The Blithe Traveler

Soaking Up Some Rays

I was lying on the beach in Enniscrone thus attired while the children were digging in the sand nearby. A gentleman approached and said, "Ah, and there you have an Irish sunbather!" Indeed. This was the nicest weather we saw in Enniscrone.

I do have Things To Say about Ireland. But we are traveling through the US at Mach 3 right now, catching up on our doctor appointments, seeing friends and family, visiting favorite hang-outs, and I am having trouble stringing two sentences together.

There are good reasons for that, of course. Driving 12 hours with two children singing The Song That Doesn't End endlessly can result in permanent brain damage. And then, I'm staying at my father's house in South Carolina right now and have just discovered - after spending 24 hours here - that the man only stocks decaffeinated coffee. I wondered why I was feeling so very sluggish ...

So, Eventually, More on Ireland, with actual discussion what we did while we were there.

Guinness

Beer p*rn.

I love this stuff.

Being able to drink a pint in a pub in Dublin?

Priceless.

Ha! Kidding. It's more like, "Being able to drink it in a pub in Dublin? Do-able if you happen to have €5 you were never planning to see again." That's about 7 US bucks. Strikes me as spendy for a beer, but then, I live in the Czech Republic where beer pricing is somewhat less. €0.74 EUR is the average for a pint of lager. So, really super-duper a lot less.

But, we had dinner at this charming pub:

And I drank my pint blissfully happy.

Alas, Ireland turns out to be a harsh climate for the gluten intolerant.

Seriously, this is what you get as a non-beer drinker.

 

In Dublin's Fair City

Where the girls are so pretty ...

And apparently enjoy sushi on a cool July afternoon.

I have been reading about photography in an effort to up my game on the photo front, but this oddity was an accident. I have no idea why Hope's hair is red (the first person who suggests "Milkman?" gets their IP address blocked) and the rest of her is grey.

I do know that supermarket sushi makes a nice break from the frankly rather heavy Irish fare.

More on Ireland in a day or so. We're in the US, so we're in the midst of a seemingly never ending round of doctor/dentist visits, plus trying to see every family member and friend within 1500 miles. Busy week.

Postcard from Ireland

Having a great time!

Wish you were here.

One Last Sweet Bled Treat

Bled is known across Slovenia for its vanilla-and-cream pastry called kremna rezina ("cream slice") or kremšnita.

I'll tell you a secret. As much as I love bread and cheese, as much as fondue and raclette chase me in my dreams, this sort of pastry does not a blessed thing for me. It's not Jeff's speed, either, even if he weren't gluten intolerant.

So, we let sleeping pasty lie and left Bled without a taste.

And Now: We are off to the races again. First a week in Ireland for a family gathering, and then heading to the US for oil changes, plumbing checks and the like. See you when there is next internet access and a few spare moments!

 

 

Bled, Slovenia

Holy guacamole, what a beautiful place Bled, Slovenia is. Peaceful, quiet, not over developed and quite family friendly. Also, the weather was outstanding. Lake Bled was a perfect way to end a long travel holiday.

Bled is known for the glacial Lake Bled, which makes it a major tourist attraction. The lake is quite small (it's about a 6km hike all the way 'round) and the water is a funky glacial aqua blue. This photo, taken from the castle, just about gets it right. That is, in fact, a small island with a church on it.

The church is Assumption of Mary Pilgrimage. Here's a closer view.

We did not row out for a visit, but rather viewed it from afar and thought it was lovely. The castle, however, we did visit. A couple of times. What better sporty sort of thing to do on your last days of holiday, post eating large amounts of raclette (1) and fondue, than hike up and down a few times to a medieval castle? That's the castle up on the hill on the left. That is not us, rowing to the church.

Our pension was that little red roof sticking up by the white church on the right. So it wasn't much more than a 15 minute walk to the castle.

Bled Castle is a proper medieval castle. It was first mentioned in written records in 1011. If my math is correct, that would make it 1000 years old. Wonder if they had a party? What do you bring as a gift for a thousand year old castle?

But, that is a bit of an exaggeration. The castle you see here is not actually 1000 years old, although the site is, and there has been a castle of some sort or another on this site for that long. The 1000 year old bits were demolished at least once, if not more than once in the past millennium. Sources vary, but at the very least the place was pretty much leveled by an earthquake in the 14th century.

This is the moat. A cute sort of moat. The sort of moat that you might be expecting if you grew up with the Mr. Roger's Land of Make Believe sort of castle. But it does have a proper "drop boiling oil on your enemies" walkway up above. The children were quite happy to pretend that they were doing such things to innocent tourists wandering by. Raised by wolves those two. Or maybe it was Vikings?

View of the tower from below. Clearly, this castle was in a defensible position. I joke, but this wee moat and entrance were the only way in. And they lead up a narrow pathway at a very steep angle to the actual gate to the main fortress. So, highly defend-able. Defensible? Well, relatively easy to keep invaders at bay.

Here's a night shot. The castle up on the left, and the church that was just behind our pension on the right. It was a beautiful, peaceful place, Lake Bled.

Oh, and a great place for the sporty sort. Bled will be hosting the World Rowing Championships, for the 4th time in history, in 2011 (having previously hosted the Championships in 1966, 1979 and 1989). So, if you know a world class rower, perhaps they have been to Bled?

Tomorrow: A Sweet Treat

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(1) Raclette, raclette, I am dreaming of raclette. And if you want to get yourself some of this yummy goodness in the US, check out this web-site:   www.raclettecorner.com.  What an unbelievably awesome gift this would make!  <--note: I was not paid in cheese or otherwise to post this link; the site owner sent it to me and I felt the need to share.

1 Day, 5 Hours

1 day, 5 hours would be the estimated total drive time during our summer holiday. Estimated by google-maps, of course. Estimated by Hope, we would be talking more like four weeks.

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We spent ten days traveling from start to finish, so no individual day was more than five or maybe 6 hours in the car, and we spent at least two nights in three different places. So, slow travel, if you are Jeff.

We spent two nights in Grindelwald, Switzerland, and then four in Tignes France with friends. It was with great sadness that we bid goodbye, and with ringing cries of "See you next year!! Somewhere!!" we headed over the Alps to Italy.

Now, just about anywhere we had been in this trip could have been a week long stop. And as I was planning this journey, in my random plan-less planning sort of way, Jeff suggested that we spend a day or so in Slovenia. I don't know about you, but even in reverse alphabetical order, Slovenia wasn't all that high on my list of "Places I Can't Wait to See." Excellent news, though, I was wrong again! Slovenia, it turns out, is a fabulous place to see. And we'll get there tomorrow with some photos so you can see for yourself.

The tricky bit on getting from France to Slovenia is that straight through, it would have been an 8 hour drive. Through Italy. Now there's a country it's a shame to speed through. Eight hours is a long haul, plus you are starting out in the Alps, so brutal for those who suffer from carsickness. Which, it turns out, is all of us non-drivers when driving through the Alps. Sleep and books on tape got us through without a hitch, but when you start out the ride quietly wondering if root canal would be a preferable option, eight hours is just too long.

So, the plan was to stop Italy for the night. Lake Como beckoned, Venice was within striking distance, but given that our ultimate destination was Slovenia, I decided to book a cheap pension for a quiet nights sleep in a fairly random place with the plan to get on the road early and get to our ultimate destination.

Bergamo was chosen  as a reasonably short drive (4 hours) to an overnight B&B, whereupon we would arise early and head to Bled, Slovenia for a two night stop. Imagine my surprise when we pulled into the parking lot of our cheap B&B and it turned out to be an semi-fancy Art Hotel.

It is off the beaten path a bit, and while not really "cheap" in the Li jiang $10US a night cheap kind of way, it wasn't overly pricey for Italy. So, I was fooled. Not a cheap B&B, but an average priced seriously cool kind of hotel. Sometimes bad planning can result in nice surprises.

Hope considers herself an Artist-in-Training, so she and I wandered this really cool space taking photographs of our favorite art work. There were sculptures and paintings and all sorts of arty brick-a-brack (<--clearly, I am not an Artist-in-Training, one imagines the actual artists who discovered their artwork described as "brick-a-brack" potentially getting stabby with their paintbrushes) surrounding us. 

Again, I am shocked by the lousy quality of my photographs. Real bloggers learn to take photos. And maybe even spell check. Ah, well.

It was an enjoyable surprise, and we headed off the next morning for Lake Bled, Slovenia.

It's a really, really cool place.

Adaptive Skiing

So, Adaptive Skiing. Ever heard of it? Again, I will be reporting all of this second hand, as I did not venture to the 3,000 meter mark where one could actually watch the adaptive skiers in action. But I was fascinated enough by the descriptions Jeff and the children gave off all of the adaptive skiers on the mountain to google a bit and thought I would share.

Skiing for people with disabilities became popular after WWII with the return of injured veterans.  It is both a recreational pastime and a competitive sport open to those with any manner of cognitive and/or physical disabilities. Adaptations include the use of outriggers, ski tip retention devices, sit-skis like monoskis and bi-skis, brightly colored guide bibs, ski guides, and inter-skier communication systems or audible clues for blind skiers. A guide skier can assist the sit-skier from behind, this is known as "bucketing".

Here are some photos, swipped from the internet.

Tinges is apparently quite supportive of Adaptive Skiers, and hosts the British Disabled Ski team for training sessions. In doing a bit of reading about the programs offered in the US and Europe, it seems the general aim is for Adaptive Skiers to ski right along with the crowds anywhere. Equipment is modified for individual needs, and there are volunteers for people who require additional assistance.

If you're interested in more specifics, I found this as a description of the various "categories" of adaptive skiing; Jeff and the children saw mostly the bi-skiers in action at Tignes: 

• Guides for blind skiers - The guides are considered "equipment" and they are generally volunteers.
• Bi-skis - These are for people with significant lower extremity or trunk weaknesses and for others with difficulty standing and balancing. It's a sit-down ski that lets even those with severe balance impairment experience the thrill of skiing.
• Two-track skis and snowboards - These are for any skier who stands on two skis but who might need tethers to aid in leg strength. These are good for people with visual and hearing impairment and for those with developmental and cognitive disabilities.
• Three and four-track - These are for skiers who can stand on skis but need additional support to remain balanced. They are best for students with leg amputation, cerebral palsy, arthritis, spina bifida or a traumatic brain injury.
• Ski Bike - The latest piece of adaptive skiing equipment is similar to a bicycle with skis instead of wheels, the ski bike has been used in Europe and now adaptive programs have recently discovered that it can be an ideal way for many people with disabilities to enjoy skiing. SInce the ski bike takes the majority of a person's weight off of the legs and feet, it can fill a frustrating void between stand-up and sit-down snow skiing.

And, of course, Paralympic alpine skiing is one of the sports in the Paralympic Winter Games. In addition to the Paralympic Games, elite disabled ski racing includes the Disabled World Alpine Skiing Championships (held every four years from 1980 to 2004 and every two years beginning in 2009) and the IPC Disabled Alpine World Cup, an annual international racing circuit.

Interesting stuff.

Tomorrow: 1 Day, 5 Hours

Glacier Skiing

While most of Europe puts away their skis come the first warm days of spring, there are a few devoted individuals, and, a multitude of quite-serious-skiers (as in, people who represent their countries on ski teams, including a group we will discuss tomorrow: the Adaptive Skiers) who head to the higher elevations and just keep on going. In one such location, Tignes, France, the Grand Motte glacier slopes are available for the early riser: from 7:15 until 13:00, you can ski at 3,000 to 3,456 meters. 

Tignes is a bustling ski resort town during the ski season, and they have done a rather nice job of creating a "summer program" for those who come for a bit of skiing (and let's face it, it's only a "bit" if you are talking about a few hours early in the morning). And if you are the sort of person who likes mountain biking down ski slopes, playing tennis, practicing your archery, riding ponies, swimming, boating, etc, etc, etc. It is seriously like a huge summer camp for all ages.

Now, I'll be brutally frank here, I do not fall into either the "devoted skier" or "representing my country on an international ski team" category. Nor am I the sort to really get into summer camp. And since I have recently been having as yet undiagnosed problems with my knees, I reluctantly decided to forgo the early morning ski. Where "reluctantly" means something akin to "laughing all the way back to bed."

In order to ski, everyone got up at around 6:00, drove to the funicular and then fought for a spot on the first ride up. The funicular only ran every fifteen minutes or so, so if you missed that first trip, you missed some percentage of your precious skiing time. And by "fought" I mean teenage ski team members pushed over cute six year old girls in order to scoot one place ahead. Or maybe that only counts as half a place ahead? I am reporting this, as you may realize, second hand, as at no point did I actually leave my bed.

Jeff did work out by Day 2 that waiting until the second funicular, while maybe not exactly in the spirit of Summer Gladiator Glacial skiing, was more to his liking; those few extra minutes meant breakfast at the hotel, plus no pushing when time came to board the funicular. Win-win.

    

Some managed the early mornings better than others.

Fun, fun, funicular! Except when you are being squashed by some rude dude who is so hopped up on adrenaline he fails to see you.

 

But, the point of this extended drive across Europe wasn't really for us to ski. We went to hang out with some friends who like to come to Tinges to ski.  

As it turned out, the menfolk took the children skiing at the ungodly hour of the morning required, while the womenfolk hung out, drank coffee and caught up on the past year. We'd swap in the afternoon, letting the guys get some work done or rest up a bit. Pool time is much more my gig.

Then, dinner. And that's really what it was all about. The summer camp atmosphere of Tignes was fine, although (truthfully) a bit frenetic for my personal taste. But the best part was just hanging out with friends, enjoying some bread (for the gluten tolerant) and cheese and catching up.

 

July, France. Snow. Who Knew?

The awesome cheese thing in France probably did not surprise anyone, but, seriously, did you have any idea that people skied in Europe during the summer? I assure you, I did not.

More details tomorrow, as we have just returned to Brno for a brief respite (two days, if you are the sort who wonders exactly how much time I have to do laundry and re-pack) before we strike off again.

If you're interested, these photos are from Tignes, France. If you are not interested, it is still Tignes, France. Only, why are you bothering to read this?

This entire, lengthy, drive-a-lot tour (from CR, through Austria to Lichtenstein, to Switzerland, to France, and, if you were the sort to see into the future of this blog, although, technically, it is our past now, Italy and then Slovenia) was for the sole purpose of hanging out with some friends of ours from China.

Our friends make Tignes an annual trip. The hanging-out-time was awesome, awesome, awesome, as it always is when you see people you just love to see, only, you only get to see them once a year, so that once a year has to be pretty cool. Which, skiing in July in France certainly qualifies.

 

Tomorrow: Tingnes, and Glacier Skiing