Life is a patchwork of experiences
The Bolt Tower in Ostrava, Czech Republic is a unique glass cafe and observation tower that was built on top of what was once an ironworks blast furnace. The wrap-around glass walkway is meant to look like the fire that once burned for real in the metal producing furnace below. At 250 feet high the Bolt Tower is the highest point in Ostrava and provides the best views of the city, especially at sunset. Would you have the nerve to stroll this glass walkway?
Thanks for visiting.
Rose
A local resident studies a photo exhibit depicting 100 years of Czech stories in Ostrava’s Masaryk Square. One hundred years ago, the Czech Republic was born as a nation. This year, the country is celebrating its centennial in a variety of ways, including a traveling photo exhibit from the archives of the Czech News Agency, which also started its existence 100 years ago. The exhibit depicts the last 100 years of stories in photos from the news agencies archives. The photo exhibit has been traveling to various cities in the Czech Republic throughout the year, including, as seen here, in Ostrava earlier this summer.
Thanks for visiting
Rose
Opened in the 13th century, the Wieliczka Salt Mine near Krakow, Poland was one of the oldest operating salt mines in the world until it ceased production in 2007. But what put this mine on the original UNESCO list was the chapels and and intricate statues carved out of salt or carved directly into salt walls of the mine. In the largest and most elaborate St. Kinga’s Chapel, one of the wall reliefs is a salt carved version of Leonardo DaVinci’s Last Supper.
Thanks for visiting.
Rose
As I walked out of Krakow’s Glowny Train Station, I passed an interesting monument and sculpture. Later, I learned that it had just recently been erected this past June to honor the controversial Polish Cold War hero Ryszard Kuklinski. Colonel Kuklinski worked as a NATO spy for ten years passing top secret Warsaw Pact documents to the CIA during the height of the Cold War. Interestingly, it is only fairly recently that his actions have been accepted in a positive light in Poland. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, Kuklinski was initially deemed a traitor by the Polish government. The square in which the monument was erected is named after Jan Nowak-Jeziorański who was a World War II hero that spent his life fighting for an independent Poland.
Thanks for visiting.
Rose
Most of the old protective wall that once encircled Krakow’s Old Town is now gone, but a small section still remains on either side of the Florian Gate. Here, the old wall acts as an outdoor gallery for local artists displaying their colorful canvases. Each morning the artists use ladders to hang their creations, filling all the available vertical and horizontal wall space. An ever changing collage of street art in Krakow.
Thanks for visiting.
Rose
I’m a planner. For me, figuring out the details of a trip is just as much fun as the actual travel. But not surprisingly, I discovered that the most meaningful experiences are often the unexpected ones.
Continue reading “Discovering A World of Diversity in 72 Hours”
“Please. Come into my shop. Let me show you what I have. I will make you a good deal”. This was the constant litany that accosted us as we wandered the narrow lanes in historic Stone Town. But I wasn’t interested just in shopping. What I was really on the hunt for was to see the famous carved Zanzibar doors.
Continue reading “Discover the Famous Zanzibar Doors – Finding Craftsmanship Among the Kitsch”
The photo for this post was recognized in the 2018 North American Travel Journalists Association awards competition with a Bronze in the Photography, Portrait, People,- Online category.
As we were touring the Sultan’s Palace Museum in Stone Town on the island of Zanzibar, a group of local students were also visiting on a school field trip. They were all dressed in what was clearly a school uniform – the boys in grey slacks and yellow polo shirts and the girls in ankle length grey skirts and yellow head scarves. I was struck by the contrast of the girls with their simple head coverings as they were studying one of the displays in the museum, and the painting behind them of a very elaborately dressed Empress Elizabeth of Austria. The painting was given as a gift when Zanzibar’s ruler, Sultan Barghash bin Said, signed a treaty with Austria-Hungary’s Emperor Franz Josef in 1888.
Thanks for visiting
Rose
The narrow alley like streets in Zanzibar’s historic Stone Town are filled with stores and vendors that all seem to sell the same carved wooden masks, kaleidoscopic lion paintings and made-in-China t-shirts. There was one store that I discovered though that was different – Sasik. This is a non-for-profit women’s cooperative that makes beautiful applique cushion covers and wall hangings based on Arabic designs. The proceeds from the sales go back to the women and their families.
If you visit Stone Town, make sure to check out and support Sasik.
Thanks for visiting.
Rose
We ended our tour of East Africa with two days on the island of Zanzibar, off the coast of Tanzania. After almost two weeks of driving through game parks and seeing so much wildlife, sitting on the beach for a day felt like I had been transported to a different world, even though it was just a short flight away. I love to watch sunrise and sunset on a beach. Since our hotel was on the island’s east coast, in this case it meant getting up early to see the Zanzibar sunrise. Definitely well worth the early morning wake up call.
Thanks for visiting.
Rose
