Monty's Travels – Just a few of my travel pictures

October 28, 2024November 13, 2026

2024 Czech & Beyond – Day 10 Dubrovnik Castle… aka Game of Thrones Castle

Searching for some sun Derek & Marketa headed to the beach for the morning. Michael & I headed for a tour of the castle just outside the walls of the old city with low expectations. We were pleasantly surprised to find it more impressive than expected. There were many Game of Thrones (GOT) fans and tours on offer. Few of the set decorations remained, but there were a couple the light fixtures still in situ. We walked up to the castle along the wall edge leading up from the kayaking centre which was quite impressive.

As expected there were many tour groups from the ships. The Norwegian Pearl even had its own tour bus to bring their crowds of passengers. So the local economy really doesn’t get much input from the cruise ships at all. Some of the comments from the cruise passengers included “Gee, why didn’t they think of safety when they built these stairs?” from a gentleman who was walking up the circular marble steps in the fort tower, and from another woman “where is the elevator???” (a serious question)….yikes….

Next Michael & I took the bus out to what we thought was Dubrovnik Place…but alas it took us to Dubrovnik Palace Hotel. So we instead took a lovely walk through the park there. We got a wonderful view at the top a hill after a nice hike, but unfortunately the tree cover limited photo opportunities. Of course a token cat was at the top of the hill and it was super friendly. We tried for a cheap lunch at a well reviewed local restaurant but unfortunately they only accepted cash and we were out of Euros. So not wanting to use a street ATM we walked back to our accommodation near Gruz. We found a cafe with a nice bakery next door so decided to eat there and had a coffee with cream (i.e whip cream and choc sauce!), ordered a beer and had burek, pizza, sub sandwich and baklava. Too much food of course and we ended up taking 1/2 the sandwich and the donut home. After placing our order we discovered that they also required cash! So a 50euro w/d at least gave us some cash on hand.

We met back up with D&M at the apartment for showers and to freshen up and then headed back to the old town. Derek & Marketa were hoping to catch the aquarium but it was closed on Mondays. I had my eye on a pair of earrings but the 200euro price tag was more than I was willing to pay so I passed. Despite the let downs, we still managed a very nice evening walk around the wall with a sneak back through the start (recall it is one direction travel only) to catch the sunset. Marketa missed out on a sunset kayak, but hopefully the view from the wall top sufficed.

We headed back through the town to the far side for a lovely dinner overlooking the harbour for the excellent price of 95euro / couple. One last ice cream in town before heading back to pack and check in for our flights back home the next evening.

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October 27, 2024November 13, 2026

2024 Czech & Beyond – Day 9 Mighty Meow Meow Montenegro

Overnight the clocks went back an hour so we got away early Sunday morning for out trip to Montenegro and managed to avoid any of the rumoured border backups. Once over the border we stopped at lovely cafe for a coffee amazing view and weather. We discovered later that Marketa lost an earring that morning some time. It was before this time as could be seen by a photo Derek took there.

Our first to destination for the day was to the walled city of Perast. We made a poor judgment call and paid 20 euro pp for parking and ferry to the island – Our Lady of the Rocks and a ride around St George. We could have done it for much cheaper, probably 10 pp. The whole bay is attached to the Adriatic Sea. Our Lady of the Rocks island was man made starting in 1452 from sunken ships and piled up rocks. The church was built in the 17th century. Next door is Saint George island which is closed to visitors but the boat tour took us around the island with its 12th century Benedictine Monastery.

Next stop was Kotor, a UNESCO world heritage site for its city and surrounding fortifications. The wall goes all out the way to the top of the mountain. Building it was quite a feat. The history of the fortress and its walls goes way back to Illyrian times in the 6th century. Venetians fortified the walls around the 1420s. We walked the streets which were a twisted maze of chaos and also walked around a section of the wall.

In the city there are hundreds of cats! Check out the photos. You can add donations / tips to help feed / neuter them. They seem to be reasonably well treated in general.

As we left town bought some sheep cheese. We had lunch at the harbour where Michael was joined by a tiny kitten who adopted him. It kept climbing his leg to get on his lap. We put her on a chair beside him and fed her some food until she went to sleep. This kitten didn’t look healthy, it was skin and bones. I haven’t recorded costs of our meals diligently but this was 42 euro for a wine, beer and lunch. I had a red wine …not quite as good as recent ones but still acceptable.

On the drive back to Dubrovnik we stopped for sunset view and then drove down to the nearby village and had a coffee in Cavtat. Marketa had her second faux pas of the day when she left her phone. Luckily she discovered it quickly and we drove back and found it in the seat where she was sitting. Very lucky indeed.

By the time we got back home, Marketa was ready for a drink!!!

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October 26, 2024November 13, 2026

2024 Czech & Beyond – Day 8 Dubrovnik on the House

On Saturday Derek & Marketa chose to do a kayak tour around the old city. Michael & I opted for a walk around the wall. Once again the weather was perfect with full sun and highs in the low 20’s which was ideal for touring.

Our Dubrovnik tickets gave us a pass (worth 35Euro), but Oct 26 was the anniversary of UNESCO certification and the city provided free passes all day to enter local sites. So we decided to take advantage and do a daytime walk around the wall and save our pass for another evening.

The views from the wall were spectacular. You got many angles into the old city as well as views out to the sea and inland. As you walk around the wall there are couple of interesting spots including an art exhibit and a museum. We looked for Derek & Marketa as several kayak groups passed, and eventually managed to spot them.

The path was one way to ensure a smooth transition of tourists. At several points you looked into peoples porches or patios; not sure I’d want to be staying at one of those places!

For dinner that evening we had hoped to go to a restaurant that overlooked the whole city with wonderful sunset views. Unfortunately we were late in the season and it wasn’t open. We took the bus and then an uber to the lookout spot anyway. We had passed some interesting viewpoints and some friendly donkeys so walked back down part way and then had our driver pick us back up to return us to town.

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October 25, 2024November 13, 2026

2024 Czech & Beyond – Day 7 Muslim Mostar

On Friday Oct 24 Derek drove us to visit our first truly Muslim country. Bosnia & Herzegovina is another war ridden country and the landscape is quite rocky and barren when out of the towns. Our first stop was to Mostar. We managed to find a street parking spot but unfortunately the meter required local coins or their app. Derek tried to download and set it up but it was very complex. Meanwhile a local ‘tourist helper’ guide offered assistance for 5euro to supply us with the 2CB coins required. It should have cost 1euro, but we did get to hear his sad story about his family and their war struggles. We managed to barter with him to get 1 1/2 hours of parking for 2euro equivalent.

We walked to the famous Mostar bridge through the market / bazaar. We heard calls for prayers but unfortunately we didn’t manage to visit any mosques. Many of the signs in town (and other towns we had passed) had signs written with the Cyrillic alphabet. Most of the signs had been spray painted out in protest against Serbian and Eastern Orthodox tradition; a continued sign of the ongoing tensions post the Bosnian war.

Mostar is in a fertile valley so the landscape is less barren. The Stari Most bridge is a reconstructed 16th century Ottoman bridge. It was a star example of Balkan Islamic architecture which was bombed out in the Croat – Bosnian war in 1993 as it was being used as a military supply route. It was reconstructed and opened in 2004.

We had a mixed grill lunch overlooking the bridge with chard and stuffed peppers and a local red wine. It was a reasonable price and we were able to pay in Euros. The waiter even changed some Euros for local coins so Derek set off to refill the meter. In the markets I picked up a scarf, some cheap earrings, and mini bowls while Marketa couldn’t resist the baklava. By then we were confused about where Derek had gotten to. Turns out that he went down to view the bridge jumper (people pay 50 euro to jump off). We finally reconnected to watch with him, but we never did get to see the jump. Back to the car and off to the 15th century town of Počitelj. We didn’t spend much time as we had one more stop to make at Kravice Falls where Derek & Marketa wanted to have a swim.

The falls were quite lovely but sadly it was poor lighting as it was totally backlit. Michael and I walked all around while D&M had a swim. For the drive back we took the highway along the Croatian coastline and were treated to a beautiful view with a spectacular sunset.

Then back home for beer & liquours to polish off the day.

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October 24, 2024November 13, 2026

2024 Czech & Beyond – Day 6 Dubrovnik Decisions

By Thursday morning we were settled into our place with the help of our 8 month pregnant hostess who got us oriented. That included where to get groceries for our breakfast / beer and snacks which was first on the agenda.

Our planning began at the tourist info booth where we were assisted by Valentina who was super helpful. She was born on Feb 14, 1991 -the day Croatia gained independence and the Roman Catholics were ‘freed’ to practice their religion. We decided on purchasing the 7 day Dubrovnik pass (55euro per person) which supplied entrance to many museums, the wall walk and unlimited bus trips for 7 days. Unfortunately it takes a few hours to register, so our first bus trip we still had to pay 2.50 each. Getting the pass to work took us a few trips to figure out. The drivers are obviously used to it as on a couple of rides the driver finally said ‘…..get on….’. Note that despite having a car, that is not the way to travel in the city – we were using it for other ventures.

There are a couple of entry points into the old city. We used the PILE gate. Inside the gates is the Apothecary Monastery. If I understood correctly it is the 3rd oldest in Europe. Inside was full of interesting artwork, relics and chemistry apparatus. And additionally, a shell impact from the 1991 war.

We made our way through the town which is full of shops, cafes, restaurants, 30 original churches, 15 of which are still active (although I only spotted a handful of them). We had coffee at a lovely spot 1/2 way up the steep inside wall where we had another very nice person waitressing us. We meandered through the streets and then had to head back to charge up phones and go for dinner to the restaurant nearby as recommended to us. We had squid ink risotto and house specialty pizza – both very yum.

Although the day was up to 22c and sunny, by later in the day the weather had clouded over, so we decided against doing the walk up to the view point and instead headed back to the old town for the ‘blue hour’. We had a delightful Dubrovnik evening with spritz’s overlooking the port on the far end of the old town under a magnificent pine tree which sheltered the entire patio of the restaurant. We took a walk out on the pier and walked back along the wall to the ‘mid point’ entry which was not an original gate, but where the wall was breached in 1809.

Back home by bus to enjoy a Dubrovnik Beer Company GOA (IPA) and to prep for a trip to Mostar in Bosnia Herzegovina in the morning.

And a couple of random observation / notes:

There are a lot of construction sites and it is very noisy. They are busy rock splitting and hammering all day long, everywhere.
The streets are very clean and well maintained.
It must be stupid crazy busy here in the summer because even now at the last week of tourist season it is crowded with tourists
Parking is next to impossible – hence the bus pass even though we have a car
Cruise ships are insanely huge. The city has limited them to 3 per day so as to reduce the number of tourists, especially as they don’t add much money to the economy.
Dubrovnik really suffered in the 1991 war. It is very sobering seeing the tribute to those who died defending the city.

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October 23, 2024November 13, 2026

2024 Czech & Beyond – Day 5 Dubrovnik Here We Come!

On Wednesday morning we chillaxed at D&M’s place and packed for our getaway to Dubrovnik. The bag sizes allowed were ridiculously small – the larger bag could be up to 55x20x30cm and one small bag – my laptop bag was technically too large for that. So we had to optimize.

By 8:30pm we were finally in the air, when we should have already landed in Croatia. Before hitting the highway at 1pm, we had our first typical Czech lunch outside Olomouc. We had peer pressured Derek into leaving earlier than he planned for the airport. We got to the airport, parked and walked to the terminal with plenty of time to spare. So naturally, our flight was delayed. So time for a beer & a poke bowl. We took the shuttle bus to the plane, everyone boarded and then we waited. Michael thought the plane made ‘funny noises’. Seems he was correct as we were forced to disembark back into the terminal and then returned by bus to another plane. Our 6:40 flight was well delayed by that point and we were anxious that we make it to Dubrovnik before 11pm when the Avis car rental closed. We weren’t even offered a free drink on the flight to compensate for the delays. We did manage to get the car picked up and despite the cool wet day we managed to stay dry for the walks to / from the buses and planes.

Sorry – no photos today!

October 22, 2024November 13, 2026

2024 Czech & Beyond – Day 4 Cryptic Brno

With Derek & Marketa both working, Michael & I headed to Brno.

We started our day in the Capuchin Crypts. While many local churches have burial crypts below the church, the ones at the Capuchin church had perfect conditions for natural mummification. The entrance to the crypts read “As you are now, we once were; as we are now, you shall be.” The monks welcome visitors to the crypts to help people reflect on the fragility of life. The bodies are from the mid 1600’s to early 1700’s. The Grimm brothers (not those ones!) and their families were the last to be interred here as the burial of bodies within the city limits was banned from 1784. The monks, priests, highly religious persons, and significant donors were laid here.

A strange story – the thumb of the notorious Baron Franz von der Trenck, who late in life repented, was for some unknown reason stolen from his mummified body in the 1800’s. It surfaced in 1880 in a Franciscan museum and was finally returned to the body in 2017.

Our next stop was to St. Peter and Paul Cathedral with its two “new” peaks. They were originally asymmetric and had to be modified to make them visually equal. We walked up the tower where you can look across to the other tower through the “sub-roof” of the cathedral – a very interesting perspective. The 5 bells which are now controlled by computer were above you. The towers provided very nice views over the city.

We had hoped to visit the “bluff top” villa, but a visit to the tourist info veto’d that idea – you need to pre-book a month or two in advanced. So we walked to the astronomical clock and had a nice lunch of open sandwiches, eggs Benedict, honey cake and tea at a Swedish university-crowd packed cafe. It was quite difficult to locate and even the owner of the cat cafe which was practically next door didn’t know where it was. Turns out, we had walked right past it as the sign outside was simply ∅. It was worth the struggle.

Next off to the historic 1860’s Villa Low-Beer and Villa Arnold (which was newly renovated). Both had the brass plates on the sidewalk outside the home indicating the Jews who lived there. Some of the family at Low-Beer had escaped to South America, while the current owner of Villa Arnold, Cecilie Hoze, died in a concentration camp in 1942. It was past 3pm and near closing time so we had to skip the tours and just enjoyed the gardens.

Back to the bus to Olomouc and train to Hlusovic. My poor pronunciation made ticket purchasing a challenge, but we eventually communicated our needs by writing down the names! We even managed to find our way back to D&M’s house in the dark by retracing our steps back to the offices.

Tuesday night is Pizza Night! So off to the local pub with Martin and Rafka for some great pizza and of course beer. Back at the house we tried out the Gretzky (we still liked him back then) rye with maple barrel aging – very yum.

Finally the big news of the day – Brittany just won a gold medal in BC micro-brewing competition. Their British style ale beat out 150 competitors – Very Nice!!

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October 21, 2024November 13, 2026

2024 Czech & Beyond – Day 3 – All About Olomouc

I managed to muddle through Monday after less than a sufficient nights sleep – so much for getting over jet lag quickly! To start the day, after coffee Derek took us for a tour of his offices / the company. They have a very impressive setup and many employees now – about 40 in Olomouc and another 10 or so in Bratislava at the demo centre. Derek is the COO and manages the Olomouc office. Marketa is the administrator / manager of the sales force. They have expanded into the building across the road to accommodate a staging area. All very impressive and it is great to see them doing so well.

Michael and I walked to the train and took the one stop into Olomouc. We even managed to avoid paying as the ticket officer walked right past us! After a misdirected start we found Kosmonautu road to hit the shopping mall. We bought 2 O2 sim cards and then had a coffee & cake at the mall before heading into the old town. We passed Derek’s old apartment and Michael managed to reorient himself and find the pubs and coffee shops he frequented there in 2013, but much had changed. The churches and buildings have been further restored or overhauled.

From there we visited the Arch Bishops seminary and many churches – the Church of the Annunciation was at the end of the square; the Chapel of Jan Sankander ( he was the last person tortured in the church); the Church of St Maurice (near the floating manta ray mobiles over the street) which is a 13th century Gothic style; the Church of Our Lady of the Snows which was being restored so we have no real photos. We wound our way to the Cathedral and I stopped in at 2 or 3 used clothing shops. There was much potential but I didn’t end up buying anything. At the outskirts beyond the old town was the Orthodox Church of St Gorazd. It is very colourful and pretty and an impressive sight as you walk up over the Morava river. The river was active with a rowing boat out practising.

Back at the cathedral the area was a bit of a hangout for youth and some homeless people sleeping on the benches, so we didn’t spend much time there. We were having a late dinner so even though it was 2:30 we found BRGR Burgers for a bite. It was a funky spot with a Rock n Roll theme and tasty burgers and chips. We wandered around a bit more checking out a couple of antique shops and enjoying the architecture but still had time to pass until D&M were joining us in town. We toyed with the idea of a beer spa but decided against that and opted instead for a lovely cafe and had a ginger tea and struggled to stay awake!

We met up with Derek & Marketa just before 7pm and headed for steak tartar and pork with beer – a wonderful meal (for much less $$ this time 🙂 Back home and to bed for Mike & I for a much better sleep that night!

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October 20, 2024November 13, 2026

2024 Czech & Beyond – Days 1&2 – New Home Hlusovice

Our journey started from home just after 11am on Friday, Oct 17, 2024. Our drive to the airport was punctuated by a stop in for an edible meal at Swiss Chalet knowing that the airplane food would disappoint – and it fulfilled that promise. The Airbus 330 flight with a 2/4/2 configuration afforded a little bit larger seat spacing which was a bonus. We landed in Vienna and connected with Derek & Marketa who picked up two weary souls at 9:30am on Saturday. After a quick stop for McCafe perk ups and some meat and beer for dinner, we headed to their new home.

We had a tour of the house and garden – all done to a high spec. The gardens and outside space are lovely – very quiet and well manicured. The fencing is made from printed ‘wood look’ panels from one of their clients – not cheap very nice. Marketa & Derek treated us to a BBQ dinner of pork neck chops, roast potatoes and salad with wine / beer and a stawberry mousse in a jar. We caught up on family with slides of Derek & Marketa’s trip to BC – photos of Brittany & Angus’ house – very nice on the mountain hillside of Summerland. We also saw a couple photos of Jasmine & the boys and Liam, but not many as their relationship hasn’t been the best recently :-(. Quite sad.

Mike & I each had a short nap in the afternoon and so we managed to stay up until about 10:30. Despite waking in the night we both managed to eventually get back to sleep – we were hoping that we would be over jet lag quickly.

On Sunday (Oct 19) Derek started us off with a full breakfast with 3 wiener styles, scrambled eggs, toast and cherry tomatoes filling our bellies ready for a days adventure. We needed to stay fairly local as we had dinner reservations locally. We decided on Kromeriz with a stop off at Tovacov. Tovacov is an historic renaissance town and is home to the largest (2nd?) carp fish pond in Czech. The annual festival / catch had been the previous weekend. We stopped by a beautiful large church in the middle of nowhere – it has been abandoned as a place of worship but is now used a market / local gathering spot. The zamek (chalet in Czech vs castle in Polish) in Tovacov was interesting. It has been partially restored very nicely, but the back half is in ruins. Hopefully the photos capture the incongruity of it. The chateau is surrounded by a moat – replete with goats – and village housing which could be spectacular but was sadly mostly falling apart. One end seemed partially restored and possibly even lived in. The trees were still tended and trimmed, so perhaps a gardener is employed. We skipped climbing the tower as we wanted to head to Kromeriz.

Naturally food was in order so once in Kromeriz we stopped for coffee and shared a savoury avocado & egg waffle as well as a pear & cream waffle. Then off to the zamek which was used for the shooting of the film Amadeus. The building and grounds were very well kept. We were tight on time for tours, but we walked around the building and all through the park and grounds behind. There were many birds including peacocks (and white ones), fancy geese and chickens and cages with baboons, monkeys and owls. The many varieties of trees were ancient and spectacular. A stream ran through the grounds with cute bridges and sinuous curves through the park. The pond had beaver & muskrat and we even spotted a deer running through the fields. Quite an idyllic place.

Back home we quickly showered and headed for dinner. It was a spectacular (although pricey at $360 per couple) dinner. We had wine/cocktail pairings which were well matched to the meal. Every dish was a pleasure to the palate. The sturgeon, the amuse bouche sea bass with tuna, the cucumber soup, the gazpacho inspired dish, the ‘fried egg dessert’ with passion fruit egg yolk – everything complex flavoured and well balanced.

Back home the standard shot of slivovic for health and then Marketa was off to bed as she worked in the morning while the boys chatted and I scribed. Michael & Derek gave a call to Marucia (for some reason Derek thought it was Mother’s Day??!). They had a group video call with Marucia who was in Burlington and George in Picton. At least they were able to wish them a good trip to Holland as they leave on Friday.

BTW… it was amazingly nice weather – a perfect fall day, crisp and mostly sunny so we just needed a light jacket.

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May 25, 2024November 13, 2026

Finally Ireland/Return to Scotland – Day 24 – Winging It…Mostly for our Final Fairwell to Dublin & Ireland

On Saturday, May 25 our trip was winding down and we had a day with nothing pre-booked. Time for some shopping 🙂 After breakfast we headed to the weaving and knitted goods shops. Suz wanted scarfs for gifts, I wanted a shawl and earrings (my traditional souvenir item). We also checked out a couple of less impressive markets…although we did get a nice cheese from Cavan for Michaels parents, George and Marucia.

The history of Ireland is naturally very old, and not surprisingly there is a history of Vikings in Dublin. When a site was found, they did a full dig and recovered significant settlement and fortifications at the site of the Dublin Castle. As it is unreasonable to keep the entire area free of development, the presentation of archaeological finds is unique and interesting. Individual finds are marked with artifacts in the sidewalk. We did not visit the museum, but there is a full display there and there are other options to explore the Viking history of Dublin.

We passed a very funky designer shop – Claire Garvey Couture. She has had her work worn by several stars at the Oscars. And naturally when I go shopping, Michael takes the opportunity to explore street photography! On the shopping front (no haute couture!) we had success on all accounts. For the first time while travelling, I arranged for my purchases to be shipped home rather than carry them. It turned out ok, although getting the rebate for the duty took a LONG time, and there was a fair amount of paperwork required.

Then to the Irish national art gallery where we quickly toured the Irish artist exhibits. Unfortunately the older art room was closed so we only could see art from 1835 and onwards. But we did get to see the stain glass exhibit and several pieces relating to the potato famine.

And in keeping with the need to pre-book, early in the day we had managed to get a booking at Featherblade for 2:20 and it was well worth having an early dinner. They are highly praised for their locally sourced Irish steaks. Suz and I had the Feathersteak cut and Mike and Dan had Picanha steaks. Our sides were sweet potato wedges and broccoli with dukkah. Both of our meals were amazing. We definitely need to try to replicate the sweet potato especially. The waitress inquired for us and the chef shared that they are slow baked, cut into large wedges then seared in beef fat to create a blackened effect on all sides. And of course, wine as well.

Our final tour for the trip was to Dublin Castle. There is lots of varied history of the castle and surprisingly it still stands after the spring uprising. Even the throne room and chair still reside there. Rather than being the home of royalty, it is now used for state events including the swearing in of presidents and formal dinners. And times have certainly changed as even the Queen has been hosted.

Then back for more euchre, packing and finishing off the wonderful Irish cheeses and beers – such responsibility! Although we had booked separately, our flights home were scheduled within 5 minutes from Dan & Suz’s. We shared a Bolt ride (Uber alternative) to the airport and then it was back on the plane. After the long drive home we were met by George & Marucia and Picasso who all seemed to get along just fine. Another trip done & dusted, although Ireland is calling us back for another visit some day….

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