Dobrý den!

Right. I should get going on this.

Six years later, and we are back in Prague for another sabbatical year. Karl's once again working at Česká zemědělská univerzita, the boys are back at Riverside, and I'm trying to navigate daily life amid a din of Czech. 

This blog is a reboot of my original one -- The Blague From Prague. Unfortunately we lost access to that one (can't recall the password and no longer have the email with which it was associated). That was a very sad realization. Words were said. Feet were stamped. There might have been tears. But we've dusted ourselves off and are now ready for the launch of The Blague from Prague, Too. There will definitely be linkage to the old blog.

We arrived seven weeks ago today, a fact that already takes me aback. But there's no harnessing Time, you just have to tie your laces securely, jump onto the moving sidewalk, and hope you're pointed in the right direction. 

In this case, that meant we packed up the car and headed to Boston

where we caught our flight to Lisbon the next night. 

Here's what that looked like seven years ago: 

In 2010 we had a seven-hour layover in Brussels. The boys entertained themselves at the airport. 

Our Lisbon layover was equally as long, but the toy helicopters had less appeal. This time, we bring teenagers. (Well, almost plural -- a teen and a tween/almost teen.)

You forget how long those travel days can be until you're in the midst of one again. We were so grateful to finally touchdown in Czechia

and settle into our apartment, where we were rewarded with this stunning view to the south: the golden chalice atop the Czechoslovak Hussite Church and the gothic spires of St. Anthony of Padua on Strossmayer Square.

Both of these structures have a place of honor in our recollection of our first year in Prague. We initially placed the boys in a Czech public school (old blog linkage!), and it was not too far from our current apartment. Many days as we rode the tram to and from school, we'd point out the huge chalice to the boys, in part because the chalice is also a central symbol for our Unitarian Universalist Church but mostly because it's really cool to suddenly spot an enormous goblet up in the sky. And I always loved seeing the neo-gothic St. Anthony, whose spires clearly seem to be influenced by those of the Church of Our Lady before Týn in Old Town Square.

Took this shot of St. Anthony (or Svaty Antony) on our way off to dinner that first night.

Since our arrival we have hiked in the Dolomites,

Visited Innsbruck on our way back to Prague,

found some crude but hilarious David Černý statues I'd heard tell of (Černý's political commentary is anything but subtle),

Brown-nosers by David Černý

sent Ben and Garrett back to school at Riverside Prague (as I've mentioned previously, they tolerated the dress code/uniform as long as I didn't insist they brush their hair),

allowed Karl to perfect his pancake technique in the new kitchen,

wandered some favorite sights in the city,

Prague Castle courtyard

Castle steps down to Malá Strana

St. Nicholas in Malá Strana Square

gone on some beautiful walks,

Pruhonice Botanical Park

Pruhonice Botanical Park 

Berounka Valley

and played Yahtzee. Sorry, no Yahtzee shots. Oh -- I also took a two-week intensive Czech class. No pics of that either. Just mentally insert a gif of me banging my head on a table.

So. We're back. I'll somewhat flesh out our time thus far. Until then,

Na zdraví!