Sep 30 – A two hour bus ride took us from charming Karlovy Vary back to the bustle of Prague. We only have one goal this afternoon: to visit the Infant Jesus of Prague at the Church of Our Lady Victorious.
Jim makes it a point to visit sites where miracles occur whenever we travel. The Infant Jesus is a primary pilgrimage site in Czechia. The 19” wood and wax statue is purported to have been owned by St Teresa of Avila, and traveled from Spain to Bohemia (now Czechia) in the mid 1500s.
In 1631 the priory where the Infant was displayed was plundered during the 30 Years War, but was recovered from a trash heap ten years later with its hands broken off. The priest who found it heard a voice that said, “Give me my hands, and I will give you peace. The more you honor me, the more I will bless you.”
The statue was repaired, given new hands, and has been lovingly cared for ever since by the Carmelite nuns here, who dress it in one of 300 outfits to match the colors of every liturgical season. So many favors and miracles have been granted in the name of the Infant Jesus of Prague that they cannot be counted.
The Church of our Lady Victorious Inside the church: the cluster of people on the right are praying and gazing at the InfantThe chapel that displays the Infant; its small size dwarfed by the statuary that surrounds it. Do you see it, dressed in a green robe?Here it is with my camera on maximum zoomA museum upstairs shows some of the many outfits given to the Infant from countries around the worldOutfits from Korea and MexicoOne of its many crownsA photo on the wall shows the nuns carefully changing its vestments for a new seasonSo that is the end of our Czechian adventure… with a little more wall art …one more look at the Vitava River …one more stroll across the Charles Bridge with a thousand of our closest friendsWe even saw a busker wailing on a didgeridoo!One more touch of St John Nepomuk for luck…and we headed home. Thanks Czechia – we loved your beer and we had a great time!
Sep 29 – When we are on vacation, Jim usually books us into one place a week. He made an exception here in Karlovy Vary, where we moved to three place in the same week to compare different Karlovy Vary experiences.
When doing his research, Jim found a robust online debate about which was the finest hotel, the Grandhotel Pupp, or the Hotel Spa Imperial? Knowing that we will probably never get to experience a five star hotel in Paris or New York, Jim decided to give us two extravagant experiences in Karlovy Vary.
The Hotel Spa Imperial is way up in the hills, so we have a gorgeous view off our private balcony. It has fewer service people (we had to fetch our own coffee), but the breakfast buffet was equally sumptuous. The pool here is bigger, but the lounges are wooden, so a bit less comfortable.
But, the Hotel Spa Imperial has its own funicular, a glass elevator, a bidet, and its own indoor mineral spring! We declare the winner to be the Hotel Spa Imperial!
The Hotel Spa Imperial Cool topiary gardens – we spoke with the gardener and thanked him for his lovely workA mineral spring right inside the hotel So convenient!Odd statues on the front lawn reminded us of standing stones A great glass elevator – just like Willy Wonka!The Hotel Spa Imperial has its own funicular to ferry guests up and down the big hillI just knew we were going to get a funicular ride in this townThe view from our balcony. You can see the Grandhotel Pupp way down below (with the green roof) and the Diana Tower atop the far hill……and we can see the sunset!For our last hike, we climbed another excruciating hill to the Goethe TowerThe staircase inside boasted a large number of stuffed /dessicated local wildlife As always, the view makes the climb worthwhileBack down into town …to stroll among the pastel buildings …and waterways …and quirky statues…and wall art!So long, Karlovy Vary. We had a grand time!
Sep 9 – Today we traveled an hour by bus out of the city and up to the top of a hill. We are visiting the Basilica of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary, a pilgrimage site and Czech beginning of the Way of St James that goes to Santiago. We’re not hiking this time, just paying a visit.
Here’s the story. In the early 1600s, Jan Andrýsek, a wine merchant, vowed that if he ever became wealthy, he would build a chapel to the Virgin Mary near Olomouc.
When he inherited a fortune, and didn’t follow through on his promise, the Virgin Mary appeared to him twice in dreams, reminding him of the vow. The dreams showed a radiant forest and the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child.
In 1629, Jan was riding east of Olomouc in a blizzard. He suddenly saw a brilliant light, in exactly the place he had seen in his dreams. Thus reminded, he built a chapel, which was enlarged several times as more pilgrims visited each year.
The bus let us off a short walk from the basilicaNothing but farmland for miles aroundIn we go!The Virgin wanted a chapel right hereThe light during the blizzardThe altarpiece contains some bones of St Pauline, the patron saint of Olomouc. The small stone relief of Mary in the silver frame survived a fire in the original chapel in the 1600s and is considered miraculous.Fancy organ pipes So baroque Is that a camel?Is that a dragon?An angel holding dice – referring perhaps to the soldiers who cast lots for Jesus’ cloak?More Madonnas for my collection …including two Black Madonnas This one reminds me of Our Lady of Guadalupe Whoa! Isn’t this the best reaction of St Thomas that you’ve ever seen?The basilica is also part of the Camino Santiago, and we looked at several pics of locals walking the Way of St James. I don’t think this bunch is going all the way to Spain.On our walk home we spied some wall artVery colorful And even some sidewalk chalk art!
Sep 3 – Today we bade farewell to our modern apartment in Prague, and set out to see more of Czechia.
About an hour’s train ride east of Prague is the lovely village of Kutna Hora. We are only here for a short time, and we are here to see one thing: the Sedlec Ossuary, otherwise known as the Church of the Bones.
Legend says that in the 1100s, a monk brought back some soil from Golgotha in the Holy Land, and spread the soil in the church cemetery. That made this cemetery a very desirable place to be buried, and people brought their family corpses from all over Europe to be buried here.
During the Black Death and the Hussite Wars of the 1400s, the church was overwhelmed with bodies, and devised an ossuary system of temporarily burying, then exhuming and stacking up the bones. It is estimated that between 40,000 to 70,000 bodies were interred here.
In the 1600s a monk was tasked with finding creative uses for the bones. Hence, the Church of All Saints became the Church of the Bones.
The Church of All SaintsDown we go into the ossuary, beneath the churchThe space is not large, and you get to spend no more than 30 minutes Jim managed to sneak a few photos, but most of the pix below are courtesy of the Internet. The church decided a few years ago that people were not being sufficiently respectful of the bones, and banned photo-taking.This chandelier is said to contain every bone in the human bodyThe coat of arms of the Schwartzenbergs, the rich family in the regionSo many bonesWorth the trip? You decide!The ossuary theme carried over to the Lego Museum next door with this Lego skeletonThey also had a sleepy Lego tourist…and a moving Lego tigerWe also visited the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception It was pretty empty inside, but filled with lightWall art!Soviet wall art?A Soviet era statueA pretty downtown For lunch Jim had a meat sandwich (shredded beef covered with cheddar, and I had the veggie sandwich (little tomatoes and white cheese). Very yummy. Cheese is a big thing here!In the afternoon we spotted the Church of Saint James,, and went in to visit our favorite apostle Over the altar was a painting of the slaying of the Moors, which we thought was an odd choice. See the shells over the heads of St Peter on the left and St Paul on the right?We all have our burdens to carry. A fine day.
Feb 20 – We took advantage of the amenities of the Radisson Resort that separated us from the water. We’ve been to many places where interlopers are kept out of the resort by security, and you have to show a room key or wristband to use the beach. Not so here! The beach is public property, so we walked the resort, lounged in the lounge chairs, and swam in one of the many pools. How fun to rub elbows with the upper crust!
We had time for one more adventure, so we walked down the beach in the other direction, to see if we could get to Quarantine Point. It is the site of a former leper colony, and the place where travelers suffering from TB, yellow fever, and other communicable diseases were kept back in the day.
Sodom appleSea grapesQuarantine Point in the distance We admired the artwork as we walked alongWhen the beach ended……we walked up to the road…then up the hill …to a series of thoughtful signsSounds like the Four Way Test of the Rotary Club!And indeed, it turned out that Quarantine Point is now a park maintained by Rotary Club International.…with lovely murals…a children’s playground…with views of the surrounding hills…and views back toward Grand AnseAnd so ends a wonderful respite to a very cold winter.Happy to say that our flights home were uneventful, despite Homeland Security closing Global Entry. Thank you to the TSA agents who showed up to do their jobs under trying circumstances. ‘Til next time!
Feb 18 – As nice as it is to swim and sit on the beach, there’s something to be said for exploring. We hopped a van to travel a few miles up the coast to the Carenage, the busy downtown area where the cruise ships dock.
Last week we were in St Andrew’s parish, now we are in St George’s.Very hilly streets – see the cruise ship out in the harbor? There is a different ship every day.You know we like cathedrals, so we stopped by the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception at the top of the hill……but they were celebrating noon mass, so we just peeked in and moved on.Lots of the same baggies of spices at the tourist market. See the cinnamon sticks?Plenty of hot sauces, nutmeg jam and rumGinger and tomatoes Red papaya and soursopTJ’s sounds like a good place for lunchJim’s chicken curry pie was huge, and contained four thighs, complete with bones. Don’t bite down hard!We spoke with a German couple from the cruise ship. They stop at a new island every day.Plenty of wall art!Here’s the Grenada sign, partially obstructed by taxi drivers waiting for a fare.The Sendell Tunnel connects the two sides of town. We thought it was for pedestrians……but it’s for car traffic too. A tight squeeze!On the other side of the tunnel was the harbor……where the rich folks dock their yachtsA fine day!
Dec 1 – So this morning we sauntered around beautiful downtown Lafayette to see what there is to see.
We saw the beautiful Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, built by a Dutch architect out of red brick in 1916.There is a 500 year old live oak hereA beautiful sanctuary St. Mother Teresa is hereA stroll downtown revealed my very favorite sight – wall art! Enjoy!For lunch, how about some shrimp creole? Bon appetit!
Nov 22 – Although we’ve been in New Orleans for almost a week, we have yet to see the Mississippi River. It’s only a block from the heart of town on Canal Street, so we sauntered over to have a look.
The Mighty Mississippi This riverboat has a mighty horn and blasted it repeatedly for all to enjoySome wall art near the waterIt is Saturday, and there is a New Orleans Saints game today. The crowds were phenomenal, and we’re not sure if all the extra people are here for the game, or just because it’s the weekend.Today is Jim’s conference presentation, so we didn’t get to do much sightseeing. The presentation was a great success.To celebrate, we went out to dinner with Jim’s colleagues, to the fancy French restaurant Galatoires. We started with turtle soup, which was a first for me. Very good! I had the shrimp étouffée in brown roux, and it was delicious.Jim ordered the seafood bouillabaisse in a saffron stock, and pronounced it equally excellent. A fine day.Nov 23 – We checked out Marie Laveau’s Voodoo Shop.Marie, a midwife, healer and hairdresser, was the most famous of the voodoo practitioners of the 1800s.No pix were permitted inside, so here is what you can see from the door. Incantations for every purpose, and tarot readings upon request.Mother River statue in front of the Port of New Orleans The other side of the statueRight on the river is Mardi Gras World, a huge warehouse where figures for Mardi Gras parade floats are made and stored.Most figures are sculpted in styrofoam, covered in papier-mâché, then painted The figures are reconfigured and repainted as neededHere is one of the parade floats. Our tour guide was a hoot. He told us that each float contained a porta-potty so the crewe could “oui oui” if necessary.This is the same company that made all the cows on billboards for Chik Fila’s “Eat Mor Chiken” campaign. We didn’t see any cows today.An ent?So much to see and so colorful! Thank you, Mary, for this recommendation!On friend Tom’s suggestion, we stopped in at Port of Call for a hamburger and baked potato lunch. We thought we could avoid the crowds by showing up at 3pm, but still had to wait half an hour for a seat. They make a signature rum drink called The Monsoon, and we enjoyed watching people trying to walk after finishing one!Thanks New Orleans, you’ve been grand!
Nov 19 – Another sunny day with a high of 80 degrees. Fine shirtsleeve weather, breezy and not hot enough to make you sweat. We walked through the French Quarter again today, taking note of the buildings that hug the streets.
There is wall art here!The St Louis Cathedral was open, so we popped in to see the inside. It was bright and airy with a painted ceiling.Closeup of the painted ceiling A feature of the buildings here are the many cast iron columns and railings – more ornate and more brittle than the wrought iron used elsewhereWe overheard a tour guide say that when the US asked for people to donate their iron to make munitions for WWII, the people of New Orleans said, “we will send our sons, but not our iron.”As we walked north, the buildings got smaller and more colorful In the Tremé district we found Louis Armstrong Park, built on the site of Congo SquareIn the early 1800s, enslaved and free Black people gathered here by the hundreds on Sundays, enjoying their afternoon off dancing and making music togetherTremé became an area known for jazz. Jon Batiste was born here!Spacious and tranquil There are statues of many jazz greats here, including Louis Armstrong……and Mahalia Jackson. The Mahalia Jackson Theatre is just behind.For today’s authentic New Orleans meal, we sought out NOLA Po Boys, where all the food is spicy! If you can’t handle the spice, ask for it “Yankee” style.The grilled shrimp po boy did not disappoint!A fine day!
July 15 – Happy birthday to our dear daughter Jae! We packed our bags once again and walk the one minute walk back to the train station. Today our journey is just one hour south to the pretty little town of Rüdesheim, which is right on the Rhine River.
Our first view, walking in from the train station.Cuteness!Rüdesheim is a stop on the Rhine River tours, and the town was full of cruisers eating ice cream and shopping for souvenirs.Plenty of wall artThe Church of St. James is on the Camino de Santiago routeInside we saw James with his pilgrim staff and shell We decided that this was the town to give in to our bratwurst craving – these didn’t disappoint!No trip to Rüdesheim is complete without a tour of Siegfried’s Mechanical Music Cabinet, a museum of antique music makersThis one played Entry of the Gladiators (the Circus Song) so loud we had to cover our earsSome were from old merry-go-rounds, with beautiful workmanshipOur tour guide explained how the songs were imprinted on a metal plateAn old Victrola and a gramophone This one had an entire string orchestra and a player pianoThen it was time for – you guessed it – the cable car ride to the top of the hill!We got to look down on the Rhine River…and the rows of grape vines. This town is known for its winery tours, but as we don’t drink wine, we didn’t investigate thoseIt was pretty windy in the cable car!At the top of the hill was a huge statue called Germania, holding her sword down to indicate a desire for peace. It was built in the 1870s by Kaiser Wilhelm to celebrate the unification of Germany.…with images of War on one side and Peace on the otherThe multitude of soldiers with the Kaiser on his horse at the centerThe statue is too huge to take in up closeThen we walked back down the hill through the vineyards…and back to the river. Rüdesheim, we had a great time!
