It's really hard to summarize oneself for the general public. I mean, really, what does the public want to know about me? Am I married? Yes. Do I have children. Yes, three, and they're all grown thank God. (By that I mean parenting is HARD. I'd do it again in a heartbeat, but I'm really glad our offspring have all reached adulthood.) Do I have pets? Yup. Two dogs. Since the kids are all grown, you'll read more about my dogs than my kids. Because that's what happens when you get old like me. I have three grand kids, too, so you'll read about them as well. But the dogs live with me and, when I am desperate for blog topics, they usually help me out.
Back by popular demand, sort of, it’s the Brave, Bold Blogger Challenge!
It’s not super-challenging, and it isn’t a real contest either. Simply put, it’s a way to make February go by a bit more quickly for me and my Moto Blogger buddies.
Most bloggers I know are moto bloggers, but any bloggers can participate.
Better yet… there are NO rules! The idea is to post daily, addressing the theme that coincides with that day’s date. But if you have to play catchup, no problem!
You can use images and/or pics to address the themes. Be creative.
Add your name in the comments, and the address you want me to use for the link. I’ll update this post to include a list of participants, with links to each blog, so you can see who else was brave enough to take on the challenge.
State you most hope to visit this year
A special memory from 2016
Least favorite household chore
Annual mileage goal
A hard lesson you’ve learned
Your favorite motorcycle gadget/gizmo
Vegetable
Three pics you’ve never shared
Strange thing you believed as a kid
Favorite sandwich
A national park you’d like to visit
Mother
Open concept or rooms with walls
What Valentine’s Day means to you
Random act of kindness
What are you thankful for today?
Simple pleasure
Church
Reflection
Favorite road close to home
Misinformation
Pick a color then share seven interesting images featuring that color
Share a photo taken from your front door today
What you ate for breakfast
Share the 25th image you come to on your camera or phone
If I remember correctly, Annelies chose Kutna Hora because of its location and its attractions. But it could just be the attractions. There are a couple of important cathedrals, one of which isn’t actually a cathedral, and a very unique bone church.
The first church we visited was the Church of Saint Barbara. It sure looks like a cathedral, but it’s actually just a church that’s built like a cathedral. I say “just” a church, but in an area known for its gothic cathedrals, this particular church is actually a standout.
Church of Saint Barbara
It’s sure big for a church, right?
The ornamentation inside these large religious structures always amazes me. The structures themselves are incredible, but then there are all the murals and statues, stained glass and carved wood, and painted ceilings. Very, very high ceilings at that.
Painted Walls
Painted Ceilings
Stained Glass
Carvings
“That’s wood!” said Mike. Who knew?
Yep, it really was wood. This was the first large church/cathedral we’d seen with pieces like that made of wood instead of stone.
Wooden Figure Close-up
If you look closely, you can tell it’s wood.
Amazing stuff.
It always takes us forever to wander around these things.
Kind of hard not to be impressed.
Best Candle-holder Ever
“Simple” Wall Decor
It always takes longer than expected for us to see these huge religious buildings.
Storm Drain
Exterior Ornamentation
I have no idea what these things are called, the little statues sticking out that serve as outlets for water downspouts, but I was delighted to see the next one…
Frog!
I’d seen some that sorta looked like a frog before, but none that were so clearly a frog.
This chapel dates back to the 1300s, I think.
There’s a nice view of the town from just outside of the church.
Overlooking Kutna Hora
From there, we headed to the outskirts of Kutna Hora to see a VERY different kind of church, The Ossuary (bone church) at Sedlec. There IS a cathedral near the ossuary, but we had a long day on the road ahead of us, so we skipped it.
Kutná Hora is known for the curious “Bone Church” or Ossuary (in Czech, Kostnice). It is located in the suburb of Sedlec. The Ossuary is in the undergroud chapel of the Church of All Saints. It contains the bones of about 40,000 people who died of the plague in 1318 and during the Hussite wars in the 15th century. They were originaly buried at the church cemetery. When the cemetery was closed at the end of the 15th century, the exhumed bones were transferred to the chapel and compiled into pyramids. In 1870, František Rint of Česká Skalice arranged the bones and skulls into creative decorations that include bells, the Schwarzenberg coat-of-arms, and a chandelier.
It was cool to see, but creepy. I mean, those are real bones of people.
Often, when I tell people about a trip I’ve taken, I’m greeted with a mix of interest — it’s travel abroad! — and confusion, because I didn’t do the typical touristy things people are sort of expected to do when visiting exotic-sounding foreign locales.
Travel, for me, isn’t about seeing all of the must-see places or doing things most other tourists love to do. I mean, I like touristy stuff, too, but what I enjoy more is just sorta roaming around experiencing things. Of course, me being a visual person, that means seeing stuff. And taking pictures.
This last European voyage of ours was a road trip. I planned half and Annelies planned half. (In case there are any newbies reading this, Annelies is the female half of the Belgian couple we’re friends with and travel with often. Yves is the male half.) It was actually Annelies who planned the German and Czech Republic portion. And, I must say, she did an awesome job.
Prague was amazing. I always heard it would be. Equally as delightful in its own way, was our visit to a small, lesser-known town in the CR, Kutna Hora. According to our pension’s website…
Kutna Hora is one of the most charming towns in the Czech Republic for its unique architectural beauty is registered to UNESCO. Visit this beautiful city and discover the most significant monuments, take a walk through the historic center and picturesque streets of the old town. We will advise you where to eat or drink and where to have fun.
What’s a pension? In this case, it was the absolute cutest guest house ever, found by Annelies.
Pension U Babky Bylinkarky
The exterior is quite plain. The interior was absolutely charming. Mike and I were given The Rose Room.
Hubby catching up on email from The Rose Room.
Charming, no?
The Rose Room
The innkeepers obviously care a great deal about the character of their establishment and their guests’ comfort.
While Hubby caught up on work stuff, I decided to go for a stroll about town. Wanna see some of what I saw?
I’m not sure if this is a residence or guild hall.
Coolest door ever.
A different angle.
Painted Wall
Rear turret.
Interesting stones.
Colorful houses.
Bar Signage
Hanging on.
Mural
Mosaic Sidewalk
More color.
Cool window.
Thrift Shop?
There are more pics from around town, but I also wanted to share some from the inside of the pension.
Front Desk
The proprietor spends the winters making various craft items, which she sells at the front desk.
Painted by proprietor.
Kids’ playroom off lobby.
Cute!
Gecko
Lobby
Stairs from ground level to 1st floor.
Upstairs lobby/common area.
Rose Room Window
The town was quiet, too. A great place for an escape.
There was a delightful restaurant in walking distance, too. It was recommended by the pension owner and served delicious local fare.
All in all, the day was a relatively uneventful travel day, yet it was still memorable, simple, and lovely.
If you’d like to see the rest of the pics, check out the Flickr album.
Now that we’ve been home from vacation for several MONTHS, I figured it was about time I get some more pics posted.
I took a LOT of pics. But there was so much to see! Prague really is a colorful city, full of old, new, and just-plain-interesting architecture, art works of all shapes and sizes, people, fabulous views, cheap beer, yummy food, etc. Some of the architecture is famous, some not so much.
I could go on and on. Instead, I’ll sum it up briefly by saying…I loved Prague. The pretty weather helped, though it could have been a tad cooler. The fact that the beer is basically cheaper than water in all of the restaurants didn’t hurt either.
Random Art
I really did take lots of pics. I shared about 50 of my favorites here.
Rather than include a bunch of explanatory text, I’ll just say that we basically roamed the city on foot for about two and a half days. It was exhausting, but so worth it. I’m already ready to return to the Czech Republic.
Pink Bear in front of the Dancing House
HELP… this is my first post using a Mac. If the following image or any other image in this post appears sideways to you, please let me know. It appears correctly on the Mac and on the Windows PC, but not on my iPhone. Let me know what device you are using, too. Thanks!
The Dancing House
Riverfront View
Random Interestingness
Prague Castle
Pretty View
Random Interestingness
Painted Facade (those are not blocks)
I love European signage.
View from my seat at lunch.
Not a bad spot for a lunch break, eh? Yes, we lingered.
View in the other direction.
I forgot to mention that lunch was within the walls of the Prague Castle.
Prague Castle Guard
Another view from the hilltop.
Also inside of the castle is The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saints Vitus, Wenceslaus and Adalbert, a Roman Catholic cathedral, which is the seat of the Archbishop of Prague. It’s huge. I never did get a good shot of the whole thing because it’s just so darn big. I did capture lots of shots of its stunning architectural elements.
Stained Glass Close-up
The sun was streaming in through the windows, resulting in some pretty amazing light inside the building.
Unusual Light
One “small” piece of the building.
Tile Roof
The place is stunning, inside and out.
Exterior of the building.
A few of the cathedral’s MANY spires.
Silly Hubby
Random Visual Interestingness
I guess the city could be drab-looking on cloudy days, and I’m sure the hills and cobblestones are a bitch in the winter, but Prague was shining in all of its colorful glory while we were there.
Red Roofs
Our Favorite Czech beer.
I did say Prague was artsy, right? These are some of David Cerny’s famous crawling baby statues.
Annelies’ “WTF” look.
I’d only told Annelies we were looking for some of Cerny’s baby statues. I didn’t warn her that Cerny’s art is a bit unique. (He is most famous for these giant space-age babies that crawl up the Zizkov TV tower a hundred meters or so above Prague, which we didn’t visit.)
I couldn’t resist capturing this shot!
Oh, baby!
I’m glad were we able to find the babies on our way back from the castle. I would have been so disappointed if I hadn’t gotten to see them in person.
Yet another pretty streetscape.
Great mural!
Pretty Building
Interesting architectural detail.
Chandelier inside of a church.
Pretty Stained Glass
Square in Old Town
Astronomical Clock
One of the highlights of Day Two in Prague was seeing the astronomical clock. It’s the third-oldest in the world — first installed in 1410 — and the oldest one that is still operating. I even captured a video, which you should be able to watch by clicking here (make sure your speakers are on, but set at low volume).
Not bad for a 600+ year old clock!
Random herd of school children, all clad in high-vis vests.
Beautiful building.
Random Interestingness
The highlight of our third and final day in Prague was visiting the remains of the Jewish ghetto.
Jewish Cemetery (dates back to the 15th century!)
According to one Czech tourism website…
Even the mere fraction remaining of the Prague ghetto is amongst the most valuable Jewish monument in Europe. One of the most admired places, apart from the Old Jewish Cemetery from the beginning of the 15th century, the Jewish Museum and several synagogues is the Old-New Synagogue…
I don’t think any of us knew what to expect of the synagogues. We only went into one, the Spanish synagogue, which looks rather plain on the outside. The newest of the six historic Prague synagogues, it was built in the Spanish Moorish style in the second half of the 19th century. The inside was anything BUT plain.
Inside the Spanish Synagogue
Ceiling of the Spanish Synagogue
Inside the Spanish Synagogue
Inside the Spanish Synagogue
Inside the Spanish Synagogue
After that, we meandered through Old Town, making our way back to the hotel.
Random Interestingness
Random Interestingness
Random Interestingness
Random Interestingness
Prague really is a great city to visit. As are other parts of the CR, which you’ll see in my next post.
If you’d like to see all of the pics from Prague, you’ll either have to visit my photo sharing site or look at smaller versions of the images embedded in the slideshow below.
When I rolled out of bed this morning, I had no real plans for last day of 2016. I kinda-sorta wanted to go for a motorcycle ride, but it was 20 degrees at 6:30 when I let the dogs out. Pretty cold, if you ask me.
It never did warm up, but I decided to ride anyway. There was a 20,000 mile milestone I’d set for myself earlier in the year but hadn’t hit.
It was 42.8 when I left around noon. Thank GOD for heated gear.
Finally Hit 20,000 Miles!
It wasnt a pretty day. And the low to mid 40s is rather chilly on a motorcycle. But it felt good to be out there. Really.
