I came all the way to Brno to shop at Ikea

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Okay, so today is pretty boring, but I'll tell ya' what i did anyhow.

First I slept in as Gloria has been keeping us up watching StarGate episodes. Okay, we initiated it, but only because Gloria LOVES them so much she is always talking about it. They are actually pretty good and after tonight I just may be hooked myself.

Being the neurotic personality that I am, I spent the morning making a list of things I wanted to do and then made a calendar for the remaining time and tried to fit everything in. Something is going to have to go, I just don't know what yet. There is more to do then can be scheduled. If there wasn't a wedding reception to set up for on Friday and a wedding on Saturday it may have all fit. But since Jana's wedding is one of the main reasons I'm even here, I can't cut that out. It's going to be one of the day trips, either Kutna Hora or Vienna, and maybe more. Very aggravating that I can't do everything, guess I just have to look at it as reasons to come back soon! I did however finally work up the courage to call my friend Petra Hoydenova. We have stayed in close contact the past four years until this spring. When I emailed her to let her know I was coming for a visit I never heard back from her which has made me uneasy. We have plans for lunch on Friday so I hope it all goes well!

I hitched a ride with Gloria who was taking her lawn mower to be repaired out to the shopping center where Ikea is located. I know we have one a few hours away but they don't carry European sizes. When I was living here I bought a comforter that I loved so much I brought it home. Four years later I'm tired of the cover I have and knew this was my opportunity to get a new one. I really didn't want to make a 200cm square cover. Now the problem is solved. We had lunch at Ikea too. Smaeny syr! Fried cheese! It is Czech comfort food and I love it!

After a bit of a wild goose chase trying to find the mechanic to fix the lawnmower Gloria dropped me off downtown. There have been a few things that I have really been wanting to purchase so today was my shopping day. I bought a lacey curtain thingy for my kitchen window so that it looks traditional Czech. I could have gotten the same thing in Portland but I have been waiting to buy it in Brno. How silly is that?
I was supposed to meet up with Bethany back at Gloria's by 5pm. I was still downtown so I found a phone booth to call the house. I put in my 20 crowns and made the call. Bethany wasn't home yet either. After talking a few minutes with Gloria I had only used 4 kc but when I hung up I didn't get any change back! Argh! A whole 16 kc lost! Gloria had said to call back at 5:30. At about 5:25 I found another phone in Namesti Svobody. I put in 10 kc this time, but it fell straight through! I tried the next one, same thing. I went to the other two and both of them only accept phone cards. There was one more phone across the square but it only accepted phone cards as well. I was very annoyed and frustrated. I walked back up Ceska to the clock where the phone had worked before. It did accept my 10kc but again, after my call, it wouldn't give me any change. I went the the Tabak stand near the phone to buy a phone card so I wouldn't have to go through this again. The minimum card is 200kc - an 8 dollar phone card that I may use 50 cents worth over the next week. Lesson learned: just buy a phone card at the beginning of your trip.

Bethany and Gloria came and met me downtown and we went to dinner at a restaurant that Glo has been very excited about. It is a medieval theme restaurant on Ceska. It is kinda hard to find but very worth it. Walking down a steep staircase with candles on each brick step you enter what was once a cellar with candles burning all over leaving piles of wax that have started to build up and drip down the walls and steps. They had the movie Three Musketeers playing and the waiters and waitresses are dressed up as well. It was a fun place. I ordered a traditional fruit dumpling filled with apple and plum jam sprinkled with gingerbread. It sounded to bizarre not to try. When they brought it to the table it came with a lit sparkler! It was oh so subtle! Not to mention that it was one huge dumpling somewhere between a small cantelope and a grapefruit in size. Huge I tell you!

Needing to work off the dinner we all took Zlatka (Gloria's dog) on a walk up the hill near Gloria's home in Medlanky. From the bald top you have a panoramic view of Brno. špilberk castle is easy to spot. The pani-locks of Lesin stand out in mass. The community of Bystrc where Beth, Helena, and I used to live looked huge. I'm hoping to get back up there just before sunset tomorrow to take some pictures.

Coming back home we settled in for another night of StarGate-1. Gloria is so excited that she has other people hooked on the show.

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