Czech Republic and Poland

I've been writing this blog now for 5 years and find it difficult to find new things to share with you but 

when I found this jeep, I thought, "Ah, ha! Finally something new!"

We started the week in Hradec, Czech Republic with our friends Harold and Ginger.  A special treat was Harold's fresh salsa, but we also enjoyed visiting the 6 bazars in town.  Bazars are second-hand shops, much like our thrift stores in America.  I found and bought a crystal bowl with a sticker that says it was made in the German Democratic Republic!  East Germany before the wall fell!  Can you believe I bought it for $5?!?   

I do not know the name of the river that flows through the center of Hradec but it is one of the most beautiful scenes I've ever seen. 

When I was uploading this photo, I told Glenn I was going to have to change coats for our next trip.  Every recent photo has me looking exactly the same!

Cool reflection of the buildings and trees, isn't it?  The river was so still that it made the reflection very clear.

This photo is for my son-in-law, Jonathan.  This is a Czech kolache, a type of pastry that he grew up eating as a child in Iowa.  There must have been a Czech community in the Cedar Rapids area for him to have eaten these when he was younger.  

Leaving Hradec, with the help of our GPS, we meandered our way  through the quaint towns scattered randomly across the plains and beneath rolling hills to Wroclaw, Poland.  We saw rows and rows of trees filled with mistletoe!  

Each village we passed through had their own church just off the main street.

As we entered Wroclaw, we saw a wonderful sight!  It doesn't get much better than this!  Both Starbucks and Pizza Hut, both in the same block, next door to each other!  We ate lunch at Pizza Hut in town before heading over to Scott and Denise's apartment but I made Glenn promise he wouldn't tell them where we ate lunch.  Glad I had Glenn promise because as it turned out, Pizza Hut is where they wanted to eat dinner so I got pizza twice in one day!  Yea!

While we were in Poland, Denise and I took a road trip to Boleslawice, the town that manufactures the famous Polish pottery.  Spent my birthday and Christmas money that I've been saving for a year and bought a few pieces to give as gifts!  Would you believe I totally forgot to take pictures???

We returned to BP on Saturday evening in time to welcome Robin and Randy to town.  We showed them the major sites and then enjoyed a typical Hungarian meal on Vaci Street.  

This platter of fried meats, fried potatoes, rice and a salad of pickled cabbage is described as "good for two people".   Can you believe it???   Well, we ordered it to be shared among the four of us and it was plenty!  It was also delicious!

While we were walking around town, we were stopped by a bike rally to raise awareness of the need for bike lanes.   It is a big deal here.   There must have been 3000 people on bikes, a bakers dozen wearing skates, a handful of scooters, and even a couple of unicycles!

Even children joined in on the fun!

We're home for a bit.  I love my nest!