Satellite TV

Yesterday (Friday) we traveled from Olomouc to Trutnov in the north of Czech Republic. We stayed in a lovely hotel in Trutnov that was mack daddy. We had close to 1000 sq ft of space, 5 bed, and most of all satellite TV. We just sat on the couch all night, drank pivo ($.75 per .5L at the reception), ate junk food, and watched the news. We were shocked to hear that mp3 players, cell phones and bottled water were not allowed on planes anymore...but mostly relieved that the plot was averted...Alas, Air travel looks like it will be a real pain......we also saw the India travel advisory.

Olomouc

After a rather long hot bus ride, we arrived in Olomouc yesterday. Its the former capital of Moravia, the other province in Czech Republic besides Bohemia. Well, its absolutely lovely. It has several large squares with loads of statues and fountains. The best part is that there are almost no tourists! Seriously, there are just no tourists around but yet the sites are seriously picturesque.

Last afternoon after arriving, we hot footed it to two museums. They are free on Wednesday and us being cheap bastards, we squeezed two in a couple of hours. First we checked out the arch diocese museum. It was paintings collected by the bishops and arch bishops of Olomouc. Very nice older paintings, with some history mixed in. Then we perused the art museum, which had a 1960s album art show which was intriguing. We also saw their regular exhibit of local modern art, which had some nice art nouveo pieces.

Today we are just wandering around the city. We checked out a Czech version of the dollar store, which was very cheap and diverse.

I write this in a city park....and we are about to check out the only socialist astronomical clock in the world.

Comments

You know you can leave coments? Just click on the below link labeled comments......we set it up so you don't have to register. We think other people beside our parents are reading it, but how can we be sure?

Biking

Today we realized that we are seriously out of shape! We rented bikes in Trebon and then biked around the fish ponds, it was the first sunny day we have had in Czech Republic. Well, after about 30 minutes we were totally winded. Of course, we were too cheap to bring a map, so we had to wander around for a while to find our way back. Besides being winded, we had a lovely time. We rode through some small villages (Domini, Spioli, and Libon) and saw tons of the country side. I figure we biked about 20 miles all told on some soviet era bikes. Right now, we are chilling in the park sipping on some Czech wine. Ashley prefers wine to pivo, and well we have been drinking a lot of pivo.

PS- if you see this post today, I have worked out the kinks on posting pictures. bl. Ok, it doesn't work, but I am getting closer.

Trebon

We left Cesky Krumlov, our favorite stop thus far, this morning in the rain. The rain is really starting to get annoying, its pretty much rained non stop since we arrived. We have rain jackets but they are not that useful for non-stop raining or protecting our packs in the rain.

We caught the early bus to Ceske Budjovice, then a local one to Trebon. Traveling on buses isn't that bad although the bus drivers are very cranky. To tell you the truth most service workers are cranky. The locals you meet not in the service profession are very helpful but the rest just seem to be angry at the world. At first we thought it was "anti-americanism" but after conversing with others its just how they are.

So far Trebon is very lovely, its a lot less touristy than Cesky Krumlov, although we continue to hear the ring of German in the air. Oh, well, we are more off the beaten path. This afternoon we checked out a very tiny museum called Man and Landscape where we learned about local history. The region is a Unesco protected area, as they created a series of fish ponds in the 1500s which are both historical and act as wet lands. The musuem provided some good background on the region. It had some English languge options which was a treat as most everything is in Czech outside of major tourist attractions and select hotel restuarants.

Odds and end

Wireless. Its been progressively easier to find wireless. I think its a combination of me looking more efficiently and also getting away from major tourist destinations and into pure suburban areas or business districts. Almost every time I turn on the ipaq I have a wireless signal, but only about 20% of the time can I connect to something.
- Lightening the load. Ok, we both brought way too much stuff. We have ditched some clothing each, but we still need to lose some. I have selected the pieces to get rid of but I am going to wear them (i.e. Get them dirty) before dumping them. This seems sensible to me. I am way worse in this department than Ashley. She packed lighter and is dumping less.
- Pivo. We are drinking tons of Pivo (beer). Its very tasty, mostly lager types but quite crisp, and inexpensive running about $.8 to $1.2 for a half a liter. Its cheaper than water or coke.
- Pivo II. I have sampled many Czech beers...... Pilsner Urquell, Koval, Budvar, Gambrinos, Egglesberg (Cesky Krumlov brew), and Regent. So far Pilsner Urquell is the best, Ashley likes Kovel the best.
- Pictures. I have not 100% fixed the uploading problem but its mostly solved. If I actually took pictures I would upload them.
- (this is Ashley) The Mullet is alive and thriving in the Czech Rep. Men, women, kids, they've all got it!

Czech Cuisine

I am absolutely loving Czech cuisine. Its lots of hearty meats in thick sauces with a starch (dumplings or potato pancakes). The food fills you up, but there are very few vegetables. I fear that our dietary habits have taken a turn for the worse. Ashley is managing to find vegetarian selections almost everywhere although the taste seems to be lacking. Tonight we plan to eat at a vegetarian restaurant.

Absinthe

Last night we arrived in Cesky Krumlov, which is quite lovely, and we went out on the town with some people we met in our hostel. We had a blast as we got wasted on Absinthe. We are now paying the price. I think I have partially fixed the picture problem....so you may see more pics if we remember to take them.

Pilsner Urquell

Today (thurs) we toured the Pilsner Urquell brewery. It was a good tour besides some Dutch miscreants acting like jerks. We learned how Pivo (beer) is made. Not all that different from other beer tours but slightly more complete in how its made. We are now enjoying a pivo. As we do this Ash spilt my beer.......then her beer. As our new Dutch friends (not the miscreants) said, very American. Finally, a worker at Pilsner Urquell said my Czech was very good. :-)

Plzen

Today(2-8) we traveled from Karlov Vary to Plzen. We took the bus which stops about every 2 miles. It was quite interesting to watch people get on and off the bus. I personally love the outfits the females wear. Its like I am at a Cinderella concert in 1988- Tons of bleach blonde hair, plus very strange denim. Anyway, after we got off the bus we got our room. This is our favorite place so far, of course we have yet to sleep in it. But its a 2 room apartment a mile or two from the center. Its spacious, plus has a fridge so we can picnic eaiser.

This evening we went into town and got a traditional czech dinner, well I did at least. Ash got a greek salad, I got this beef in cream sauce with dumplings. It was decent. We also had several pivos (beer). Its cheap (about $1.10 for .5L) but not as cheap as the guidebook indicates. Anyway, we are watching "Hunter" on the TV in Czech before heading to bed. With all the shows to translate, why would they choose "Hunter?" Maw Maw Rube would have loved it but I would prefer CSI. But does it really matter, as we can't understand anything they say?

The wireless situation has improved. I found two hotspots today (notice the blog entries and the pictures). Still having trouble with the pictures, but I have a solution if I can find the time to implement it.

The not so hot springs

So today we spent in Karlov Vary, a spa town in western Czech Republic. Its a cool little town, touristy but its German tourists not American ones. Anyway its quaint, as you can walk around and drink out of various hot springs. They are all labeled and each supposedly cures a specific ailment(s). Well, it rained all day which worked out ok as most of the hot springs are covered.

We decided in the afternoon to visit the "thermal pool." We trudge our way up the hill to relax in the warm waters. After navigating the entry way, everything is a challenge when you don't speak the language, we dipped our toes into it. Well, it wasn't hot, it wasn't even warm. It was just a giant swimming pool with almost cold water. The guidebook had led us astray, it was not a thermal pool.

Oh well, it had nice views and after we trudged down the hill, we had the local liquor, Becherkova. Ashley had one mixed with Tonic water, which was quite tasty. Mine was straight which was barely drinkable. We are sitting in our pension on the outskirts of town which is merely basic, but exceptionally affordable.

odds and ends

Just some tidbits to keep our eager readers (our parents!) informed.
- For the most part, I think we are eating very healthy. We are picnicking for breakfast and lunch, mainly fruit and breads. Then we are eating one meal out, usually dinner. While its been slightly problematic to find vegetarian meals for Ashley, I think its working out ok.
- Wireless internet was everywhere in A'dam. However, in the Czech Republic its a lot more scarce. I can find signals but they are often times not connectable. This makes uploading pictures quite difficult......but I am working on a solution. Hopefully by the end of the week I will have it worked out.
- Amsterdam put us way over budget, we spent about twice what we had budgeted per day. We knew it would be expensive but the Euro-$ exchange rate killed us. However, we are under budget our first two days in Czech Republic, which will help.

Why couldn't Louisiana do this?

Yesterday, Daan and Jamie offered to take us to see sights outside of Amsterdam and the Deltaworks. The Deltaworks is a series of dams, dykes and barriers that protect the Netherlands from flooding. First we checked out the lake of Veere and Marten. The lake of Veere was formed from an inland sea when the mounts of rivers and dams were erected. You could noticeably see a difference in water level on the lake, the sea and the land with the sea being the highest). We also checked out Maeslantkering or the Maeslant Barrier, on the Nieuwe Waterweg. This is a barrier on a river that can close if the seas get too high. It protects the city of Rotterdam. Although the barrier has never closed the visitor center showed how it would protect Rotterdam in the event of a serious storm. It was truly quite amazing to see this construction project. From the Maeslantkering, we headed to Oosterscheldkering. This was a damn between two islands again to protect against storm surges. Its not just some ordinary dam, it has sluices (65 large doors) in it that can open and close. This means that in normal conditions water can enter these wetlands to preserve the environment, but during a massive storm it can be closed so that flooding is prevented. We also saw how the canals worked to keep the low lying areas from flooding. You can learn more about Delta works at:

• Delta Works
• Maeslantkering
• Oosterscheldekering

While we were touring this, both Ashley and I thought - why couldn't Louisiana have built things like this? Everyone knew that New Orleans was exposed to a Hurricane and this could have protected the low lying areas. The cost of building this would have probably been significantly less than rebuilding the city. The whole tour was fascinating (Thanks Daan and Jamie) and enlightening.

Indonesian food

On Thursday night, we met up with Daan and Jamie (pics to be added later) for dinner. I know Daan through work and he graciously offered to take us to get Indonesian food for dinner. Well, we have to admit we loved it. We loved it so much we had it for dinner not only on Thursday night but also Friday and Saturday. Per Daan, you can only get Indonesian food like this in the Netherlands, as in Indonesia its has evolved. My favorite was the dinner on Thursday night, as the Satae was amazing as was the soup. Ashley liked the place we went on Saturday best, as their Gado Gado was superior although she loved the Tofu Satae from Thursday. The dinner on Thursday was at Tempo Doeloa, I am not sure of the names of the other places. Thanks to Daan and Jamie for the lovely dinner.

Amsterdam

ok. its really hot in amsterdam. the normal high in the summer is 68f. testerday it was 90. nothing is air conditioned. but yesterday was nice even with jet lag. hung out in a park, along with chilling in cafes and coffeeshops.

we have found wifi for free almost everywhere which is cool.

Pre-trip thoughts

So I am meditating on what the trip is going to be like. We are about to leave and I have to say I am nervous. I am not sure what I am nervous about....we have done a great job planning or at least I think we have. We have been very thorough on making sure we get everything done. I wish we had more research done on the locations we are going, but I think we are running out of time for that. Don't get me wrong, we have done a lot. We have read our travel books and done research on the web, but its a lot of places to do research on. We also have been focused on Europe, not India, Australia and New Zealand. Thailand is easy, we are just laying on the beach for a week.

I shaved the mohawk today......fun to have for a while.

Mohawk

My father in law gave me a mohawk today.......I have always wanted one but never had the guts or opportunity to have one. I will shave it off before we leave, but its cool for a couple of days. The neices are calling me "Uncle Rooster." I have been trying to do the chicken dance from arrested development when they say it, but i am terrible dancer.

Dinner with the Grapevines and REI

On thursday evening, we had a lovely dinner with the grapevines. It was nice to see Sean, Rosey, Ron and Sean's girlfriend June. We love Thai food, and our only regret is that Rebecca was not there.

On friday morning, we spent too much money at REI on last minute things we had to have....thanks to work for getting me the REI giftcard, which alleviated the pain.

Pictures

Hey kids, don't forget you can see all of our pictures on our flickr website.

Moon over Jensen Beach

This past weekend we went to my dad and Lyn's condo on the beach, jensen beach florida to be specific. It was as close to heaven as I can imagine. We spent lots of time down on the beach just laying in the sun, or swimming in the ocean or doing laps in the pool. Plus we drank a lot of scotch, bourbon, beer, sangria and wine......what a lovely weekend. Not much was accomplished except nothing and eating. Truly very relaxing. Plus the food was top notch, I loved real bacon along with some awesome boiled shrimp.