The Blithe Traveler

Compare and Contrast: Outdoor Play Part 2

Alrighty then, now we will explore free outdoor play places. As in, parks. Hold onto your helmets, because we have some wicked cool playground equipment to show you.

This little gem is tricky in that it requires outside assistance to get it going. However, a good push without proper forethought sends the next tire in the sequence willy-nilly into the pusher, resulting in the pusher face first in the dirt. None of you will ask how I know this because it is blatantly obvious.

This particularly piece of equipment is great fun, although best when early or late in the day, or on a cool sort of day. The tires get hot in the sun.

This equipment is designed for older children and children aspiring to be tightrope walkers. Tom and Hope can both climb up to the platforms, but even Tom is too short to use the hand grip to walk across the wire. Witness the excellent effort below. It's a long way down, though, so discretion being the better part of valor, he has decided to wait and see if he is tall enough by spring. I'd wager he will be.

And, because I am the generous sort, and because I am sure you want to know how this thing works, I will demonstrate for you. 

See? Easy and très kewl.

Next up we have the slide. This puppy is fast. The photo is not clear, but the area around the slide is lined with tires, presumably to cushion your fall should you get flung out on one of the curves. The thing is fairly slick, so if you happen to be wearing a pair of nylon basketball shorts on your first ride, hang onto your hat. And maybe even your head.

Ah, and now my favorite: the zip line. Dang, I love this thing.

Does the zip line make my bum look big?

Double your pleasure, double your fun. And if you are wondering if this went south ...

...yes, it did. She live to ride another day.

Tom and I had a long discussion around the topic of "liability" while we were dusting Hope off. Interesting topic; I was trying to remember if I had ever seen play equipment this intensely awesome in the US. Of course my playground experiences in the US were with tiny children, so even if zip lines were de rigueur, they would have been outside of my immediate frame of reference.

 
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, this is probably the children's fan favorite. I know, what could better than the zip line?? But, you would have to see this thing in action to fully appreciate its glory.   

You see those two brown blocks? If you are tall and strong enough, you can drag the swing aalllll the way up there. And then leap. Holy. Guacamole.

Please note that the girlfriend chose to wear helmet. Not that I could blame her.

In summation, awesome fun can be had by all ages in Europe. With not a castle in sight.

Compare and Contrast: Outdoor Play Part 1

In one of those strange twists of fate (or one of those every day occurrences in the Family of Bad Planners), my dad spent the summer in Europe while we were in the US. Seriously, how can this sort of thing happen? Unfortunately, it's easy enough if you are not the sort who can commit. I had been resistant to a US trip at all (hello! we live in Europe! Why exactly would we not spend the summer traveling in Europe?), but life intervened.

There were (many) family members and friends we really wanted to see who couldn't get here, there were a few regularly scheduled maintenance appointments (for both us and the car) that we were really better off addressing with our regular type mechanics. And so, reluctantly, finally, and way after my dad had scheduled his trip, we booked flights.

The problem was that once we started adding up dentists and physicals for everyone, eye appointments, an orthopedist for my wonky knees (which are just fine now, thanks for asking), and all the girl stuff women over 40 have to do, plus traveling south to spend some time with family, suddenly, we were in the US for weeks.

While my dad was in Europe. Like I said, bad planning.

The good news was that we spent some time with him in Ireland, and then he was planning to spend a few days with us in the Czech Republic on his way off this continent and back to North America. And all of that was a long way of saying that I thought it would be nice to make the few days we had together memorable.

He'd been to Brno already, and while the Clock, and the Dragon, and the Castle are all just about more than the average tourist heart can take, he'd already seen them. Twice. Maybe even three times during the week he was here. It was time to shake things up a bit.

And so I scheduled a trip for the four of us to "Jungle Park" a place described on their website as "a rope center." The general idea seemed to be climbing. And ropes. I didn't have any more specific information than that, but really, do you really need more than "ropes" and "climbing" to think "awesome family fun??" 

I had been meaning to get the children to this little corner of Brno for months, but bad weather, bad backs (actually, there are people for whom "ropes" and "climbing" aren't top of the list) and other odds and ends have always gotten in the way. But Dad arrived on Thursday, and Friday morning I announced that we were going to go "do something with ropes! And climbing!"

He actually requested more information. Clearly, he does not spend enough time with us. Since other than "ropes" and "climbing" and that you were required to bring one adult for each child under 140cm, I didn't have any more information. I punted and said something along the lines of, "I don't know exactly, but I am sure it will be fun!"

And as it turned out, it was ropes, climbing and awesome, awesome family fun.

Here we are kitted up for climbing. You arrive at a wooden hut on the edge of a tennis court where you are fitted with your gear: helmet, climbing belt, gloves. From the wooden hut, you can't see the climbing area, mostly because it is a zip line ride through the forest and across the river away.

As we were checking straps, insuring good fit, and snapping helmets my dad asked again for a little more information about what it was we were going to be doing with all of this equipment. What could I say? I'll let you know as soon as I find out?

It soon became apparent.  The fun begins when the guide attaches you to a zip line over a river, gives you a good push and sends you over to the climbing side. Truth in advertising, this is actually Hope on the way back. But I thought you might want to see the river. It's a small river.

There is a short orientation, whereupon you are left on your own to follow the climbing pathways. The tree stations are numbered, and the paths are obvious, so other than watching children carefully to insure that they are following the rules and are always attached to one safetly rope or another, it seemed like reasonably safe fun.

The climbing courses didn't take up too much space in the wooded area; probably around an acre in total, and there were three possible routes to chose from. The baby route was for children age 4 to 120cm in height. The route we took was for the middle range of children and if you were 140 cm and taller, you could go on the most advanced route which included zip lines between tree stands.

The children were a little disappointed to not be able to zip through the trees, but without more direct supervision, I could certainly see the logic in not letting them attach their own zip lines.

There were twenty stations on our route and they ranged from "hard for a six-year old to execute" to "dang near impossible for a six year old to execute." You can see here she is attached with two safety lines to a wire, but she has to climb across this web to get to the next station. The safety lines only stop you from hitting the ground if you lose your grip and fall; they don't help you with the actual physical work of climbing at all.

Small-bits-of-wood-attached-to-rope-so-they-swing-when-you-step-on-them were another high-light. Tom probably had the easiest time of the lot of us, although my dad and I had height to our advantage, Tom has more agility and flexibility than both of us put together.

Hope had a minor meltdown at one point when she was sure she was over-faced (and I wasn't so sure she wasn't over faced). I was right behind her, though, so I could talk her back, she took a minute to re-compose herself and set off again, successfully.

There was a ladder on site, so if you called out for help, one imagines they could send someone over to pluck you down, but overall, the incentive to keep climbing was that it wasn't clear you would get home for dinner if you didn't.

And the verdict? The children were over the moon. My dad and I had a terrific time, too. Although I think it was just as well he didn't really know what he was getting himself into.

It was hard, hard work to climb around (there were quite a few area that required that you really use your upper body), it was a little scary at times (mostly for those under 140cm who were afraid they were hung up and weren't going to make it back down), but the one question they asked over and over was "Can we go back?"

To return to the car, you had to zip line back over the river. There wasn't anyone to help get you going, so I went first to test the waters (ha!), and had my dad supervise the children's zip attachments and give them a push.

Ooops. Tom didn't *quite* make it. Hope went second, so she got a big enough push to get her all the way across.To get the boy down, he had to hand over hand until I could reach his foot and pull him over. Still, he wants to go back. Truthfully, me too. But I want to do the zip line route: WHHHEEEEEEE!!!

Tomorrow: Part 2, How We Play in Parks

 

 

 

 

Veveří Castle

So, there's more than one castle in Brno. Despite my assertion that I live in a small town, Brno is the second largest city in all of the Czech Republic. As such, it not only has Spielberk Castle, in the center of town, and the ruin of Obřany castle, out near where we live, but also the Veveří castle located on the banks of the Brno Dam lake.

The weather across Europe this summer has been unseasonably cold and wet. As you may recall from our Irish adventures, long sleeves and fleeces have been the order of the day. We were planning to spend a good week hanging out at home with the children's school pals, and had dreams of pools, rivers, lakes. You know, the sorts of things that involve bathing suite, icy drinks and sunscreen.

'Twas not to be. Putting on our thinking caps, the mums came up with Plan B: let's take 'em to the castle!

The response on the part of the children was about expected: "Castle? RUN!"

Herding cats. One of the key benefits of Veveří castle, thought, is that one can take a boat there. Given that transportation can also be entertainment to the under ten set, we tried again, positioning our outing as a "BOAT RIDE, with castle." While this did not raise their enthusiasm levels significantly, we were able to get all of the children onto the boat. I consider that a win.

We had all packed lunches, with the idea that we could picnic at the castle. Sounds romantic, although given the weather, it would have been something less than that. Luckily, the boats are rather well appointed, and this being a weekday, with something less than optimal weather, we decided a picnic aboard the boat would be a far better option. Which, indeed, it was. And indoor picnic, in someone else's indoor.

I spent most of the 50 minute ride shivering indoors, but I had heard that the boat rounds a "corner" of the lake, and the first sighting of the castle is kind of spectacular, so I poked my head out a few times just to see where we were.

Hope declared she was the Queen of the World, which I find fascinating, as I assure you the child has never set eyes on "Titanic."

And there it is: Veveří castle! It is rather beautiful.

The castle was originally built in the 1200s, although what you see today isn't what was built in the 1200s. The castle has a rather unromantic history: it was used primarily for defense until around the end of the 1500s, where it reverted to private hands and had a longish sort of history being passed sold every hundred years or so. Around the late 1800s it was purchased by an English noble man. During this period, Winston Churchill, apparently on his honeymoon, dropped by.

There you have it. Visited by the most significant European politician of the 20th century. I wonder who paid for this plaque? And when?

I believe this is the Eastern Prismatic Tower, built on the remnants of walls from the 13th century. 

The modern history of the castle is one that would suggest we were actually pretty lucky to get to see it at all. The Germans set up barracks here during WWII, doing extensive damage to the structure. It was open to the public at the end of the war, but for decades, sat without renovation. It was allowed to deteriorate until the late 1990s when it was under finally put under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture and joined the portfolio of historic buildings managed by the National Heritage Institute in Brno.

The restorations are slow, and will take many years, but the structures have all been stabilized and some work has been completed on the interiors.

And with that, the sun came out and we headed for home.

Another day, another castle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

D.C.

Just because we were there. While in the US, we headed to South Carolina for a long weekend with family. I drove the children down from PA, and Jeff flew down to meet us. We all drove back together and since Washington is on the way, we stopped. Who can resist the siren call of the Air and Space Museum?

One of the things that struck me on this, my third or fourth visit to Washington as a tourist, is how very young it is. Having spent the last month viewing crumbling ruins a millennium old, D.C. comes across as being very bright and shiny, in a gorgeous, gleaming new kind of way.

There's a castle, of course, but, it's just not quite the same.

And this. Yes, Virginia, people pee inside in this country, even when they are outside.

And on this trip, I was also struck by how very hot it was. We froze in Ireland and arrived on the East Coast, USA during a spell of what had to be the hottest weather for the longest period I've experienced north of the Mason Dixon line. 

The heat did not stop Hope from riding the carousel. Anyone else have fond memories of this carousel? I will tell you it costs $3.50US to ride the thing and I did not begrudge it.

The heat certainly did not stop Jeff from dashing up to the Capitol while the rest of us were hanging in the air conditioned splendor that is the Air and Space and procuring tickets for us to watch the Senate in action. Wait, is that an oxymoron? "Senate in action?" Our timing was good in that they were hours away from the budget deadline, but, the public action while we were watching was quite tame.

However, we did spend the majority of our time in the good ol' Air and Space. Tom was astonished by it and has declared that he must go back. He did not get what he considers a "proper visit" (that's when you go when it opens and leave when it closes - kid loves museums so long as they have nothing to do with "art"), and so I am sure we will take him back.

We ate ice cream, saw the Vietnam and WWII memorials and ...

Had tickets to get to the top of Washington Monument, but were foiled by approaching thunderstorms.

But we walked past 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to get back to our hotel, so that was a nice way to end the evening.

We left DC the next day via the Air and Space Udvar-Hazy center out by Dulles. Amazing stuff, if you are the sort who likes large buildings full of aircraft.

Which certain members of our party do.

With that, we headed off for Pennsylvania, and shortly thereafter, back to Brno.

Next: A Proper Castle

Céide Fields

Near Enniscrone, across the county line in Mayo, there is a remarkable neolithic site containing the oldest known stone-walled fields in the world, dating back nearly 6,000 years. The site itself is astonishing in its bleakness and the museum is equally astonishing for its beauty.

The findings, which are essentially an extensive series of stone walls and monoliths, are considered a major archeological find in that their age, location, scope, and scale have all added significantly to the knowledge of how early humans interacted and has added new perspective to the perception of our Stone Age ancestors.

A farmer out cutting peat decades ago noted the strange regularity of the stones he uncovered in the bog fields. Here's how Wiki tells the story:

"The discovery of the Céide Fields originally began in the 1930s when a local man, schoolteacher Patrick Caulfield, noticed piles of stones which were uncovered as he cut away turf for fuel. In these piles he saw some design which could not have been haphazard. Caulfield noted that the stones had to have been placed by people, because their configuration was clearly unnatural and deliberate. Furthermore, they were positioned below the bog, which meant they were there before the bog developed, implying a very ancient origin. The unraveling of the true significance of this discovery did not begin for another forty years when Patrick's son, Seamus, having studied Archaeology, began to investigate further. Investigations revealed a complex of fields, houses and megalithic tombs concealed by the growth of blanket bogs over the course of many centuries."

The land that you now see as all bog was forested when the people who built the stone walls arrived. They removed the forests in an effort to create arable land. The climate was several degrees warmer in those days, so the notion was not so very far fetched that they could build an agricultural community near the sea. However, by taking down the forests, the long term impact was the development of bog fields, and the land became untenable for agriculture.

The theory is that the forest canopy created an environment where rain did not reach the ground (it was absorbed by the canopy, or evaporated back into the environment). By deforesting the area, the early settlers removed the barrier that kept the land from becoming bog.

Interesting.

And that's all for Ireland. We headed off to the US after this for some sun, fun and visiting with friends and family.

 

Welcome Cousins

The point of our journey to my home country was to meet and greet with a few members of my family with whom I have not met and gret in decades.  And many members of my family whom I have never met.

My mother's cousin, Joe, who lives across the pond from the American contingent has been the instigator for the past few decades for large, extended family gatherings taking place on various continents. I attended one in the US many years ago, and my parents both traveled to Ireland a few times.

When word came that there was going to be the first gathering in a decade in Ireland and that my dad was planning to attend, we added a swing through my Home Country as part of our travel planning for the summer.

And indeed we were welcome. The Cousin festivities occurred over two nights, one at the Golf Club in Enniscrone, and the second, here at the Kennedy family pub in a small town about 45 minutes outside of Enniscrone proper. The photos are a hodgepodge of both events, and in no particular order.

Here young Tom is examining the family tree. This document goes back to my great-great grandparents and forward to Tom and Hope. I'm the oldest child of the oldest cousin, so Jeff and I fell about in the middle of pack as far as age. We are younger than my mother's cousins, but older than all of their children.

My grandfather was born and raised on the homestead you see below. In the interests of verisimilitude, the structure in the photo is the barn. The actual house was demolished a few years ago and snug modern home was built on the property.

 The most fabulous part of any authentic Irish gathering, apart from the Guinness, is the singing and dancing. The American contingent have clearly had their genetics diluted too far to participate in any meaningful fashion, but the Irish cousins have really astonishing talent. I grew up with Irish music in the household, so the songs are all familiar to me, and I do love to listen to the joyful/mournful melodies of the Irish pipes.

Overall, a grand time was had by all.

Tomorrow: Ceide Fields, a bit of history

 

Enniscrone Take Two

Isn't it beautiful?

Ha! I am so kidding. Although, clearly you were not fooled for a single second. Who in Ireland wears short sleeves? The photo is from South Carolina, a few weeks later.

Ah, that's more like it. Enniscrone is beautiful. Cold and windy does not mean "ugly." Just, cold and windy. We, unfortunately, don't have many photos of the area, because who wants to risk your expensive photography equipment to the elements?

You want to know where the other child is? He blew away.

No, we would not risk our photography equipment, but children need airing once in a while, don't you think?

Generally, people come here in the summer for the seaside (there is surfing! and, shock, great kite flying), a lovely tourist camp site and the Enniscrone Golf Club. We had dinner at the Club on Friday night and stopped at the Club Shop to check out the merchandise. Jeff was browsing when he came across the corner where they sold Golf Wetsuits. That tells you something.

There was one other very fun thing in Enniscrone that we didn't get to do, but that my father gave two thumbs up to: Seaweed Bath's. I am really sorry I had to miss that experience, because as much as I love a thermal bath, a salty, seaweedy hot thermal bath really does sound grand.

And, random change of direction: there is an explaination of the variety of names for the place on Wiki:

"The majority of the local population know this village as Enniscrone (Gaeilge: Inis Eascair Abhainn), though many local school teachers and historians use the official name of Inishcrone. Sligo County Council has neglected the official version in favour of 'Enniscrone' which appears on their website and at least one local newspaper does not use the official name. Locally, the road signs are one of the few places "Inniscrone" can be seen."

Good to know. I am delighted I come from a people who are happy to 'neglect the official version.'

 

Enniscrone

We drove north west from Dublin for about three hours to arrive in sunny Enniscrone, or Inniscrone, although apparently officially named Inishcrone, depending on your mood. Any wonder our GPS had difficulty? (Psst, click once on the minus to get a better image of the drive from Dublin to En ... In ... that place we went.)

View Larger Map

And I am totally lying about the sunny bit. It wasn't. It was windy.

But don't mistake that for a complaint. I'm just stating the facts, baby. Anyone who goes to Ireland for the weather likes things far colder and rainier than I.

I went for the Crunchie bars.

I love these things like zombies love brains. You might be wondering about my odd choice of colorization of this image. Me, too. I'd call it "camera failure," but that's a cop out for "operator failure," in most dictionaries, isn't it?

I first discovered Crunchie bars on a trip to the UK about twenty years ago. I was spending almost a week visiting a friend who was a working student for Karen Lende (anyone else having flashbacks right about now?). As I was driving toward Badminton (no kidding, I even had a press pass for the weekend), I pulled over to a roadside stand and picked out about a dozen candy bars I had never seen before.

Taking it slowly, because even for a candy fiend like myself, a dozen candy bars are a lot of chocolate, I munched my way through them, testing texture, taste, rolling the odd crunch bits around in my mouth, comparing and contrasting to my American favorites (Milky Way and Three Musketeers, if you are interested).

When I hit the Crunchie bar, I had to pull over. Seriously. It was as though I had met my chocolate soul mate.

Now, if you are a grown up and have never eaten a Crunchie bar, I am guessing you wouldn't like them. I say this with some authority as I have tried to pass along the secret of the almost unholy goodness of these mouth delights to various friends and family over the years and I've generally been met with a response that would probably be best described as "horror."

I will admit, they are a bit, well, sweet. The basic bar is spun honey (crunchy! sweet!), covered in a milk chocolate coating. And now, if you ever see me with one, I won't have to share it, will I?

Luckily for me, I am in countries where they are sold rather infrequently. Although, I have heard a rumor that Kraft bought Cadbury. Is there any chance these babies are coming to the US? Gah, I hope not because if they are, I can never. go. back. Seriously, if I ever live in a country where these are available everywhere (Canada! Australia! UK! Grenada! BVI! New Zealand! to name a few), good-bye feet, I will never look down upon you again.

So, what to you think of Enniscrone so far?

Tomorrow: Maybe something about Enniscrone, maybe not.

 

 

Dublin

It's in Ireland. You knew that already, didn't you?

The objective of our first visit to my passport country was for a family reunion. Thirty-odd people related to me either through birth or marriage would be flying in from around the globe to join an assortment of our Irish cousins for a little fun, frivolity, singing, dancing and a few Guinnesses. <--Guinnesseese? Guinnessi? What is the plural of Guinness?

Look Right, Or Die. The Irish drive on the left side of the road. Not to be confused with driving on the "wrong" side of the road. Left is the right side of the road in Dublin, if you catch my drift. 

The reunion would be held in the area of Inniscrone. Also known as "Enniscrone." Although not found in our GPS under either of those spellings. Or any of the others we tried. But, we'll get there. We spent a day in Dublin before setting off for the Gilmartin Family Homestead. Planning ahead, the day was geared to give the children a little history and some fun.

First up, Trinity College to see the Book of Kells.

Trinity College. Nice day, too.

The Book of Kells is a fantastically hand decorated manuscript containing the four Gospels of the New Testament. It was created in the year 800 by Celtic monks and Wiki says "it is also widely regarded as Ireland's finest national treasure."

And here it is in Coloring Book form. We bought this for Hope and let her go at it for a few weeks before we arrived. She was delighted to see real pages from the Book of Kells that matched her coloring book. Part of me thinks it is great to bring Great Works of Art to children, part of me is shuddering. Whatever, Hope enjoyed it.

The book is displayed in a dark room, under glass, with two of the current four volumes available at any given time. One shows a major illustration and the other shows a typical text page. Naturally, they do not allow you to photograph the book. I was just delighted to be able to lay eyes on it, considering its age and value, so I'm not complaining, just pointing out why you get a sign photograph instead of a book photograph.

Following the Book Viewing, you get to walk through the Long Room, which as a bibliophile, was pretty exciting. The Long Room contains 200,000 of the College's oldest books.

This I thought was hilarious. The "human remains" startled the wee ones; not only are there skeletons, but there were enourmous anatomical drawings, one of which showed a dissection of a pregnant woman with fetus. A bit much for the six-year old. But, apparently not for Under 18 yrs School Groups, who can see it free of charge.

Mission Accomplished on the Educate Children Front, we headed to Dublina, which was meant to be more fun than educational, although it did turn out to be both. Dublina is an exploration of Viking and Medieval Dublin for children. And it was really, really grand. The exhibitions were interesting, educational, and for the most part, fun, although I did think cart with the dead bodies on it in the Black Plague Exhibition was a bit much for the six-year old. Not that it wasn't appropriate to the museum, but it did set the kid back on her heels when she saw it.

She recovered when we let her try on chain mail and an amour helmet.

 

Tomorrow: Enniscrone, Inniscrone, the wild and windy shore

 

Conti-centric?

We had dinner at a friends house just before we left the US. They had a map of the world hanging up and Tom studied it quizzically.

"This isn't right," he finally said. "it's split funny!"

The map looked something like this:

As opposed to the map that hangs on our dining room wall.

Which looks something exactly like this:    

Does give one pause, doesn't it? How would one describe it? "Ethnocentric" isn't quite right. The best I could come up with was "Conti-centric." Further reasearch, however, suggests that North American Biased is the proper term.

Now, just to throw this out there, have you ever seen one of these?

An astute reader brought these to my attention. Here's what Wiki has to say about "Upside Down Maps:"

"A reversed map, also known as an Upside-Down map or South-Up map, is a map where south is up, north is down, east is left and west is right. Thus the Southern Hemisphere at the top of the map instead of the bottom. These maps are just as accurate as traditionally oriented maps, because the position of North at the top of maps is arbitrary. Such maps have been made in several cultures and time periods. The convention that North is at the top (and East at the right) on most modern maps was established by the astronomer Ptolemy and was adopted by other cartographers."

I will admit to having no idea that North was arbitrary. So while I was aware of what we shall now refer to as the "North American Bias" of certain world maps, I did not realize that most world maps are considered "Northern Hemisphere biased."

At the end of the day, perhaps a globe is the best way to look at the world, as our map makes Sweden and Greenland look like they've been pumped up on steroids. Although, since we now know that North being up is arbitrary, you must be wondering about Upsidedown Globes. Me too. I didn't find anything worthy of linking to, but one imagines such things exist in some corner of the globe or another. Ha! Or maybe only as photoshopped images on the internet.

However you hang it, I would argue that the sizable chunk of wall hanging in our dining room, despite its flaws, has gone a long way in grounding the wee ones in world geography. You want to make them laugh? Ask them the capital of Sri Lanka. (1) ______________________________________________________________________________________ (1) Sri Jayawardenapura-Kotte: we can neither say it or spell it. Perhaps that is a goal for the start of the new school year?