the lighter side

In a previous post, I said I’ll show later the architecture of Litomerice (”in another post: The Architecture of Litomerice … in time please”), and so here are some of their quaint and charming buildings, crafted with much meticulousness, as in other European designs of old!

The first church at the intersection. The spires are very [...]

Rauma is a town in the west coast of Finland, and 50 kilometers south of Pori, where we stayed. While still under Sweden, it was granted town privileges in 1442. Old Rauma (Vanha Rauma) is one of the two UNESCO cultural heritage sites of the town (which has grown into an industrial city now), so [...]

While we were in Pori, it happened that the International Pori Jazz Festival was held. We were thankful that at least we had witnessed an international affair without purposely going there, while others even from other countries, especially the tourists, went just to be part of it.
I have heard of another popular international event, this [...]

(written July 6, 2008)
How time flies! We arrived at the Helsinki airport, on the evening of June 22, Sunday, with our daughter Cookie and her own cute Anzel to welcome us, and conduct us to Pori City where they now live.
It’s so unbelievable that we can set foot on these parts of the globe, and [...]

(written July 1, 2008)
For baby Caite’s “10th-month day” celebration last Friday, she had her stroll at Kirjurinluoto Park. I wasn’t with them that time as it was my “holy hour” (time of my after-lunch nap - or sleep? ). They were impressed by the cleanliness of the air (no pollution), the extensive playground with [...]

(written June 20, 2008)
Tuesday, June 17, was an Interesting day of history, when we visited the Strahov Monastery (Strahovsky klaster) with its famous library, and the Loreto Pilgrimage Center. Our gratitude goes to Karel, our gracious host and Mart’s dad, who sponsored for us a very knowledgeable tour guide. He explained to us in [...]

(written June 19, 2008)
In Part I: “There is a part 2 to this search, we’ve found out something more done by (and in) Litomerice to honor our hero, and much much more than what we could expect. For our out-of-the-blue find, watch out for a later post: Jose Rizal in Litomerice Part 2.”
Some more walking [...]

(written June 16, 2008)
Last Saturday, off to the northern part of Czech Republic we went, approximately 64 km (39.7 miles) northwest of Prague, to the historic and enchanting city of Litomerice. I was thrilled to experience a touch of our own history in our present travel to this far-away continent of Europe, and was the [...]

Weekend is time to go out, and last Saturday to Cesky Krumlov the family went: hubby and I, Mart, Daisy and baby Caite.
This famous town, situated on the banks of the meandering Vltava River, is around a 13th-century Castle (Zamek), beautiful with Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque designs blended into it. In the UNESCO list of [...]

Last Thursday night, K came to inform us that there would be a special event on the next day, and we might be interested to see it.
During his reign, every year Charles IV, King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor, would have the imperial coronation jewels transported to Prague to be viewed by pilgrims all [...]