Jonesberries

This morning in Prague, Czech Republic, I did a few of my favourite things:

1. I admired the architecture,
2. I got myself a Czech beer and fried cheese sandwich (smazeny
syr) from a stall
3. I went into my favourite camera shop [FotoSkoda] to get some inspiration.

The weird thing is that my friend Derek just emailed me to say that he posted a video of us last year in Prague. And guess what 3 things I was doing? Yep – architecture, cheese sandwich, camera shop.

Check out the video and see why I cant leave Prague without doing these three things.

Andrew, Amy, Hannah and myself being ourselves from Derek Chapman on Vimeo.

We got a tour of a very, very cool new hotel in Prague from the man who dreamed it up. He told us all about how he had the idea 3 years ago and some friends came in to help him fix it up. We have been staying in his hostel “Sir Toby’s” this time. They put us up in the very modern and fancy “Czech Inn” last year. This year he is opening up “Mosaic House”. It has been only open for 2 weeks and is full. He told us about how a team of 3 interior designers have been working on it for 3 YEARS! Everything is specially made – even the door hinges.
The kids favourite things were:

The gray water treatment plant in the basement. Complete with colourful lights to tell the direction the water goes. He talked about how he found out about it in Germany and it was really hard talking them into installing one in Czech Republic.

He showed up one of the very fancy smart rooms. The room has a special control panel on the wall that knows when someone walks into the room and adjusts the temperature and moves the blinds around to make it the best. He said that it even knows if it is winter or summer and the blinds change to let in more light or heat. We also liked the extra fabric on the bed that was scrunched to make a rose.

We also liked going out on the balcony and looking for our favourite Prague places.

We liked the special bathroom window that clouded up or cleared up at the flick of a switch.

One of the rooms didn’t know which way was up with standard lamps hanging off the walls and from the ceiling. It also had a bench that went up onto one of the walls.

In one of the rooms the chairs were covered with the same green shag carpet as the floor. I could see Abi’s head spinning about “astroturf potential”.

All in all a very, very great day about learning about dreaming big and high-tech, eco-friendly hotels.

Uh, yeah. This is what you think it is. We are soooo strange when we turn tourist for a day. We used to live here in Czech Republic before so we knew what Kutna Hora was. With TJs bone fascination we couldn’t just drive past the bone church without dropping in.

We got in the short line behind the two punk girls with blue and purple dreads.

Hannah is getting more used to bones. Having spent hours preparing with the “Bone Scan Bob” IPod application she had the “geek attraction” to Kutna Hora. Spouting out the scientific name of all the bones. Pondering the joins and holes in the skulls. Noting that the chandelier had at least one of every bone in the body.

TJ, well, TJ was in awe. She had never seen such an amazing site in her whole life. From the skull and crossbones at the top of the steeple to the very last skull inside.

I think her special favourite was the skull with the sweetie next to it.

Abi wasn’t as excited about the bones but loved the car that matched her jacket out front. She decided to have a go at “sexy model standing next to the car poses”.

Arrived in Budapest. Hanging with our friend Gabi. We LOVE Gabi.

She gave us  the “Gabi Tour” of Budapest which includes all the best Jewish sites and history. We paused at the entrance to the Synagogue entrance where the 60,000 Jews were gathered before being sent to Auschwitz. We walked thru the streets that were the Jewish ghetto.

Gazed at the metallic willow tree whose metal leaves contained the names of 60,000 Jews that died in the holocaust. We ate traditional Budapest sweet-cakes in a very old bakery in the Jewish quarter.

We saw the building where the very progressive Jewish house-group meets

and the very cool “drawing clubs” they go to afterwards. Why are they called drawing clubs? Here is a hint.

Hannah  was the family photographer for this trip and here are some other very important things of essential Budapest must-sees.We love getting tours from friends that show us what they love about their city. Learning why they love their city. What makes their hearts beat faster. This was no exception.

We tried to stop in Serbia, honestly we did. We tried to stop in Nis and see the “skull tower” but couldn’t find the city. Really! We tried to stop at the new, modern campground in Belgrade but….. We tried to stop in Novi Sad but missed another big city next to the freeway. We made it to the  border and after spending an hour of going from row to row because they couldn’t decide if we are a bus or a truck or a car we left Serbia. Without meeting a single friendly person we left Serbia. Just must not be our time for Serbia. It was almost like we were chased through.

After no mans land. BtW TJ loves “no mans land”. She will scream out “are we in no mans land? Yea!… we are nowhere!” We made it through the border and I saw lots of little stalls selling vignettes. We weren’t sure what a vignette was but, learning by experience, we stopped the car and looked in our handy, dandy guidebook to see if we needed one. We did need one. It is a compulsary highway tax. We have been fined before for missing a highway tax in Austria and decided to get ours ASAP.

We made it through to Hungary in the evening. We were tired and Hungry (he, he, he, really we were). We went to the first city/town in Hungary. The first campground was closed. Probably due to flooding. 10 km to the next campground. Ooops! It is for naturists (nudists). Naw. not right now. Third one is a spring.

The kids have now declared this to be their favourite campground ever! We are having a nice relaxing Sunday with a beautiful roast chicken.

A spring-fed pool with a couple of slides.

An adventure playpark. TJ and Hannah running back and forth between the pool and the park. Yelling out as they change their clothes from bathers to shorts and back again, “This is the best day EVER!”
Tall trees.
A  roast chicken dinner slowly cooking away in the oven. You savour the aroma as you wait for the taste on your lips. Mmmmmm.
Abigail pops peach muffins in the oven when the chicken comes out. Made with fresh peaches from the side of the road.
Birds singing and little hedgehogs moving about in the grass.
WIFI.
Toilet paper and sit-down toilets.
You know sometimes it is the simple things that make you happiest.
These places always seem to come at just the right time. Right after those terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days.
Hope your Sunday is as nice and relaxing and refreshing as ours.

We needed to remember all those words of wisdom about patience and pace of the culture when we went into Serbia.

The Macedonians were all cheery and friendly as we left. When we got to Serbia the people were less than friendly. We needed insurance. This is expected as no outside insurance company that we could find will insure you in Serbia. “That will be €100, no €300, we do not take visa, we have no bank machine but a driver can take you to the nearest bank machine.” “What is that extra €45?”. “That is the fee for the driver”. Uh, hello. Well, after about an hour with lots of negotiating and thinking about turning around we are allowed to drive ourselves to the nearest town to get money. The nearest town is all Albanian. Friendly, helpful Albanians in stark contrast to the Stoic Serbs at the border. We arrive back to the border about an hour later to get our insurance. Andrew struggled, found adding mistakes that brought the total up. Out of sheer exhasperation he repeatedly went behind the desk to collect his paperwork and money from the woman as she tried desperately to get extra money from him. They scanned our car documents with a fine toothed comb announcing “Problem, big problem.” Now we are not idiots, we know how to translate “big problem”. “Give me a bribe”. We do not have hard and fast rules about giving bribes. We have not taken a vow to refuse giving bribes or anything. It just comes down to the fact that Andrew is a self confessed “Stingy bastard”. Could be the fact that he is a New Zealander and of Scottish descent. Both cultures notorious for not wanting to part with their money. Andrew just doesn’t like to part with a single cent more than he needs to. So after hours of battling we get our insurance for the agreed price and collect our passports back. We are now on our way.

The roads are really great here. Much better than Albania or Macedonia. The Macedonian roads are quite rough for long periods of time. At one point a major road became cobblestone for about 2 km. Yeah, cobblestone. You know, those little tiny stones that you see for the small windy roads in ancient villages. Back to Serbia. The roads can be smaller that on the map, at times but they are smooth and good.

We stopped for lunch and were met by a terrible storm that turned into hail. The biggest hail any of us have ever seen.

So, what happens when you haven’t even seen an ice cube in months and you get hail? You make a gin & tonic. I have been saving my gin for just such an occasion. I feel like a proper British lady now.

As our day in Serbia continues. We came at a petrol station/truck stop on the side of the road. We parked with the trucks. Our three girls went into the toilets. Andrew took the dog out. I stayed with the truck. Three men started crawling all over our truck to wash the windows. Andrew yelled at them to get off. Andrew told me to grab the keys and camera from the front of the truck. Andrew saw Abi, told her to run and get her sisters into the truck. The other truck drivers were laughing. We are back on the road.

I wasn’t quite sure what happened. Andrew says that his adolescent life of crime taught him to know a scam when he see one unfolding. Those men wanted to clean the inside of our windscreen not the outside. They were way to old to be window washers. He also felt that we had no-one on our side. The other truck drivers were laughing at the rich tourist that was going to get robbed, not helping. In every other country we have been to the locals have been on our side, looking out for us. He was also concerned about the girls and the human trafficking problem here, as well.

Needless to say, Andrew is not enjoying Serbia too much. The people have been toughened by the wars and he can almost smell the blood from all the genocide of the last 150 years. “It is so fresh, I feel that war could come back at any moment.” I see him looking at the irregular land on the sides of the road. He wonders if the land was dug up by mines, trenches or bombs.

We found a really good truck-stop north of Nic. Instead of spreading out the rest areas they put 3 in one. The main one is called “Joy on the highway”. It has 3 petrol stations, 5 restaurants, 2 shower blocks and lots of parking with security.

The big road through the centre is smooth and big but unless things shift for Andrew, we will be in Hungary by tomorrow. That is OK. Just as some places you feel an instant connection. Strangely united by the pain and suffering, find beauty in unexpected places and some you don’t. Maybe it is not the right time for us to get to know Serbia, and it’s people.

Perhaps things will be different today.

Perhaps some amazing treasures will open up to us in the wake of yesterday.Technorati Tags: Serbia, roads, border, insurance, hail

Had a great last nite at the campground.
After spending a couple of days with Scott from the conference and Mark & Lorna, from England, who we met for the first time in Morocco, outside of Gouillmime. Can you believe it! We were so surprised when they drove into the campground.
Andrew spent some time on the last day hanging with some Macedonian truckers.
On our last evening in Macedonia and into the nite we hung out with a swiss couple, a danish family, a New Zealand/Belgian couple and a Dutch man. All adventurous travelers braving the balkans. It is funny, you get to places where most travellers won’t go. Where simple tourists will never brave and all of the sudden you are part of a brotherhood. You need each other and are there for each other. I missed this all terribly when we were in Western Europe.
We sat around sharing stories, treasures, exotic food and drinks. The Swiss couple are wanting to go to Morocco. The Dutch man found a new country, supported by the Russians and nestled in a little corner of Kosovo. He has come from Serbia, just like the Danish family. They have travelled alot and are thinking of doing it full-time. They enjoyed looking around our truck and our kids had a great time playing together. The New Zealand/Belgian couple have been all over the world. As a matter of fact they met in Tanzania.

One fact we all agreed on. In order to survive with travel is to be patient and flexible. If you don’t know how to find and adapt to the rhythm of the local culture and slow down you have a miserable time and miss out on so much of the beauty. What a great time. We strongly feel that we will find some of them again and again. We decided that this was the secret to driving on the roads around here.

Oh yeah, we still haven’t gotten pulled over by the police in the Balkans. This is a common problem. There are 2 things to watch out for that foreigners seem to always get pulled over. The first is that you must keep your headlights on all the time you drive. Our truck does this all the time so it is no problem for us. The second is to watch the speed limit. I mean really watch it! Sometimes a little tiny sign on the side of a major highway in Albania will say 20km. Yes 20km on a major road! Nothing changes on the side of the road. It is still agricultural land with a few dotted houses. After about 2 km you see a policeman waiting on the side of the road. After that the speed limit returns to 80km. Some people might call that a speed trap. Just keep your eyes open.Technorati Tags: macedonia, travellers, brotherhood

Errrmmm…. I dont think i have done a post in a while so…..
Hi, My name is Abi (which i am sure most of you know) and i have wanted a nose piercing for quite a while…….. Ok only a few months. The first day we arrived in Ohrid (a little more that a week ago) i saw two ‘Tattoo & Piercing’ Shops. So that day we waited until they would open (which was at 6 ‘oclock). We went into the first place (The SCARIEST looking place) i went in with: Hannah, Tj and Mum. The man there was big muscular covered in Tattoos, Piercing and looked very much like he didnt want to be known for giving little girls piercing or pretty butterflies or anything like that but to be known as the scary skull and cross bones and scary dragons sort of guy, and he was in a very scary looking place. I asked if he would do my nose piercing, he looked at me and asked me what age i am, i said i was Fourteen but going to be Fifteen soon. But unfortunately he said i had to be at least sixteen if i had my parents permission. So we left.  
                           
(This picture doesn’t fit here but I just liked it so I put it in to break things up a bit.)
We walked around town for a little while, then instead of the sunny hot day it was, all the sudden started to rain and pour with lightning and really loud thunder. So we went into a small shopping complex and went into an ice-cream shop which we thought, would have some hot chocolate but they didnt have any. We walked around inside the mini mall looking for a place to sit down for something hot to drink, we went into a pub and asked for some Hot chocolate. Not only did we get hot chocolate but (This is for you Cindy to drool over. You know that hot chocolate you told us about when you were in Portugal near us well it was that) The hot chocolate we got you had to eat with a spoon it was incredible, here are some words i would use to explain it: Creamy, rich, thick, have to eat with a spoon, not too sweet and not too bitter. So as we were eating hot chocolate (not drinking) i went to the other shop which was less scary but still a Tattoo and piercing shop and he was closed.   we waited for a while eating our chocolate then checking again but he was still closed:(
                               
(Ok, i admit it……..This photo totally doesn’t fit either. But i think it needs a photo right here).
So, yesterday when me and mum went into town for grocerries we were eating our ice-creams. And thought well maybe we should try the second tattoo & piercing place so we looked in some shops downstairs while i ate my ice-cream (well mum did. I was still eating my ice-cream). Then we went upstairs to the shop. We knocked on the door and a guy opened up. Yayy…….. i asked if he could do a nose piercing for me and he said yes and went back behind the curtain to get some stuff ready. He came back with some studs to put in my nose and gave me an option of three: one was a huge silver spike- errrrrr NO, one was a red diamond- ok i guess, and the last was a a silver star with a green diamond- yayy that one wohoo… So we went behind the curtain. He pulled out: a needle, recieving tube, gloves, put the stud in a sterile solution and took out some other stuff. he asked me if i was was scared and i said no (which was the truth i mean i stick needles into me all day so no big deal). and he pierced my nose YAYY……. It hurt but not as much as i thought it would. My eyes watered a lot so i had to close my eyes. But it was worth it and now…. I have an awesome nose piercing.
                        
So unfortunately, we are on an idyllic lake and i cannot put my head under the water because of the… Piercing. But that doesn’t mean i cant lounge on my inner tube all day..:D
                                
Abi

After 3 days of being away Andrew came back to the truck this morning with 3 dozen eggs, milk and 25 of his closest friends from the conference. It was a great day of

eating crepes,

hanging about

chatting

and boating.

Hannah had the great idea of renting one of the slide boats for an hour to accompany our canoe. As inevitably happens when you get a group of energetic young people together on a hot day in Macedonia. A splash war!

A great day with new and old friends from all over the world.

Normal day today. Andrew in town for a 3 day conference. Kids working in their schoolbooks. Followed by extensive time in the lake with their tyre tubes. Just like what I used to spend days doing when I was a kid, so long ago. Amazing how a bit of old black rubber can make water so much more fun.

Andrew is in town having a great time, seeing old friends, making new ones, hearing stories and telling some.

Abi is customizing a t-shirt – again.

Hannah is reading – again.

TJ is orgainizing her locker – again. You can tell organization is not as big of a priority with Abi, who has the neighbouring locker.

Me, I foolishly woke up in a spring cleaning mood. I decided to do all the sheets and rugs today. WITHOUT A MACHINE! Oh yeah! Woke up feeling a bit like superwoman. Armed with running water into a trough, a bar of soap, a scrubbing brush, a board, a wringer (mangle) and buckets of dirty sheets, rugs and clothes. Unfortunately, we do not have spare sheets, so when I dumped the sheets in the buckets of water there was no turning back. Dang! Unknown to me, Our rug seemed to have been held together by the flood of dirt that emerged and has now sprouted many holes in one side. So, something will need to happen. One end will become a dog rug. What about the other end? A small rug in front of the sink? A decorative piece for the front dash? Perhaps a carpet bag? Just like Mary Poppins. I have always wanted a carpet back – but, honestly, don’t need one.

I now feel a bit less like superwoman and a bit more like Old Mother Hubbard. I am scruffy and sweaty but my sheets are clean and my rug has new possibilities.

Got the kids some inner tubes at a car shop. Just like I used to have when I was a kid. When it got just too hot for old mother hubbard I went in the water with my girls and the inner tubes of my youth and I am a kid again.