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I absolutely love May — it is the best month of the year in Prague, in my opinion, and it’s one of the best months to travel in Europe as well.
This month was mostly spent in Prague, with everything that I love about the city — food festivals, hiking, fine dining, and beautiful views from everywhere. But then we added on six days in England to visit the cheese-rolling, explore Bristol, and amble through the Cotswolds for a few days.
Let’s take a look at what I got up to this month!
Table of Contents
Destinations Visited
- Prague, Srbsko, and Karlštejn, Czech Republic
- Henley-on-Thames, Stow-on-the-Wold, Bourton-on-the-Water, Lower Slaughter, Upper Slaughter, Cirencester, Tetbury, Bristol, Gloucester, Brockworth, Shurdington, Cheltenham, and Windsor, England
Highlights
A fun trip to the UK that was very different from our usual visits. While Charlie and I visit his family in London often, we almost never spend time in other areas of the UK, so it was nice to go for six days and explore some places in England we hadn’t visited before.
We started in the Cotswolds, a region known for its beautiful stone cottages covered with ivy, beautiful hikes, and picture-perfect storybook towns.
This was just a quick dip through several towns, and some of my favorites were Bourton-on-the-water (for the beauty and waterside pubs), the Slaughters (for the quiet scenery on the hourlong return walk between them), and Cirencester (for the local feel in the middle of a touristy region).
Next up was Bristol, a city in the southwest of England that seems to fly under the radar but has lots of passionate fans. Bristol is a university city and it feels very youthful and a bit offbeat and artsy. I enjoyed it very much.
But the biggest highlight of Bristol for us was eating at Wilson’s, a Michelin-starred restaurant that was featured in the Apple TV+ series Knife Edge. Guys, I’m not kidding when I say this is one of the best meals I have ever had in my life. It was stupefyingly good. And it was absurdly good value for money (78 GBP for a seven-course tasting menu).
I wouldn’t be surprised if our future trips to London have Bristol tacked on at the beginning or end, just so we can eat at Wilson’s again!
The cheese-rolling! The Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling was the main reason for our UK trip, and it was incredible getting to witness the event in person!
I wrote a full detailed post in the experience, so I won’t repeat myself here. I will say that I had a blast, was very happy to attend, but I doubt I will ever do it again. The reasons why are in the post.
Also, Charlie was very happy this month as Arsenal won the Premier League for the first time in 22 years! He actually stayed in the UK an extra week so he could go to the parade!
Lots of good times in Prague. Charlie and I did two hikes this month — one to Velka Amerika, the “Czech Grand Canyon” close to Karlštejn Castle, and one in Divoka Šarka, which is within the Prague city limits, not far from the airport.
There was also a spicy and fermented foods festival in Holešovice, where we tasted and bought so many cool foods from local makers, including an extremely spicy caramel corn that blew our minds (as well as our faces off).
We also had our annual dinner at El Camino, one of my favorite Prague restaurants, which I think is one of the best special occasion restaurants in the city and always delights. They are a Spanish restaurant that pushes the limits of what you think tapas can be.
Challenges
I had a little health scare with Murray this month. He seemed sullen, he didn’t want to eat treats, he wouldn’t look up when I called to him, and he seemed to be breathing very fast, which is a scary symptom that can be very serious in cats.
So I took him to the vet — and one exam, two x-rays, two ultrasounds, and one round of bloodwork later, he was totally fine. Of course. He probably just got a bit overheated.
The good news is that this new vet is a five-minute drive away, operates 24/7, and has a full English-speaking staff. There wasn’t even a wait on a Saturday afternoon.
Until now, we’ve been using two vets: one a five-minute walk from us who only speaks Czech (so only Charlie can communicate, and even then, Charlie’s medical Czech is limited), and a team of vets a 20-30 minute drive away who are FIP experts and were the best for treating Lewis’s FIP five years ago, but who always have a long wait.
Also, the city of Gloucester, England. As someone who is a regular visitor to Gloucester, Massachusetts, I was interested to check out its namesake and see its cathedral.
Well. The cathedral is nice — the outside of it, at least (we didn’t go in because a service was going on). But we had one word for the town itself: “Woof.” It’s pretty bleak. It was a complete waste of time, and I’m salty that we devoted about 90 minutes of our lives to getting there and exploring.
Trust me — if you ever go to the cheese-rolling, skip Gloucester and go to the much nicer Cheltenham instead.
Blog Posts of the Month
How to Attend the Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling — My complete guide to attending this crazy event as a spectator (or as a participant, if that’s your thing!).
What NOT to Do in Uzbekistan — I love writing “what not to do” guides, and this is a must-read before visiting Uzbekistan.
There’s So Much To Love About Madrid — Madrid is truly a city for city connoisseurs, and I really need to get back there soon!
Most Popular Reel on Instagram
Solo female travel in the Muslim world — what are men like? Every time I get back from solo traveling in a Muslim country, I inevitably get asked how the men treated me. And honestly? I get treated much better by then men than I do in western countries.
For more live updates from my travels and cool videos, follow me on Instagram at @adventurouskate.
What I Watched This Month
Nothing really notable this month. I’m trying to get through the final season of Euphoria, but it’s hard when you’re rolling your eyes so much. I’m so glad Zendaya is finally free of this shitshow (but of course I need to keep watching to see what happens).
And if you’re looking for a stupid but funny comedy under 90 minutes, Charlie and I watched The Campaign on Netflix (with Will Ferrell and Zack Galifianakis) on a whim and laughed SO much harder than we expected to.
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 number 68-51. Holy crap, I’m 90% through this project.
Favorite Discovery: Station to Station by David Bowie. I had never listened to this album before, but “Golden Years” is one of my favorite Bowie songs, and the rest of the album has that same vibe!
I’m a big disco fan, and I feel like some of the best disco albums (like Marvin Gaye’s I Want You) don’t get characterized as disco because they’re not the more garish representation of the genre.
This album is the perfect 70s hybrid of rock and disco. The dance beats, the wild bass lines, the guitars, his undeniable vocals — I adored every bit of it. This one is going into my rotation.
Other Favorite Discoveries: Aja by Steely Dan, Hounds of Love by Kate Bush, Stankonia by Outkast, Astral Weeks by Van Morrison.
Favorite Revisited Album: Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. I was first introduced to this album in high school: the teacher of my musical theater class had a stroke, we got a long-term sub, and there were no real curriculum plans for the class, so we did the most random things. And one day we watched The Wizard of Oz with Dark Side of the Moon.
And I watched those two together many more times in college, and I really grew to love the album. By now I know it almost by heart. (In fact, one of my trivia league’s questions the other day was to name three of the ten tracks on the album!)
I love this album so much — it genuinely feels like a musical, with the same existential themes throughout, and callbacks to earlier songs.
Plus, I love songs with unusual time signatures, as well as songs with strong, unique bass lines, and “Money” is the poster child for both of those things!
Other Favorite Revisited Albums: Talking Book by Stevie Wonder.
Favorite Songs: “Stay” by David Bowie, “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush, “Humble Mumble” by Outkast and Erykah Badu, “Peg” by Steely Dan, “Tuesday Heartbreak” by Stevie Wonder, “Time” by Pink Floyd, “All Along the Watchtower” by Jimi Hendrix, “Paid in Full” by Eric B & Rakim, “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” by James Brown.
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: I’ve said many times that I’m not a fan of compilation albums being on this list, and this month included James Brown’s Star Time: a compilation album that was four hours and 45 minutes long, making it the longest album on the list (and beating Merle Haggard’s Down Every Road at 4:15!).
It’s not like this is the only James Brown album on the list. There are three. Rolling Stone choosing to put an album that long on the list is taking the piss and making me feel annoyed while listening to it. And I say this as someone who likes James Brown! (“James, how did this all begin–” “LIVING IN AMEEEERICA!”)
Random Music Thoughts: I love when an album shows you little Easter eggs from other songs. I had never really listened to Eric B & Rakim before, but I noticed a few origins of references from 50 Cent’s songs, including the line “Check-check out my melody,” which made me exclaim, “Oh, so THAT’S 50’s favorite rapper!”
Something else worth noting: I noticed that there was a dearth of women coming up, and turns but there are no female musicians on the list between number 56 (Liz Phair’s Exile in Guyville) and number 33 (Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black). That’s a big gap.
*Disclaimer: QUITE A LOT of the musicians featured on this list are problematic in various ways — there are even two murderers in the mix. I’m looking at their music solely from an influential perspective.
What I Read This Month
Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden (2025) — Belle Burden thought she had a strong family life. She came from BIG generational wealth (Vanderbilt family), went to Harvard, became a lawyer, married a colleague named “James,” and stopped working to be a stay-at-home parent to their three children.
She emptied her trusts to buy their Manhattan apartment and their summer home on Martha’s Vineyard, and her husband was the sole earner and manager of their finances. For years, they seemed to have a lovely family life. Then out of the blue, she discovered he was having an affair and he decided to leave her (in the scary early days of the pandemic!), stop actively parenting except for the occasional dinner, and take as much of her money as he could.
Now. A lot has been said about this book: most of it about Burden’s wealth and that she was never going to be destitute after this divorce. Honestly, I thought I wouldn’t enjoy the book, because who can relate to someone that wildly wealthy?
Oh, but I loved this book and I am ready to ride into battle for Belle because HER HUSBAND, WHOSE REAL NAME IS HENRY, FUCKING SUCKS. This is a memoir about how her husband financially conned her for decades. How your partner of decades can become a stranger overnight.
I think this book is so important for women to read. It’s VITAL to know every detail of your finances, even if your spouse handles the financial stuff. If someone with that money and that education can get conned, it can happen to anyone.
It was also shocking hearing how some people treated her. When she told people her multi-millionaire husband was trying to take enough money that she’d have to sell both homes, and only pay the bare minimum of child support when she had been a stay-at-home parent for nearly 20 years, men would almost always laugh and say, “Oh, he’s playing hardball.” THE FUCK?! Where is the comedy in this, sir?
Also, who chooses to opt out of parenting?! Who has as much wealth as he does (guess what, he made millions a year and she had no idea) and decides to get a two-bedroom apartment and use one of the bedrooms as an office so his kids won’t be able to sleep over? ONCE AGAIN, YOU FUCKING SUCK, HENRY.
Anyway, I loved this book. You should read it.
Coming Up in June 2026
This month, I’m heading to the States to see my family! I’ll be in Massachusetts most of the time, and will be visiting New York for a few days as well.
In the past, I’ve tended to overschedule myself on my Stateside trips, so I’m making an effort to keep things less ambitious this time around.
But June is SUCH a good month in New England, and I want to soak up the sunshine, the beaches, the lobster rolls.
I’ve been doing a lot of long walks lately here in Prague, so I want to do two VERY long walks — I want to walk the Emerald Necklace in Boston (a network of connected parks throughout the city), and I want to walk the entire length of Broadway in Manhattan.
Both of these walks are all-day undertakings, but I’m looking forward to them!
And at the end of the month, I have a ticket to see Ricky Martin in Prague. I splurged on a good seat and I can’t wait to sing my lungs out to “Nobody Wants To Be Lonely”!
What are your plans for June? Share away!