Taking time to taste the Czech gingerbread

So, confession time: while my move to Poland went pretty smooth, my new job is not quite working out the way I envisioned. My boss has been fumbling with my schedule, with work-permit related paperwork, and even with addresses of the businesses I’m supposed to teach English at. What’s a writer to do? Well, go...

Let’s do lunch: Hradec Králové

From the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: "The History of every major Galactic Civilization tends to pass through three distinct and recognizable phases, those of Survival, Inquiry and Sophistication, otherwise known as the How, Why and Where phases."For instance, the first phase is characterized by the question “How can we eat?” the second by the...

Why loan words are awesome

Loan words and brand names are like tiny, one shot Rosetta stones— the keys to puzzling out a restaurant menu in a foreign language, or getting a cup of coffee when you’re tired. (The two I’m thinking of are tofu and Maggi.) And the first of this memory part starts in a classroom in Michigan,...

Making sandwiches, a trip to Vienna, and the stages of culture shock

This last week, I felt very... foreign. Just a little bit lost. I had passed the happy stage of moving, where everything’s new and fun to explore, to where it was irritating that things weren’t as easy as they were in the last place I lived. For example, making peanut butter sandwiches had become difficult,...

Best day ever: gluten-free gingerbread!

When you’re gluten-free, finding a new wheatless product can make your day. Which is how it was with these cookies: I had been told that the area of the Czech Republic I’m in, near Hradec Králové, is known for their gingerbread. Of course, I figured I couldn’t eat any. Til I wandered into my favorite shop,...

Of fish heads and chicken stock: how to eat and travel while veggie

Sometimes, you gotta compromise. Which is how I wound up eating fish heads in China, despite being vegetarian for 13 years. And as anyone who has traveled with a food allergy or restriction can attest, it’s not always easy to know exactly what’s in your meal. Further, while you want to get something that agrees...

Getting lost in Prague

So I spent all this time on the train, studying a guidebook and making of list of historical things and museums to see in Prague. I’d even made a list of gluten-free friendly and vegetarian restaurants to try. Once there, I got on the tram, and two stops later, saw a sign for a vegan...

Mung bean stew with tempeh

So I’ve been a little distracted this week— recovering from Prague and trying to figure out my student teaching schedule— so I thought I’d post something more simple: a recipe for stew. I’ve noticed a lot of the health food stores here in the Czech Republic have smoked tempeh and smoked tofu, which made me...

Lunch in Pardubice, and zdravá food

After the morbid epic-ness of the bone cathedral yesterday, it seemed appropriate to do something more relaxed today— like tour around the town square of Pardubice, the next large town by train over from Hradec Králové. And today, I’m going to let the photos speak for themselves. I did venture out dining again— and since...

Decorating with skeletons and ordering vegetarian food

  Excitement: my first day as a tourist in Czech! My destination was the Sedlec Ossuary, in Kutná Hora, a church decorated with about 40,000 skeletons. Not kidding. There’s something both beautiful and macabre about this place: parts hauntings and bizarre. The church is a massive tomb for their dead, with bones serving as both...