Christmas market

Christmas is coming!!! This announcement is for those of you who haven't noticed the Christmas songs playing in the shops, full centres of people (be it a shopping centre or a city centre), shiny lights on trees, street poles and random things and everyone's jolly mood (I might be exaggerating the last one ;).  Yesterday I have successfully passed my fourth Tax Office control in the last four months and my mood was considerably jolly. After another grueling and whiny ballet class (ballet was grueling, I was whiny - I once again threatened to abandon the ballet for aerobic or zumba - but let's face it, it is my own fault when I decided to do a 30 day squat challenge with 10 different exercises which translates into e.g. me doing every single exercise 140 times on Day 15. Yes, I sometimes do wonder if I am sane. The jury is still out on that one (of course I am not sane thinking I can do 750 squats on Day 30!!! - but that day is still 15 days away. We will see. Maybe I will realize that walking and particularly walking the stairs is way overrated.) But I digress, so after my ballet class we drove to our capital city of Bratislava to meet our Taiwanese friends (Taiwanese because we met them in Taiwan, not because they are Taiwanese, but that's what we call them) for some pre-Christmas drinks - which in Slovakia means freezing your ass on Christmas market drinking punch or mulled wine, eating lokše (Slovak potato pancakes) with duck liver or poppy seeds and being jolly (there I go again with this jolly business but I guess that's what I feel like).

These Christmas markets are a fantastic tradition (I loooove them) we adopted from the Germans and they are incredibly popular (as can be seen by the number of people there). These pictures are from our capital - Bratislava. I will endeavor to try out our own Christmas market in Nitra and later report which one was better. I will really try to be unbiased and bla bla bla. I love Nitra, Nitra's better and I can't wait to have The Christmas Punch for Ladies (the one with Malibu rum, yum, yum).
Even though it was in Bratislava (wow, I AM incredibly biased), we had lots of fun, discovered some news (babies, babies everywheeeere) and at unreasonable time of 1:30a.m. headed home. I was quite tired and thought to myself that I needed something-anything to keep me awake. And then this happened.

I saw sh!t and suddenly was wide awake. I guess winter is coming.

SK
Vianoce prichádzajú!!! Tento oznam je pre tých, čo si nevšimli, že v obchodoch vyhrávajú len Vianočné hity, centrá sú plné ľudí (či je to centrum nákupné alebo mestské), svetielka sú na stromoch, pouličných lampách alebo bársde (ako sa hovorí u nás po nitránsky) a každý má veselú náladu (možno s tým posledným vyhlásením trošku preháňam ;) Včera bola moja nálada, po úšpešnom štvrtom miestnom zisťovaní z Daňového úradu za posledné štyri mesiace, značne veselá. Po ďalšom namáhavom a umrnčanom balete (balet bol namáhavý, umrnčaná som bola ja - zase raz som sa vyhrážala, že prasknem s baletom a začnem chodíť na aerobic alebo zumbu - ale musím byť k sebe úprimná, môžem si za to sama, keď som sa rozhodla dať si 30dňovú Squat Challenge s desiatimi cvikmi, čo v preklade znamená, že napr. Deň 15 robím každé jedno cvičenie 140krát. Hej, niekedy rozmýšľam, že či som normálna. Ešte konečné rozhodnutie nepadlo. (Jasne, že nemôžem byť normálna, keď si myslím, že urobím 750 squatov na Deň 30!!! - ale to mám stále ešte 15 dní pred sebou. Uvidíme. Možno nakoniec zistím, že chodenie a to hlavne po schodoch je úplne nepotrebné). Ale odbáčam mimo tému, takže po balete sme sa vybrali do Bratislavy stretnúť sa s našimi Tajwancami (Tajwanci ich voláme, lebo sme sa s nimi zoznámili na Tajwane, nie preto, že by boli Tajwanci) na pred-vianočné drinky - čo na Slovensku znamená mrznúť na Vianočných trhoch a piť punč alebo varené víno, jesť lokše s kačacou pečienkou alebo makom a mať veselú náladu (zase sem strkám tú veselosť, ale môžem ja za to, že sa tak cítim?)
Milujem Vianočné trhy. Tieto fotky sú z Bratislavy. Posnažím sa v najbližších dňoch absolvovať trhy aj v Nitre a neskôr ohodnotím, ktoré boli lepšie. Budem sa snažiť byť spravodlivá a bla bla bla. Milujem moju Nitru a som predpojatá, takže nitrianske Vianočné trhy sú lepšie a neviem sa dočkať, kedy si dám Vianočný punč pre dámy (s Malibu rumíkom - mňam, mňam).
Aj keď to bolo v Bratislave (kokos, ja som tak predpojatá :D), bolo nám super, nasmiali sme sa, zistili sme nejaké novinky (furt tie deti a deti) a o nenormálnom čase - pol druhej v noci - sme sa vybrali domov. Bola som dosť unavená a aj som rozmýšľala ako sa udržať v strehu. Ale o chvíľu sme vošli do takej metelice, že som h*vno videla a hneď som bola prebudená. Asi prichádza zima.

Weekend in High Tatras

Lucky me and my boyfriend just got a free weekend in our beautiful mountains, High Tatras (and by our I mean Slovakian, not that I have my own mountains). Well, lucky for us, unlucky for my brother who broke up this week with his girlfriend and got stuck with a paid trip to a romantic wellness and spa hotel with no one to go with. Soooo, he decided to gift the trip to us. I know, I have an amazing brother! (His girlfriend was a married lady and it was obviously going nowhere so I have mixed feeling about his break-up but mostly I am glad (hm..sad?). Sucks to say it out loud, but it's the truth.) Since our anniversary (7th) is just around the corner, we decided to make it the most romantic trip ever and thoroughly enjoy it. It was strange to go to the Tatras in November. We usually go in the summer for hiking or in the winter for skiing. But the hiking trails close on November 1st and there was no snow yet. The weather was likewise nor here nor there. It was sunny one moment and foggy next.

First things first- golf. Since the weather was perfect we stopped at the golf club so my man could hone his skills on driving range and I could grab a quick lunch and enjoy the view. (Still no desire to play golf).

But the sun was quickly setting so we went up to the mountains and checked in to the hotel and jumped into an outdoor infinity pool with starry sky above us.

The next morning it was still sunny and we went to take a walk.

Our hotel from afar.

Surprise, surprise - empty pool just for ME! :)

Someone decided to join me. :) We stayed a while  (the weather got uglyyy) and then we drove to another hotel to enjoy the best food in the best restaurant in Slovakia in Wellness Hotel Borovica (where we stayed in the summer).

Yuuuum, food! The Grand Hotel Praha where we stayed is really nice, but (and I am sorry to say this since this trip was a gift) it has nothing on Hotel Borovica.
Reading: Washington Irving - The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, A Very Short Introduction to Modern Art

Sunny Ireland

What a girl's gotta do when she finishes her VAT declarations and all of sudden has a few free days? She jumps on a plane to Ireland to visit her BFF who has been living in Kilkenny, Ireland for the last seven years. And since I obviously have a terrific (or terrible) planning skills, the said BFF is currently eight months pregnant with her first baby, so the visit was pretty mellow and unhurried. We talked a lot, we ate a lot (that would be me) and drank a lot (yep, still me). The best long weekend a girl could wish for.

Somebody's looking so gorgeous! I can't wait for this baby girl to be born. She has no idea how loved she's gonna be. :)

 Yep, I wasn't kidding about the drinking part.

And the food.... we went to the local Thai restaurant called Yindees. Can't recommend it enough, I had pork ribs as starter and prawns as a main dish (I go crazy for seafood and it's no wonder, you can't get more continental than the middle of Continental Europe - Slovakia, so no delicious seafood here for me to eat. :( And as I like to say: I am on a seafood diet - I see food and I eat it. But I would LOVE to eat real seafood everyday!)

The funny thing was that obviously it rains in Ireland A LOT. Obviously I came at a time when there were full five days of sunny weather. I know, lucky me. :)

Kilkenny is a gorgeous little town with one fairytale-like castle and full of beautiful historical buildings and with some really nice people living there (I mean besides my BFF, of course!). ....And of course....the food.

Here I am in the local pub-restaurant Langtons watching the finale of hurling (apparently an Irish national sport I've sadly never heard about before) and enjoying incredibly decadent Baileys and ice cream gateau with butterscotch sauce.

The last day of my trip we just spent lazying around and saving our energy for the last delicious dinner at the Ripley's Steak House. And let's end this Irish adventure with somewise words: "Vegetarianism is a big missed steak". Amen.
Reading: Nathaniel Hawthorne - The Scarlet Letter

Romeo i Julietta

There are few things in this world that I love more than ballet (as I am proving by trying to train it two times a week - operative word being TRYING). Since it was my best friend Katja's birthday few days ago and she shares my passion for ballet (among other things like Russian literature), I decided to get us tickets to the Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet in the Slovak National Theatre (SND). The last time we went to ballet to see Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty we were incredibly disappointed - it was unbelievably amateurish. But this time SND managed to surprise us. Romeo and Juliet was very good, fast-paced, beautifully and professionally choreographed and let me tell you, the fact that men and especially Romeo were serious eye-candies didn't hurt either (as I can prove by one picture). I managed to sneak one photo at the end (obviously I am too cowardly to break the rules even for one harmless picture, so I got some from SND). If you ever get stuck in Bratislava with nothing to do, I can't recommend this ballet enough. I am already considering going to see it for the second time with my mom.

The last picture is of my gift from Katja (yeah, it wasn't my birthday but I got gifts - that's Katja for you). My beloved Bulgakov AND history reading. Yey.
Reading: Samuel Beckett - Waiting for Godot
Listening: The Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet

Mushroom picking

Yesterday I got a call from my man asking if we wanted to go mushroom picking with his friends. I said why not? The weather was Okeyish, it wasn't too muddy or cold, and the forest we went to wasn't very far. And although I didn't want to get my hopes up, I was pleasantly surprised. After two hours of traipsing through the forest my basket was full and even the sun decided to show up just before setting. I begged my man to drive me to my parents to show and share some of the mushrooms (at the end they didn't want any). But the views while we drove to their house were amazing. I smiled like an idiot while thinking to myself: "I love this city". (I think I love this city the more, the more the possibility of us having to move looms over us :( )
And thus I had scrambled eggs with mushrooms for dinner, breakfast and dinner. But alas, there are no more.

I had only my HTC (or as I like to call it "C" - cause letters HT are gone) to take the pictures. The beautiful navy espresso cup is from Butlers - I finally got them in Prague in six colors - yellow, orange, red, turquoise, navy and lime-green. They are sooo gorgeous and always cheer me up! And the weird things on the last picture are bell peppers spread with bio liver pate (well, I have to improvise since we don't eat bread).

And the last - last picture are my two money guzzling beasts: silver Valkyrie and black Audina (funnily enough they are both "girls"). And THIS girl is thinking about getting rid of them and purchasing something small and CHEAP! And then I am thinking about next shopping trip to IKEA or just another trip to Prague with golf gear and realizing why I bought combi in the first place.... Somebody in this family HAS to have a big car and it's not going to be my man who has no interest in the cars the way I do. (I looove cars and driving, I could and I DO it every day even though it would be cheaper to ride a bike or take a bus to my workplace!!! My man has a small, red, 10 year old Yaris with only 50000km under the hood he inherited from his grandfather who can't drive anymore. And even though his friends make fun of him for his girlfriend having a better car, he likes his Ultimate City Mobile - UCM as he likes to call it and has no urge to compensate...)

Golf in Prague

I really, really love Prague. But really - who doesn't? It's an amazing and beautiful city. Since we were Czechoslovakia few years back and we (the Slovak and the Czechs) understand each other, it doesn't feel like being abroad, just like being at home a little bit. We have few Slovak friends living over there and we (my man) found a new, great Czechs friends there (yeah, I know, what a surprise to have Czech friends living in Czech capital...) And that's why when we visit Prague, we never feel like tourists (I have seen Prague castle ONCE! A big shame!) I like to call our visits to Prague "gourmet journey". Because that's what we do, we gorge ourselves on the best food Prague has to offer.
We had some dim sum in COA (Cuisine of Asia):

some incredibly tasty steak tartar and steaks!!!! at El Toro:

and some really yummy and juice burgers at Yes burger:

I ordered the Tower burger (it's a big bacon one) because my friend told me that the bacon burger is small. And I got that monstrosity. But boy oh boy, was it delicious. The six of us (me, my man, our best friends-couple from Slovakia at whose place we stayed and another Czech couple - the new friends) devoured our burgers with a huge amounts of French fries, coleslaw, ketchup and tartar sauce and some Duff beers while watching Tin Cup. Tin Cup is pretty old movie with Kevin Costner about golf.
And that was the whole reason of us traveling to Prague this time - golf. (Not that gourmet journey and seeing our friends is not a good enough reason ;). When it comes to golf in Czechoslovakia, the golf people tried to make it even more elitist than it already is and they made up something called "the green card". If you want to play in Czech republic and Slovakia, you need to pass the test and exam and have a green card. It basically looks like this:

So we basically spent part of Friday, whole Saturday and Sunday on the green. I took few pictures and kept the players company and read a lot. (I finished two books - The Wheat Belly by William Davis and Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf. They are finally available in Slovak, but my most favorite "against all grains" book is still It Starts With Food by Hartwigs!! and still not available in Slovak - (I want it for my mom mostly).
I also learned ALL the golf rules and would probably pass the test but I am still successfully resisting the urging to play. The funny part was when the golf trainer assumed at the beginning that I would play too and when I refused to take the clubs, he simply leaned them on me. But I didn't want to play and thus I didn't want him to devote his time to me - someone who had no real wish to learn how to play golf. Unfortunately, it looked like I was being silly and spoiled. I tried to explain but I still felt foolish. And I still have no wish to play golf, I haven't a single competitive bone in my body and would find golf tedious and restless. Instead I would like to spend my energy on stuff I love like running, learning ballet or riding horses.
The weather was capricious (so was somebody's mood, I had seen clubs flying!).

The players with their trainer Tomáš (who is only 21! :) )

My handsome man.

The girl power! (Our Bára).

Once again, it was an amazing weekend in Prague. We had great time. Unfortunately, the cold reality was expecting me at home - I have a faulty bearing on the right front wheel of my Audi, there is going to be a control from Tax Office and Trade Register ((un)fortunately, the thing I had nothing to do with) and all the grains and sweet stuff I ate are already plastered all over my face. (To which my man said: you obviously do have a sensitivity and problem with grains. I would like to say: Well, duh. But I would also like to kick myself in the butt for being so stupid and weak and ALWAYS eating the unhealthy stuff). Well, never mind. I am back to Whole30, cooking healthy stuff (I can see pumpkins and apples in every future meal, yum, yum!) and I have other things to look forward to. Like tomorrow my parents are going to get a puppy - a first puppy for our whole family!! Yey, can't wait! And a little bit over a week I am going to visit my BFF in Ireland. (Another first - my first time in Ireland!)