The Czech Greenways are a network of more than 250 miles of trails and country roads along centuries-old trade routes that were closed off for 40 years behind the Iron Curtain. It’s like taking a trip back in time to the days of medieval towns, baroque castles, and Renaissance squares, all in an excellent state of preservation.
Our Sierra Club group was to meet in Vienna, Austria in mid May, we arrived a couple days early to get a chance to explore Vienna and sample the justly famous pastries.
Sacher Torte at Cafe Leopold, ViennaPastry display in the window at Demel in Vienna
A highlight of a Vienna trip is seeing The Kiss by Gustav Klimt at the Belvidere Museum.
The Kiss by Gustav KlimtBelvidere Museum The Kiss gallery
Across the street from our hotel, the Griechenbeisl restaurant (opened in 1447!) has a plague pit covered by a grate in the front vestibule. Patrons try to drop a coin into a dish in the pit where victims of the Black Death were buried.
Cindy dropping a coin in the plague pit at Griechenbeisl restaurant
We left Vienna with our group and bussed to our first Greenway walk. It included a tour of the 521 room Gothic Revival Lednice Chateau, a hike with a local ornithologist and wandering past unique “follies,” such as a faux Arc de Triomphe set in the surrounding landscape.
Arc de Triomphe in the woods of CzechiaUnicorn on the wall of Lednice Chateau, Czechia
Wandering the Greenways is interesting, we were bussed between towns for our overnights. Then we’d discover the town and interesting things that are scattered along the Greenway. The day hike on the Greenway ranged from 5 to 10 miles.
Iron Curtain remnants near the village of Cizov, CzechiaMilitary bunkers on the Czech GreenwayOld trailer on the Czech Greenway
Lodging was in small towns, we stayed a night or two in each town. Lunch and dinner were usually at local restaurants.
Hotel Concertino Jindřichův Hradec, CzechiaCzech vegetarian meal – fried cheese and French fries!One memorable meal was at a medieval pubGarlic soup pub lunch
We got to roam around several castle ruins, this one dates from the 13th century.
Ruined castle, Hrad Landštejn, CzechiaCesky Krumlov castlesCesky Krumlov river
Our Greenway walks completed, we bussed to Prague for some city life in this beautiful spot.
Prague city street sceneCuddling couple and photographer in Prague
Of course a visit to the famous Prague Astronomical Clock was necessary…
Prague astronomical clockThe clock was rebuilt after WWII
After a bit more than two weeks, it was time to head home, during a layover in the Dublin airport we luckily had time to get a Guiness!
Since our Camino de Santiago walk was planned for mid-September 2022 we decided to bookend it with travel in Portugal and Spain. Leaving Chicago’s O’Hare Airport in September we tried to find Portugal and Spain’s flags in the terminal.
O’Hare Airport passageway flagsSpain and US, we couldn’t find Portugal
Our first city was Porto, Portugal. Our Airbnb was in the Old Town near the Douro River which allowed us to walk wherever we wanted to go.
The Rio Douro was once docks for the famous Port wine trade in Porto, it’s now a restaurant lined promenade.Sunset on the Rio Douro.
Of course we crossed the Rio Douro to sample port wine at one of the wineries, we chose Taylor’s Winery.
Barak Obama’s visit to Porto, Portugal is commemorated at the Taylor Winery.While we didn’t arrive by train, Porto’s Sao Bento Train Station is known for the elaborate tiles that show scenes from Portuguese history.
From Porto we headed to Vigo, Spain where our Camino de Santiago walk would begin. Our first night in Vigo we stayed on the Porta do Sol, right by the El Sireno monument.
El Sireno monument, our Airbnb host said it’s locally known as the “manfish”
After the Camino walk we flew from Santiago, Spain back to Portugal, this time to the country’s capitol Lisbon. Two of Lisbon’s attractions are the trolleys and the cobblestone paver sidewalks. The wavy tile pattern in Lisbon’s Rossio Square pavers is meant to invoke water, it also messed with Cindy’s balance a bit as she crossed it.
Lisbon Trolley.Lisbon Trolley.Rossio SquareThe people who labor to install the paver sidewalks are commemorated in a statue installation along the Rue 1 de Dezembro (December 1 is Portugal’s Independence Day).
While in Lisbon we did a side trip by train to Sintra, Portugal to tour the Palicio Nacional de Sintra. Sintra is known for the Palacio da Pena which looks like a fairy tale castle although other buildings in Sintra are really ornate.
Although it looks like a fairy tale castle this is actually a municipal office!
An ironic sight in the Palicio Nacional de Sintra is this wall with portraits of quite plain-looking people and a mirror stating “Only the illustrious deserve to be painted”, the 15th century equivalent to Instagram I guess.
15th century InstagramPalicio Nacional de Sintration
Leaving Lisbon, we headed to Evora, Portugal, which a friend recommended we visit because of its well-preserved town center that still has some of its medieval walls and a Roman Temple.
The Tempolo Romana de Evora.
Wandering the lanes in Evora we came across a restaurant advertising Fado music that night. Fado often has mournful tunes and lyrics infused with a sentiment of resignation, fate and melancholy. We appreciated the Fado singers even though we don’t speak Portuguese.
Our next destination was Seville, Spain. When we went to the Evora, Portugal bus terminal we were shocked that there wasn’t a good way to get there. We finally got advice to go to Faro, Portugal first then board another bus to Seville, so we were in for a full day of bus travel. Not at all what we thought would happen.
Arriving finally in Seville (a large town with 1.5 million people in the metro area) we had a couple of musts, one was the Real Alcazar one of the oldest palaces still in use in the world and another was to see Flamenco dancing.
Seville sign in front of the Cathedral of SevilleElaborate space in the Real Alcazar in SevilleDolls Courtyard inside the Real AlcazarHere’s the doll!We saw a magnificent Flamenco dance performance in the Museo del Baile Flamenco Sevilla.Seville view from the 342 foot Giralda Tower which is the bell tower of the Seville Cathedral.
Leaving Seville we made it to Cordoba on a quick 45 minute train ride. We only had two nights in Cordoba so as soon as we checked in the Airbnb, we headed out to see the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba (locally called the Mezquita Catedral de Cordoba). The Mosque-Cathedral is a mosque turned into a cathedral, go figure. The mosque part is human sized and inviting, the cathedral part is overwhelming and ostentatious.
Mosque-Cathedral comparison, mosque on the left, cathedral on the right.
Our Airbnb in Cordoba had an alarm clock next-door, the bell tower of a church!
Our Airbnb in Cordoba had an alarm clock next-door, the bell tower of a church!
Our next stop was Ronda, this small city has the Guadalevín River running through it. The river has carved a steep 300+ foot canyon that separates the town into two parts. After a few collapsed attempts, the town completed the spectacular “New Bridge” to span the canyon in 1793.
The “New Bridge”Hemingway plaque in RondaCarrera Espinel street in RondaRonda BullringTop left: Seen in most every Spain travel picture collection, the New Bridge (Puente Nuevo) is really unique in both construction and setting. Top middle: Ernest Hemingway said “Ronda is the place where to go, if you are planning to travel to Spain for a honeymoon or for being with a girlfriend. The whole city and its surroundings are a romantic set. … Nice promenades, good wine, excellent food, nothing to do.” Top right: Ronda’s main drag Carrera Espinel is perfect for a “paseo” (stroll). Bottom: Ronda was one of the cradles of modern bullfighting its bullring is now a wonderful museum.
Ronda’s a popular tourist destination and with good reason, it has history, welcoming streets, ancient buildings and that spectacular cliff view. But onward we go, our next stop is Granada, Spain and its La Alhambra “the best preserved Medieval Muslim City in the world”.
A couple of train rides got us to Granada in time to drop our bags at the Airbnb and head out to the Moorish quarter where we read there’s a great sunset view of the La Alhambra.
La Alhambra seen from the overlook square.The overlook square in Granada’s Moorish quarter is a lively place.
We had tried to get tickets to La Alhambra a few days prior and found them sold out. Slightly panicked we looked in the guidebook and it mentioned the Granada Pass may get us in. We looked into that and it worked!
La Alhambra’s famous stalactite ceiling decorationsReflecting pool at La AlhambraBarrio
After viewing the many stunning rooms and pools you come across the barrio where ordinary people lived in small one or two room dwellings.
Madrid – our next stop is a really big city with many personalities. When we first arrived we took two self guided walks…
The first walk was of historic Madrid, its Plaza Mayor has plaques commemorating historic events that took place in the square…in this case a Spanish Inquisition torture! The second walk got us on the Calle Gran Via, a big busy shopping boulevard where we found the Dear Hotel’s rooftop bar to catch sunset. This Madrid Airbnb is typical of the lodging we had, a converted top floor space in the historic district.
Spanish Inquisition plaque in MadridDear Hotel rooftop barMadrid Airbnb
Three Madrid highlights were the Museo de America and its galleries featuring Mesoamerican artifacts, the Royal Palace of Madrid which is still in use by Spain’s royal family and Picasso’s 1937 Guernica at Madrid’s Reina Sofia, seeing the huge painting and reading its horrific war story was very moving. Guernica measures 25 ft 6 in across and 11 ft 5 in tall.
Mesoamerican artifacts at Madrid’s Museo de AmericaRoyal Palace of MadridPicasso’s Guernica, painted in response to the April 26, 1937 bombing of Guernica during the Spanish civil war.
While in Madrid we took a day trip to Toledo, home of the 1586 El Greco painting “The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, the 15 x 11 foot painting has been hanging in the church of Santo Tomé since 1587.
“The Burial of the Count of Orgaz”, El Greco at Iglesia de Santo Tomé, Toledo, Spain
Our train to our next to last city Valencia gave us a scare when in the middle of nowhere it reversed course and started going the other way, announcements were made in Spanish that were useless to us, but we somehow arrived in Valencia OK.
Beach day at Platja el Cabana in Valencia, it wasn’t warm enough for us to go in the water but the sun felt great.Esparto BlancoFountain water spoutValencia’s Serranos Towers
During our stay in Spain and Portugal, “Esparto Blanco” asparagus was often on our plate for the vegetable, they’re soft, watery and kind of tasteless, we found them totally unappealing.
After five weeks of traveling we came to our last stop, Barcelona. Barcelona is in the Spanish region of Catalonia which has a fraught relationship with the rest of Spain. In fact in 2017 Catalonia held a referendum and voted to declare the region an independent republic. Barcelona is known for its architectural gift to the world “Modernisme” created by Antoni Gaudí and his contemporaries
An attendee at an independence rally cloaked in the flag of Catalonia.Our Barcelona Airbnb had one bedroom plus a sleeping loft.Gaudi’s Sagrada Família Basilica began construction in 1882.Gaudi’s Park Guell in BarcelonaThe Church of Saint Philip Neri in Barcelona’s Gothic quarter still bears the pockmarks from bombardment by Franco’s air forces on January 30, 1938
We closed our Camino de Santiago, Portugal and Spain trip taking home a fantastic recipe for Tinto de Verano…1/2 half Spanish wine like Zinfandel, Pino Noir or Merlot, 1/2 half 7-Up, and a lemon slice or a splash of lemon juice, Cheers!
The Camino de Santiago is a network of pilgrim routes leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. Tradition holds that the remains of the apostle are buried there.
Cindy and I had often talked about doing one of the routes and with some advice from a seasoned traveler we chose the Camino Portuguese, the second most traveled route after the Camino Frances. The whole Camino Portuguese is 643 km, rather than spend a month on the trail we chose to do an abbreviated version of 100 km which is the minimum distance that allows you to receive recognition in the form of a “Compostela” certificate issued by the Chapter of the Cathedral of Santiago.
We used the trip provider CaminoWays for our night’s lodging and luggage transfers so we could head out each day carrying only what we needed for that day’s walk and knowing we had a place to sleep that night.
Our daily walks varied from 5 miles to 15 miles. Most rural legs had one or two cafes along the way.
Our walk started mid-September in Vigo, Spain an Atlantic Ocean port city with a population of about 250,000. There was a bit of rain, luckily we had rain coats, pants and waterproof shoes. As we walked along the marked path suburban Vigo gave way to woods. This part of the route is high above the Ria De Vigo waterway. Our destination was Redondela, Spain, 9.3 miles from our start point.
Vigo, Spain, the start of our Camino! Follow the yellow arrow.Before starting the journey we got our Pilgrim’s Passport at the local police station.This part of the route is high above the Ria De Vigo waterway.
Day 2, Redondela to Arcade. Redondela is a small town known locally for the two railroad bridges that hover high over the main part of town.
Railroad bridge over Redondela, Spain.Cindy’s dinner dessert was Crema Cafe con Espuma de Orujo (coffe mousse with crème foam) it was amazing.Rainbow bench in Redondela. Spain.
Day 3, Arcade to Pontevedra took us across an old one-lane stone bridge and then through the rolling hills of the town’s outskirts.
The path was usually well marked with shell tiles and arrows.
Day 4, Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis led through vineyards and woods.
Some people do the Camino on bicycles.Several of our hotels had a single super long pillow on the bed, when we asked for two separate pillows, they provided two “almost super long” ones!
Day 5, Caldas de Reis to Padron took us past this old church and its above-ground burial vaults topped with crosses.
Old church.
Day 6, Padron to Teo. A common sight was these old stone pools fed by a running fountain, it wasn’t hot enough to entice us.
Stone pool.
Day 7, Teo to Santiago. Our endpoint of the walk. The cathedral houses the Tree of Jesse pillarmarked with grooves from centuries of hands, the statue of St James and the Tomb of the Saint where thanks are given for all that has been encountered on the journey.
We made it to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.Inside the cathedral.Beautiful artwork commemorating our Camino, created at the Zamo Tamay studio.Our ‘Compostela’ certificates, in Latin no less! “Arturum” and “Cynthiam”
Venice is unlike anything we’ve ever seen. No cars anywhere, and boats everywhere. The Grand Canal feeds lots of “rivers” that go into the neighborhoods.
Their public transportation system is the vaporetto boats, so to get somewhere we’re crammed in usually with lots of people (during the day, it’s less crowded at night) while gondolas, water taxis and motorboats with goods are all zipping around. Then you get off and walk the maze of pedestrian lanes that vary from 15 to 6 feet wide. But you still feel the water below you from the rolling vaporetto. Most walking trips include a vaporetto ride just to get across the Grand Canal since there are only 3 bridges across it.
Approaching a vaporetto stop, on the right, along the grand canal.
We’re probably the only people who’d get excited about seeing kayakers in Venice!
This is getting to be a thing, we saw Bradonia in New Zealand, a bar in Volterra with double d chandeliers and Venice’s Bacaro Jazz Bar is similarly decorated.
In keeping with the high rent theme…a Big Mac is 8.10 euros ($9.50).
Bacari” bars away from touristy areas offer inexpensive drinks and finger food in the early evening. Wine’s 2-3 euros and a “cicchetti” toothpick munchie is 1 euro or so. They attract crowds of pub crawling young locals who don’t have to worry about driving home.
A freebie at Piazza San Marco are the dueling bands at several restaurants. Four piece combos are set up on the piazza, a seat at a table comes with a 6 euro band charge, but standing and swaying to the music is gratis
And now the answer you’re waiting for!
The ice cream was 19.50 euros (about $23.00) no kidding. But we had it at Caffe Florian which has been a Venetian institution since 1720, it’s totally beautiful, and a band plays outside as you eat.
Cinque is Italian for the number five.
And, there’s a group of five towns in Italy that are known as the Cinque Terre. We had a three night visit planned there.
The five Cinque Terre towns are nestled in the Ligurian Sea coast.
We arrived in the Cinque Terre town Monterosso and did all the touristy things; take a ferry ride between towns, walk each town (which ain’t easy cause these towns are built on steep cliffs), watch the rock divers, eat gelato, dine on catch-of-the-day fish, etc. etc.
Ferry boats connect the towns, serving up postcard views at each stop
The Ligurian Sea seems be pretty warm, we haven’t dipped a toe yet, but others have.
Leaving Cinque Terre we headed to Lucca, the birthplace of Puccini, for opera, an easy bike ride on the towns medieval wall and everything else Rick Steve’s Italy guidebook told us to do.
Highlight of Lucca was a opera recital at the Church of Santi Giovanni e Reparata, it was a lovely hour of Puccini and Verdi selections.
Bike riding on Lucca’s two and a half mile wall.
After that we had a five night open spot in our calendar, aka being homeless. Talking about what to do for the next five nights, we figured we could go to a couple more towns maybe Genoa or Turin for sightseeing with the attendant train rides, schedules and decisions, or…
Maybe just relax and do NOTHING!
The perfect place to do that?
The exquisite Cinque Terre for five more nights!
We’ve found a great place to stay with a water and sunset view from the patio, and a bright cozy bedroom, this’ll be perfect.
We first heard a variation of this phrase when we were booking a rafting trip in New Zealand and it seems appropriate to reuse it for our few days in Naples, Italy.
To quote from “Rick Steves Italy 2017” “Naples is Italy in the extreme” it’s Italy’s third largest city and the densest city in Europe with over a million people in a tight area.
Crime scene(s) illustration.
Our arrival in Naples was greeted by a pickpocket who had his fingers in Cindy’s backpack within a few blocks of the train station. I’d turned to see if she was behind me and saw him tight to her back. He saw me see him and quickly heeled around and scurried away. I yelled to Cindy “Check your stuff right now.” She turned to look and the pack was open, her small purse dangling open. The only thing that had been in there was a single credit card. We called and cancelled it immediately and made our way to the Airbnb.
The not-much-wider-than-a-tiny-car cobblestone streets are hemmed in on each side by five-story apartment buildings, we walked with gobs of people who seem to live a good part of their life in on those streets.
Tiny cafes, al fresco dining, and mid block bar/cafes are everywhere and all day until past midnight everyone is out walking, drinking, eating and talking. This city is alive! Out host is a longtime Naples resident and she said sometimes it takes an hour to walk a block after greeting, chatting, and coffee-ing with the neighbors.
Naples street life.
Of course one of our top Naples sights was a delicious Neapolitan pizza stuffed with ham, ricotta and salami from Lombardi 1892, at Via Foria 12, Cindy had gnocchi.
Naples was our base for Pompeii which is easily reached for a bargain 1.20 euros ($1.35) via the “Circumvesuviana” train line.
Pompeii street, that’s Mt. Vesuvius through the arch.
After Pompeii we visited the Museo Archeologico archaeological museum where the frescos from Pompeii reside.
After Pompeii we visited the Museo Archeologico archaeological museum where the frescos from Pompeii reside.
This is from the “Secret Room” at the Museo Archeologico, I’m thinking it’d make a great art fair craft item.
Later back at our room we heard a commotion outside, peeked out and saw the street was barricaded for several buildings next to us. Apparently a small pink suitcase in the street was reported as a possible bomb threat. I heard a loud bang. The plastic pink pack was shot by a bomb robot, our host shared her pic of the action with us…
Pink suitcase getting plugged.
Our two intense days in Naples at an end, we walked in a downpour to the train station. Greeting us there was another of the pickpocket gang, as I turned to check on Cindy a block from the station I saw him shadowing her, his hands at her pack. I yelled at “YO” at him, he removed his hands from her empty purse, raised them to show they’re empty and scurried off.
After all this, Cindy’s the “keen” on Naples, loving the vitality and game of the streets, Art’s the “not so much”.
