Michael,
I don’t expect you to post any of our Eastern Europe pix and tales until Matt & Debbie get back, and all of their stories are told. But here is a tidbit for you to use ater.
This was the Schmahl family’s hardest trip to Europe–hardest because of all the complicated planning involved, because of the incomprehensible laguages of the region, because of the logistics of trains, buses, trams and Metros, and because of a few bad things that happened. But it was also the most rewarding, for the view of new and very old cultures all blended together and the colorful sights. (Being able to watch the World Cup from every square or cafe in Prague and Budapest was a major plus, too.)
I’ll skip all the bad stuff and go straight to Cesky Krumlov, a medieval town in southern Czech Republic. We had the most amazing (inexpensive) pension on the Vlata River that wraps around the town. From our window we could see the sun rise over the castle tower, and all day long, we watched canoers and rafters brave the spillway just down stream. (Those that scouted it survived, those that didn’t got drenched!)
Here is the view from our Pension’s front yard picnic table (using Beth’s 10 year old snapshot camera):
So many things happened to us, and we learned so much about the land, the cities, the languages, that I find it impossible to summarize it all. But Patrick & I have taken copious (handwritten) notes, and we’ll put it on the web sometime soon.
–rightpaw (rakkity is retired)
This is something out of a storybook. Beautiful.
It really was like being in the middle of a fairy tale.
http://www.astro.umd.edu/~ed/EastEurope/
Best_of_Krumlov/131_18_RenaissanceFamily.JPG
We just happened to be there on the one weekend of the year when everyone in town dresses up like Renaissance
royalty and perform plays, dances, and parades in the squares and streets. If only we had known, we’d have dressed up too.
What a view! Transports you back an epoch or two … I can’t wait for the feast of photographs that surely await us addicts, and other tales of travels beyond the pale!
And how’d you like the Budvar, progenitor of the pale, unimaginative American swill that bears the descendant variant of that name?
Ah, the Budvar–and the Pivovar, which never reaches our shores. We visited several Pivonices (pubs) with pivovars (local brews) that make even the very good Czech commercial brews like Pilsner Urquell pale into insignificance. Previously I had thought that England’s Golden Mead Ale was the finest brew in the world, but the Czech Republic makes pilsners that I would trade all my ummm…racquetball wins for.
Maybe rakkity hasn’t quite retired. My left shoulder (says my PT) is much much better. But I’ll have to lock Beth in a closet in order to go out for a game!