Prague Day 9: Carry Ons and the Metic System

So here we are in our room on our last night in Prague and we have got to figure out how we are going to get our doll and other souvenirs home!

It’s late…..we packed carry on only……we still packed too much stuff and now we have souvenirs to content with.

Sam and I start trying to figure out what we can leave behind if it comes to that….do we leave our PJs? Our extra socks? What?? For me there is no leaving anything behind!

So we start re-packing…..thankfully I am able to pack all the contents of my entire ‘small purse’ carry on into my suitcase carry on so I can just carry the doll on board.

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Prague Day 8: Germany and Sprechen Sie Englisch

Well it’s finally here, our last official day abroad and we are heading to Germany. Sam and I really debated between Vienna and Dresden Germany for our one long day trip.

We went with Germany simply because it was a closer drive and I am glad that we did that because Dresden was only about an 1.50 drive one way while Vienna was more like 3 hours one way.

I really wanted to go to Bratislava, Slovakia but that too would have been about a 3.5 hour drive and I really wanted to have time to enjoy the city we visited.

So in the end Germany won out. Our tour company was supposed to pick us up at our hotel at 8:15……well that didn’t happen. It was more like 8:45 and our tour bus was supposed to depart at 9…..and we had to pick up yet another person, traffic in Prague is ridiculous so we quickly realized we would NOT be making the 9:00 am Germany bus departure.

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Review: Longbourn by Jo Baker

Reader beware…..if you love Jane Austen and are looking for something that will give you a new ‘perspective’ about the Bennet sisters, keep on looking.

Sure this novel includes the Bennet sisters and follows the traditional Pride and Prejudice story but that’s about it.

Jo Baker remakes the classic story of Pride and Prejudice from the perspective of the below stairs staff but yet it’s a story all its own and noting close to the Austen classic.

Sarah has been a maid at Longbourn since she was a child. She cleans the chamber pots, scrubs the laundry, polishes the floor and of course waits on the Bennet sisters.

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Review: The Patriot Threat (Cotton Malone #10) by Steve Berry

I’ve read a couple of the books in the Cotton Malone series and really really enjoyed them. Steve Berry has a special talent for merging politics, history, and conspiracy all together so well.

This time, our favorite ‘retired’ agent is recruited by his former boss to find a North Korean who has some top secret Treasury files.

Basically his novel begs the question “what if federal taxes were actually illegal”.

This case is anything but straight forward for Cotton and he finds himself globe trotting, trying to chase down leads and to recover the documents, not to mention wading through convoluted history.

The reader is treated to an array of historic facts (and some speculations), exotic locations, a new love interest for Cotton, and enough red herrings that keep the reader guessing until the end.

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Spotlight Feature/Guest Post: MISTRESS FIREBRAND by Donna Thorland

02_Mistress Firebrand CoverI recently read this book and really liked it, be sure to check out my review here! I really want to read the others in her series!

Publication Date: March 3, 2015
NAL Trade
Formats: eBook, Paperback
416 Pages

Series: Renegades of the American Revolution (Book 3)
Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance

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British Occupied Manhattan, 1777. American actress Jenny Leighton has been packing the John Street Theater with her witty comedies, but she longs to escape the provincial circuit for the glamour of the London stage.

When the playwright General John Burgoyne visits the city, fresh from a recent success in the capitol, she seizes the opportunity to court his patronage. But her plan is foiled by British intelligence officer Severin Devere.

Severin’s mission is to keep the pleasure-loving general focused on the war effort…and away from pretty young actresses. But the tables are turned when Severin himself can’t resist Jenny Leighton…

Months later, Jenny has abandoned her dreams of stage glory and begun writing seditious plays for the Rebels under the pen name “Cornelia,” ridiculing “Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne and his army—and undermining the crown’s campaign to take Albany. With Jenny’s name now on the hanging list, Severin is ordered to find her—and deliver her to certain death. Soon, the two are launched on a desperate journey through the wilderness, toward an uncertain future shaped by the revolution—and their passion for each other…

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