There's nothing like the outdoors...

Well, here we are in Hradec, Czech Republic doing a little of the touristy thing, but I jump ahead of myself. Let me go back a week...



On Saturday morning we packed our car with a tent, some sheets and a blanket, a couple of pillows, a blow-up air mattress, a 6 foot plastic table, a card table, a tub of groceries and some kitchen supplies and headed to the Czech Republic to meet up with some friends for a few days of camping.

(Oh, by the way, we have a new used car due to the relocation of co-workers to London last week. This one has air conditioning and is reliable enough to drive out of town, so we are indeed blessed! We miss the folks that moved to London already and the receiving of the car is the ONLY thing good about their moving!)




We spent Saturday night with Mike and Wendi and their two children in Brno. After having worship in their living room on Sunday morning, we headed to Hradec in northern Czech Republic to meet up with Harold and Ginger and their two boys and a Czech man that is a friend of their family. His name is Michael and he had never been camping before. After going with us, I am sure he will jump at the next opportunity!!!




Our tent was small and easy to put up so we finished first. Glenn is laughing at the others as they put together their tents while he inflates the air mattress for his princess. (That would be me.)

Glenn decides to be helpful and go help the Youngs put up their 3 bedroom tent.

Michael doesn't have a clue how to start putting up his tent. Harold found a place where you can rent a tent for $3-$4 a night, so in fairness to Michael, he didn't even know what his tent was supposed to look like!

Of course, the 4 kids were "helpful".

Time to move the beds in!

Mike starts chopping wood so we could cook dinner.

Harold decides a grill is easier, especially when he discovered Glenn's little charcoal blower!

Glenn and I found a cast iron skillet/wok in Budapest and brought it along. It was a big hit for frying veggies and making french toast!!

We were there from Sunday afternoon until Wednesday morning so we had time to settle into a nice rhythm. The guys hiking and the ladies going shopping!

On Monday morning, Ginger, Wendi and I (with Wendi's GPS on the front dashboard of our car) headed to Boleslawiecka, Poland, the city famous for making Polish pottery! I was very proud of myself, driving into a foreign country without my hubby. First time I've ever done anything like that and with the GPS, it was a breeze. I know what I want for Christmas!

This is the border between Czech Republic and Poland. What a change from a few years ago! Thanks to a treaty between certain countries in what is now called the Schengen Zone, there is now free access from one country to another. Where there used to be armed soldiers and lots of passport controls, there are now just empty lanes. Here, they have even taken down the booths and all that remains are the awnings that indicate that you are leaving one country and entering another.

Ginger was our wonderful guide that got us from one store to another. We visited about 8 shops but there must be another 10-20 that we didn't have time to visit. You can see my "loot" above. I had birthday money from my Dad and Glenn's parents and I was happy to spend every penny of it. Actually, I enjoyed spending every Zloty. (FYI: 1 Polish zloty = 0.349211 U.S. dollar) Thanks Pop, Queenie and Pa! I love my birthday presents!

Because the Czech's haven't caught on to selling ice in 2.5 kilo bags like the Hungarians have, we would have to make a grocery store run every morning to buy food for that day. The Czech's have something called rholik that is similar to a hot dog bun that is their staple bread (only they don't call it bread!) The "bread" is only good for one day because it becomes too dry to eat. Does that mean they will sell all these rholiks in one day?

If the kids got bored, we gave them something to do. :)

Or they could ride their bikes or play games. Glenn shows Harold and Hayden how to play Bocci. What perfect form!

And, of course, there is always time for chit chatting!

We had a great time. It was good getting to know these two families who invited us to join their annual camping trip and we hope to be invited again. I don't know if we did any member care for them, but they sure provided member care to Glenn and me!!!!

After the camping trip, we went back to Hradec and stayed with the Johnson's for a few more days. They showed us their city, took us to a few bazaars (stores that sell used items), and Glenn went to a meeting at a church with Harold one night. Ginger and I did a lot of walking in her neighborhood to walk off all the S'mores we ate on the camping trip!

A view of one of the city "squares" from the White Tower.

I love the painted buildings!

Gorgeous old buildings.

I also love the old right next to the new.

Harold took us to all the "unique" places in his city, such as this umbrella repair shop. Now, have you ever seen a shop that solely repairs umbrellas? Have you seen a shop that repairs umbrellas, period? I don't think I ever have!

He also took us to a shop down Memory Lane that sells African artifacts! We had these same guardians chairs when we lived in Ivory Coast! (Same style, different designs.) (In case you are wondering why they are called guardians chairs...its because this is the kind of chair the night guards slept in while they were "guarding" our home.

And as I mentioned earlier, we also visited several bazaars, or second-hand stores. Unfortunately, these do not exist in Hungary or else we just can't find them, but they are all over Hradec! Glenn managed to find just the bike he has been wanting, even though he just recently got a purple girls bike from his friend Istvan for their bike ride around Lake Balaton! So, being the kind wife that I am, I "approved" of the purchase...and now he has a red boys bike and I have a purple girls bike!!

We returned to BP on Friday and have almost finished all the cleaning, unpacking and repacking that is necessary after a camping trip. That's the worst part!

On Saturday, the first really cool fall day here in Budapest, Glenn and I hopped on our "new"bikes and rode them from our house down to the Danube River, and then followed the river into downtown Budapest to the Gellert Hotel before turning around. About 2 hours of riding. Man, am I sore! Budapest has lots of wonderful bike lanes so we don't have to ride in the busy streets. (I'm just not sure I could do that because then I'd have to wear one of those goofy-looking life-saving helmets.) I look forward to more bike rides...once I get over the soreness!

We're here for about 10 days before our next trip. Have a good week!