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This month was a wild ride — at first it felt like things were getting back to normal. I went to my first travel trade show because COVID began. I got to see so numerous friends I hadn’t seen in years. I had Thanksgiving with an actual group of people.
And by the end of the month, cases were soaring higher than ever before in the Czech Republic. Fanning outward, cases enhanced throughout central Europe. Throughout Eastern Europe. Throughout many of Europe, in fact.
Not to mention the arrival of the Omicron variant that initially panicked the world. We’re still waiting to hear much more about just what this means, but I feel like the media (and governments) unnecessarily panicked.
Such is the world we live in today. I’ve made my peace with it. I know that things will be better in the future. and even though life is up and down, there are a lot of opportunities to find charm and implying in the world around us.
Destinations Visited
London and Watford, England
Prague, Czech Republic
Budapest, Hungary
Highlights
Hosting Thanksgiving for a fantastic group of friends. This is the first time I’ve cooked Thanksgiving for much more than two people and it was a lot of fun! We had a nontraditional menu. Charlie made a porchetta with demi-glace and I made sweet potatoes with chipotles and cinnamon, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts with pomegranate and walnuts, and lemon pistachio bars.
Friends made mac and cheese, a tarte tatin, gingerbread cookies, and chocolate mousse. and I also made some whipped feta with roasted scallions and green goddess dip. and Charlie and our friend did shrimp cocktail. It was kind of A lot of food.
It was a lot of fun — and it was good to have a fully vaccinated and recently evaluated group. My big Thanksgiving tip? Do as much ahead of time as humanly possible, plan and schedule “oven time” (especially if you have a small European oven), and if one person is doing many of the cooking, have at least one other person serve as sous-chef for the hour before dinner.
A really good trip to London. This was my first non-outdoorsy trip because the beginning of COVID. I went for a few reasons: for our friend’s annual bonfire party, to see Charlie’s family, and to attend WTM, a travel conference.
WTM was a bit odd. lots of major countries weren’t there — no Germany was strange enough, but I was floored by there being no China — and the gap was filled by the UAE and Saudi Arabia, who each had huge sections.
Best of all was attending a Traverse meetup and getting to see so numerous of my friends I haven’t seen in years. and next year’s Traverse conference is going to be in Brno, Czech Republic! I’m so excited!!!
I did some London things — went to Borough Market, got an afternoon tea, went to the museum of stolen stuff I imply the British museum — and was shocked at how few masks were worn on the tube.
It was really good getting to spend time with Charlie’s family — I hadn’t seen them in literal years. once highlight was going to his sister and her girlfriend, who had the best quarantine project ever — they built a PIZZA SHACK in their front garden! now whenever anybody comes over, they get to make their own pizza with exceptional ingredients!
A Christmas Market visit to Budapest. What an awesome trip! It was so good to visit Budapest after 17 years away (seriously) and get to delight in the city during the festive season.
The Christmas stuff was fun. but some of the highlights for me were exploring the destroy bars, re-creating an image I have of myself in Budapest in 2004, and taking a unwinding cruise up and down the Danube. You can read much more about it in my Budapest post.
My first Bonfire Party. Every year, Charlie’s best friend Aeon throws a bonfire party at his mother’s home, a large historic building outside London. This is a big tradition for Charlie’s friends and I’m happy I finally got to take part, meet cool people, drink wine, and view the flames dance.
I finally got my money back from Thrifty! You might recall that I spent months in conflict with Thrifty, the car rental agency, after the super-cheap car rental I had booked for September was mysteriously not in their system, and I had to pay hundreds of dollars much more on the spot to even get a car.
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