Prague to Vienna, July 2010

Once a very long time ago we had to cancel a biking trip in Europe because one of us had an accident with his bicycle. This year we made up for it with a memorable bike tour of the Czech Republic and Austria with Backroads and were joined by good friends Jo-Anne and Doug Ellenor.
It all began on a warm Friday afternoon and Saturday in Prague as we arrived early in order to get to know the city before we joined the tour. Prague is a glorious old city that escaped bombing during WWII and thus has maintained its magnificent baroque and gothic buildings in good repair. Used as a backdrop for a number of movies, it still has a charm that characterizes the “bohemian” lifestyle and the glory of ancient Europe. To get the most out of it, we took a tour of the city which was led by the daughter of a former Czech ambassador to Canada. Highlights were the Prague Castle that dates back to the 9th century but was expanded and remodeled many times. The gothic cathedral of St. Vitus (and St. Wencelsas of Christmas fame) is part of the castle enclosure. Other sights are the Charles bridge and the old town square. Click on the following photos to access the full gallery of photos of our two days in Prague.

Czech_ Prague

and

Czech_ Prague day 2

The Backroads tour officially began as we were picked up at our hotel Sunday morning already dressed in our biking attire and were transported in a chartered bus with the other participants to the town of Tyn where we were issued our bikes and were handed our trip directions and sent on our way to Hluboka with one stop at a distillery (slivovice and plum schnaps) on the way. (by the way – slivovitz seems to weaken your legs) First day of biking was 42.3 km, through wonderful forested countryside, some good hills to test our mettle and perfect weather in high 60’s warming to the 80’s later. We overnighted in a hotel at Hluboka. Click on this photo to access the gallery of day 1.

Czech_ Tyn to Hluboka Day1

Day 2 began with Donna and I getting lost straight out of the box ,which added a few kilometers to the ride but we caught up in no time and rode the 65.1km to Cesky Krumlov arriving before most of the group. It was fun ride with the exception of one gravel stretch that cut through forest in order to avoid traffic. When we pulled up to Cesky Krumlov it was like emerging from the forest into Disney World! A UNESCO world heritage site, this is a marvelously restored medieval town surrounding a magnificent castle on a twisting river. Ignored during communist times, it has been wonderfully restored according to strict architectural guidelines to preserve its authenticity. We stayed two nights in a transformed Jesuit monastery decorated to match the period. Photos can be accessed here.

Czech_Cesky Krumlov & lunch Day 2

Day 3 was also launched from Cesky Krumlov as we did a 45.6 Km loop through the countryside coming back to Cesky Krumlov. We were back around noon, allowing lots of time for us to explore the town and do a tour of the castle. In our honor -I’m sure- a Canadian band played in the town square. More photos are here.

Czech_Cesky Krumlov day3

Our Austrian portion began on day 4 with a bus trip across the border to Ottenstein where we hopped on our bikes and rode down to the Danube town of Durnstein. Ottenstein is a former summer castle now owned by the forest service in a beautiful wooded part of the countryside. This was my favorite ride of the trip. 59.8km long, it snaked through very picturesque forest and farmland. The route included lots of challenging hills that took you to high farmland and beautifully maintained little villages and a great downhill portion which passed various castle ruins. Just before the end, we rode through the town of Krems , another cobble stoned historic town in the Wachau valley along the Danube. We would have liked to explore it more but the temperature was in the 90s and we just wanted to find somewhere cool.
Durnstein is a charming little fortress town that is famous for having hosted the imprisoned Richard the Lion-heart (of Robin Hood fame) when he was held hostage by King Leopold in the 12th century. Today it is also known for its wine. The hotel we stayed in was a converted convent but… it had a great swimming pool. Boy did it feel good! Here are some photos of the town and along the ride.

Austria_Ottenstein to Durnstein

By now the temperatures were in the 90s and riding was hot! Day 5 was characterized by a ride along the Danube along a bike path that originates in Germany and runs 1800 miles to Romania. We went to the Abbey at Melk (76km with a loop up the hills for a little additional exercise). The Danube is sprinkled with castles (ADC = another damn castle) and picturesque villages and the hills are beautifully organized farms of mountain cattle, corn, wheat, barley, sunflowers and one particularly annoying horse fly that liked the taste of me. By the time we got to Melk we were dehydrated but proud of our mountain climbing prowess.
The Benedictine Abbey of Melk is still in use and served as the inspiration of the book and movie (Sean Connery) The Name of the Rose. Its restoration was financed, in part, by the sale of the Gutenberg Bible to Yale University. We stopped for lunch and a tour (plus a lot of liquids) and then rode back to Durnstein and the pool!! At night we were forced to do a wine tasting. Photos are here.

Austria_Durnstein&Melk

Our last day was short and David was elected to scramble up to the top of the escarpment to the castle ruins and take pictures while Donna did a short ride on the other side of the Danube for exercise. We were transported to Vienna at noon to end the tour. The Ellenors and ourselves stayed an extra day in Vienna to search for the perfect apfel strudel but were too pooped to do much else. A few Vienna and some final Durnstein pictures from on high are here.

Austria_Durnstein&Vienna

It was a great experience and we would do it again in a heartbeat!

Celebrity week - June 2010

Beginning on June 04, several celebrities decided to visit us in Charleston and brought their parents or great grandparents along for company. With all their comings and goings, I am sure that my car can find its own way to the airport without me!
Marc, Lesley, Kincaid and Cormac arrived on Friday as did Donna later in the day. Stuart, Noelle and Liam arrived Saturday as did my Mom. The weather was hot, hot but we began with a visit downtown to Marion Square before the rest of the gang arrived. Kincaid enjoyed the "bouncy castle" while the adults looked at the art exhibits. Given the heat, a fountain turned into a popular attraction. See the album by clicking on the following photo.

2010_06_05

On Sunday we went to the beach which was windy and hot. The boys enjoyed digging in the sand or playing in the waves while the adults hovered around like paparazzi taking photos. When time came to go home, at least one small person expressed his disagreement. Click on this photo for the album.

Isle of Palms 06.2010

It was fun watching the cousins interact over meals and toys. Given the warm weather a lot of our time was spent outside on the back deck and at the pool. See the album behind this photo:

Cousins

Whatever else we did, we were in the water, either our pool or the club pool:

Drop Box

Now that they are gone, the house is empty and quiet! Boo Hoo.

Cindy ("Sandy") Braddon visit

The first weekend in May we were lucky to have Cindy Braddon visit us for the weekend. The weather was perfect again and so we managed to play golf both Saturday and Sunday. I think Cindy was more interested in visiting the beach because she spent lots of time in the sand traps that litter our courses. Her new nickname is "Sandy". A good time was had by all especially this green fella that I photographed lying next to #12 on the Ralston course.
The pool temperatures have finally hit the "acceptable" (low 80s) level and these two ladies enjoyed margaritas after a hard day of golf.

Ellenors and Daniels Visit - April

April is usually characterized in Charleston by a coating of yellow pollen that gets over everything and brings out the allergies in most of us who are seeking to enjoy the outdoors. This April has been no different - we have had no rain to wash it away and have powerwashed the back deck twice already. Perfect weather makes for good golf and beautiful flowers, and we have taken advantage of both. Here are some photos of the flowers in the yard. (Remember to click on picture to access album.)

Garden flowers

April is also the best time for visitors and the month began with the Ellenors who just dropped in from Vancouver. We had an action packed week with golf and tourism.
In addition to playing lots of golf, we managed to fit in a trip to Fort Sumter and a house tour of the Old french district houses. Here are some photos of both events.

Garden tour 4.10

We also managed to hop on our bikes to ride down by the beach at Isle of Palms and Sullivan's Island to Fort Moultrie which was on the receiving end of British shelling and the delivering end of the attack on Fort Sumter.

Fort Moultrie4.10

As the Ellenors left, Ron Daniels (Donna's brother) and Nancy arrived. Once again we tested the golf courses and the beaches as well as the restaurants. All in all, I think I have gained ten pounds. It would have been impolite not to drink and eat with our guests after all! Photos of their visit and golf spectators are attached.

Ron & Nancy on Ralston

Birds and Beaufort

It has been a rather miserable winter - wet and cold but I have been able to get out and about with my camera looking for things to shoot at. Most recently I was in the Beaufort area for a delightful visit with friends Jim and Joan Anne who (like the birds) winter in Harbor Island.
While there, I stopped by to photograph some egrets in a mood for mating, caught a osprey as it looked out over the harbor and visited a church ruin built in 1740 but later destroyed in a fire. Here are the highlights (as before, remember to click on the photo to see the album):

Beaufort 3.10

Around Daniel Island I rode my bike around the golf course one day to take a few playful photos. These are the results:

Golf Course Feb 10

January 2010

Well it is a new year and so I have decided to update this blog. This is my first entry with photo albums so that those interested can see more than just the photos on the web site itself by just clicking on a photo album the link will direct you to a gallery of others in that album.

January has been unusually cold and wet in Charleston. Cold for Charleston, that is, but nothing compared to what you northerners have experienced. On one of the nicer days I threw my camera into the car and motored over to Magnolia Plantation on the outskirts of town and just wandered the grounds. These photos are the results: (remember, click on the photo to go to gallery)

At the end of the month we visited the Millers at their place in Florida. Donna flew down from Washington and I drove. We had a great time eating, drinking, playing golf and catching up. It was windy golf so we were not pressured by golfers behind us which allowed me to take a bunch of photos. The huge clubhouse shown is Tesoro Country club. (There are building lots available in case you are interested) The Millers live at Martin Downs CC and the second batch of photos are taken on their course.

Golf with millers Tesoro

Golf WMillers day three

December 2009

We were lucky to have many visitors in the month of December, beginning with an old Ottawa friend Jim Elliott who introduced us to Joan Anne. They made the pilgrimage to the COSCO store in Charleston from Beaufort, SC where they hibernate from Canadian winters. After a day of shopping they joined us for dinner in town and spent the night in the frog (family room over the garage) before heading back south. It was fun catching up and swapping tall stories from the foreign service.

Next came Cira Pereira with daughter Celina on the way back from Tampa. They brought the rain with them, and boy did it rain - over 5 inches. Rain notwithstanding, Donna's flight was on time and we had a nice visit despite David's efforts at cooking dinner. Cira and Celinas departure the next day was tentative given that 5 inches of rain translated into two feet of snow in the Washington area. It took them two full days of driving to get home.

The next week, Liam came back bringing his parents and stayed through the holidays. As you can see from the photos, he was the center of attention as he experienced his first Christmas. The weather treated us well and Stu, joined us for golf and we managed to fit in some biking and the gym whenever we felt guilty from overeating. I think Noelle & Stu enjoyed the occasional break from parenting and found time for shopping, a movie and lots of lazing about time. Donna and Dave enjoyed waking up with a little "elf" in the bed as Noelle passed Liam to us so that she could go back to bed and sleep in. We all wonder how Liam is going to adjust to life back in Toronto where he won't have a crowd of people to entertain him and no paparazzi photographing his every move!

It was a great December!