rollerblading!

Look at Eli's moves with his rollerblades! He would like it better if he didn't have to wear all the protective gear, especially because of how hot it is here (even at 9 am it's 25+ degrees C). Having the kids learn early how to skate and swim is a priority for me.

springtime changes

This is one of Eli and Dana's last rides around in our old neighbourhood. Dana is content to be the passenger and Eli shows surprising skill in driving this "police jeep" It was given to us by a friend whose son had outgrown it.

We moved to a neighbourhood closer to Eli's school, only a 5-minute-walk away! We love our new neighbourhood because it is more convenient for buying fruit and vegetables (markets nearby) as well as having a great play area and courtyard that is full of kids in the evenings (when it has cooled off).

I love our new apartment itself as well. Although it is technically smaller than our old place (and quite a bit cheaper!), the common areas: kitchen, dining area and living room are more spaceous and therefore more suitable for having people over.

I thought I'd throw in the picture of Easter bread that I made for Easter too, using my new new Czech cookbook. It turned out pretty good!

And here's a great picture of Dana smelling the lilacs that were growing like mad this spring. "Smells good!" Dana would say after a big whiff.

slovakia part 6: strecno

On the last part of our trip, we made it into Slovakia to visit my dad's brother and his family. Here is a picture of their house. Albert said that although I would probably like Czech Republic a lot, he bet that I would like Slovakia more because it has mountains readily accessible to those interested in hiking.

On our first day, we walked to this old castle. Can you imagine having a castle in your neighbourhood? I loved that we could just walk there from my uncle's house! And the history of it! Read on!

Majestic and romantic ruins of the Strečno castle are a dominant above the Váh river and are standing high on the hill as a symbol of feudal power in the region of middle Považie. The castle has been in ruins for three centuries, but it still belongs among the best known castles in Slovakia. Although the recorded history of the castle started in the half of 14th century, the first settlement at the castle hill is much older. In early Iron Age up to late Roman Age there was a settlement of the Púchov culture and in the 9th century there was not only a Slav residence but probably it was also the oldest fort. Artifacts of the settlement from early Stone Age - a copper pick axe was found on the Zvonica hill, Slav tumuli was found in the area of Dedová and a fort was located at Bašta hill from 15th century.

Unfortunately we could not enter into it and explore further, it had not yet opened for the season. I enjoyed this sign and thought...so it's not just the Chinese who have funny signs! I like the part where it tells visitors "not to leap over the castle walls". Excellent advice.

Here's a view of it from further away, on another day.

We were on our way to visit this old fort, which was a short hike up a good hill:

And here's the view from up there.

Here's my mom with her favourite childhood candy bar, Horalky (or also Tatranky) or which are chocolate-dipped wafers. Light and not too sweet. Mom has the best smile!

My cousins Kubo (left) and Juro (right). Kubo is finishing up a civil engineering degree and Juro has a year to go or so in his Information Technology degree. They were very friendly, polite and accomodating, and their English was great which meant I could get to know them better, faster.

I also got to meet Martin, my youngest cousin (also probably my tallest)! He was in the hospital while we were there getting treatment for what they think might be psoriasis. He was in good spirits under the circumstances. He is just graduating from highschool and planning on studying Information Technology as well.

Below is a picture of my Aunt Lubka with my Uncle Jirka. She is gorgeous and looks more like my uncle's daughter than his wife! (Just don't tell him that!). She is 13 years younger than him though. I enjoyed our evenings together talking and looking at photographs. My uncle is a great storyteller. I liked hearing about his membership in O.S.A., a members only association invented by himself and a few friends to get exercise, go hiking and goof off together once a week. I love that idea!

When my dad and Albert went to Europe together some years back, they got this portrait done of my dad in Vienna I believe. It is framed outside my cousins' room, so they see their smiling Uncle Otto greeting them every morning. I really like the expression my dad has in this picture, pensive and warm.

And then, before we knew it, it was our last evening together. Here's an impromptu group shot that my mom took. I'm looking forward to seeing these guys again too and having them meet Scott and Eli and Dana sometime.

So that concludes my trip! I'm finally done blogging about it, but I'll never recover from the experience. I'm a cousin, a niece, as well as a daughter, sister, aunt, wife and mom. It's new and special for me to experience belonging to an extended family. I don't just belong to a little Czech island in Western Canada consisting of my family of origin! I have a clan!

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How wonderful to meet relatives and be relieved that they are people you would choose to have for relatives if you had that choice! I won't dare ask them, but I hope they feel the same about me.

czech republic part 5: pardubice

In Pardubice, we met up with my cousin (also named Olga) and her husband Petr and their winsome daughter Lada. They graciously agreed to let us stay overnight (we didn't give them much warning!). Pictured below are Olga walking and Lada on the scooter. Olga is my Uncle Lubor's daughter. I did not get a chance to meet Uncle Lubor's son Bob and his family this trip, as they live in Stuttgart.

After they picked us up from the train station, we got ourselves settled at their place and went out for a walk. It was a gorgeous day, and really felt like spring had finally come for real. This was a real treat as it had been quite cold previously.

Here's Petr, he's quite the active guy, one who especially enjoys running (although he is speed-walking in the picture). After our walk, he invited me to for a run with him and I did. It was a good workout for me, and probably not for him because he's used to going so much faster!

Pardubice is a real hockey town, the hometown in fact of Dominik Hasek, the famous goalie for some NHL team (I used to know!). Petr went to school with him and they used to play tennis together actually!

These brightly coloured buildings remind me of a storybook setting...and somehow they look just right. I had to take a picture because no one would get it that yellow, pink and green houses side by side wouldn't look just plain wrong otherwise.

Didn't manage to get a picture of this peacock with his tail fanned out...not for lack of trying either! But it was fun to surprise some Taiwanese tourists with a little of my Mandarin as we were watching these birds.

Lada was so fun to hang out with...not bothered in the least that her "teta jesterice" (auntie lizard--that's me!) could barely communicate with her. She just happily chattered on and grabbed my hand and took me places. I was sorry that we couldn't stay longer, she was providing me with invaluable Czech and daughter lessons (giving me ideas and insight into what Dana might be like at her age).

These look like Christmas decorations don't they? My dad could paint this, no problem, it looks like something he would consider doing. I think it's beautiful.

We had lunch in an old beer cellar turned restaurant. I copied Lada and had svickova na smetane (if i remember correctly), one of my favourite dishes. It has dumplings with a really really yummy (indescribable!) cream sauce and meat. It was good, but of course my mom does it better.

I really like this picture, I would love Lada to get to know my Eli and Dana...they would be fast friends I'm sure. Maybe the next time I go to Czech Republic (me with Scott and Eli and Dana next time!), we can stay with these guys in the Jindrichuv Hradec house... I can picture it already: "Pass the salt, pass the Czech-English dictionary..." It would be a hoot.

czech republic part 4: jindrichuv hradec

After our time with Uncle Joseph in Trebic, we headed by bus to Jindrichuv Hradec, which is where my mom grew up. My cousin Joseph (Jajik) on the left, met my mom and I at the bus station, and led us to where we were going to stay. My uncle Lubor (middle) was at the house to greet us. This house was originally willed to Lubor and my mom, and then my grandparents lived there in their later years. It now serves as a holiday home for Lubor and his daughter's family.

After a delicious lunch of soup and bread, we went for a walk around the town. I couldn't resist taking this picture of the the 15th parallel written in Mandarin (for Scott's benefit).

Below is a picture of the backyard of the house we stayed at, not a bad size, complete with an old water pump that still worked, and room for a garden (which everyone in Czech Republic has).

My mom and her brother Lubor had lots to talk about and I was content to listen in, occasionally interjecting with a "co/kdo je _____?" ("what/who is_____?") for the many Czech words I do not know, or have long since forgotten. This picture is also of the backyard, but from the opposite direction (the house that you see in the center, is the one in which we stayed).

I loved hearing my mom say to her brother, "Do you remember when..." and start to recount a story of their childhood. We went for a walk in the park where my mom often played as a child, my mom even showed me the very place where she broke her arm. She didn't want to tell her parents, but my grandfather, observant doctor that he was, noticed right away in how she was carrying her arm with her other hand.

Here is an old castle or chateau nearby the park. Close to this place was where my grandfather had buried some silver in order to keep it from being confiscated by the communist government.

I forget just what they are pointing at and talking about, but I just really liked this picture, it shows the reminiscing that continued for the duration of our walk. Even with the choppy, bare-bones conversations between my Uncle Lubor and I, I could still appreciate his humour and get to know him because I could understand so much more than I could say.

Inside the house was beautiful, totally renovated and cleaned up since my grandparents' passing, yet still including a lot of the old artwork, tapestries and furniture. I took a lot of pictures.

I loved the bright colours in this one! Thanks to my dad, my appreciation for not-too-detailed oil paintings are high. He used to say: if you want detail, take a picture, otherwise paint one.

We spent a lot of time poring over a thick old album that my grandfather put together. It was really interesting to get a glimpse or an idea of what his parents were like and what his childhood was like etc. This is a picture of my grandfather in his volunteer fireman's uniform, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree because my brother Rob is one of those today!

Can you guess who this is? It's my mom! She still remembers that itchy dress and being walked to the painter's house by her grandmother I believe, and having to pose for what must have seemed like an eternity at the time. So worth it now! I can see a bit of Dana in this picture, can you?

czech republic part 3: brno

While we were in Trebic, we took a day trip to Brno, where my mom worked and went to university. Here is the church where my parents were married. The Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul located on Petrov Hill; a Gothic church rebuilt in the Baroque style during the 18th century, later partially reconstructed in the Neo-Gothic style, it has two characteristic towers (81 m high) since 1905; cathedral since 1777. You definitely get a sense of awe and a healthy dose of humiliy from the architecture and history of European cathedrals.

Here's a little information fact sheet on the university my mom went to, probably too small to read, but maybe you can zoom in (?) The Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry. She left the country in 1968 just short of finishing her Master's degree, but (bless her!) never looked back. My mom likes to live life in a "no regrets" way that I would love to emulate.

Here's a map of the place:

One of my cousins, Ivo, works at the university, but unfortunately we missed him because when we visited, he was vacationing in Mexico, we'll have to catch him next time!

I liked Brno and the stories my mom told...like about how she and her friend would receive 5 or 10 minutes notice from another friend to get ready to go see an opera because cheap tickets were only available at the very last minute...and also about the places my mom lived near the university, and the people she knew...she visited her old lab and talked with a former student's daughter who works there now. I loved the added insights into my mom's pre-Canadian life. As a mom myself now, I can appreciate that she had a life before my brothers and I came along!

czech republic part 2: trebic

First stop after Prague was to Trebic to visit my mom's oldest brother Joseph. Like my grandfather, he was a doctor and is retired now. He liked to hunt, collected knives and swords and had an impressive collection of antlers on his wall.

We had fun taking these!

See the sword on the right of this picture? He also showed us his pistols! Since that's one major difference between Canada and the USA, we were rather impressed and wondered what in the world he had them for.

There they are, brother and sister. It was funny to be able to relate to my mom not only as mother-daughter but mutually understand our lot in life as youngest children and only girls in our families of origin. I forgot we had this in common!

My uncle Joseph has four sons, only one of which had I met before. This is Pavel (Paul), he now works as an oncologist in London, England and is a member of the prestigious Royal Council of Physicians. He came to Canada when I was still in grade school (I forget how old I was), I just remember being a walking Engish dictionary for him, so I think it is safe to say I had something to do with his success in mastering English!

We went for a walk to the Jewish Quarter.

And so did these ducks.

My uncle took us on a tour of the Basilica (12th century) in Trebic. The basilica is a jewel of European medieval architecture. Its design represents a transition between the Romanesque style and the Gothic style. At some points in its history it was used as a market, beer cellar...even a stable to keep horses, until it was finally restored.

Here we are walking out with the guides, one of whom was just learning how to be a guide. She was from Mongolia and her Czech was great!