Dresden

Mirek and I went to Dresden today - it's only 150km away from Prague, so closer than going to the mountains for skiing!





As usual, I managed to find a chocolate shop and brought home some yummy cooking chocolate... looking forward to tasting the chocolate mud cake that comes from the Michel Cluizel chocolate we bought! Yay!

Herlikovice

Well, I went snowboarding for the first time ever today... It was with a friend from work and we had a pretty good time, even if I kept falling arse over tit on the kiddy slopes! Well, at least I had the whole look going, yeah?

Kvilda

Ahh a day in the mountains! Here we are in Kvilda, a little village in the Šumava National Park. A nice time was had by all, especially me because I've just bought a pair of snow pants and didn't freeze my arse off in the snow whilst making my snow woman! The best part was, that they were half price! [The pants, not the woman].

Svatá Hora

Monastary on the Svatá Hora (Holy Hill) in Příbam and classic example of typical touristic photo.

Vyšehrad

Průhonice

What better way to spend my last weekend before going back to work, than heading out to the park and castle at Průhonice, taking a nice walk in the snow and feeling sorry for the ducks swimming in the freezing cold water!

Karlovy Vary

Famous for its hot springs and baths, Karlovy Vary has a charming town centre with lots of fountains spurting mineral rich waters. Apparently they're very good for your health, but there's something kind of icky about drinking hot, salty water...

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!!

Marseille

I finally managed to visit Marseille -- winds up to 80km/hour, but sunny skies at least! Got my fill of maritime city, the Man in the Iron Mask (castle-prison on the Isle of If) boutque islands (Ratonneau and Pomègues) and soccer (that's football to non-Aussies) Olympic Marseillaise style!

Accoutrements

My current arsenal of devices for lightweight packing whilst remaining entertained on a long-term trip:

1. Swiss universal adaptor (image courtesy of http://www.tjproducts.com)


So it doesn't matter where you go with your current electrical goods or where you buy any future electrical goods. Mine is red.

2. Motorola E1000 mbile phone with camera, mp3 player and headphones jack (Image courtesy of http://www.trustedreviews.com)


Entertainment, happy snaps and calls, all in one pocket sized device. It also happens to have a calculator, alarm clock, calendar with annual alerts (great for remembering birthdays and to pay the credit card bill each month), blue tooth and internet capabilities and memory can be augmented with an SD card which happens to be compatible with my laptop. The size and convenience can't be beat when you spend most of your day wandering around a city and its sights. Even if I very rarely use a mobile phone to make calls whilst travelling (international roaming charges are highway robbery in comparison to internet cafes and free email), it's always very reassuring to know that I have something in case of emergency. I love my phone. I've had it since 2005. If I were to upgrade, the only improvements I would be looking at would be mp4 capabilities and a higher resolution camera.

3. BenQ Joybook laptop with DVD burner, bluetooth, wifi, and a stack of music, movies and electronic books (Image courtesy of http://www.itechnews.net)


When you're chilling at the hostel or whoever's couch it is you're surfing, it's nice to have something a bit more substantial. Besides the movies or music, you can download and store your photos, write a cheesy travel blog (case in point right here), surf the internet if there's a network available or read a book. Although I despise reading novels on a screen and would rate the look and feel of a proper book over a laptop any day, there's no arguing with the fact that books are bulky and heavy, whereas a laptop is significantly less so. (The one concession I make about lugging books is my Lonely Planet -- it's worth it to have an easily accessible map of almost wherever I am, or at least a description of where the nearest tourist office [with maps] is.) It could be argued that the Kindle or any other electronic book reader is even lighter than a laptop, but I prefer the versatility of a laptop. Opt for a small and light version that's not too expensive. The latter is important, because it affords a little peace of mind, knowing that travel can be tough on electronic devices in terms of jostling/dropping/theft. You might have to sacrifice processing speed, but then again, you're on holiday! You can afford to wait 5 seconds more whilst Windows is loading up.

So there you have it. Everything I find entertaining in my normal life, reduced to 2 electronic devices and a power charger. I have allowed myself the luxury of bringing a drawing tablet with me, which I haven't used as much I could have, especially since coming to France (what is it about looking after kids that makes you want to sit and stare at a wall when you've got some free time?) but it's nice to know that if I feel artistic that it's there. If I were to expand, the next thing I would go for would be a portable hard drive, but for now I'm content with carrying around a few DVDs and periodically erasing useless stuff (movies I've seen, books I've read, pics that are just ugly) from my laptop.

Big nothing

Image courtesy of http://www.city.kobe.jp

It was to have been some tranquil two or three days in the port city of Marseille...


But with cloudy skies, wind and rain lurking everywhere along the southern coast of France all this week, my little trip was abandoned. Here's what the forecast says at the moment:


By the way, I really like the site that provided this info www.accuweather.com -- even if a week ago, when I first started planning this trip, they were predicting unblemished sunny days. I suspect that part of my ire should really be directed at myself for being so soft as to cancel a trip on account of a bit of bad weather. I suppose that's what comes of being too comfortable in one place, accustomed to such luxuries as umbrellas and dry socks!!

To comfort myself over my abortive trip and being such a wimp I've spent most of the week reading sci fi detective novels: Isaac Asimov and his Robots series save the day(s)!

Cannes Film Festival!

The film festival (it transforms the entire town into a movie foyer). The crowds (all sporting the official festival tote bag, even if they aren’t officially part of the festival). The stars (pretending that they’re utterly normal people, as they walk down the street being followed by adoring fans and hungry paparazzi). The schmoozing (done by earnest film folk who are sufficiently low down on the film food chain that they still have to wear their festival passes and go to screenings).



Even though I’m utterly crap at star spotting, I still managed to get a glimpse of Christian Slater (he was behind me whilst I was retying my ponytail and I didn’t even notice, until the paparazzi swarmed around me – very surreal) and Scott Speedman (coming out of his hotel, he looked vaguely familiar and I spent the rest of the day wondering what his name was and what film he was in). Despite copping an eyeful of both men, I was too slow to get any photos. There was also a girl in a stunning purple gown striding down the street, entourage in tow, but I have to admit I was more interested in the gown than the face, and by the time I got around to realising someone important might have been in the gown, she was long gone. Oh well!

While I was in Cannes, I visited Ile St Marguerite too. Tranquil, foresty, with lots of well laid out walking paths – a welcome respite from the festival if ever one was needed … and after a few hours in Cannes, I definitely needed it!





Found on a beach at Cannes. Pretty cool sand scuplture, eh?