“I must say: very British, indeed!” as my aunt commented. Yesterday was the date for the annual Tweed Run and we went out to enjoy the nice weather and see the spectacle.
We had some problem figuring out the route they were taking but finally found them riding through Kensington Gardens in front of Royal Albert Hall.
It seems like the tweed thing is a whole tongue-in-cheek movement of endorsing gentleman-ship, gin drinking and pipe smoking manifested in the magazine The Chap.
“The Chap takes a wry look at the modern world through the steamed-up monocle of a more refined age, occasionally getting its sock suspenders into a twist at the unspeakable vulgarity of the twenty-first century.”
The people in tweed looked like they were truly enjoying their ride but so were all the people looking and there was quite a numberofpeopleouttakingpictures of the spectacle.
The weather has been great the last couple of weeks which worked out perfect for the things I ended up doing.
Three weeks ago some friends had organized a canoe trip. So we were 10 people who took the train to a small village where you could rent canoes and set out for a relaxed day on the river. Glee had a diving case for a camera so we could take some pictures and video while we were on the water.
Along the route there was a couple of small cabins where you could get cold beer and a sausage. Here we are at our first stop.
This is one of the cool things about doing outdoor stuff in Czech Republic you come across these small beer and grill places in many of the areas where people go to do outdoor stuff. The next place we stopped for a beer Dominic ended up behind the counter selling t-shirts along with a pretty drunk Czech guy. Good fun :)
A few times we had to cross some tricky passages and we tipped over and had to get the water out of the canoes but most of the time it was pretty easy sailing.
The next weekend I went with Cyril and Patricia to Karlovy Vary a famous Czech spa town 2 hours from Prague. The legend tells that the hot springs in the area was discovered when Charles IV was hunting in the area and one of his dogs fell into a hole with the hot water and started howling. From then on the city became a place were people went to get healed by the mineral-rich water.
Today the 13 main hot springs have fountains scattered over the city. The water varies a bit in temperature, but I’m not really sure the mineral content is that different from the different springs. There were quite a lot of people in the town and many of them were walking around with these silly porcelain pots that looked like a nose bidet sipping from the hot water.
The health tourism to the area really took off in the 19th century so many of the buildings are from that era.
In James Bond’s Casino Royal the hotel used in the film for the casino scene was the Grandhotel Pupp in Karlovy Vary so we of course had to go down and check it out.
After having walked around the city for half the day we decided to treat ourselves and spend some time in the outdoor pool with the best view I have seen. The water is 1/3 hot spring water and 2/3 regular sweet water. Here we are in front of the pool. (See it without us or as a panoramic view.)
Last weekend the good weather continued so Saturday I went on a bike trip on my own up along the the Vltava river that runs through Prague. There is a bike route right along the river. Sometimes a bit too close for comfort but I managed to stay on the path.
Here there also was little refreshment stalls for every few kilometer so no need to go hungry or thirsty. I went up the river about 20km and then took a boat across with my bike and rode back on the other side.
Sunday I went on a bike ride again, this time with two friends. We took a train two hours south east of Prague and biked on some small trail along a creek.
Here is one of the stretches in the open where I got my camera out. You can spot Aurel and Marcus as two tiny dots along the edge of the forest.
And of course there was a place in the middle of nowhere where we could get a beer and relax before heading off.
Once I managed to get ahead and get the camera out fast enough to get a shot of them before they rushed by me.
Around lunch time we came across some kind of sporting event that we first thought was a game of football. It turned out to be some sort of firemen competition where a team of 8 people would rush to a pump and set up tubes and try to hit some targets with water. Very good entertainment before we headed back to Prague.
I’m looking forward to spending the summer in and around Prague. Still so much to see and do. This weekend a couple from Cambridge and I’m a tour guide in Prague.
I dag (torsdag) tog jeg på Texas historiske museum og det var meget spændende.
Den amerikanske historie har altid interesseret mig og tilbage i gymnasiet skrev jeg 2. årsopgave i historie om den amerikanske borgerkrig. Jeg har ikke læst historieopgaven siden jeg afleverede den, men fandt den på min harddisk, så her er den Optakten til den amerikanske borgerkrig (Word dokument). Den er skrevet tilbage i december 1997 og jeg var lige så dårlig til at sætte komma, som jeg er i dag.
Hvis jeg kort skal prøve at fortælle Texas historie er der fra 1690 en tyndtbefolket spansk provins med navnet Teja og befolkningen er hovedsaglige Tejanos (folk af blandet indiansk/spansk herkomst). I starten af 1800-tallet kommer der mange angloamerikanske indvandrer fra det øvrige USA og Europa. For at blive indbygger skulle, man sværge tro mod Mexico og bekende sig til den katolske tro hvilket tilflytterne også gjorde.
Internt i Mexico er der uroligheder op igennem 1800-tallet og folk i Tejas får ikke den beskyttelse fra staten, og møder stadig strengere indvandringslove. Folk laver deres egne beskyttelsesværn (Bl.a. Texas Rangers blev dannet) og i vinteren 1836 starter en uafhængighedskrig mellem en utrænet texansk militia og en veltrænet mexicansk hær.
Den texanske identitet som The Lonestar State bliver grundlagt her og det er i uafhængighedskrigen at heltemyterne omkring Austin, Houston, David Crockett bliver skabt og dyrkes til den dag i dag. Slaget ved Alamo, deres svar på Slaget ved Dybbøl, er historien om en gruppe mennesker som kæmper til den bitre ende for det de tror på de taber slaget, men myten er med til at samle folk om en fælles sag (Remember the Alamo – bliver slagordet). Hollywoods udgaven af slaget er spændende og god underholdning, men jeg ved ikke hvor historisk korrekt fortællingen er. Senere lykkedes det texanerne at overløbe mexicanerne i slaget ved San Jacinto.
Texas får sin uafhængighed i 1836 og prøver herefter at blive optaget i USA, men det tager flere forsøg før det i 1845 lykkedes.
Den dag i dag har Texas en meget unik identitet og man ser flaget og stjernen overalt i Texas.
Nok om maskuline helte og krig og tilbage til kollektivisme og en anden slags helte. Om eftermiddagen tog vi ud til Yellow Bike Project, som er en forening der indsamler cykler sætter dem i stand og giver dem til skoler og folk i området der ikke har råd til at købe en cykel.
Lokalerne har de fået stillet til rådighed af kommunen og alt arbejdet var frivilligt, men stadig havde de en enorm mængde af cykler og reservedele.
Inden aftensmad tog vi til Mt. Bonnell udenfor byen og så solnedgangen over Colorado River.
Austin kalder sig også Live Music Capitol Of The World og det er ikke helt uden grund. Der er en overflod af steder at se god livemusik I byen og selvom jeg ikke har fået udnyttet det særlig godt fik jeg dog set lidt denne aften på et par steder I 6th street.
