well it's been a while

march. and april. march was spent 

---- visiting Prague twice - once with Bean and Mr. and Mrs. D and once with Bean for her birthday and then for the boys birthday that live there. Both those Prague experiences were way fun, because we got to stay actually in town, walking distance from all the best parts. 

---- cursing out the cold 

---- anticipating easter break which was the next big travel week for me and the week ben phillips would come. ben is one of the newest additions in sass world and one of the greatest causes of joy. 

so march ended. april came and brought with it blooming trees and gardens, green fields, better attitudes and the city of ostrava came to life. i had no idea so many people lived here :) beer gardens, parks, sandboxes and the city center are all bustling with new faces that had previously been locked up in hibernation.

easter came and brought my boyfriend. i showed him the city beautiful - praha, vien - the city of art and class and then we got to do budapest - the city of life. i feel like most cities i've been able to pinpoint certain things to it - budapest was different... it just felt alive, but no word or stereotype or classification suits it. maybe it's because it's spring or maybe it's because it's budapest. i'm not really sure. but the pubs and cafes and restaurants were good. the city was better seen on a bike. parliament and the palace were architecturally magnificent, as always. seeing friends from ESI was fantastic. the baths were large and fun. the night buses were lame.  proving that ben was real was exciting. we got to go on our first real date. we got to hold hands. we got to learn how to push each other's buttons. you know - all the standard relationship things. 

after that trip - ben came back with me here and got to see home-life - classes, students, friends, ostrava, etc. then back to prague so we could hang with his lifelong friend john and his wife and their friend. then he left. pics from all those shenanigans are above...