A Change In Weather, Among Other Things

Two weeks ago, I'd just returned from Croatia.  While the weather there hadn't exactly been warm, our trip had been favored with almost entirely sunny weather and clear skies.

We got back to Prague in time to watch the transition begin from autumn to winter.  That first week back, all you could see out my window and on the walk to the metro was fall colors.  Reds, oranges, yellows and browns were falling all over the place, blowing around in the wind and piling up under trees and on sidewalks.  I make it a habit to try to find the crunchiest leaves to step on as I walk along.  Katherine and I agree - it probably has something to do with growing up in a place that doesn't get autumn.

Croatian Explorations

As you may or may not know, I had the last week off of school.  Fall break came laden with expectations, as people went off to Stockholm, Dublin, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Barcelona, Rome, Naples, Istanbul, Sicily, the Cinque Terre, Madrid, Marrakesh.  Yeah, major cities or tourist destinations.  And our plans had started off big: we were going to get Balkans EuRail passes and head into Serbia, exploring Montenegro, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania before heading home in only 10 days, in the ambitious way that plans always begin.

We then had everything fall through.  The flight we'd booked home from Bucharest?  Canceled.  The EuRail pass?  Impossible to get.  A week before fall break began, we had only a bus ticket to Novi Sad, Serbia, and big expectations.