Dubai Life: A Very Short Walk

We took Phoebe for a walk around the neighborhood tonight, the first in several months.  Because Dubai is so hot during the summer, Phoebe has spent most of her time doing this:

And after 4 months of laying around, my super active, bouncy, run-laps-around-the-yard-for-fun dog has gotten a bit lazy.  

So I've been watching the temperature closely, and tonight after dinner it was finally cool enough for a short walk.  Well, "cool enough" in relative terms - it was still 90F.  The photos are pretty awful but I wanted to give a glimpse of what our neighborhood looks like (in a nutshell - just like Las Vegas).  But I haven't mastered the art of sweaty/humid nighttime iPhone photography yet.

We didn't go very far, maybe 1/2 mile, but Phoebe is so done.

Travel: Prague, Czech Republic - The Good, the Weird, and the Shopping

This last post is a round-up of the other things we did that aren't related to food, drinks, or staring at buildings.  We did quite a bit of walking on our trip, and these photos are from the miles we put on my new sneakers (which we bought there because I didn't bring any).

THE GOOD

One of my very favorite moments was at the top of Vysehrad Fortress.  Just after you enter the walls, there is a little hill on the right side.  We walked to the top to see the view, but the shady walk down was even better.  It made us both miss living in/near the forest.

Prague was also a really dog-friendly city - there were dogs everywhere we went, and all of them were so well behaved.  We were pleasantly surprised by the large number of off-leash dogs, casually walking beside their owners throughout the city.  It made me miss Phoebe.  And Washington, for how freely she was allowed to accompany me there.

A heavily petted consolation prize

One of the fun novelties was the Paternoster (open elevator) in the YMCA building.  There are only a handful of these left in the world.

THE WEIRD

There were a couple of really bizarre things, which I loved for their strangeness.  First, I dragged Steven into the Prague City Gallery where we saw their Cronenberg Evolution exhibit.  Neither one of us are very familiar with Cronenberg, so we had no idea what to expect.  

Definitely the coolest part of the exhibit.  Photo credit: Cronenberg Evolution website

Second, on our way to BeerGeeks (good selection, but we were ~10 years older than everyone there) we stumbled upon the Biserica Preasfânta Inimă a lui Isus (ie the Church of the Most Sacred Heart of our Lord).  The church itself was unlike any I've ever seen, and the nighttime lighting added extra drama.  But the Zizkov Television Tower (ie the Baby Tower) looming in the background made it feel downright ominous.  Unfortunately, we didn't get close enough to see the creepy babies climbing the tower in the dark, but just knowing they were there was enough to feel eerie.

THE SHOPPING

We found the custom stationery shop, Papelote, shop using one of Jan and Zuzi's guides and I was pretty pleased.  I've been searching for a moleskin alternative for quite some time, and these were just what I wanted.  They're well made, attractive, and super affordable.  I bought 1/2 a dozen things here.

And this florist shop. Most quaint florist ever? Movie set? Hobbit shop?

Perhaps our favorite shop, though, was the Cihelna Concept Store.  It's practically underneath the Charles bridge, but tucked away from the heavy traffic.  The store features Czech designers - both new comers and seasoned experts - and we fell in love.  Jan and Zuzi's note said we would most certainly buy things here...and they were right.  We couldn't resist.

Tucked away

One for me, one for Sven.  Can you guess which one I picked?

And that's a wrap on Prague...for now.

Phoebe la foca

Phoebe is slowly getting used to the new people, sounds, smells, and neighboring animals. She's accustomed to our "move a lot" lifestyle and the transition from Gig Harbor has been pretty easy for her, or so it seems. She has spurts of frenzied activity that mostly involve ball chasing and doing countless "perimeter checks" (it's a territorial thing where she runs around the entire perimeter of the fence line looking for intrusions), which is something she started doing in Gig Harbor. And she still spends most of her day passed out on the tile floor (instead of the expensive dog bed) and most evenings whining/grumbling to herself (not very quietly) about hypothetical animals invading the backyard. 

So in short, she's the same mostly-lazy-but-sometimes-crazy pup that she's always been.  :)  

Except at night, when the neighbors cat jumps on the wall.  Then she is totally out of her mind and there's no consoling her.  This happens once a week.  One night per week she goes bonkers about a real animal.  The other six nights she vigilantly watches and grumbles about how THIS COULD BE THE NIGHT the cat reappears.  Poor Phoebe, and poor us for having to listen to it.

She loves sunny corners

And steals my yoga mat when I get up for water

We explore neighborhood shortcuts after a running in the park (clarification: she runs, I stand there)

Everything is made better with more naps

Gig Harbor vs Dubai - different scenery, same crazy dog

A Walk to the Beach

Last weekend, Phoebe and I spent 2-3 hours at Titlow Beach and it was good reminder that some of the best things in life are a little rough and understated.  Our favorite part of the beach seems the least desirable at first glance - it's narrow and gets flooded at high tide, there are giant cement slabs everywhere, a decaying beach shelter, and train tracks running all along the side.

But it's also quiet enough that we can roam for hours without disturbing anyone, where giant driftwood logs get brought in by the tides (great for jumping over), crabs hangout in the hundreds between the cement slabs, dozens of big purple starfish hang out in the shallow water, and a small stream provides fresh drinking water to my thirsty pup.

Phoebe was so confused by the diving Scoters. Where do they goooo?

She'll jump logs all day but simply refuses to do this.

Five seconds later she bashed her face into my hand trying to eat it.

A Walk in the Woods

I like taking Phoebe for long walks and since we're in Washington, those walks are often in the woods. We're both happiest when we can meander freely amongst the trees.

Sitting on a tree stump, patiently waiting for me to let her jump off.

Mushrooms appear so quickly after the rain - sometimes the same walk can be completely different from one week to the next

I love the teeny, tiny, pin-sized mushrooms.  

I think this one is called Calocera viscosa. It looks more like coral than a mushroom, doesn't it?

Sometimes I try to teach her hide and seek, which is just sit and stay. Can you spot her?

Phoebe's least favorite part - the required 'after-bath'. She won't even look at me.