Prague has an aquariu...big fish tanks with nice fish!

We weren't expecting much. Near the prague expo site in Vystaviste is the Prague Morsky svet (Sea World). For a land-locked country the collection, I suppose, was large...no it was still small. The fish were small, even the ones they've had since opening in 2002 were on the small side. Their largest tank was home to 3 small sharks (they were no longer than a metre).
The most interesting fish in the collection were four shiny barracudas which ranged from 25cm to 40cm in length. N liked their moray eels, unicorn fish and tiny stringray. She said "this isn't very impressive is it?", but still enjoyed the morning - she's snorkelled insitu - barrier reef, so it was never going to live up to that or any other aquarium in Australia. And as you all know Portman's rear big fish, so their stunted "Dory" fish, they've had there for 13 years, was screaming 'I need a bigger tank!!!'to us.
There are plans to build a new aquarium in Prague where the metronome swings on Letna. If it goes ahead it will be built by an Australian company.
Shot below is from an Australian Aquarium in Cairns.

Afternoon at Karlstejn Castle

N & I visited the Karlstejn Castle this afternoon. From Prague-Hlavni nadrazi (train station) it's a half an hour train trip to Karlstejn station (round trip for one adult and one child 87czk/$5AUD), then easy 500m to the village, then 800m up a steep hill to the castle courtyard, (from the station it took us half an hour) where you can buy tickets to get a guided tour in English(with 30 others). The guide kept N happy by making her the key master and allowing her to unlocking the big metal doors between the rooms(which seems to be common practice when touring castles or chateaus in the CR).
Karlstein Castle was built in 1348-1368 by Charles IV who was not only the Czech King but ruler of the Holy Roman Empire that stretched into todays Germany, Poland, France and northern Italy. It was built as a place to keep royal treasures and holy relics. We did Tour 1 which included the knights quarters, Audience Hall, Throne room, Charles bedroom and the Jewel House. While very interesting if you use your imagination and try to picture what might have been, most of the art works(which were very sparse, here and there pieces, mostly replica's) can be found at St Agnes Convent.
NB to Nanjan: Remember those gawdy, large figures that filled the whole canvas, 3D pictures in about the third room at St Agnes, this is where they originated.
Looking down onto the village of Karlstejn

Sk8er girl on the loose in Prague

N mentioned to us yesterday that she wanted to learn to roller blade. We instantly went out and bought her the gear (anyone that knows N will realise why we jumped at the opportunity). Anyway, there has been no stopping her since. Today we went off to a popular skating place, Letna Park, starting just below Prague Garden's Belvedere Summer House, and along the whole length of Letna Park. Great Effort!

Miniature Museum in Prague

Tucked away near the Strahov Monastery is the museum of miniatures by Anatoly Konenko, not cheap rate drawing on rice, but detailed paintings on pieces of mammoth bones of John Lennon and ex Prime Minister Vaclav Havel, delicate metal Eiffel tower in a small cherry seed, trains on a strand of hair and my favourite the camel train in the eye of a needle. The artist also did extreme miniatures of famous paintings like Matisse's "The dance". All required either a microscope or magnifying glass to see them.
Source of photo:www.muzeumminiatur.cz

Srbsko - Limestone Climbing

We had great intentions to go climbing on Sunday, July 17th. Everything planned, ready to hit the cliff.

Sunday came, we both looked at the clock and went - another hour in bed won't hurt. The day was starting great ! With a salami omelette in our stomachs we marched down to the main Praha train station to catch the 11:25am express train to Srbsko. To our suprise it wasn't that complicated & we jumped on a very nice train (better than CityRail has to offer) for
90Kc (< $5AUD) for all three of us. We passed some very dodgy train stations - you wouldn't like to be there at night :-(. Thirty seven minutes later (yes, they run on time) we arrived at the Srbsko platform & trudged across the river, passed the local pub and wandered down the flat track along the river for about 20-30 minutes until we arrived at 'Alkazar' (http://www.czechclimbing.com/pruvodcx.php?key=83). We asked a few of the locals for the beta & hoped we weren't sandbagged. We managed 3 climbs:-

1. Hari Krisna * (5-) - bottom right picture - about 15
2. Plentakuv Darek Detem ** (5) - top right - about 16/17
3. Pres Prilep ** (5) - top left, we did a little more than N - about 17/18

Our confidence on limestone got better as the day went on. Very slick indeed. We'll definitely go back next weekend for another session - much to the delight of N :-)

Last but not least - the 'Pub'. Remember the days of Mt Vic. Picture this - good service, close to the river, pivo for less than a dollar AUD for 500mL & bowl of chips under 1 AUD. Definitely more value for money than Mt Vic (still angry getting charged 5 AUD for a beer). Could have stayed there longer but needed to catch the train home. Stay tuned for next expedition.....

M&J&N

Czech Climbing Grades

Border Town Mikulov

At 5:15 we set off to Vienna by taxi (Audi A6, 2.5 Turbo diesel) to pick up the illusive piece of paper. To the border only took 1 and a half hours travelling at speeds up to 180 km/hr, then to the embassy by 8:45. We were out of the embassy by 10 o'clock and started making our way back, having lunch just past the boarder at Mikulov

Looking from the Chateau down to the border.


Chateau

Mikulov is the origin of the Czech wine we drink. Both sides of the border are wine growing regions (following the route via Brno). The Chateau at Mikulov can be seen for miles as you approach the boarder. Around 1218 it started as a medieval royal castle, acquired by the Liechtensteins in 1249.In 1575 the chateau was acquired by the Dietrichsteins. In 1945 it was guttered by the retreating German soldiers but restoration started again in 1947.

Dietrichstein Tomb (Mikulov Loreta Church)


Holy Hill

In 1622 Cardinal Dietrichstein sponsored the building of a bell tower and rotunda (Church of St Sebastian - protector against the plague) on the hill side overlooking the town to drive away the plague. Not much remains of the original monuments as a result of natural disasters(lightning)and war(fire WWII).

This is the restaurant we had lunch at...

Big Balls, Knots, Limestone & Belaying

We're throwing caution to the wind ! Visited a couple of climbing shops today & bought the guide to 'Hruboskalsko'. You've heard of Eastern European climbing & no iron allowed - well we've found the place for you ! Start chopping your ropes into slings with large knots & use as protection between the large fixed iron rings (5m spacings). Getting scared ! M&J are so petrified that we've sunk to $4 AUD bottles of Chardonnay.


Source: http://www.hruboskalsko.cz/index.asp

Hruboskalsko is about 90 minutes north-east of Praha by car. We've start to put a few feelers out in Praha land for people who'd like to learn to climb that have a large car to cart us to the locations.

The other limestone location we've found that is only about 1 hour by public transport is 'Srbsko'. Sport climbing area that we intend visiting soon. We'll probably visit the quarry looking area called 'Alkazar' (http://www.czechclimbing.com/pruvodcx.php?key=83) in the next couple of weekends when it's not raining.

Dobrou noc (goodnight). M.

Dieter's visit

The last couple of days we have had Dieter and Val visiting us en route to holidaying in Tunisia (a bit off route but we're not complaining). Until today they have had perfect weather and have walked the Palace, St Vitus, lunched at Strahov Monastery, shopped in Wencesles, Old Town, etc.
We all watched a staged sword fighting demonstration/drama in the Palace at the end of Castle Square which was a lot of fun. Val had a chance to duel - being French we were expecting a lot, but it turned into a comedy with Val and her dueling partner both reluctant to go for each other. Dieter had an active role as a noble overseeing the fighting. It was very entertaining.







Val in Red

Last day of School Assembly

School is over for 2 months. The last day school assembly was a laugh with the teachers all cross dressing and singing "Summer Loving" from Grease. N was awarded 'Bookworm for Summer Semester' and Year 3 award for 'Effort in all subjects'.


Danny & Sandy