The Greatest Czech No One Heard of – Eduard Ingriš

Jára Cimrman also known as “the Master”, is a Czech fictional polymath, a made-up and imaginary personality presented as a universal genius, and one of the greatest Czech playwrights, poets, composers, teachers, travelers, philosophers, inventors, and sportsmen of the 19th and early 20th century. Playing along with the pretense of his real existence is part...

Bohemians, Men, PEOPLE

May 5, 2018

Happy Birthday to My Beautiful Mother, Anna Hilmar

My mother, Anna Hilmar (Anička Hilmarová, born Anna Müllerová) arrived on this earth on May 5, 1944. It was Friday, under the sign of Taurus. In 1944, the world was plunged into the chaos of World War II and yet this beautiful ray of sunshine came into the world. When Anna was born, her father, Vaclav Müller...

PEOPLE, TresBohemes

November 23, 2017

Things I am Most Thankful For This Thanksgiving

The things I am most thankful for this Thanksgiving are so numerous, it’s difficult to know where to begin. The obvious blessings immediately come to mind such as health, love, good friends, freedom, opportunities, sunshine, fresh air, food, water, moon and stars, music, medicine, natural places, art, safety, laughter, kindness, books, supermarkets, transportation… Most of...

Holidays

December 4, 2016

Valuable Life Lessons from My Czech Grandmother

Happy Birthday Babička Marie – I Miss You. Tomorrow would be my grandmother’s 93rd Birthday if she were still alive. She’d surely be just as beautiful as she always was. Today I’m sharing valuable life lessons from my Czech grandmother. My grandmother, Marie (born Šrámková) was born on December 5, 1923, in Prague, Czech Republic. Her...

PEOPLE, TresBohemes

October 24, 2016

Tres Bohemes at Huffington Post

We had an exciting weekend. Sunday morning someone emailed me that our interview was posted at Huffington Post! We’re excited about this because they have a large following and it will place Tres Bohemes in front of a lot of new people! You can read the interview here. We’re really excited about this and would love if you...

PEOPLE, TresBohemes

Kytka-Hilmar-Jezek-Birthday-Tres-Bohemes

August 1, 2016

Happy Birthday, Kytka

Today (August 1st, 2016) is my mother Kytka’s birthday. In case you don’t know who that is, she is the founder of and an author here at Tres Bohemes. She is a true Bohemian. She was born in the Czech Republic and her parents immigrated to the US in search of a new life without communism....

PEOPLE, Women

July 26, 2016

Camping at Rabštejn nad Střelou in 1966 aka Ravenstone

Rabštejn nad Střelou (Raven stone over bullet or missile in English or Rabenstein in German) is a part of the city of Manětín, located in the Plzeň (Pilsen) district. It is an old historic town on the river Střela about 30 kilometers north of Pilsen. Today, I am sharing some memories of camping at Rabštejn nad...

LIFESTYLE, Tramping

July 21, 2016

Delicious Czech Cheesecake (Tvarohový koláč)

We’re always on the lookout for a delicious Czech cheesecake (Czech: Tvarohový koláč) recipe so imagine my surprise when I found it in one of my own cookbooks (entitled My Cookbook) from 1973. Last weekend, we were unpacking some boxes which had been sitting in storage for many years – decades – I found old volunteering awards, penmanship...

Food, LIFESTYLE, Recipes

July 20, 2016

Czech Bread Recipe

For Czechs, bread is a way of life. Everywhere you go, fresh bakeries on town squares send delicious aromas to the street, luring in people for their earthy and hearty loaves. Czech bread is known the world over for its delicious taste and texture. I’ll share a little family story… After my grandmother Marie divorced...

Food, LIFESTYLE, Recipes

July 13, 2016

The Czechoslovak People’s Army in the Early 1960s

A Look Back at the Czechoslovak People’s Army in the Early 1960s is inspired by today’s date, July 13th. Today is a special day because it’s my father’s birthday, and while I was looking at old photographs of him, I found this collection of old army photos of him and his friends. Now I cannot...

Bohemians, CULTURE, Photography

frantisek-hilmar-kytka-FM-Hilmar-Frantisek-Matej-Hilmar-Polka

June 28, 2016

František Hilmar, Father of the Polka

Here is something that most of you may not know about our family… My father can trace his history back to around 1648, when the first Hilmar (Hylmar) came from Swedish/Nordic territory to Košťanech (in what’s now known as the Czech Republic) as a soldier in the Thirty Years’ War. He settled and made his...

Bohemians, CULTURE, LIFESTYLE, Music

June 17, 2016

Mount Airy Lodge and the Czech Connection

Now is the perfect time And the feeling is just right You can play all day and dance into the night At beautiful Mount Airy Lodge All you have to bring Is your love of everything… Surely you remember the popular commercial which seemed to play day and night advertising the beautiful Mount Airy Lodge...

LIFESTYLE

March 13, 2016

The Retro Prams of Prague

When I was born, my mother wheeled me around in style with a high pram with springs for comfort and style. This was (and still is) called a kočárek or kočár, a coach (or buggy). These retro prams are the ultimate! I just love them. I imagine that if I could remember that far back, that I would say that...

LIFESTYLE

July 15, 2015

The Cowboy and the Senorita

The Cowboy and the Senorita book arrived and I jumped in right away. My father loved Roy Rogers and Dale Evans and as a child, their shows or music was always playing somewhere in the background. They represented America and an imagined west that can only exist in the mind of immigrants who visualized the American...

Books, ENTERTAINMENT

January 26, 2015

Visiting the Cemetery in Prague

Vinohradský hřbitov (Vinohrady Cemetery) is located in Prague 10. The cemetery was established in 1885 and has grown, expanding in size 3 times over the years. Currently the cemetery sits on 25 acres. It contains the largest crematorium in Europe, Strašnice Crematorium. Antonín Turek was a municipal architect in 1897 and he designed the chapel which is near the...

PLACES, Prague, TresBohemes

August 29, 2013

Archives: Fasting Gives Mother New Life

Even though it has been over 15+ years, I still get asked about my mother’s 21 day fasting experience and while this has been shared on some of my other sites over the years – I am also sharing it here for those of you who wanted the information. I wrote this in August of...

PEOPLE, TresBohemes