Weaving Tapestries, Painting Pictures, Dreaming Dreams

I love to Travel. From 2011 to 2019 we travelled considerably but I never wrote about it. it is difficult to capture every detail of these times from my memory but I am trying to. I would like to compile these snippets as a book and I would like my first effort to honour all the strangers who were so kind to me and because of whom my travels were so enjoyable,

From the time I was a child and had read about caves and limestone formations in an adventure story book, I had a great desire to see them. I had to wait for over forty years though but in the summer of 2011 when we reached Europe for the first time and landed in Prague, I was determined to see caves on the trip. We took a train to Brno and on the train we started talking to a Czech woman who was heading to Blansko, the same place we were. We talked about a few things, her name was Olga and she was very jolly. She pointed a castle on a hill as we passed it. At one point we passed a huge heap of garbage which upset her and she said her country was not like that, to which I completely agree. We all got off at Blansko. The caves ‘Moravsky Kras’ were about 10 or so km away from the station and we had to take a bus. At the time we were carrying a rather heavy and unwieldy bag among other things and Olga helped us to take it off the train and helped my daughter carry it till the bus. She found us the right bus and saw us off on it. We never met her again but she will always stay with us because of her kindness. Moravsky Kras was a really great choice. We stayed in hotel that was a converted mill in the forest. I think the river Punkva flowed by. The Punkva flowed through the caves and fresh grilled Punkavni trout was served at the hotel restaurant. In the evening we walked through the forest and in the morning after breakfast we went to see the caves and Macocha Abyss or Macocha Gorge the deepest abyss in Central Europe. We had a wonderful guide, a young man called Martin who was from the region and came back every summer to show tourists around. We were the only English speaking tourists that day and Martin made sure that we were never left out by explaining everything in Czech and in English. Over and over again the kindness of strangers has touched us deeply.

Just enough time to share a small sweet memory today. Margaret Island is an island in the Danube, joint to Margaret Bridge it is a beautiful haven of green in the city. We once spent a lovely few hours walking around exploring the lovely verdant spaces of the island and we reached the exit close to sunset. The Danube was in front of us, its waters darkening and reflecting the sun which was setting to our right behind Buda. A little away to the left, on the Pest side of the bank we could see the beautiful Parliament house glowing in the sun and just beside us a busker was playing the plaintive tune of Lara’s Theme on his violin. The sunset, the glow in the darkening river, and the touching music wafting in the air stirred me, it was a beautiful moment and is a treasured memory.

Today I found a card and it took me back a few years. It was the end of June 2011. We were in a train to Budapest. I knew little about the city, I did not have a booking and most importantly I had no Forints. As usual we had trusted ourselves to fate and as we passed the engine we found our welcoming committee, a lady waiting there with an album. She asked us if we had rooms and we said we did not. She showed us the album and said she was letting out rooms and we could check them out to see if we liked them. She was sweet and not at all pushy. It felt as if she was sent so ofcourse we agreed to go. We were at Keleti station and her apartment was at Nyugati so we would have to take the Metro. I told her I did not have any Forints so she offered to buy the tickets and off we went to experience our first experience of the deep deep Budapest Metro. The apartment had two bedrooms and a few beds. It was more like a hostel than an apartment but Katalin our hostess offered us the entire apartment for 30€ per night. It seemed such a Godsend that I took it. She made our beds with fresh linen and left.On that trip we did not see much of Budapest mostly because it rained a lot but we had a very interesting time. We used to walk from the apartment building to Margaret Bridge or Margit Hid, on the way there was a Turkish restaurant where we ate and they always offered us free tea when we passed them, which I never refused, even at midnight. We enjoyed walking on the main street where there was an antikvarium with old books, pictures and maps, and in the maze of lanes, that had antique furniture shops and one or two which sold music instruments and we could hear someone playing inside as we passed. One afternoon we were caught in a rainstorm and sheltered in the antikvarium, looking through his old maps and pictures. One afternoon it was a clear day and we decided to make the most of it but just then Katalin came by. We invited her in and we sat talking. My elder daughter asked her about the days of communism and she told us a lot of things, afternoon slipped into evening and we stayed in on our last day. Katalin said one thing which really touched me. She said no one had ever invited her in for a chat before. There is no point in going from place to place in a mad rush. It is the people who make it special. It is important to connect. We missed seeing much of Budapest in that trip but Budapest would wait for us to return and we would many times.

The journey of kindnesses continues….Summer of 2011 was the summer of ‘Innocents Abroad’ as a mother and her two daughter’s set out on their first ever Euro trip with very little practical information and bad luggage in tow. Would we have survived it if it had not been for the kindness of total strangers every where? I don’t think so and so I dedicate my first writings on my travels to them. We landed in Prague but the idea was to visit Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, and Germany as well. We were very taken with Czech though, with its beautiful countryside and 1000 castles and palaces. I love history and architecture and that is the most important reason Europe attracted me. Since then there has been so much more to love, the order, the cleanliness, the good manners of the people, the many kindnesses, the consideration. I can go on, but I digress. We had heard of Cesky Krumlov, a medieval town with a castle built along the banks of a looping river and I was eager to visit it, This time I asked my daughter to book a hotel but as Cesky Krumlov was a great favourite of American tourists, she found the hotels expensive and made a non refundable booking at Hotel Klor, 15 km away, in the very cute sounding village of Doudleby, never realising for a minute how totally unpractical it was to stay 15 km away from all tourist places and in a small village. For one reason or the other we could not make it on that day so I called the owner, Jiři Klor and requested him to move the booking to another day. I promised him we would come and he agreed and changed the booking without any charges. This happened twice. Finally, we set off from Prague and informed him that we would be arriving by train and he said he would pick us up at Česky Budejovice station. There was a Czech lady in our compartment, she had a bottle of pickles and was taking the pickles out, one after another and eating them. In Czech, people always carry food with them and eat whenever they get a chance. Food, water, an umbrella and something warm in case the weather turns cold. She was looking for something to wipe her hands and my younger daughter offered her a wipe. Then we noticed she had a scatch on her knee and my daughter pointed it out and gave her a bandage. She spoke little English but we managed to communicate. She had been visiting her daughter in Prague for a couple of days and was returning home. When we got off the train, her husband was there waiting for her and she rushed to him and hugged him. Other people were also waiting to receive their friends or relatives. This really touched me and always does. We left the station but we could not see Jiři or his car i called him, he said he was right outside in his car. I told him there was just one single silver Mercedes outside.Turns out that was our ride. So we loaded our luggage and happily set off. On the way he pointed out a furniture shop selling classic wooden furniture, which he owned. Jiři was jolly and very friendly, he spoke good English and during the drive through the Czech countryside, where the poppies were in bloom, we talked of many things. He told us we were the first people to come to his hotel by train. Before we turned into Doudleby we passed a bus stop and Jiři said the bus came every two hours. Doudleby was everything we had hoped for, a small village with red roofed houses, beautiful gardens and a river. What a lovely place to stay!The hotel was small but really nice. We got a two room suite. Both rooms were furnished with antique wooden furniture, the beds were huge and comfortable and the window looked out on the beautiful garden. After we freshened up we went down into the restaurant. Jiři was a pianist and a musician and the restaurant was decorated with all kinds of musical instruments. There were antique instruments I have never seen hanging on the walls. Though it was just a bed and breakfast hotel Jiři rustled us something to eat. Later my elder daughter found a bicycle outside and set off to explore while I went for a walk, camera in hand. As I walked through the village the people looked at me curiously. Guests came to Hotel Klor in their cars and left in their cars. No one had much interest in exploring the village. I found the river and a bridge and took a lot of pictures and returned to the hotel. The next morning at breakfast we asked Jiři about the bus we wanted to go first to the Šumava, the Czech forest which extends into Germany and is called the Bavarian Forest over there. We would have to go back to the station and take a train. Jiři made us a simple offer, he would drive us down wherever we wanted and in the evening around 5 he would come and pick us up. He would charge 15€ per day. This was an unbelievable blessing out of the blue. I agreed and we set off after breakfast for the station. He put us on the train and told us where to get off. For those few moments we were not foreigners alone in a foreign land, we also had someone see us off like all the other people on the train. We got off at the tiny station Jiři had told us about. We saw a small shop near by and went there to ask for directions. There was a very old couple there. The man spoke perfect English and we stopped and chatted with him. He had been in the WWII. I wish I had noted all the interesting things he said. While we stood there talking many old couples passed in front of us. There was a kind of retirement village on the other side of the tracks. It warmed my heart to see them walking along or holding hands. ‘I want to grow old like this’ I thought. The Šumava was not far, we just had to walk along the path and turn right. As we walked a little, the village ended. We turned right and walked through beautiful meadows full of colourful wildflowers. It was a feast for the eyes. There were hills in the distance and a little ahead of us some horses were grazing. The only irritant were the millions of tiny flying insects We reached the trees and walked chose a path to walk on. It was lovely inside the forest. There were picnic tables and benches made of rough wooden logs and some men were enjoying a picnic there. Now and then bicyclists passed us. We were three women in a forest but at no point did we feel afraid. It is liberating when one can go where one wants, without any fear. Walking under tall trees is such a spiritual experience. At some point we were hot, tired and hungry and turned back. There was a restaurant beside the train station, where we ate and then boarded the train back to Česky Budejovice to find Jiři patiently waiting for us. The next day he drove us to Çesky Krumlov and the day after that he advised us to see Hluboka Castle which was designed on Windsor Castle. Each day he would tell us to eat well but by the night we would be hungry again and he would make us scrambled eggs or sandwiches and also be there for a chat. At one point he said that he never really thought we would be coming to which I replied “But I had promised”, I thought to myself ” How kind of him to cancel without any charge even though he thought we would not come”. During one of our conversations he told me that he used to play abroad in Western Europe, often in Denmark, during Communism but his family always had to stay behind so he could never defect. On our last night he played the piano for us for over an hour. A medley of a number of songs. A lovely and memorable way to end a memorable stay. The next morning we wanted to catch the train to Linz and go on to Salzburg. We were running late as we packed and dressed. We had breakfast and left with him, in our silver carriage for the last time, effusively saying our goodbyes to Hotel Klor and Doudleby and later the bus stop that thankfully we had never needed and the many poppy fields. On the way Jiři pointed to an airfield where he kept his plane. I was like “now you tell me!” At the station he helped me to buy the tickets and with the luggage. He saw us off on to a train once more, saying “to be honest I did not think you’ll would make it”. Ah, but our trip was charmed or blessed so we had to make it. Once more we were not foreigners in a foreign land, we had someone seeing us off and waving goodbye as the train left.