regular local run and spent some time at the outdoor workout station in a park nearby. Got two more days over here before moving to The Hague. I hope you guys are safe and well. Keep it positive and don’t entertain bullshit. You know what time it is. One!

 

Highlights:

• Lego bonding.
• Driving. Had a chance to drive a bit after some time, shit always feels good.
• Amsterdam. Obviously.