Jeanine and I spent much of the day in the garden, planting and replanting tall grasses in the front yard. They need to be installed on a 24″ x 24″ offset grid. The initial installation we paid for was less of a grid and more of a random scattering. Because the soil in this area of the yard has a high density of buried rocks, each hole must be excavated with a pickaxe, making it tedious work. Even so, it was very satisfying to install about 40 pants. Tomorrow, we hope to complete the grid with an additional 25 plants.

Even though I featured our rhododendron in yesterday’s post, the blooms are so magnificent right now that I thought a second entry was warranted. The foreground is the clover we planted last year, and it is looking quite robust this season.

I returned to Concord today to find our rhododendrons in full bloom, a lovely welcome home gift. My journey was uneventful until I reached home and began unpacking. Only then did I realize I was missing the telephoto lens I had taken for the trip. There is a possibility that I left it at the team hotel in San Benedetto del Tronto.

UPDATE: I have learned that the hotel has my lens and I am making arrangements to have it shipped to me. What a relief!

After four straight losses, my soccer team finally found its footing and won our final two games of the tournament this morning. It was just enough to secure a third-place finish and rehabilitate our confidence and psyche. A ten-course meal at a hilltop restaurant with a commanding view of the Adriatic followed the competition. We had a scoreless tie in our first match which went to penalty kicks where we won 2-1. In our second match, we produced a compelling 3-0 win. I made my first positive contribution to the team with an assist on our first goal. Trophy and finishing place aside, we earned the respect of our Italian hosts after two days of amateur performance.

After the three-hour lunch and trophy presentation, it was time to catch a bus back to Rome. The return was made infinitely more pleasant because I was traveling with three of my compatriots, one of whom is a fellow photographer and kindred spirit. As we passed over/through the mountains that separate Italy’s east and west coast, I managed a picture of the ~10,000 foot peaks through the window of the bus.

As I predicted before the soccer tournament started, my team was either going to do very well or very poorly. Unfortunately, the latter option seems to be the case. We played two more matches today, losing the first 0-1 and the second 1-2. The only positive outcome was the fact that we scored our first goal! In the words of our acting team manager, “The Italians are all tall, thin, fast, ex-pros.” Once again, I did little to distinguish myself on the pitch. In the photo, taken by one of my injured teammates, I managed to steal the ball and drive it to the end line only to mishandle it out of bounds. We have two more matches tomorrow and lost another player to injury today. Suffice it to say, we aren’t optimistic about our chances.

After returning to the team hotel, I went for 4-mile walk in the Spiaggia Riserva Naturale Sentina (nature reserve along the beach), where I encountered many interesting scenes.

Our tournament got off to a rough start despite the ebullient mood in the locker room before our first match. We faced Nazionale Italia and lost 1-0. If I am being honest, we were lucky to have given up only one goal. The weather was wet and chilly at kickoff time. We did our customary half hour warm up. These guys walked out of the club house with no warm up and beat us like a drum. I did manage to make a breakaway down the right wing and put a cross into the box and onto the head of our striker. It was my only productive moment of the game. Unfortunately, it was a little behind my teammate who had to step back to get his head on it thus losing all power on the shot.

Our second match started less than ten minutes after our first one ended, and our fatigue was apparent. We lost this match 0-2 to S.P.V. Master Team PD in their first match of the day. Realistically, this is a game we could have tied or won, but luck was not on our side.

Tomorrow we play another two matches, this time without our star striker, who has a strained Achilles tendon, and our manager/striker, who is headed for the UK to watch his son graduate from college tomorrow.

The motivation for my current trip to Europe is to compete in an over-60 soccer tournament with my Concord United team. The Italian Police Association is organizing the competition, and the other teams appear to be made up of police from different regions of the country. This evening our squad converged on the small seaside town of San Benedetto del Tronto located on the Adriatic coast. I traveled from Rome by bus. The trip took only two and a half hours which was faster than the train that many of my compatriots used. The competition starts tomorrow with two matches in the afternoon. I am predicting that we will either win big or lose big. Stay tuned.

Hotel mascot.

Vatican City is the world’s smallest independent state, an ecclesiastical state ruled by the Pope. With a total area of 0.17 square miles and a population of approximately 882 people, it is the smallest sovereign state in the world by both area and population. I got up very early so I could avoid the crowds and get a clean aerial photo of St. Peter’s Bascillica and Square. I did not go into any of the museums or chapels as I hope to share that experience with Jeanine on a future visit.

One of my personal lifetime goals is to have visited the same number of countries as I have years of age. It is a way of incentivizing myself to get out and experience the world. My visit to the Vatican City today put me one over my age, and later this summer Jeanine and I will be visiting Northern Ireland, which will put me at two plus. Another goal it to have visited all the US National Parks. More about that in a future post.

Castel Sant’Angelo.

Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II.

Piazza del Popolo.

A typical street in Rome. Notice the numerous rooftop gardens and crowded narrow streets. Unlike other major cities I have visited in the past few months (Prague, Sydney, Christchurch, Auckland) Rome was not all that I expected. Certainly, the history, the architecture, and the art are unmatched, but the city itself is dirty, noisy, and chaotic. As someone who is half Italian, this is hard for me to write. During the course of my two days here, I have seen at least 500 police men and women suggesting either a major problem with crime or a fear of attack, neither reason inspiring much confidence. To be balanced in my perspective, there are moments when you walk into a square and the view just takes your breath away. We have nothing like this in the United States.

The Spanish Steps and the Trinità dei Monti.

This is my fourth visit to Italy and, oddly, my first time in Rome. My travel from Prague was a bit tiring, considering I walked about 2 miles with a 40-pound backpack and another 6 miles with just my camera and drone. Cars, planes, and trains did the rest. It was raining when I arrived, so I did not get out until late afternoon. The walk revealed one amazing scene after another. I resisted the temptation to tour any of the sites pictured as I hope to do that with Jeanine when we return.

The Vltava River is the longest in the Czech Republic. The river meanders through the entire country and the heart of Prague. I was determined to photograph two of the most beautiful horseshoe bends, which are found in the south. Had the skies been a little less gloomy, I would have been a bit happier with the photos.

While I was in the neighborhood, I visited the Karlštejn Castle, a large Gothic castle located about 16 km southwest of Prague. It was founded in 1348 by King Charles IV, who later became Holy Roman Emperor. The castle was originally built to safeguard the Imperial Regalia, the Bohemian Crown Jewels, holy relics, and other royal treasures. The construction was personally supervised by Charles IV and took nearly 20 years to complete. The castle was designed with a hierarchical layout on three terraces: the Imperial Palace on the lowest level, the Marian Tower above it, and the Big Tower at the highest level. The Big Tower houses the Chapel of the Holy Cross, a unique and heavily fortified space where the crown jewels and important documents were kept behind multiple locked doors. Strategically built on a promontory surrounded by hills and steep rocks, Karlštejn was designed to be difficult to besiege. Notably, the castle had a secret water supply system involving a deep well and an underground channel, known only to the emperor, the burgrave, and the miners who constructed it. Legend says the miners were killed afterward to keep the secret safe.

I ended the day back in Prague where I decided to make a 180-degree panoramic photo of the Vltava River. Such photos are geometrically distorted (this section of the river is actually straight) but allowed me to show the bridges in both direction.

While walking through a street market, I spotted these beautiful fruit arrangements and had to pause for a photo. Now that I am looking at the image more closely and am somewhat hungry, I have decided to return to buy a basket.

I gave myself a break from serious photography and walked as little as possible today to recover from my adventures of the past week. I spent last night in Brno primarily because of its strategic location on my driving circuit rather than anything I wanted to photograph. I spent most of the day culling photos and updating this blog which took more time than usual because of the amount of writing. I am spending the night in Dubno, where I have rented an entire one bedroom flat for a whopping $32.55. Jeanine will be the first to tell you that I am not keen on spending a lot of money on lodging when traveling for photography. My requirements; near where I want to be, clean, quiet, hot shower, free Wi-Fi, and free parking. I generally arrive post-dusk and leave pre-dawn so I would rather spend my money on entrance fees or tour guides or food.

Today, I decided to make a day trip to visit the Bojnice Castle in Slovakia. It was originally built in the 12th century as a Romanesque fortress with Gothic and Renaissance elements. It stands on a travertine hill and consists of an inner and outer castle with three courtyards and is surrounded by a moat. In the late 19th century, Count Ján Pálffy extensively renovated the castle in a romantic neo-Gothic style inspired by French Loire Valley châteaux and other European castles, giving it its current fairy-tale appearance. Beneath the castle is a cave that serves as its water source. I spent a total of ten hours driving today, in large part to see this castle. On the way there, I began to question if the trip would be worth it, especially as it rained for much of the day. Miraculously it stopped half an hour before I arrived and I was able to capture what I consider to be one of my best ever aerial photos.

As I began my drive back to the Czech Republic, I noticed a White Stork returning to its nest to feed its young (see small head reaching up).

While driving to Slovakia, I made several stops along the way, some planned, some spontaneous. I took the photo below after crossing a bridge and seeing the reflection in the water. Such scenes are common in the many small towns that dot the countryside.

Driving here has been mostly enjoyable but very challenging. Very little of it has been on the highways, which are well-maintained and have an 80mph speed limit. The secondary roads are also in good shape, but invariably narrower than one would think reasonable and always winding. You must pay attention for every second and I often found it impossible to reach the speed limit of 55mph and when I did, it was too slow for the cars/trucks behind me. These roads connect towns and village which you reach every 2 to 5 minutes where the speed limit abruptly changes to 30mph, a speed which actually allows you to look up and enjoy the scenery. Basically, it is white-knuckle driving for several minutes interrupted by equal periods of relaxation repeated hundreds of times.

The Mikulov Castle, perched on a hill near the Austrian border, dates back to the late 13th century and was originally owned by the Liechtenstein family. In the late 16th century, it became the property of the Dietrichstein family, who transformed it into a grand Renaissance and later Baroque residence, making it a center of political and cultural life in the region. After a devastating fire in 1719, the castle was rebuilt in its current Baroque form and today houses a regional museum with exhibitions on local history, art, and viticulture, including one of Europe’s largest wine barrels.

Here we have a church on an island inhabited only by birds. It is the only surviving structure of a town that was flooded to create the massive reservoir in which it sits. Churches everywhere seem to be situated on high ground (closer to God, I imagine).

Lednice Castle in South Moravia is a stunning Neo-Gothic chateau rebuilt in the mid-19th century by the Liechtenstein family as a romantic summer residence. It sits at the heart of the Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape, a vast designed parkland featuring gardens, pavilions, and ornamental structures. This cultural landscape is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, celebrated for its harmonious blend of architecture and nature. The property includes the lagoon pictured in the background complete with nature walking paths and a 200-foot-tall minaret that served as a lookout tower.

The castle includes a greenhouse (long grey tube like extension shown below) known as the Palm House. It was constructed between 1843 and 1845 as part of the estate’s transformation into a showcase of modern technology and horticultural beauty. It features an elegant cast-iron structure with bamboo-shaped columns and glass panels, designed to house exotic tropical and subtropical plants collected from around the world, some as old as 300–400 years.

The far end of the greenhouse is pictured below, as is what I can only assume are sunlights to something magical below (I didn’t have time to investigate). The last image was shot through the greenhouse window.

The Prachov Cliffs are a famous sandstone rock formation located about 5 km northwest of Jičín in the Bohemian Paradise (Český ráj) region of the Czech Republic. They have been a protected natural reserve since 1933 and are one of the most iconic natural landmarks of the area. The formations originated from a sandstone plateau formed over 60 million years ago and have been sculpted by wind and rain into unique shapes. The area offers numerous hiking trails with varying lengths and difficulties, featuring steep stone steps, narrow rock passages, and multiple viewpoints providing stunning panoramas of the rock town and surrounding landscape.

Fortunately, I decided to skip the hike to the Pravčická Archway after yesterday’s navigational debacle because I would have never survived the rest of the day had I made that climb as well. When I researched the Prachov Cliffs, I grossly underestimated the difficulty of the 3.5km green blaze trail I elected to take. The short linear hiking distance does not reflect the amount of continuous elevation change up and down, mostly on poorly carved stairs which were hell on my knees. Essentially you climb to the top of one formation and then back down to the ground and over to the next formation, repeat. According to my health app, I climbed the equivalent of 89 floors. That is like climbing up and down the Empire State Building. Making matters worse, I got “lost” and nearly doubled the length of my hike. The reason that “lost” is in quotes is because I diligently followed the green blaze trail which apparently has an optional detour (labeled in Czech only) to a mountainside restaurant way off the path back to my car. When I asked a waiter WTF was going on and pointed to the green blaze painted on the side of the restaurant he laughed and said this happens all the time. If my legs were not so tired from two days of abuse I would have kicked some ass.

Summing up: Czechs suck at trail marking. Despite the arduous climbing, I loved my visit to this place of natural wonder.

The Cathedral of St. Bartholomew is the dominant landmark of Kolín and was hard not to notice as I drove through the town. It was not on my plan to visit but I just had to stop for a drone photo. Founded in the mid-13th century under King Přemysl Otakar II, the cathedral was constructed in several stages, with significant contributions from the renowned architect Peter Parler, who also worked on St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague. Its three-nave design, original Gothic choir, and twin octagonal towers are notable features. The cathedral has survived fires, wars, and multiple reconstructions, most notably in the 19th century under Josef Mocker, who restored its Gothic character.

St. Barbara’s Cathedral in Kutná Hora, is a stunning Gothic masterpiece and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, renowned for its architectural beauty and historical significance. Construction began in 1388, inspired by the wealth from the town’s silver mines, with miners as its primary patrons. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Barbara, the patron saint of miners and those with dangerous occupations. Architecturally, it is a five-aisled Gothic cathedral featuring rare Gothic frescoes, intricate stone craft, and a late Gothic ribbed vault designed by Benedikt Rejt. The cathedral underwent various phases of construction and restoration, with significant neo-Gothic revitalization completed in the early 20th century, including the addition of stained glass windows depicting Christian motifs and historical scenes.

Zámek Hrubá Skála is a historic château located in the Bohemian Paradise region, dramatically perched on sandstone cliffs above the village of Hrubá Skála. Founded in the mid-14th century by Hynek of Valdštejn (Wallenstein), originally as a Gothic castle. Over centuries, it changed hands among notable Czech noble families, including the Smiřickýs, who transformed it into a Renaissance château in the late 16th century. The château underwent several reconstructions-Baroque after a fire in 1710, and finally Neo-Gothic in the mid-19th century under the Aehrenthal family, giving it the romantic appearance seen today. After nationalization in 1945, the château was repurposed for recreational use, causing some damage to its interiors. Today, it operates as a hotel and event venue, with public access to its courtyard, lookout tower, and scenic views.

As much as I have enjoyed Prague, I was happy to hit the road this morning, headed north. The city congestion soon gave way to wide open spaces as I pursued my theme for the day: things made of rocks. We start with a small church (St Ignatius Rock Chapel) carved into a massive boulder, complete with seating for a dozen parishioners.

Next, we have a two-story house built into a naturally split mountain of rock.

How about a private event space built atop several rock columns, previously the site of an unassailable medieval castle.

Speaking of columns, here we have Mansion Rocks, a magnificent example of basalt columns.

My ultimate destination for the day was the Pravčická Archway, the largest sandstone arch in Europe. Reaching it requires a strenuous 4.4-mile hike from the hostel I am staying in this evening. It is nestled somewhere atop the cliffs shown below. Rain in the afternoon kept me from starting the climb until 5pm. I determined that I had sufficient time to reach the arch just in time for golden light. The plan would have been perfect if not for the fact that I climbed the wrong trail (I am not so good at reading Czech). When the relentless uphill trek turned into an equally arduous decent, I realized this could not be the trail to the arch and then it started to rain again. It was a 5-mile mistake that I will not soon forget. It remains to be seen whether my legs are up for another dose of abuse tomorrow, especially in light of the fact that the morning sun will be on the wrong face of the arch for a good photo.

While on the subject of rocks, I passed two kidney stones this evening, a common occurrence for me after flying.

Given that I am a tourist, I have no standing to complain about the throngs that are drawn to Prague. I will say that it makes it nearly impossible to create images that are not populated by strangers all trying to take the same selfie in front of the same attraction. That said, I have found two ways to avoid the masses. First, by using the drone. Even though the people are still everywhere, they are very tiny.

The second is to photograph at night using long exposures. I particularly like the photo below of the Prague Astronomical Clock. Installed in 1410, it is the world’s oldest astronomical clock still in operation today. It is a medieval marvel showcasing advanced horological and astronomical knowledge of its time, created by the clockmaker Mikuláš of Kadaň and Jan Šindel, a professor of mathematics and astronomy at Charles University. There was not a moment of daylight when this clock was not surrounded by hundreds of people. Even at 3am, I had to time my exposures to avoid people milling past on the way home from the many pubs in the area.