A bit of a back log...

So I really had intended to get this out BEFORE I had another big weekend, but then I ended up not having functioning internet in my flat. I really do want to make sure that doesn't happen next year. It would be so much nicer to be able to just type whenever I really want to type. But for now, I'll do my best to make up for it and fill in a few things from LAST weekend.
Last weekend Yara, who is kind of like the ultimate Winfield Student, took us for a little drive around the area. Yara is in his 60's I think, and doesn't have enough to do with all his time, so he has decided to take up English. I'm not sure exactly how many years he's been studying at Winfield now, but he shows up to multiple classes every week, at least when he feels like it. He also spent a few months in Canada last year to study some more. Anyhow, we were thankful that he was willing to drive us around and show us some places it would have been difficult for us to get on our own.
The first place we went was a tower in the small town of Krasno. The ride there was a lot of fun, especially for Naomi who didn't grow up on the river road, and was freaking out around pretty much every corner. I don't know what she'd do if I ever took her for a ride down HWY 96. Probably cry ;)
It is always interesting to see the differences in the trees and things around here. They have some typical looking evergreens, but when you get up closer, they really are quite different. I was particularly fascinated by the way the cones grew on this one.

I've just never seen anything quite like it.
We continued up through a field, which made Naomi feel more at home, and suddenly, there before us, we saw the tower.


The view was really nice when we climbed to the top as well. However, we had to wait until the massive tour group was finished before we could really see very much, and then, almost immediately, we were surrounded by small children all over the place. Hmmm... Made it a little hard to just enjoy the view, but it was good anyway.
Yara didn't know exactly how old the tower was, or exactly the purpose. He'd actually heard some rumor that it was built to remember Hitler, which was rather disturbing. I'd prefer to think that it was some ancient watchtower built to warn the villagers when some sort of danger was approaching. So I have an imagination, it really can be helpful...
We wandered around the small town for a while. The name Krasno is a derivation of the word beautiful, and the place really was very quaint. I must admit, however, that I have been in sooooo many quaint little towns over this year that it's getting hard to keep them all straight.
when we were finished there he drove us to a nature reserve called Kladska'. There was a really nice nature trail there, and we walked around for a while enjoying the interesting nature, and, naturally, posing :)


After our walk, Yara "invited" us to have a little snack at the cafe there. Tammy, who had a bit more knowledge than we did, didn't fully warn us that when we ordered the blueberry dumplings we would be getting a dish so massive that there was NO way we would be able to finish it. Three dumplings might not sound like a lot, but let me tell you, I could scarcely make it through one! The dumplings they make here are of a bread dough base. Inside they're filled with some kind of fruit, in this case blueberries, and then they are drenched in butter, and sprinkled with Tvarovah, which is a kind of sweet soft cheese. Not really cream cheese though. They're good, but VERY heavy to say the least!
So that was last Friday. Now I'll end this off with a few fun pictures I've taken around Cheb recently. You'll have to wait for this past weekend until at least tomorrow.




That last picture there is of the Lumpmobile that I mentioned in an earlier post. Gotta admit it's pretty amusing. And now I'll end this lovely little post with a picture of my favorite little ducklings!