James Hathaway – Page 40

Travel: Slavonice 2

The town square of Slavonice is dominated by An enormous clock tower.

Our hotel room is a full apartment on the third floor. It’s quite nice.

Much of the city dates to the medieval era.

Just outside the Slavonice by a 30 minute walk are Czechoslovakian bunkers from 1938. They were built to protect Czechoslovakia from a Nazi invasion. It’s a somber reminder of the conflict in the region not so many years ago.

WWII Tank barriers across the valley floor.

Travel: Slavonice, Czech Republic

Yesterday we traveled overland to Slavonice, South Bohemia, one mile from the Austrian border. Along the way we stopped in Cesky Budejovice for a tour of the famous Budweiser Budvar Brewery, whose brewing history dates back to the 13th century.

Hundreds of thousands of cases of beer are produced daily.

A green river of bottles make their way through the bottling plant.

We made our way to Slavonice, a town with roots in the Renaissance.

A perfect place for an afternoon autumn walk.

We discovered a building with frescoes dating back to 1568 AD in remarkable condition.

The room with frescoes as they were found.

This frescoe depicts the fall of Babylon.

Most of the frescoes were restored in 2011.

Travel: Cesky Krumlov 2

Vyssi Brod Cistercian Monastery founded in the 13th century is the spiritual center of South Bohemia.

Small town of Vyssi Brod, below the monastery.

Countryside near the Czech and Austrian border.

Travel: On the road to Chesky Krumlov, Czech Republic

Today was a beautiful blue sky day as we traveled southeast from Prague. Our first stop was Vojna Memorial, built by German POWs after WWII as a labor camp for the nearby uranium mines. After the communist takeover in 1948, Vojna became a forced labor camp for political prisoners.

One of many guard towers at the labor camp.

Creative art media on the memorial grounds.

Mining car from the nearby Uranium mines.

Slab from the Berlin Wall.

Travel: Pisek and Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic 1

Yesterday, a travel day, brought us to the cute little town of Pisek in the afternoon and later to the charming city of Cesky Krumlov where we will stay for another two nights.

Pisek, founded in the 13th century, on the banks of the Otava River.

Cesky Krumlov Castle, part of 40 buildings, built during the 14th through 16th centuries.

One entrance of the medieval city of Cesky Krumlov.

Prague 3

Yesterday was our last full day in Prague. We spent the day exploring the Prague Castle and it’s many neighborhoods.

Close up of Gargoyle on the rear of the Cathedral.

Charles Bridge over the Vltava River. The bridge was built in 1347, and is the second oldest bridge in Czech Republic.

Tram line to Prague Castle from City Center.

Travel: Prague 2

Greetings to all from the Czech Republic!

It’s been a couple of very busy and cold/wet days exploring Prague. Nonetheless, Prague has rewarded us with gorgeous architecture beautiful monuments and delicious food.

Here are some of our favorite photos to date. Our hotel room is on the 6th floor. It’s high enough to yield some interesting shots above many of the rooftops. Some are interesting, others a chuckle. Enjoy!
J&J

What’s a guy gotta do around here to get a bite to eat!

Er…no I thought it was your turn to feed it!

A pair of turrets from a distant church.

A little of this, a dash of that, mix together and viola!

Travel: Prague 1

Greetings from Prague, Czech Republic!

It was an interesting travel day yesterday. We had an early wake up call and a 9 a.m. Uber pickup from the apartment. SURPRISE! Our street was closed due to street repaving. We left the apartment early to see if our Uber pickup was in sight. Long story short, Uber canceled our order. Surprisingly a local taxi was both faster and cheaper…

We had a pleasant Air France flight from Paris to Prague in 1 hour, 20 minutes. The big surprise arriving in Prague was the cab ride to the city center took longer than the flight due to massive traffic.

This morning we took a quick walk around the old town city center. Here are some of our photos.

Within the next few hours we will check into our new hotel and meet the rest of our travel companions for the next two weeks.

One of many churches in the city center.

Peek-a-boo view of the spires from our hotel.

Travel: Paris 5

Today brings our first week in Paris to an end. As always that means getting reacquainted with the familiar and making new discoveries at the same time.

We decided to explore the Rodin museum after we calculated it’s been over 25 years since we had been there. We did not recognize it at first glance.

His former home (a mansion actually) is now a museum along with the estate’s grounds.

Here are some of our favorite photos from the day.

Travel: Paris 4

Each visit to Paris reminds us why we keep coming back. It’s the ever changing, always evolving, never disappointing Paris we have grown to love.

There is an energy here that is hard to describe. It is reminiscent of the US of our younger days. THANK YOU Paris for opening your heart to those seeking a safe and caring place to thrive.

Here are some of our favorite photos from yesterday.