May is usually my favorite month of the year in Prague, and this year it paid off big. This year, friends from all over the world flew in for a celebration Charlie and I threw.
Let’s take a look at what made May wonderful!
Destinations Visited
- Prague, Czech Republic
- Kraków and Oświęcim, Poland
Highlights
Throwing a huge anniversary-birthday party. This month, Charlie and I essentially threw a big party to celebrate our second anniversary and Charlie’s birthday.
Friends and family flew in from all over the world, and we basically threw our wedding reception a second time at the same venue, Arthur’s Pub in Prague! It was cozy and delicious and the cake was SO good and there was way too much food, once again…
But overall, it was amazing to have so many of our loved ones in one place once again. And my mom and her friends flew in for ten full days!
This party had a bit of a different vibe than the wedding reception — but it was SO much fun. Once it got late, everyone packed into the lounge part of the bar, where Viktor the bartender kept making everyone frothy cocktails all night and just kept handing them out, not even telling us what he was making!
And we finally wrapped it up at 3:00 AM! I’m so glad we got to throw a special event for our friends. We’re already thinking of throwing the next party in three years…
A special afternoon tea at the Four Seasons. The Prague Four Seasons was one of four Four Seasons offering a special The White Lotus-themed afternoon tea! My friend Klara and I went to enjoy it, which the Four Seasons comped for us.
It was probably the most beautiful afternoon tea I’ve ever seen, and every dish was Thai-influenced. I made an Instagram Reel about it — you can watch it here.
The beginning of a fun trip to Poland. My friend Cailin and I planned a three-day trip to Kraków that spanned both May and June, so I’ll be talking about the May parts here.
One of the absolute highlights was taking Premium Class on the Leo Express. Now, THIS train is a hidden gem in Central Europe. The Premium Class car is tiny — only six seats! — and you get huge cushy seats with an obscene amount of space, as well as lots of food and drinks. And Prague to Kraków, a rare train route otherwise, only costs around $70!
On our first day in Kraków, we visited Auschwitz. This was a tough place to visit, but deeply important and meaningful, and I’m glad we got to witness it. I’ll be writing more about it at a later date.
Espresso cups. This is just a little thing, but I saw a set of six Le Creuset espresso cups in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple, never used, on Vinted. I got the set for around $30; they retail for around $80 new.
And those cups were SO worth it during this month of friends visiting — because every time I had a friend over and offered them a macchiato, I would ask them their favorite color, then watch their face light up with a grin when I handed them a coffee in a little red or yellow or purple cup.
And strangely, my little Murray Bear is now obsessed with drones. Where did this come from?! This is a cat who is scared of every contraption — we can’t even have a self-cleaning litter box in our house because they terrify him.
But he loves his dad’s drone. He needs to sit next to it whenever it’s out. He naps next to it. He stays next to it for hours.
And even when the drone takes off, he’s not scared! He just watches it with curiosity! What is up with you, Murray?
Challenges
The weather absolutely sucked this month. May is usually the most beautiful month of the year in Prague, which is why we had our wedding in late May of 2023.
And two years ago, it was absolutely PERFECT. Beautiful spring temperatures, pale blue skies with big fluffy clouds, the kind of weather that makes you want to be outside 24/7. And we were so lucky to have that.
This year? SO COLD. And rainy so much of the time. I felt awful for our friends visiting Prague for the first time who were expecting the best weather and got hit with the chilly temps! And the day after the party, May 26, it was so cold that I actually wore my long wool winter coat over a merino wool cardigan!
This year, we went straight from winter to a brief week of spring in April, back to winter, and then straight into summer. That being said — that’s pretty much what you get in Massachusetts every year, so I guess I’m used to it?
Most Popular Instagram Reel and TikTok
My most popular Reel in May was about the difference between expats and immigrants. There are so many people complaining that white people never call themselves immigrants, only expats, but that’s not true — you guys know that I talk about being an immigrant in the Czech Republic.
Altogether, the biggest difference between expats and immigrants is whether the intention is to stay permanently. And if you’d like to watch it, you can watch it on Instagram.
@adventurouskate Tips for Tiger’s Nest Bhutan
Meanwhile, my most popular TikTok in May was about what it’s like to hike to Tiger’s Nest in Bhutan. Turns out this one went viral on Bhutanese TikTok! You can watch it on TikTok.
For more travel videos, follow me on Instagram at @adventurouskate or on TikTok at @adventurouskate.
What I Watched This Month
And Just Like That Season Three has premiered, and you can add me to the many Sex and the City fans who are hate-watching the show at this point.
Just HOW can it be so bad? I honestly think the fans would be better writers at this point. Pare down the extra characters; stick to three main plotlines per episodes; add in more goofy dating subplots (Miranda and the nun was in the spirit of that!); include a brunch or dinner with the three main girls every episode talking about their escapades; clean up the slopping editing; and shoot Aidan into the sun. Boom. Solved.
What I Listened To This Month
I’m listening to all 500 of Rolling Stone‘s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, which I am enjoying immensely. I am loving discovering new artists and listening to albums I’ve somehow missed my entire life until now!
In May, I listened to albums 372-341. I’m now more than 150 albums in! Here are the highlights:
Favorite Discovery: AM by Arctic Monkeys. I remember hearing all the incredible press they got when they first came out, some publications saying they were the best new British band since The Beatles (HIGH PRAISE!), but I had never taken the time to listen to them. I should have!
This is as perfect of a pop-flavored rock album as I’ve ever heard. Excellent songwriting, excellent singing, excellent instrumentation. Just a fantastic album, and one that I know I’ll be listening to a lot more.
Other Favorite Discoveries: Sour by Olivia Rodrigo, All Things Must Pass by George Harrison, Madvillainy by Madvillain, Never Too Much by Luther Vandross.
Favorite Revisited Album: Music of My Mind by Stevie Wonder. I am a huge Stevie fan, and this is actually my favorite album by him. It was his first album where he had full creative control. The songs are diverse, yet immaculate, and while not as sophisticated as his later work, you can see the potential in every song. “Superwoman” is my all-time favorite song by him.
Stevie’s big three albums that won the Album of the Year Grammy three out of four years in a row tend to get more attention (Innervisions, Fulfillingness’ First Finale, and Songs in the Key of Life) — but if you’re looking for a great album you might not be familiar with, listen to Music of My Mind!
Favorite Songs: “Superwoman” by Stevie Wonder; “Mayonaise” by Smashing Pumpkins; “Do I Wanna Know?” by Arctic Monkeys; “She’s a Super Lady” by Luther Vandross; “Investigative Reports” by GZA feat. Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, and U-God; “Since I Lost My Baby” by The Temptations.
Get the playlist: I’m creating a playlist of my favorite songs from the 500 albums — maximum one per album — on Spotify. You can listen to it here.
Lowlight of the Month: “Germ Free Adolescents” by X-Ray Specs. Just really annoyed the hell out of me. I’m realizing after all these album listens that I have an aversion to late 70s early 80s pop rock, overly goofy or cute, with annoying voices. And now I realize this pretty much describes New Wave as a genre…don’t hate me, Gen-Xers!
Random Music Thoughts: I’m tracking all the albums on a spreadsheet, and sometimes it’s a bit tough to figure out what to put under “genre.” For Stevie Wonder, I’m just putting “Stevie.” Because pop seems so limiting, R&B seems so wrong, and the gospel and spirituality just fuses it into something different.
What other artists do you think have their own genre? I think Fiona Apple is another.
Also, I was 14 when The Slim Shady LP came out, in the heart of the TRL era, and WHAT AN AGE to be exposed to Eminem for the first time. I listened to that album incessantly for months, and then stopped completely. But I’m shocked how much I remembered by heart. Every word of “Guilty Conscience.” The entire weird interlude “Ken Kanniff.”
Coming Up in June 2025
Well, a lot of the stuff coming up in June has already happened! Just has been nonstop busy, which is why this May recap is being posted so late in the first place!
Cailin and I continued our trip to Kraków for a few days, and the day after I got back, Charlie and I flew to Greece. We spent three nights in Athens and flew to Crete — an utterly fantastic island where we spent a full week.
Three and a half days after getting back, I flew to Paris for a brief two-day, one-night visit to see Beyoncé in concert — and BOY, did I pick the right Paris show. Miley Cyrus was the surprise guest, and she and Beyoncé performed their duet “II Most Wanted” for the first time in public, EVER!
And the day after the concert, I took the train to London where we spent three nights and celebrated my father-in-law’s 80th birthday with lots of fun celebrations.
Between May 21 and June 23, I have had exactly one day at home without entertaining out-of-town visitors. It’s been so much fun, but this introvert is sorely in need of some quiet time.
Any plans for this summer? Share away!
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