Sněžka Mountain

Photos courtesy of www.turistika.cz

This is the tallest mountain in the Czech Republic. We (Prague mates and I) walked up to the peak a few weeks back... though the ascent was sufficiently steep in places that maybe I could say we hiked up without feeling like an outdoors wannabe pretender. On second thought, there were stacks of tourists and tourist facilities from top to bottom -- cable car, snack bars, restaurant, and even a hotel -- so maybe I'm better off just saying we walked.

Wild Mushrooms

Pics courtesy of Kanak.

A few weeks ago I went mushroom picking with some friends. It was admittedly less than ideal mushroom conditions: not a lot of rain in the preceding few days, I had no idea which mushrooms to look for and we started quite late in the day (in theory, everyone else in the area would have gotten up early and picked all the mushrooms, or at least that's what my friends told me!).

We tried again in a different spot after some quite wet weather, and bingo! Mushrooms!! So many in fact that at one point we started complaining whenever we found some more. Given that I only found poinsonous mushrooms during my first excursion, I was really happy to spot some edible ones!



Even better, we found three different types of mushroom, one of them being a rarer type only found in certain places (the bright yellow ones in the photo below). I've decided to rename them the Genie Mushrooms, because I spotted them so often!



We were so crazy about these mushrooms that we clambered over slimy and slippery rocks to cross the river to get to the opposite bank, where there were stacks of them growing! It was mildly dangerous and at one point I slipped and totally soaked my daks (hooray for walking around looking like you peed your pants) but it was totally worth it! Mushroom soup, mushroom omelette, fried mushrooms with onion... Ahhh! A full Genie is a happy Genie!

Wielki Kopieniec

Shots taken from the summit of Wielki Kopieniec. Although it's not the highest mountain I've ever climbed, and the hike, although uphill, was for the most part fairly easy (it was only the last 15 minutes or so that had me worried: the trail was rocky, winding, steep, with lots of little pebbles to slip on) I really felt a sense of accomplishment in getting to the top. Mostly, I think, because the top was more or less a jagged and pointy piece of rock, rather than a cushy plateau with a shop for souvenirs and something to eat!

Tatra Mountains and Morskie Oko

Auschwitz and Birkenau

Having seen the Terezin Memorial in the Czech Republic, I found Auschwitz to be interesting, but simply another atrocity on more or less the same level. In fact, maybe Terezin is more chilling, as it's not too crowded, and one can walk all alone along the same "death march" as the victims: through a dank, cold and shadowy tunnel to the execution hill.

But then getting of the bus and walking into Birkenau... astounding. The sheer size of the grounds really brings home the extent of the Nazi exterminations.


The following is part of the memorial at the back of the grounds -- there's an English version too, but the French version has been worded so much more nicely:



May this place where the Nazis have assasinated one and a half million men, women and children, the majority of which were Jews from various countries in Europe, be forever to humanity a cry of despair and a warning.

Krakow II

Krakow

Really stunning architecture. Gregarious and friendly locals. Hoardes of tourists. It's business as usual in Krakow.




This is my last big hurrah before I start work (okay, being a teensy bit melodramatic here -- after all, I'll still have weekends, public holidays and school holidays to travel! But a little poetic licence makes for more interesting reading).

So far I've walked around old town, taken exactly the same photos as all the other tourists, sample some local fried pork dumplings (very tasty) and watch various dance and acrobatic performances at some Poland/Ukraine festival that was being held in the main square of the old town.





Currently, I'm psyching myself up to visit Auschwitz without bursting into tears, slipping into depression or denouncing humanity in general...let's see how that works out later tonight!!

Siesta

When I first encountered siesta, it was in Spain and I was somewhat chagrined at being forced either to eat or to do nothing for two or three hours. I consoled myself by doing the former, lunching on scrummy tapas and a big gin and tonic (after the gin and tonic, I happily passed the rest of siesta in a tipsy haze).

Coming from a country moving very rapidly to a 24/7 culture of opening hours, I had to work really hard to see the rationalisations behind such a tradition -- avoiding too much activity during the hottest part of the day? The ability to spend time more time with the family, as you're together during both lunch and dinner? Enjoying some free time with some real daylight? (As opposed to starting work just after the sun rises and finishing work just before the sun sets, which was more or less the norm in Perth, at least when we aren't on daylight savings time.)

But after nearly a year of siesta in France, I now find I'm pretty addicted to it, and I don't mind at all being mildly inconvenienced at times, or having to plan a little bit in advance to get things done. Even now, although I'm in Prague where opening hours are much more liberal than in France, I inexplicably find myself heading home to make lunch and chill out for a while, or if not, strolling lazily (or sitting or most often lying down) somewhere shady and cool. Once you siesta, you find it's the best-a!

(What on earth will I do come the middle of August when I start work?!)