Prague, our yards, Happy St. Martin's and Veteran's days

11/11/09
Happy St. Martin's day to everyone. Here it is the day to celebrate "novello" wine which is Italy's answer to beaujolais nouveau. We are heading over to our friends at Aurora vineyard to experience their observance of the festival.
I went to Prague for a long weekend and can attest to its beauty and charms. It was my 1st time travelling to an ex soviet bloc country and appropriately, it was the observance of their 20th anniversary of freedom. I can scarcely believe it has been so long ago. I still remember getting in the tuck position under our desks in school practicing for those nuclear missiles which might arrive any minute. Now, Prague looks like it has been totally westernized with everything from TGIF, Starbucks and McDonalds to the Gap, Prada and YSL. Despite the commercialism, the city is truly a gem and I would have to rank it as one of the prettiest I have visited. It is well worth a 3-4 day visit as you can stay busy visiting castles, medieval towers, museums (Mucha, Kafka, etc.) and the old Jewish quarter which Hitler and his minions were going to leave intact as a reminder of the race they exterminated.
Back at the B&B, we are looking forward to hosting some old friends from the greater KC area including a doctor I worked with in the Belton Harrisonville area. The grass hasn't quit growing, which is good and bad. The good is the grass growing in the vineyard after all the work I performed to plant the nearly 1600 lbs of seed. The bad is I had to mow today around Nascondiglio.
The final olive oil total was 160 liters which was a bit more than last year, although we did trade some last year to pay the mill. Bill Ross is the 1st to bring the new oil back to the states, but I plan on bringing at least 5 liters when I come back next month.
We had some pest problems this year with a troublesome fly and lost almost all of our "tenere" variety, but the others were more resistant and we found an organic spray which helped some with prevention. At any rate, there is no noticeable defect in the oil when I tasted it, which is the important thing.
Happy Veteran's Day to all who served or lost loved ones.
Here is the Prague slide show; just copy and paste
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qJi1c8uTVA
The pictures show before and after the grass started growing, a shot of our scenery and various Prague fotos including the memorial for the student who set himself on fire in 1969 to protest soviet rule and who bacame a catalyst for the movement for independence. There is also the miracle producing baby jesus doll who has elegant outfits donated from all over the world. I won't say more.
dds