Mike,

Is this too gruesome for words? How would I feel if I knew that the bones of one of my ancestors was part of a chandelier or a coat of arms? What are these Czechs thinking? They seemed sort of normal when I passed through their country.

Ed (rightpaw)

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)