>Today’s hostel in Waitomo

> Here is the view from our window. I think the bus is from the company that does hop-on hop-off tours of the major attractions in the country. Backpackers get passes and stay as long as they want at each place on the route. I have to get used to taking a few representative and…

>Finally – Report from New Zealand

>We have left my brother's place just north of Auckland after 4 days visiting around there. New Zealand is a very civilized country – people speak English, the weather is pleasant, no volcanoes are expected to erupt in the next few weeks, and I am told there are no poisonous critters to be found. So,…

Gold medal hockey game

[This is a post I wrote on my i-pod on the last day of the Olympics. Now the excitement is all over and people don’t know what to talk about. The Paralympic Games start this weekend, so we are being let down somewhat gradually…] We decided to go downtown for the last day and forego…

Olympics in Vancouver

The Winter Olympics are here in Vancouver. I will offer some assorted comments. (1) We got some very bad press at the start, but I haven’t heard much from the grouches since then. Everyone agrees that the death of the Georgian luger on the first day was awful. (2) The cauldron debacle was rightly criticized.…

Prague hostels

People ask me about the hostels where I usually stay in my travels, thinking that they are full of bunks, backpackers and bedbugs. Rather, a “hostel” typically has some dorm rooms as well as other single or double rooms with/without private baths. The prices tend to be per person, no matter how many beds there…

Language adventures

Czech is a difficult language of very limited usefulness. Even so I feel a bit guilty about my lack of effort. I just take the role of accessory to my husband and have not made much attempt to learn it. This brings me to last night, standing in the cold crisp dark evening locked outside…

Glad the holiday season is over!

Yesterday life returned to normal, with schools, work and activities and the town seems much more cheerful than when everyone was cooped up. The gloominess of jet lag, grey weather, 2 funerals, deteriorating house and aging in-laws, has lifted.   Here is a photo of J’s 93-year-old father trying to patch the roof of the…