Environment – Czech the Flip

A Visit to Panská skála (Lord’s Rock)

Published on August 13, 2014November 4, 2016 by Grace1 Comment

On a recent trip to North Bohemia, we had the opportunity to visit one of the country’s most visited geological formation: Panská skála (Lord’s Rock).

The Lord’s Rock is a remnant of a basalt hill. About 30 million years ago, the rocks made up of basalt magma were pushed up and never went to the surface. This trapped magma began to cool very slowly, forming the typical jointing which we now observe today.

With quarrying, a lake was also formed, which became an interesting addition to this geological wonder. Now this area is protected, and is developed solely for tourism purposes.

We were very lucky to find it along the way. My boys didn’t waste the chance to go up the hill.

And here they are ….. Can you see them?

The organ-like rock formation is one of the site’s most insteresting features.

My girl and I were again left behind.

We didn’t mind. I think this site is better viewed from afar.

Several pictures and further information about this attraction can be found here .

Destination: Javoříčko Caves

Published on June 9, 2014 by Grace1 Comment

During a recent trip to my husband’s hometown in Moravia, we decided to visit one of the more popular caves in the area, the Javoricko caves. Now you might wonder how we are able to do it with a baby in tow?

Well, one of us has to be left behind. This time it was my husband. Since he is from the area, he has been to the cave several times. So it was my turn to bring Jakub with me on this exploratory journey. So off I went with my sister-in-law and her two boys.

The path to the entrance of the cave will lead you to a memorial honoring those who were killed during the end of the second world war.

As we entered the cave, this was the sight we saw.

The terrain was composed of several uphill and downhill trails. We chose the tour that was child-friendly, so all the roads were paved.

It was interesting to see several rock formations.

There were stalactites…

… and stalagmites.

According to information found on-line, the discovery of these caves started way back in 1938. In 1950, the search has widened and more and more floors have been found and developed.

Although the hike was quite strenuous for this unfit mama, I really enjoyed the trip. So did my boy who had to drag his mama along when the going went rough.

Anyhow, if you are ever in Moravia, this is one nature spot that you may not want to miss.

More information about the cave can be found here.

Destination: Karlovy Vary

Published on May 23, 2014 by Grace1 Comment

Touted as the largest and most beautiful spa town in the heart of Europe, we decided to visit Karlovy Vary during our recent trip in this western part of the Republic.

It was a very short visit and I am now left hanging — wanting to see more. The place is just so grand. No wonder it has earned all these accolades.

The weather was not in our favor during our visit, so we didn’t really get to walk around the town.

But a visit to Karlovy Vary will not be complete if one does not visit the main spring pavilion.

So here I am with my little boy posing for shot inside the pavilion.

We also tasted the spring waters, each available in different temperature gradients.

If you have met my boy you would know that he is very friendly not one afraid of speaking out his mind. He is a very sociable child and would talk to anybody at anytime.

In here, he is telling the lady to be careful because the water is hot. Yup, the hottest water temperature was 72C.

Right outside the pavilion, there were pigeons to chase, so we gave him a little bit of time to run around.

This he was doing while his mama was busy taking photos of the beautiful architecture surrounding the area.

After only testing the tip of the iceberg, I know I will really go back to this place. It is only a few minutes drive from Marianske Lazne, and a trip to both spas is a future event that I am definitely pinning my hopes on.

To know more about this place, you can visit their webpage.

A Walk in the Woods

Published on February 19, 2014 by Grace6 Comments

The weather has been slowly getting better in our side of the world, so I took my kids out yesterday for a walk in the woods. Why the woods? Well, you might as well say that I am slowly becoming Czech. The malls are not as appealing as the woods anymore.

Anyway, here are a few pictures I was able to snap.

My little boy is growing so fast, and he really enjoys his new role of being a “big” brother. While I was busy looking for things to photograph, he took over and pushed the stroller of his baby sister.

Tired of doing it the regular way, he is experimenting with other ways on how to move it.

At this point, I took over for fear that he may accidentally flip the stroller with his sister inside. Instead, I asked him to lead the way.

He obliged and even told me: “Don’t worry, mom. I will protect you and Michaela.”

The end of the trail is the entrance to the city center through this bridge.

There was nobody during that time. It is still winter, afterall.

But we did see a fisherman on the river. He was fishing while Jakub was feeding the ducks and swans.

A new set of exercise bars were also built in a little space by the river. I think they finished it last year, but I didn’t see it because I was too lazy to walk towards this side of town when I was still pregnant with my daughter.

When the temperatures finally go up, I think I would like to use one of these bars for fitness.

But for now, I’ll just enjoy short walks with my kids.

Despite the cold, it was a very nice walk. Definitely another day well spent.

How are you coping up with winter in your side of the world?

The Heat is On

Published on August 1, 2013 by Grace7 Comments

We have been having scorching hot weather in this part of the world these past few days. After the very long winter, now comes the heat. It is the 3rd week now where temperatures had been at 30C++. Although it is not unusual to get this high temperature, I have been told that having it linger for 3 weeks is quite unusual.

Thankfully, our passive house has kept us comfortable despite the soaring heat. Even without AC, we have managed to avoid overheating by scheduling our activities to conform with nature. For instance, I schedule all my cooking at night time when temperatures are normally low. At dawn, when the temperature is at 10-17C, we increase the ventilation and open the windows to quickly let the cold air in. During the day, we normally get 30+ temperatures, so we have all the blinds closed. Although one of the features I love of this house is an abundance of natural light, no sunlight means minimal heat accumulation, so it will do for now. The thick insulation is enough to preserve the coldness that was trapped at dawn. The only drawback is that we, (mainly my husband) has to wake up early just to open the windows and quicky let the cold air in. But this is very minimal considering the comfort that it brings.

To give you an idea of how it is ventilated, here is a short video about the ventilation system in a passive house.

So there you go, a passive house is not only good in winter but in summer as well. I am sharing this with you so that if you ever think of building your own home, the passive house is the way to go. It is good for the environment, good for your pocket and good in any weather!

Spring is Here!

Published on April 17, 2013 by Grace8 Comments

After the seemingly endless winter weather that we’ve had over here, I was elated this past weekend as spring finally came.

We took a walk to town through the woods and were having a grand time just looking at these leaf buds. The birds were also singing and the air smelled so fresh.

We then went to feed the ducks and the swans.

And of course the trip wouldn’t be complete without a quick stop at the playground.

Right now, a lot of visits and weekend trips are already planned. On top of that, we will have to put in a lot of work with our house landscaping too. With too many activities planned and with relatively short time, I am now beginning to understand why Czechs really love the outdoors.

An Unusual Easter Holiday

Published on April 3, 2013 by Grace3 Comments

I was so looking forward to Easter Sunday because my husband and all the other Czechs I know were very optimistic about a bright and sunny Easter holiday. Although we still had subzero temperatures during the night, the days prior to Easter Sunday were relatively warm (at 2C or higher).

We arrived Friday night at my in-laws’ house and everyone were in high spirits. Come Saturday and the weather was not too bad. In fact, we had a little bit of sunshine creeping through the clouds as we walked around my husband’s home town in Moravia. But Easter Sunday was a different story. As I was getting ready for church earlier that morning, 5cm of fresh snow greeted me as I opened the windows. The worst part was that it didn’t stop snowing till late afternoon, not until it reached 15cm. In other parts of Moravia, the heavy snowfall caused a lot of road accidents.

We all went out to lunch that day at a local restaurant and visited my husband’s aunt at a neighboring town. We then proceeded to visit my mom-in-law at the hospital. Luckily, we arrived at our destination safe and sound and only had to contend with cleaning off the snow from our cars. It was a very unusual Easter, even for the Czechs. For a while there, I thought I moved to the North Pole instead of the Czech Republic. Winter has definitely overstayed.

I’m glad we are now back in our home in the Bohemian lowlands. There was no snow in this part of the country, and it is now relatively dry. I do feel bad for the rest of my husband’s family in Moravia who are still contending with heavy snowfall which is forecasted to last until Friday. “Oh well, what can we do? That’s life,” I said to myself as I am now slowly digging into my son’s Easter loot.

Meanwhile, I’ll leave you with a short video about my land of eternal sunshine. It is a great antidote to these winter blues.

Winter. Again?

Published on March 19, 2013 by Grace10 Comments

This past weekend, we had 2 bright sunny days which made me feel like spring is really in the air. But what greeted me this morning was this.

Looks like winter is not going anywhere.

After 5 months with this kind of weather, it is starting to wear me down. Don’t get me wrong. It is such a pretty sight. It’s nice when you don’t need to go anywhere, but it sucks when you have to (which is my case).

And spring is when, again? Oh well….

Almost Done!

Published on October 18, 2012 by Grace42 Comments

I have been keeping mum these past few months about our big family project, but I cannot hold it off any longer. I am super excited. Our very own “passive house” is about to be realized!

Aesthetically, it may not look like anything from this perspective, but the main reason why we chose this type of design is its promise of slashing the heating energy consumption by an amazing 90%. It’s all about functionality! Not only is it environmentally-friendly, it will also be very pocket-friendly in the long run.

So what is a “Passive House”?

The passive house design was introduced by a German physicist Wolfgang Feist and Swedish professor Bo Adamson. It In 1996, the Passive House Institute in Germany was founded by Feist. Here in the Czech Republic, it is starting to gain popularity. According to Mother Earth News, there are only 15,000 buildings worldwide that are certified to have met passive house standards. In the US, this type of technology is just beginning to catch on with about a dozen buildings certified as “passive.”

The passive house design goes by the following basic concepts: Reducing Air Infiltration, Superinsulation, Eliminating Thermal Bridging, High performance (and properly placed) windows and doors, Super-efficient balanced ventilation systems, and Energy efficient design (compact) with healthy building materials and furnishings.

I wouldn’t go into details any further, but if you would like to know more about passive houses, this video presentation may help. Click here.

I will have to say that all credit relating to this project goes to my dear husband, one of the best engineers in the world. Long before this concept had been brought into fruition, he had it in his mind all along. When we decided to settle and build a home, he tirelessly did all the research on the best design that will fit our needs. The passive house was a clear choice from the very beginning, given all the benefits that this concept has to offer. We already knew what type of house we wanted to build without even knowing where or how it was going to be built. All the engineers in the family believe it is a great concept, so here it is.

Our house is situated in a new residential development area within Kolin surrounded by woods and a small body of water. We chose this location due to its proximity to nature and the neighborhood surrounding it.

This is the “zoomed in” view of our community.

But this is how it really looks like from the highway.

And this is what our “beach” looks like.

Who knows, it may even double as a skating rink during the winter. That, I have to find out soon.

Right now, we are very busy doing the final stages of the construction. Well, at least my husband is. I know it’s going to be a long project, but our goal is to move in before winter settles in. I am very curious to know if this passive house design will really live up to its concept and save us some money on our heating bills.

Although there is a lot of pressure ahead, I’m excited…..and I’m happy!

One of the most interesting things about a “passive house” is that it recycles all internal heat gains, including body heat from humans, the appliances, the computer, and the light bulbs! Needless to say, that during winter time, visitors can actually lower our energy bills.

So, will you come and visit?

Are You Adventurous?

Published on October 11, 2012 by Grace17 Comments

Having lived in 3 continents, and travelling to various parts of the world, I may as well consider myself adventurous. Well over a month ago, my friend Reena of www.reenareigns.wordpress.com, passed on the adventurous blogger award to me. Thank you very much, Reena!

To receive the award, one has to answer a couple of questions:

In which country or region would you like your next adventure to be? I would like to explore the African continent. I’ve read and heard a lot of good things in this part of the world but have never visited it. I hope I will have the chance to explore Africa someday.
Where would you recommend for an adventurous time? It depends on how much time you have for this adventure. There are a lot of interesting places in Asia, the US and Czech. But if you have limited time, I would recommend visiting the Yosemite Valley in California.
Most interesting culture: What I find interesting may change as I age, but I currently find Czech culture pretty interesting. After living here for a year, I found out that it has a lot of similarities to my own culture, but also a lot of differences when it comes to Asian culture in general.
Favourite activity: Tasting the food, conversing in the local language and spending time in historical places.
Most dangerous risk taken: Hiking in Bryce Canyon, Utah. I’m a wimp when it comes to heights.
Favourite quotation:
Adventure is worthwhile in itself. – Amelia Earhart
Happiness is: CONTENTMENT

As part of my blogging journey, I have met a lot of wonderful people who inspire me everyday with their own adventures. Though I cannot name everyone, here are the 12 bloggers who I think should also be receiving this award:

Writing Between The Lines

Crazy Train To Tinky Town

Another Day in Paradise

I write what I Like

Bucket List Publications

50 Year Project

The Open Suitcase

On the Road with Jim and Mary