Calamari Vary, a.k.a. Karlovy Vary

After our Girls Night In, complete with fondue and movie night, the ladies and I were ready for our trip to Calamari Vary!

I mean, Karlovy Vary.

Some peeps aren't so good with the pronunciation, so this became our inside joke. It's probably not that funny to you, huh? I guess you just had to be there.

As you can see, there was way too much fun to be had!

The idea to visit this town came from the movie, Last Holiday, since it was filmed there. Much of the movie took place at the GrandHotel Pupp, and I was dying to see it! From Hohenfels, the trip is a little over two hours long, easily doable in a day. Here are the things you should know:

1. You MUST purchase a vignette for this trip (at least from the direction we drove in from). This covers the toll tax on certain roads. Many European countries require these, so always check before your trip if it's necessary.

Vignette

The smallest vignette we could purchase was for 10 days. Of course, we didn't need the whole ten days, but that's the way it works. The price was 11,50 Euro. The directions for use are on the back of the vignette, they tell you what information to write on it and where to place the sticker on your car.

2. When you stop for the vignette, I highly suggest using the ATM at the gas station. We stopped at the first gas station right over the border. These nearly always carry the vignettes you need, so it's best to purchase right away rather than search for one later.

Czech koruna

The reason I tell you to use the ATM there is this: we could only find one ATM in Karlovy Vary, and it was nearly a 2km walk! There were lots of places to exchange your money if you had euros on you, but the rates would not have been as good. Many of the places we stopped would only accept the Czech koruna, and they would not take credit cards.

3. Pick your parking deck before you go, and plug that into your GPS. I'm happy we did this, the town can be confusing to drive in. My GPS took us straight to the parking deck. I chose one on Libusina Street, with security cameras and a free WC. The whole day only cost about 11 US dollars. Worth it!



Ok, enough of the practical stuff. Let's get to the fun!

View of the GrandHotel Pupp

The main street in Karlovy Vary

We turned right out of the parking garage and headed down the hill into town. One of the first things we saw was the GrandHotel Pupp! If you've seen the movie, then I'm sure you recognize this. After a mad search for the ATM (don't be like us, people!), we made our way to the Diana Observation tower. There are several of the towers around town, accessible from a funicular (cost was 80 Czech koruna for the roundtrip). Our plan was to see the view and grab lunch at the top.

Diana Observation Tower

The restaurant was good, and not too crowded. You can take an elevator to the top of the tower (free), and there is even a petting zoo behind the restaurant. If you want, you can hike back to town instead of taking the funicular.

Top of Diana Observation Tower

We saved room for dessert after our meal, because we were headed back down the mountain to Cafe Pupp! Mmmmm….. chocolate and cake and yummy goodness…

Dessert at Cafe Pupp

I have to be honest here. We were those crazy tourists taking pictures of everything! We even managed a selfie (taken by our Selfie Queen, Deborah):

I don't care (much) that people stared. The hotel was gorgeous, and the cake was so dang good. We were a little rotten, but who isn't every once in a while?

We did everything I wanted with our day, we even tasted the extra-special, supposedly healthy, funny tasting spring water:

Drinking the mineral water… we have very different reactions, ha! 

You buy special cups (the handle is a straw!), so the minerals don't all settle on the bottom of your glass. The cups are sold from street vendors everywhere, and they weren't expensive. I think the prices converted to about 5 US dollars. You can also just bring an empty bottle of your own if you want.

The drinking fountains are all over town. If you're thirsty, just walk up and grab a sip. Fair warning though… the water is hot from the natural spring, it definitely tastes "different", and because of its so-called healing properties I would consider it a cleanse. As in, don't drink much unless you want to spend your day in the bathroom. Capisce?

We also sampled the local wafer cookies, and totally fell in love.

Someone ate theirs before I got a pic. That someone was not me. Well, not me alone anyway.

The cookies are sold everywhere on the street, individually like above or in boxes. Care to guess how many boxes I came home with?!

To round out our day, we finished with a horse and buggy ride around town. It was a great opportunity to get off our feet for a bit, relax and enjoy.

As seems to be the usual, we were blessed with great weather (thanks to our Magic Sunglasses lady). I'm so lucky to have such great neighbors to hang out with, and I can't wait for our next adventure.

Until next time my friends, happy travels!

Thanks for reading, everyone!

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Email me: armylifefromthewife@gmail.com

Girls Night In!

Have you ever seen the movie Last Holiday, starring Queen Latifah? If the answer is no, you should probably watch it. Especially if you like fluffy girl movies. Which I do.

Anyway! I thought this was a cute movie. I was watching it one night shortly after we moved to Germany, when I suddenly realized… 

… much of this movie takes place, and was filmed, only a few short hours away from where I'm currently living!! Do you know what this means???

I can go visit there! And I totally did. Don't worry, I'll tell you all about it soon. 

You probably think I'm nuts, but little things like this excite me. I got my friends all stirred up about it too, so they came with me. Before the trip, we decided to have a girls night in with food and wine, and a showing of the movie. 

Fun, yes? 

Meat and veggie platters

Cheese tray from around the world

Chocolate fondue and dippers! 

We piled our plates high, poured ourselves some wine, and snuggled down with fuzzy blankets to watch the show. Much of the movie takes place in Karlovy Vary, a spa town in the Czech Republic. We loved exploring this town, and I'm excited to share all the stories and pics with you! 

In the meantime, I'm passing along my chocolate fondue recipe to you, in case you'd like to host a Girls Night In yourself...

This recipe is super simple. In your electric fondue pot (if you're using a sterno candle, then do this in a double boiler first and transfer to your fondue pot), combine the following: 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips, 12 ounces milk chocolate chips, 2 cups heavy cream, ½ teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons vanilla extract, and 2 tablespoons butter. Warm over low heat until melted and smooth. Then dip your favorite stuff into the chocolate, and enjoy! 

As always peeps, the standard recipe is below. And I've included a list of "dipper" suggestions too. Until next time, happy cooking! I'll be back soon with the details from our trip, so stay tuned.  

Thanks for reading, everyone!

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The Standard Form:

Basic Chocolate Fondue

Ingredients:

12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

12 ounces milk chocolate chips

16 ounces (2 cups) heavy cream

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons butter

Directions:

If you’re using an electric fondue pot, turn the heat on low. Add all ingredients to the pot and stir until melted and smooth. Serve with your favorite dippers.

If you’re not using an electric fondue pot, melt the ingredients together in a double boiler. Once smooth, transfer to your fondue pot and keep warm with a sterno.

Dipper Suggestions: Marshmallows, pound cake, strawberries, bananas, graham crackers, pretzels, salty potato chips, cooked bacon, brownie bites, maraschino cherries, apple slices, pineapple, biscotti, soft caramels, meringue cookies

Anniversaries and Other "Love" Holidays: On a Budget!

I'm happy to say that the Hubs and I just celebrated five wonderful years together as husband and wife! Marriage is always challenging, but when you add a military lifestyle to the mix, things get really interesting. We've had our share of ups and downs, for sure. But we are here for each other no matter what the circumstances.

The Hubs and I had a beautiful wedding, but never a honeymoon. To make up for it, on our first anniversary, we took a week-long trip to the Outer Banks...

Beach in Rodanthe, NC 

... and since our first celebratory trip, we've never actually spent another anniversary together again, until now.

This is one of those instances where the military gets in the way of your plans. Most civilian couples spend their special day together, but we've spent countless holidays apart. Birthdays, anniversaries, Thanksgiving... you name it.

We've developed certain habits to combat the disappointment. Instead of flowers and a fancy dinner on our day (impossible, since we were always apart!), we combined several occasions together into one big celebration. Our birthdays fall just on either side of our anniversary, so we usually miss out on those days together too.

Our plan? To pick a weekend, or a whole week (whatever we have time for!), and celebrate with a trip together. During the trip, we enjoy our fancy dinner together. We relax at the spa. We go hiking or shopping, anything that strikes our fancy. Usually, we surprise each other by picking out gifts while we're out and about, something we can remember the weekend by. These trinkets are scattered around our place, constant reminders of the memories we share.

SO, you can imagine our consternation this year, when we were together on our anniversary. Out of habit, we already planned a weekend away together next month, to the International Balloon Fiesta, including a dinner reservation at the Melting Pot.

What to do on our anniversary then? We didn't want to spend gobs of money, because our vacation is just around the corner...

This started us thinking. Instead of blowing tons of money on various things, we wanted to do as much together with as little money as possible.

And you know what?

Our day was AWESOME. With very little funding, we had one of our best days. And I can't resist letting you in on all our secrets!

1. Greeting Cards: The price of greeting cards runs from the inexpensive $0.99 cards to the $7.99 musical numbers, or even higher. Often, the Hubs and I skip cards altogether, instead writing each other fun little notes. This year, we took the idea a bit further.

Did you know there are many places online where you can personalize and create your own cards? Some sites contain instructions on how to build your card from items around the home; others are sites which offer print at home, either for free or a  minimal cost.

This year, the Hubs made me a 'surprise inside' card, shaped like a Hershey's kiss (pictured above)! After untying the ribbon, several layers of sweet messages greeted me. He found the tutorial online here: Personalized Pyramid Card

I'm a more traditional girl, mainly because if I tried to make a fancy card, it would wind up as a pile of crumpled paper. I don't have enough patience. Instead, I found a printable site and personalized the card before printing it at home! There are many, many sites which offer this option, but here are a few I found:

Greeting Bee

About.com FREEBIES

2. Breakfast in Bed: This is a super easy way to say 'I love you'! If you're anything like me, then you do all the cooking. One of my favorite things is when the Hubs cooks for me, instead of the other way around.  Boxed pancake mix is simple, and inexpensive. You can dress up this basic breakfast by serving your pancakes with heart-shaped strawberries on top.

What if your significant other doesn't like pancakes? Or, heaven forbid, strawberries??

There are other solutions! Check out these links for some fun ideas:

Romantic Breakfast Recipes

More Recipes

... and even more!

How to decorate the tray

Tips from Mr. Breakfast

            3. Flowers: Flowers, flowers, flowers... so beautiful, so lovely, and so expensive. And yet, women love flowers. Even me!

For the Hubs and I, it's hard to justify funds on a gift that will eventually die. Not everyone feels this way. But there are a few tricks out there to save some dough. For example, instead of spending $100 on a professional arrangement, purchase a simple bouquet at your local grocery store and arrange the flowers yourself.

Arranging flowers a little too scary for you? Try out these tips and tricks: 10 Fun Tips for Flower Arranging. You can do it!

Another great idea to earn some brownie points? Make your own paper, tissue, or origami flowers. Don't be afraid to try something new! If you fail, you can always buy that expensive bouquet, right?  Take a look at some of these Paper Flower Tutorials.

4. Movie night: Another dating tradition, movie night. Sadly, by the time you buy tickets, popcorn, candy, and drinks, your movie night has become an expensive money pit. If you're looking to save some cash, but still have a great time, try some of these money-saving options:

a. Rent from Redbox. At $1.25 a rental, you can watch several movies without hurting your wallet.

b. Browse your personal collection. Put together a movie evening full of your (and your significant other's!) favorite picks.

c. Fancy up your microwave popcorn: Topping ideas, and Popcorn recipes

                    d.   Pick up candy at the supermarket or dollar store.

                    e. Buy your favorite soda/beverage, but serve it with heart-shaped ice cubes.

                    f. Instead of uncomfortable movie-theatre chairs, set the stage with comfy seating                                 arrangements. Use big, fluffy pillows on the couch, offer blankets for snuggling. Be                                 creative!

                   g. Make 'tickets' to commemorate your special day

                   h. Pick a theme. Example: If you're watching "Finding Nemo", have gummy fish or goldfish,                    tint your popcorn blue, etc.

5. Dinner Reservations: Dinner out can really stress your budget. Between appetizers, drinks, entrees, and dessert... it's expensive! Plus, you have to factor in the tip. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to save your budget in this area.

a. Instead of eating out, pick up takeout from your favorite restaurant and eat in. Serve dinner on your best china or plates. Heck, serve it on paper plates, picnic style! Get creative and use what you have around you. The cloth napkins that were a wedding gift you never use? USE THEM NOW!

b. Candles always set the mood. Light just a few, or light dozens, whatever you like.

c. Play romantic music in the background. No appropriate music on your iPod? No worries! Start a selection on Pandora or Songza.

d. Cook dinner yourself! Even if you burn it, you can always go to plan B (order pizza and laugh about it!)

Check out these sites for romantic dinner ideas:
Candlelit Dinner Ideas

Romantic Recipes

Aphrodisiac Foods

6. Don't forget Dessert!: Chocolate is almost always a great way to go. Buy it at the supermarket, or make it yourself, but spruce up your dessert with romantic notions. Use heart-shaped cookie cutters or patterns. Add cupcake toppers, or candy hearts. Make fondue and feed it to each other. The ideas are endless! But, if you can't think up any on your own, here are a few ideas:

25 Romantic Desserts

Chocolate-Free Romantic Desserts

Heart-shaped Ideas



All of these things are great ideas to make your day special and not burn a hole in your pocket. But don't forget the MOST important item on the list: ENJOY EACH OTHER. You never know when it might be your last celebration together. Take each moment, and make it last. It doesn't matter how much money you spend, or where you go... what matters is that you're together.

One last tip before I go... record your memories. Take pictures, treasure keepsakes. These items are not only wonderful and sentimental, but they make great ingredients for your gifts next year!

Happy celebrating, my friends!

Thanks for reading, friends! 

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or on Pinterest, my newest obsession @ ArmyLifeFromTheWife

When the Hubs is away...

The facts of life for a military wife: There will be times (many of them!) you are separated from your spouse. While deployments are one of the hardest, and usually the longest, separations, they are not the only times you're missing each other.

Many variables will affect your family time together, but one thing is guaranteed. You have to prepare yourself to be alone at times. There are deployments, field exercises, schools, duty times... the list goes on and on. 

Everyone has different ways of dealing with these separations. For me, the why determines how I cope. Is it a short duty span, maybe 24 hours? Is it longer field time or perhaps a few months away at a school? Or is it a year and more, fearing for his safety while he's deployed? Each one is different.

The shorter spans are much easier to handle. In fact, they can even be fun if you let them! When the Hubs is away for a week or less, I try to use the time as an opportunity. Keeping myself busy not only speeds the time along, but I can do things I normally wouldn't when the Hubs is home.  

For example: 

This is one of my 'away' rituals. Takeout Chinese (which the Hubs refuses to eat when home), and some seriously 'girlie' movies. Yep, I'm not ashamed, that's Taylor Launter. Action movie or not, this is still a chick flick. I also rented the Smurfs movie. Don't judge me! 

When I think of the Hubs being gone for those shorter time periods, I think of Chinese and girl movies. Yes, I miss him. Yes, I wish he was here. But missing him and wishing he was here isn't going to change the facts: he's still away. He can't call in sick. He can't just take the day off. Spouses either find ways to cope or they slowly go a bit wonky. Obviously, judging from my movie taste, I went a bit wonky before I discovered these coping skills.   

I have a whole list of 'away' rituals. Sometimes I have pajama Mondays. Or Tuesdays or Wednesdays, or whatever day he's not here. I love just hanging out in my pjs with my fluffy socks on and curling up with a good book. On other days, I score a lunch out with my girl pals. Maybe I cook seafood for dinner, since the Hubs would veto that on a normal day. Or I rack up the miles hiking with my friend Abby (You can check out her hiking blog here, she's amazing!)

http://1000milesonmyowntwofeet.blogspot.com/

Now, thanks to Abby, I have a new outlet... blogging! Hahaha. 

While it's never fun to be apart, you do the best you can. Longer separations require different things, which I'm sure I'll ramble on about eventually. For now though, I'm happy with the Smurfs and Taylor Launter. 

Do you have 'away' rituals? What are the ones you like best? You don't need to be military to have them, other people travel for business too. Maybe you're the one who's gone, how do you deal with leaving your family behind?

Don't be shy! Inquiring minds want to know  :)