Out and About Bohemia

Karlovy Vary from the Diana Tower

Prague to Karlovy Vary

The city was beautiful, but it was time to go see a bit of the countryside.  We've planned an excursion through Bohemia, starting in the "Spa Town" of Karlovy Vary in the northwestern part of the country.  We chose public transportation so we could enjoy the drive without worrying about directions (although google maps works great here).

There is a great website for finding train and bus schedules for getting to and from anywhere in the country.  And amazingly enough, the bus and train fairs are amazingly reasonably priced. And the buses are comfortable and come with electronics charging and wifi!

The Teplà River through the spa district of Karlovy Vary

We packed our bags and found them a bit heavier than we wanted to lug around due to the shopping we had done in Prague.  Luckily, I had a great idea to lighten that load.  We had one night that we didn't have a reservation for until we got here, and I made it at the Hilton Old Town Prague not far from the hotel we were staying in, and on the way to the bus station.  We stopped at the Hilton on our way to the bus station, and we checked in a bag to be held until we returned to check in next week.  So, my Hilton Honors Silver membership came in pretty handy here!

So, on the bus, we spent a couple of hours driving through the countryside, past farmland and forests until we arrived in Karlovy Vary.

This is  a "spa town" that has mineral hot springs all over.  Unfortunately, the springs are for

"sipping" not soaking.  There are some pretty tony spa hotels that have different spa treatments, but soaking doesn't seem to be a big thing here.

There are public access springs all over the town, and people fill these ceramic mugs with.  The mugs are built with handles that are straws that they sip the water with.

You see people all over walking around filling mugs from the springs and sipping the water.  The mineral water is said to have medicinal properties, and each spring is for different maladies.

There are several colonnades around town where there are public accessible mineral springs. The Mill Colonnade below was built in 1871

The mill colonnade structure to the left has about seven accessible mineral springs

Diana tower is 35 meters or 114 feet tall

The town is in a valley, with woodlands all around.  Above the town is the Diana Tower, a lookout
with spectacular views of the town and its surrounding forest.

We took a funicular up the side of the valley to the Tower area.  At the top is the tower, and a restaurant that has been catering to visitors since 1914. There's a children's play area and a small "mini zoo" with pigs, goats and small ponies.

We had a light lunch there, then went to the top of the tower to take in the spectacular view.  After, we made our way down through the woods on a "spa walk."

There are several kilometers of hiking trails through the woods that surround the town.  It was so nice to be in the woods after being in Prague for six days.  We were, however puzzled as to why there were no squirrels around.  There were clearly trees that bore nuts and cones around for food.  At Stag's Jump, the half way stop for the funicular we hopped back on to get back to town.




Karlovy Vary to Pilsen

St Bartholomew's Church dominates the public square in Pilsen

Another pleasant and inexpensive bus ride from Karlovy Vary to the beer capital of the world, Pilsen.

The biggest thing here is the Pilsner Urquell brewery as, according to the Lonely Planet Guide, "Pilsen is famed among beer-heads worldwide as the motherlode of all lagers, the fountain of froth..."  Now, if I was that into beer, this might have been higher on my list.  But, since we are focusing on the place of my Grandmother's birth, Bohemia, this was simply a stop on our way around the region.  We stayed at a small pension near the public square, then went for a walk where there didn't seem to be much activity.

I'll need to return to the Moravia side of the country at a later date to explore the land of my Grandfather, and also the country's wine region.

Pilsen to Cesky Krumlov

From Pilsen, we took a train to Český Krumlov. A pleasant journey through the beautiful country side and forests.  As the train station was not within walking distance of the train station, we walked to the street where we expected to find a taxi to take us into town. So did a bunch of other people.  There were none.  About 10 minutes later, a couple showed up, and of course they were swarmed.  After that, I called our hotel, and they kindly called a taxi for us. When it got there, it was a bit of a craziness, as I had to insist, with the driver's help, that he came at the hotel's call for us.  I think that he called his dispatcher to send some more taxis to the train station for the other people still there waiting. We gave a couple from Cypress a ride into town with us. It's an adventure.

The castle & castle tower (left) overlook the old tow of Cesky Krumlov

We explored the castle and climbed the tower. Yes, Linda made it all the way to the top.  The view from the top was worth the climb.

There are a lot of tourists here, and shops that cater to them.  We found a small artisan market where there were glass blowers, jewelry makers, candle makers, weavers and woodworkers.

We've had a wonderful time exploring castles, and walking around.  We've been racking up the steps, well over 10,000 each day.

We are on our way bak to Prague on Sunday.  We will spend Monday touring with a friend of mine from Portland who comes here every year to visit his good friend who also happens to be a tour guide. We will be making a trip to Marianske Lanske with detours to Rejčkova and Tachov.  Rejčkova is where Grandma was born and Tachov is where Linda's second cousin still lives. We've been in touch, but he doesn't speak English.  So, since we have an interpreter with us, we'll see if he's home when we get there.  Should be an adventure.

We'll be on our way back to Portland on Tuesday.

To the Land of My Grandparents

Many months ago, my Uncle Larry emailed me asking me if I would be willing to go with my Aunt Linda to visit the Czech Republic.

Sure, I said.  And so began the planning. That was back in in  March.  Now we are here!

We began our trip in Portland. Ten hours later, we arrived in Frankfurt, Germany, then made a connecting flight to Prague.

I want to give a shout out to Lonely Planet Travel books and websites.  I've been using them since I lived in Ecuador 30 years ago (Wow! That was a long time ago!). They are well researched, and I've never gone wrong using their recommendations.


We arrived in Prague September 5th. We made our way from the airport to the hotel with a pre-arranged driver who took the scenic route and provided some good color commentary about the sights on our way.  The Dominican Hotel is right in the middle of the old town and within walking distance of all of the sights worth seeing here.

After unpacking and cleaning up a bit, we walked out towards the Old Town Square.  We wanted to start getting oriented to the city and get a bit of exercise in since we had been sitting on planes and airports for most of the day.  Even at 8:30pm  there were crowds of people out enjoying the sights.  It was warm, the shops were still all open, selling all kinds of things to to tourists there.

Back in the hotel, maps in hand, we made plans for our outing the next day.

Old Town Square the next morning. 

After a hearty breakfast, we started out on our orientation route.  First, money exchange, then we  headed toward the Charles Bridge over the Vltava river.  What a beautiful sight.

The Charles Bridge. Prague Castle is on the hill to the left.

So we made are way to the bridge and had to pass through the bridge towers. Built in the late 14th century, the bridge was made pedestrian only after WWII.


There are about 20 statues that were erected by Catholic orders over several years after the bridge was built, like "ecclesiastical billboards," according to the Lonely Planet Guide.


On the bridge are artists selling their wares, and musicians busking.  We heard a string quartet playing "I Love Rock & Roll." There are people dressed as statues, standing still (mostly), and making sudden moves to passers by. Paintings and prints of of the local landmarks were available.  It was quite a scene.

On the other side we discovered the John Lennon Wall.  After Lennon's murder, he became a pacifist hero for many young Czechs. This wall became a political focus point for Prague youth, and the owners of the wall have bowed to the inevitable and have ceased whitewashing it, as the graffiti just comes back.

Prague Castle 

The next day is dedicated to exploring this 700,000 square meter area.

We started our day by taking the funicular up to the top of Petrin Hill.  There, we walked around the rose garden next to the Stefanik Observatory where they have three refracting telescopes that they use for scientific research, but also for public education.

At the top of the hill is the Petrin Tower. From the top of the tower we were able to get a stunning view of Prague. The weather was a bit grey. Kind of like Portland in the fall.

We have been walking. About 20,000 step or about 9 miles a day.  We are certainly getting our exercise. Walking is the best way to see things on trips like this.  From the top of Petrin hill, we made our way down toward Prague Castle.  It was a bit confusing, as there was minimal signage, but we finally made our way to the castle gate in time to see the changing of the guards.  I am so grateful that my mobile carrier and plan works here for data and texting at no extra cost. Google maps have been so helpful.

The castle is really a collection of buildings, some of which were clearly being used for government business, as well as historical sites that tourists were visiting.  We again found ourselves amusingly confused about where to purchase tickets and information for touring due to minimal signage, but we finally did after asking several people and then finding the ticket office behind us. After finally getting a detailed map of the castle area, we made our way to view the sights.

The first thing you see upon entering the courtyard is the south tower of St. Vitus Cathetdral  This is a huge structure that pretty much dominates the landscape here.

Inside is impressive with all the stained glass and art filling the building.  That pretty much sums up most cathedrals and other Catholic churches I've been in in other countries, some much poorer than here. As impressive architecturally these kinds of buildings are, they also represent some of the worst qualities of religion for me.  The opulence and wealth that the art display represent what I believe is a darker side of organized religion.  And while the Catholic Church played a big role in the history of the Czech Republic, its influence is less so now.






Down the "golden lane," also within the castle walls, displays the more common folk scenes with small residences and workshops.  Some of them refitted as gift shops.

Makine our way out of the castle, we used our Prague card to hop on the tram back to our hotel.  Great day.  More touring to come. Stay tuned.

Chocolate, Rum, the Na Pali Coast, Luaus, & Snorkeling

It rains here, but it's brief, warm and beautiful.

Chocolate and other tropical delicacies....

We spent a morning on a tour of the Steelgrass Farm chocolate tour which included a tropical fruit tasting! Starting with tahitian lime and shugar cane, we then moved on to the other tropical fruits that were in season: longan, lychee, soursop, and mountain apples. The farm also grows vanilla, and has bee hives.  The honey they produce is really delicious.  After this teaser, we went on to tour their Cacao trees where we were able to see all stages of the chocolate, from flower, to full grown pods.

After the tour, we spent time in the chocolate tasting tent, were we were regaled with a history of chocolate, and the process that it goes through from harvest to product. And during the stories, we had a blind chocolate tasting.  Tasty tour!

The Na Pali Coast

Kauai is not totally accessible by car.  The road only circles about three-quarters of the island, and with the rain washing out the road west of Hanalei, that distance is even less at this time.  So, in order to see the Na Pali (the Cliffs) in the northwest, we took a boat tour that included a short snorkel and lunch.  Lovely trip with a crew that made the trip really fun. Captain Chad, a native Hawaiian, had great stories to tell, and made the long trip back fun with an open bar and karaoke.

On our way out and, a large pod of spinner dolphins followed us. The weather was great, except at the snorkel sight, where the wind picked up, and the clouds obscured the view of the coast, but that is kind of normal for here.  Saw some fish, but there weren't any rocks near enough to see any interesting corals or urchins. We did see, on our way some Hawaiian Humpback Whales.  Several blows and one breach.  Pretty cool!

Farmers Market & Rum Tasting

We spent Saturday at the farmers market, finding and purchasing some of the fruits we tasted at the Steelgrass Farm tour, and to have lunch.  Kalua Pork.  I learned that Kalua is simply the cooking method used to prepare the pork.

We also bought one of the "sugarloaf" pineapple, a white, lower acid pineapple with a creamy color.  I remember pineapples like this from my days in Ecuador.

And since sugar cane was a major agricultural crop on the island (it isn't any more), we had to stop at the Kaloa Rum Company.  The store is located on the Kilohana Plantation.  While they haven't grown the cane here for a while, they have been purchasing cane from the other islands to make their rum.  They have a new cane plantation started and will be harvesting it to continue making rum with local ingredients.  They have really good rum.  They get the color for their dark rum by using island vanilla. So tasty, that I am bringing it home.

A Luau and Snorkeling

We ended up at the Luau at the Hyatt next door.  Glad we could walk as the mai tais were flowing. And, while I know that mai tais are "the" drink here in the islands, I'm not crazy about pineapple juice.  Luckily, Eric, the bartender, was able to make me a mai tai "light." Same amount of rum, a splash of pineapple juice and topped off with seltzer.

As we walked through the lobby, I was taken aback by the view through the restaurant to the ocean.  It was like looking at a picture (see bottom left picture to the right).

The music and dancing was fun.  I loved the story telling.  Unfortunately, it started to rain, and they moved us to cover for the flame dance, so I ended up getting pictures of him from the back.

Snorkeling and Puka Dogs

We spent the morning snorkeling at Poipu Beach park.  It was a little disappointing after the snorkeling I did on Hawaii, but the water was shallower, and there weren't as many rocks for all the corals, urchins and other clingy organisms.  But there were fish here.  Way more variety than on the snorkel trip earlier.  Saw several of the Humuhumunukunukuapua'a, Hawaii's state fish, along with the Morish idol, and a puffer fish among others I could identify.  Someone was even feeding the fish, and so I saw a swarm of fish following him.

There was also supposed to be some good snorkeling at the Salt Pond Park, but the tide was coming in, and the waves coming in and going out made it difficult to navigate, and stirred up the water so it wasn't easy to see anything. Even though we were trying to snorkel between the rocks and the shore. So, we tried, but decided it was time for a lunch.

Erin insisted that we have Puka Dogs, only served here on Kauai.  It's a polish sausage that is served in a bun "tube" that is toasted.  The condiments are added and the sausage is then inserted.  Actually quite a neat way to eat them.

The condiments were your choice of mustards and island inspired relishes: coconut, mango, pineapple, papaya, starfruit and banana.  And they had a lilikoi mustard that was really good! Tasty.

We ended the day stopping by Spouting Horn, a blow hole that we caught at just the right time for maximum height.

Just a couple more days, to go.  Going to hike in Waimea Canyon tomorrow.

Hawaii? Again?

So, I had a wonderful adventure on the Big Island of Hawaii in November with my friend Lynn. One more place on my list of places to visit crossed off.  Check!

So when my sister, Erin said, "let's go to Hawaii!" I was less than enthusiastic.  However, she had a place for us to stay in Kauai, I had an Alaska Airlines companion fare available, so I thought, why not?

So here we are, staying at the Point at Poipu on the southern end of the island of Kauai. This is the oldest island in the chain, and claims to have one of the wettest place on earth.

The active volcano on the big island of Hawaii is about 200 miles to our south, and there don't appear to be any issues related to that here.  However, I would like to add that my friend Lynn and I stayed not far from the village of Kalapana and the Leilani Estates that have been evacuated recently (see previous blog posts in November 2017).  It's kind of eerie to know that we were there not too long ago.

We arrived on Monday afternoon.  Nice flight as we were bumped up to first class.  I love being an Alaska MVP, as occasional complimentary upgrades happen.  After gathering our bags, and getting our rental car, off to Costco and Safeway we went to stock up the kitchen.  Unloading and putting things away, we then spent the rest of the evening making our plans for touring the island.

After a leisurely morning, we took off to the west toward Wiamea Canyon, with the intent of stopping wherever we felt we wanted to go, and making a list of places to go that looked interesting on the way that we didn't stop at.  We are on island time, so we didn't make a schedule.

Wiamea Canyon is a ten-mile long 3,000 foot deep gorge that was cut by 6 million years of stream erosion. Known as the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific," The canyon is a mere baby at only 4-5 million years compared to the grand canyon in Arizona, which is 200 million years old.

The next day, we drove north toward Hanalei

The island was hit with a torrent of rain in April (49.7 inches of rain in a 24 hour period) that caused flooding and landslides on the north end of the island near Hanalei that closed roads for a while.  They are still cleaning up, and one can now drive to Hanalei, but the road is closed  just west of the town.    We drove to Hanalei to contribute to the economy by buying yarn and enjoying shave ice.  Yes, we did find the only place on the island to purchase yarn, "Strings and Things," which also sells ukuleles!  And, I had no idea that shave ice done the Hawaiian way includes ice cream on the bottom.  I had lilikoi (passionfruit) with macadamia nut icecream, Erin's was a mixture that was called the "blue Hawaiian.

Hanalei bay was lovely, but the road was closed beyond the town.

On our way to Hanalei, we stopped at the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge. There we saw Red-footed boobies, Red-tailed tropicbirds and Hawaii's state bird, the Nene, or Hawaiian Goose.

There were so many tropic birds nesting in the trees along the cliff, they looked like white flowers.








We have been enjoying the time together.  We are both getting a lot of knitting done, too!

More adventures to go....

Volcanoes, Farmers Markets, and Clumsiness

Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park
We drove to the park to do a bit of exploring, and wow, what a site.  We started out at the Kilahea Visitor center to get the lay of the land, then we took off for the Jagger Museum where I was able to get a good picture of the crater.  I spotted white tropic birds soaring around the smoke/steam emanating from the crater.  I was puzzled what they found attractive there.

There are a bunch of short trails that take you along some steam and sulfur vents, which we took advantage of. We also took the short hike of the Thurston Lava tube. We got there kind of late in the day, and fully expected to return the next day to do some more hiking around the area, but that was cut short, as I will explain later.



Uncle Robert's
We had heard a lot of good things about Uncle Robert's Night Farmers market at the end of the red road in Kalapana. Uncle Robert Keli'iho'omalu was the patriarch of the old Kalapana village where the market is located.  In 1990, lava from the Kilauea volcano buried the old village, but the village has been rebuilt, and Wednesday night it transforms into a place for food, drink, art & crafts, and music. Truly a Hawaiian cultural experience.

We went, and it was just as advertised. We enjoyed it thoroughly.

Hilo
The next day, we decided to drive into Hilo to do the last of our touristy shopping so we could spend the rest of the time exploring the area.  We had lunch in a lovely restaurant called Pineapples that was recommended by the clerk in one of the shops we were in, so we went and had a lovely lunch. Our drinks were garnished with orchids.  Funny, but those little flowers have natural little clip-like stems that hold them to the rims of glasses.

Unfortunately, as we were doing the last of our shopping after lunch, I realized that I had left my bag at the restaurant.  I knew that they would have noticed it and put it somewhere safe until I came back for it, but I was still walking rather briskly.  Just as I got to the restaurant, I turned my foot on the uneven sidewalk pavement, and heard a "pop." It wasn't my ankle I had turned, but the metatarsal bone that took the blow.  By the time we got back to the car, I could barely walk, and Lynn drove me straight to the Hilo Medical Center.

After checking in, they got me an ice pack for it, while I waited to be seen.  The x-ray confirmed what I feared: I broke the metatarsal. They called it a Jones fracture. Rats! This is my first, ever, broken bone.

So, they splinted and wrapped the foot, gave me a prescription for crutches, an "unfortunate traveler" note to give to Alaska Airlines for preferential seating so I can elevate my foot during the 6 hour flight back to Portland, and orders to follow up with an orthopedic surgeon when I get back.  All taken care of by the next morning.

Jeeze! This has really put a damper on what I can do, now.  But just as well, the rain started last night and is expected to be pretty heavy today and tomorrow.  Luckily, I'm in a lovely place where the rain sounds are soothing, and the views out the windows remind me that I'm on vacation.

I will make the most of it while I'm here.  I've got a book that I have now started to read.

Pahoa & Kalapana

Moving from Kona to Pahoa

So ended the first week of our stay in Hawaii. We packed up the night before, and took off early on Monday headed for the east side of the island. We drove south along the Hawaii Belt Road (Hwy 11), stopping at the coffee shack for breakfast. From the little village of Captain Cook, we had a lovely view of of Kealakekua Bay where we had kayaked and snorkeled earlier in the week.

Continuing down the road, we ended up at South Point.  It is the southern most point in the United
States. We passed by ranches and farms, and windmills along the way.  At the end, there is a cliff with some rickety ladders.  While the signs clearly say don't jump off the cliff into the water, that's exactly what some people were doing.



Continuing down the long and winding road, we stopped to inspect the black sand beach and have lunch before traveling on to our new place for the rest of our stay.


Cool New Digs
We are staying at an Air BnB called the the Li'l Red Farmhouse near Pahoa for the rest of our stay.  It is very different from the condo we stayed at in the very touristy Ali'i Drive in Kona. This place is in a little neighborhood called Seaview near a village called Kalapana.  While we don't have a view of the ocean, it is within walking distance, and that's all that matters.

Our host, Joe, built the place.  We are essentially glamping. We have comfortable beds, a kitchen and living room, but it is mostly open air, with screens to keep the bugs mostly out.  However the house geckos help with the bug population. The bathrooms have toilets, a shower and a big bathtub, but I am lovingly calling them indoor outhouses, as they are really open air.

My loft bed is near the roof, and the rain at night wakes me up, but cools the air enough that I actually have to use the blankets on the bed.  It really is a lovely place to hang out.  With chickens free roaming, other lovely bird sounds, and the wind rustling the vegetation surrounding the house during the day, and a cacophony of frog and insect calls along with sometimes heavy rainfall at night.



The beach is at the end of the street, so we walked to view our first sunset in our new location.




Lava Boat Tour

So we booked a tour with a recommended tour operator here to view the lava flowing into the ocean. Well, flowing wasn't really a good descriptor, but we saw the molten rock creeping its way across the top of previous flows making its way toward the ocean.  It was a cool trip, really. They loaded us into the boat in the parking lot of the Isaac Hale Beach park, then the truck hauled us to the boat ramp and put us in.

We spent about 30 minutes getting to the sight, then we shared viewing space with another boat out there as well. The captains of each boat did an amazing job of making sure that both sides of the boat got good viewing opportunities. and we did.  At the end, I captured the most exciting lava event of the evening in the video below!

More on the source of that lava from Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park later!

Kona coffee and more water adventures

Kona Coffee

We spent some time at one of Kona's oldest coffee plantations and coffee processing operations.  Greenwell Farms was established in 1850. They have cultivated and experimented with coffee plants that whole time.  We took a tour of the coffee processing operation with Kewana, who picked coffee as a boy, and now works on the farm.
     In addition to cultivating their own coffee plants, the farm also purchases coffee "cherries" from local farmers, and process it mostly for export.  They do roast some of it for sale in their small gift store where they also provide short tours of the operation.
     At the end of the tour, they provided a coffee tasting opportunity.  Kona coffee is truly tasty!

Kayaking on Kealekakua Bay

I am so fortunate to have Lynn with me, otherwise, I wouldn't have even thought about the snorkeling, let alone kayaking.  We rented a double kayak from a little mom & pop enterprise, Ehu and Key Adventures, just south of the bay.  We then pointed the kayak around the point at Napoopoo Park, and toward the monument on the north side of Kealakekua bay. The map below shows our kayak route.

Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/@19.4721252,-155.9350245,3877m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

When we arrived at Captain Cook Memorial, Lynn jumped off the kayak, then had to encourage me to do the same. After a moment of hesitation, I did jump in!  We snorkeled for about a half mile dragging the kayak behind us because our permit to be there did not include landing.  I did not take the phone, which is my camera, as I was worried that I would drop the thing in the ocean. so, pictures are courtesy of the internet with appropriate citations.

After snorkeling for about a half mile, we climbed back in the kayak, re-applied sunscreen, then

Courtesy of Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinner_dolphin

paddled to the middle of the bay in hopes of seeing the spinner dolphins up close.  We had stopped at the bay a couple of days before to scope it out, and saw many dolphins.  Today, we only saw a momma dolphin with her baby surface a couple of times.  We sat there enjoying the view, hoping to see more dolphins, but we had to be content with our one sighting. We encountered a paddle boarder and visited for a bit, before heading back.

http://plainadventure.com/2011/08/07/honaunau-bay-aka-two-step-%E2%80%93-big-island/

Once we got the kayak returned, we got in the car and went back to Honaunau Bay and the Two-Step snorkeling area, which we enjoyed the first time we went. After another short snorkel, we packed up to head back.

The picture to the left was courtesy of a website that had underwater pictures of the Two-Step snorkeling area. This is pretty representative of what it looks like. So beautiful.

Diving Tour for Lynn, more snorkeling for Lori

We purchased a dive/snorkel tour when we were at Jack's dive locker renting my snorkeling gear. So, the day had come to go out.  I bought a dive shirt for my poor sun-kissed (read: sunburned) skin.  Good investment.

So while Lynn went on her dives, I snorkeled around the boat, watching the divers and admiring the seascape below.  Again, I have no pictures, as I had no camera to capture the moment, but you'll just have to trust me, it is beautiful under the water.  A whole new world. The rocks providing an anchor for corals, crevices for urchins, and holes for fish to hide in.

Plus, the sunlight, having its red wavelengths absorbed by the water, leaving only the lovely cyan color that deepens with water depth.  And really, it is a bit disconcerting when you look one way and see all of those interesting rock features with the assorted fish, then looking in the opposite direction, and see only that deep blue drop off into the ocean. Amazing, and humbling at the same time.

As we were getting off the boat at the Marina we spotted a sea turtle.  Pretty cool, no?

So, today is our day of rest and preparation for the move to Pahoa tomorrow morning.




The sunsets here in Kailua-Kona have been pretty spectacular.  Tomorrow, we drive to the east side of the island, so we'll report back on whether the sunrises are as spectacular.  Stay tuned!