Konyaaltı Beach at Antalya, Turkiye.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Antalya, Turkiye.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Paris, France on May 1st.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

We cheated.

And we're not proud of it.

We did a hike yesterday to the top of Radhost Mountain. Problem is, we took a bus 90% of the way up! Every time we've done something like this, we've been kind of disappointed in ourselves, but we had been told to do it this way. And there was some justification to it.

Monday, August 13, 2012

A hike in the mist

It rained much of the day on Saturday, so we used it as a relax day! And then on Sunday, we woke up to drizzle, but our couchsurfing host Blanka and her boyfriend had a hike planned for us in the morning with the local Jack Russell group that she gets together with.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Why we're doing what we're doing.

Many readers have commented over the past five years that we are “lucky” to be doing what we are doing at our age. But it has nothing to do with luck. It has to do with a conscious decision to do something different in life.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

A record long hike!

We've done several hikes over the years that were 16 kms (10 miles). Yesterday, we planned out a hike that we figured was about 14 kms (9 miles) but turned out to be a bit longer!

Friday, August 10, 2012

What is a Wallachian?

Well, we'll get to that in a minute. Yesterday morning, we headed out fairly early because we had to meet our train schedule. The train doesn't go by that often so we planned on making the 9:35am run from Zasova to Roznov pod Radhostem. It's only 7 kms (3 miles) and we got on with no problems.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Due for a relaxing day

And so that's what we arranged for ourselves yesterday. In the morning, we walked down the hill to get some groceries, and in the afternoon we went for a two hour hike.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Olomouc, day 4

After the rain went through Monday afternoon, the temperature began to cool off a bit, and yesterday was just about perfect! Sunny, and a high of around 26C (79F). Perfect for our last day exploring the city of Olomouc.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Holy Hill and Fort Radikov

It was a baking hot Monday morning. Temperature expected to be 34C. The museums are closed on Monday's, so we decided to take a local bus up to the basilica at Holy Hill, and go for a walk in the forest to Fort Radikov.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Exploring the City of Olomouc

We slept in a little yesterday, and didn't get going until after 11:00am. Our plan was to explore the central area, and take in some of the museums and churches. Most museums are closed on Mondays, so we were going to try and take in as much as possible yesterday.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Once upon a time in the 13th century!

We have a lot to see in the city of Olomouc, but yesterday we decided to head into the surrounding countryside for a day at Bouzov Castle, only about 35 kms (22 miles) away. They were having a special day at the castle, where everyone is dressed up in period costume with displays of jousting, dancing, and entertainment that you might have seen in the 13th century.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

The City of Olomouc

People who visit Czech Republic most often go to Prague. It's fine to visit the big cities in Europe such as Prague, or Paris or Rome...but there is so much more to see, and if you limit yourself only to the big cities, you will miss so much. Or at least that's what we think. So we only spent one day in the city of Prague, preferring instead to see places that the typical tourist doesn't.

Friday, August 3, 2012

The Ruins of Boskovice Castle

In yesterday's post, we showed a picture of a what looked like a castle way in the distance. So we figured out how to hike to the castle and we set off around 10:00am.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Svitavy to Boskovice

Yet another interesting day! Our travel days seem to stand out, and usually it's because of the new people we get to meet. Yesterday was one of those days.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Exploring Castles and Countryside

Our couchsurfing host Andrew was able to take some time off work yesterday and so he picked us up mid morning and we went back to his place to collect his family. Good thing they have a 7 passeneger mini van because we needed all of those seats! Andrew suggested we first go to a nearby town where there is another UNESCO listed castle to visit.

July expenses

As you know, we try and keep our expenses to around an average of $1,000 a month, but there can be a wide variance depending on a lot of factors. So we weren’t sure what to expect with a full month of being across the ocean. We stayed the first three weeks of July with Ruth’s cousin Helen and her husband Tony, so we had no accomodation expense for that period, but we did of course contribute towards expenses for the four of us while we were there. And sometimes we paid for things, and sometimes they did, so although some categories are higher than normal, some may be lower but it’s hard to know exactly which is which. Plus, we had some travel related expenses such as our flight from Bristol to Prague. Either way, we think we did very well, with expenses coming in at a total of $1,189.73 for the month.