Danube Day 2: Old Prague

Breakfast was a fabulous hotel spread. Steve had an omelet that was more than he could eat. I enjoyed the breads and pastries with cheese and salmon. 

At 9 we gathered in the lobby and various groups took off for a four-hour walking tour of the old town. Although the foundations are 12^th-14^th c, most of the visible architecture is 18^th to early 20^th c. 

 

We spent a fascinating time touring the upper floors of Municipal House where we had dinner last evening. Built from 1905-1912 in the Art Nouveau style, it was the site of the proclamation of the Czechoslovakian state in 1918 and of several other major state events since then. It struck me as the symbolic equivalent of Independence Hall in Philadelphia. 

 

Smetana Hall in Municipal House is the home of the Prague Symphony Orchestra.

 

 

Each of the smaller halls of Municipal House has its own beauty. This painting in the old confectionary is of the town of Tabor, a Hussite village.

This ceiling painting was meant to memorialize Slavic unity, which our guide reminded us is a farce in the 21st c when one Slavic country ruthlessly invades another. She said it with a bitterness that reminded me of her earlier comments on Russia's 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia. There is no love lost on the Russians here, and they obviously identify closely with the Ukrainians. (On reading this, Steve reminded me that on our bus tour coming into the city yesterday, the guide told us they had changed the name of the street in front of the Russian Embassy to "Street of the Ukrainian Heros" so that is their address now.)

 

We were in the Old Town Square at 11 AM for the striking of the elaborate medieval astronomical clock. Very crowded. We were warned to hold onto purses and I moved my backpack to the front. Not all the mechanical parts were functioning so I didn’t bother with the video. I was remembering that a shop around the corner is where I bought my crystal goblets 25 years ago when I visited with my daughter. I carried a saucer of my good china on that trip to look for something to go with it.

 

The Czechs honor Jan Hus, a early Protestant reformer around 1400, as a rebel after their own heart. There is a large monument to him in the square and, early 17^th-c martyrs are memorialized on the spot where they were burned at the stake by the Catholic Hapsburgs.

From the square we walked to the old Jewish quarter, originally a ghetto, but beautifully rebuilt under King Joseph around 1900. We passed several old synagogues, a couple still functioning, some now museums. The men were required to wear yarmulkes in the most moving of these, the16th-c Pinkas Synagogue, now a memorial to Holocaust victims from the former Czechoslovakian lands. (That's not eye-patches on his head.)

Eighty-thousand names are written on the walls with dates of birth and date of deportation, grouped by the towns they came from.

Eighty-thousand names.

With a space left to add any others that might be discovered. Red lettering indicates family name.

Upstairs are displayed a few of the drawings recovered from children's art classes in Terezine, the transit camp north of Prague were artists were held until near the end of the war.

Behind the synagogue is the old Jewish cemetery dating back to the early 15th c. Stones are so close together because as the cemetery filled, more dirt was brought in to bury on top of old graves, but the stone of the grave below was kept on the surface.

The Spanish Synagogue, a reformed congregation from the mid-19th c, was built in the then-popular Moorish style.

On the way back to the hotel (after lunch at an outdoor cafe on the Old Town Square) I couldn't resist a peek into this shopping mall with the facade of an early 20th c army barracks.

Inside you could be in any city in the world.

 

 Now it is off to the opera! One of Mozart's.

Danube Day 1: Prague

 Off on another adventure!

This trip was originally scheduled for October 2020, but didn’t happen because…well, you know why. It was postponed to October 2021, but requirements in different countries were so varied and constantly changing that it was postponed again. But NOW! We are off to cruise the Danube River, something we never thought we would do…until we heard of this cruise with Amy Hyatt from MPR and musicians from Minnesota Orchestra. It is focused on classical music, and we will have daily recitals and concerts in historic venues. So excited about it! 

 

My husband has been teaching theological students and educators in Angola for the past month. We met up in Amsterdam. I was already beginning to pick out fellow travelers by the Earthbound Expeditions baggage tags on the luggage of people at our gate. One couple turned out to be from Cambridge, Steve’s hometown. They remembered his dad and knew a lot of the same people. At the orientation dinner last night at the old Municipal Hall we sat with a delightful woman who (pre-covid) taught public school teachers to use music to engage kids in reading and math. Of course, there are lots of music lovers with us here.

Roast duck, red cabbage and potato dumplings. Typical Czech fare and delicious.

In the basement of the Old Municipal Hall. We were entertained by an accordion player with folk songs and other favorites. Sometimes the noise was overwhelming, but people were obviously having a good time getting to know one another.

Glacier Day 2

Yesterday, between "Thank you, God," "You are incredible, Lord!"  and "How excellent is thy name in all the earth!" I may have mentioned to the Lord that today is my birthday and how nice it would be to have sunshine for the morning while I hiked.

It was a gorgeous, cloudless morning. He doesn't always answer yes to my prayers, but this one he did.

I learned my lesson yesterday. I went straight to Logan Pass without stopping. Well, almost without stopping. I couldn't resist a couple pullouts to take pictures of the rising sun on views that had been overcast yesterday. 

But no short hikes or waterfalls. I was very much aware that every car that passed me would be looking for a parking space at Logan's Pass. I pulled into the parking lot at 8:45 and took the last space I saw. (There might have been one or two others; I didn't go up every lane; but I didn't see any more.) The queue for the chemical toilets was even longer than yesterday. Everyone, like me, wanted to use them before setting off. I climbed a mile and a half to Hidden Lake Overlook. 

I stopped frequently "to enjoy the scenery." After all, I was back at 7200'. The music going through my head constantly was "Climb Every Mountain / Search high and low / Follow every byway / every path you know."

I did not hike the extra mile and a half to the lake itself since that would have been mostly steeply downhill, and what goes down, must come up. But the view from the top was worth it.

For that matter, the view in every direction was worth it. Besides the path back to the visitor center, you can see the road east off to the right.

Picnic spot. I was thinking that I had a four-hour drive after I left the park. If I had realized it was only two and a half, I would have lingered more.

I kept telling myself, "This is the last picture." This one really was. Wild Goose Island.

I am in Great Falls, MT, tonight. Then I have three long days of driving to reach Indianapolis for my father's 100th birthday. Unless there are more adventures than I am praying for, I don't expect to post anything more here. It has been a lovely couple days at Glacier. We will definitely be back. Wonderful time exploring and with family before that.

Now I think I will go eat one of the chocolate covered cherries my husband wrapped up for me as a birthday gift.

P.S. Almost forgot one last adventure. When I got back to the parking lot about 11:30, it was jammed with cars, circling round and round hoping for someone to leave. I was happy to oblige them, only my keys were not in my pocket. They weren't in my other pockets either. They weren't in the pocket of the jacket I had stuffed in my backpack when I got warm exercising (even though there was ice on the puddles.) Or anyplace else in my pack. I was sure I had put the keys in my back pocket. I will never do that again. They will be clipped to the string in my backpack where they can't possibly fall out. I dreaded climbing all the way back to the overlook, searching the ground for keys. Besides, wouldn't I have seen them on my way down? The only other place was... the toilets? I walked back up to the visitor center (while cars circled below like vultures waiting for my parking space) and asked if they had a lost and found. "What did you lose? Car keys? Did they have a little white plastic tag attached?" Oh, the relief!

There was a car waiting in front of my spot when I got there. I think he thought he had won the lottery when I said, yes, I'm leaving. His wife had to get out and stand there to keep someone else from swooping in as I pulled out.

I'm just really glad the keys hadn't fallen IN the chemical toilet.

Glacier National Park

 I had this idea that I would spend today working my way up this side of the pass, and tomorrow pick up where I left off and continue over the top. Bad idea.

I had a lovely hike on the Rocky Point Trail on the west side of MacDonald Lake. No people. Great views even if it was cloudy.

The trail is level along the lake for quite a while, then climbs at the point, although I think it would be easy enough to stay on the lake level and return the way you came. The back side of the loop has a lot more climbing. (But only about 4200'!)

The problem was that I started Going to the Sun Road late enough that every pull over was full until the hairpin turn called "The Loop" half way up the mountain. Better idea would have been to leave my lakeside hike for afternoon.

The climb to Logan's Pass was pretty overcast.

And when I reached the top there was fresh snow.

But no parking places. So after parking at an overlook and hiking maybe a quarter mile back to use the port-a-potty, I started my return journey.

I found a parking space at the Loop and did a three-mile hike from there. It started out cloudy, but then the sun came out. I stripped off jacket and sweater and hiked in short sleeves. At this altitude the fall colors are showing.

And with the sun out, every direction I pointed my camera was an irresistible shot.

People were so friendly. "Isn't it incredible?" "Have you been to Logan Pass yet?" "Just up here you'll have a great view of snow on the mountain. And go a little further and there's another one!"

I had fun shooting through the "windows" of a tunnel.

By mid afternoon the pullovers were emptying out, and it was easy to find a spot to park. This little waterfall is at Red Rock.

I wasn't the only one resting in the sun on the rock and enjoying the view. Well, I guess not everyone was enjoying the view. More than one had their eyes closed.

There were parking spaces at the Avalanche area in the afternoon, and I took a few minutes to do the <1-mile Trail of Cedars. Much of it is a raised boardwalk, I presume to protect the roots of the awesome trees.

Steve would have loved it. The road tops even Beartooth Pass above Yellowstone. The only negative is that everyone else wants to see it too. I guess we'll just have to come back.

Tomorrow's plan is to go straight to Logan Pass and then work my way down the other side. I have to be in Great Falls, MT, by nightfall.

Friends and Family

 The past week has been friends and family time. We first visited friends who are involved in a ministry called Sanctuary Inn, that receives hurting missionaries in community. It is a lovely little lodge near Mt. Hood.

Our friends' daughters were excited to show us the playhouse Daddy built.

We also visited our old friends Mark and Helen Downing whom we have known since Ethiopia in the mid-'70s and who lived in our house in Camp Grande after we had moved to Mozambique. But we were so busy talking and eating Ethiopian food that I never thought to take a picture until we were gone.

Next stop was Puyallap, WA, for the wedding of Steve's nephew Adam, days crowded with get togethers for the out of town guests.  Relatives were not the only ones whose relationships go back decades.The Hardy cousins who were able to be there took a picture with their grandma who just turned 97.

My daughter tells me this is not the kids' table. It's the cousins table from both sides.

While everyone was sleeping or watching football Sunday afternoon, I ran off and hiked at Swan Creek Park. The trail along the creek had lots of ups and down, but, funny thing, ups and downs at 3200' are an awful lot easier than at 75-7900'.

This morning I dropped Steve at the Seattle/Tacoma airport for the first leg of his journey to Angola. He will be teaching seminary classes and a conference for educators as well as meeting with students he has been mentoring in various ways. I had a long day of driving through mountains and across plains to Kalispell, MT, gateway to Glacier National Park. We tried to get here a couple years ago and couldn't get in. This time I am alone, but it is how I chose to break up my return journey east. I have no doubt we will come back someday with Steve,  but it doesn't hurt to check it out first.

One last hike on the TRT

 When we arrived on Thursday, I signed up for the guided hike this morning. (They happen M, W, Th mornings.) I didn't cancel even though I figured it would be the same trail I was on yesterday afternoon. As expected, Jeff (the guide) had lots of stories to tell about bears and forest fires. He showed us a burned over area from maybe twenty years ago that came very close to the hotel very quickly. They had two hours to evacuate. Some of the guests didn't want to go. The story is that the police asked for the name of their dentists, and they changed their minds.

Air quality was ify. I found a website that said it was 175 before I left the room. That dropped a bit before we left the meeting area, but was still enough that one guy with asthma turned back before we had gone far. Mostly we had a good walk, but you should be able to see the lake in this picture and mountains on the other side.

Jeff was surprised when I told him about the helicopters yesterday. "So they were working on Sunday?" But then he realized, they have to finish before the snow comes. They had made a lot of progress . A whole string of these poles went up that weren't there yesterday.

About the time I got back to the room, the wind must have shifted. Visibility went way down. Our reservation was through tomorrow, but we had found that we had a 10.5 hr drive to get to our Tuesday destination of Sanctuary Inn, a missionary retreat center in Oregon. Given the conditions here around Tahoe, we decided to leave a day early. So we had lunch and finished packing up. We saw no more (perhaps less) on the Kingsbury Grade going east than we did when we came in on Thursday. Later on the highway near Carson City visibility dropped even further. The air quality app I found said "254" which is hazardous, but I can't imagine it wasn't higher than that when we could hardly see the vehicles in front of us.

A little less than three hours north, we are staying in Susanville, CA, a town in the wilderness whose economy is no less than three prisons. No hiking. Skies were clear when we arrived, but then clouded up. Rain not smoke. Way better.

Return to Castle Rock

 Yes! Blue skies this morning. There was still forest fire haze in the valleys, but beautiful here on the ridge. Yesterday I was excited to take Steve to Castle Rock. He was reluctant because of the up and down parts. He suggested we try the trail that takes off from the end of our hotel property. We figured since we were already on top the ridge, there wouldn't be as much climbing. 

Then he saw the pictures. 

This morning he was all for returning to Castle Rock. So after attending our daughter's church in San Antonio via the Internet, we took off for the Kingsbury North Trailhead.

The nice thing about hiking here as opposed to the trails at home is that here there is always a rock or log handy when you need to pause "to enjoy the scenery." We did a lot of enjoying the scenery. The blue skies were exhilarating. Blue in any shade is my favorite color, but a brilliant blue sky tops them all.

Look at the blue stuff hanging over Castle Rock. Haze still hid the lake, but we could see the mountains on the other side.

Met some other hikers who pointed out that it was possible to climb up this crevice and get on top this outcropping.

Here's the view from on top.

I took this picture for my Wisconsin friends. I think it would be a long hike to Spooner from here.

We came back to the hotel for lunch. Steve settled down for the football game and I took off for the trail that takes off from the top of the property. I surprised four deer but two disappeared before I could get my camera out. These two were less concerned.

I had barely reached the Tahoe Rim Trail when I noticed how much noisier it was than this morning. It sounded like helicopters. Stupid tours, I thought. But then, it is the weekend. Maybe during the week it isn't this bad.

The trail was mostly contour as hoped. It crossed a ski slope. The helicopters got louder. I could see construction vehicles on an access road below me. Then I got to a place where there was lots of orange tape and what would have been a flagman if this were a road instead of a trail. He held me back while a helicopter went overhead. It wasn't tours at all. They are building a new ski lift and the helicopters are ferrying the pieces to the top.

You can see in this picture that the sky is no longer blue. I began to taste smoke. A couple hundred yards past the "flagman" my eyes started feeling gritty. Hiking in this is no fun. I turned around to go back to the hotel. The flagman told me in the last couple minutes the Air Quality Index had gone from 100 to over 300--into the hazardous for your health range even if you don't have a prior condition. He had put on an K95 mask. Yeah. Good idea to turn back.