itinerary: czech republic - 9 days

here is a tried and tested itinerary for a solo female traveler to the czech republic:

Day 1
leave usa

Day 2
arrive in prague -- DO NOT NAP

go to tesco to buy water and snackies
Tesco Department Store, Narodni 26, New Town; Metro: Narodni Trida (Line B)

pm:
Old Town Square:
* astronomical clock - go when the clock strikes to watch the mechanical statues
* monument to Jan Hus
* St James Church

pm: join an old town pub walk tour (includes dinner/drinks and clubbing) lots to choose from under the clock tower (i used praguer.com)

Day 3
am: brekky

am/pm: check out charles bridge, cross charles bridge to mala strana and explore prague castle
* go on the hour to watch the changing of the guard at prague castle

pm: dinner at kampa park
bar hop in mala strana/josefov

Day 4
am: brekky and head out to bus station for overnight trip to karlovy vary

here are some useful directions i found while trolling the net to get to the bus station called florenc to catch the bus to karlovy vary:

Getting on Bus – Florenc (Floor-rents)

Prague's main bus station, Central Bus Station -- Florenc, Krizíkova 5, Praha 8 (for bus connections information call tel. 12999), is above the Florenc metro stop (line C). Unfortunately, few employees speak English here, making it a bit tricky for non-Czech speakers to obtain schedule information. To find your bus, you can try the large boards just next to the office where all buses are listed. They're in alphabetical order, but sometimes it's tough to find your destination since it may lie in the middle of a route to another place. If you have some time before you depart Prague, your best bet for bus information and tickets is to visit Cedok, Na Príkope 18, Praha 1 (tel. 800-112-112 or 224-197-111; www.cedok.cz), open Monday to Friday from 9am to 6pm.

From Prague you can reach to Karlovy Vray by bus. There are about 8 busses a day but not all of them are express and so the 2,5 hours ride can stretch to 5 hours. You can get the information about the bus times from the Prague bus station or Internet (don't know the link at the moment) or ask your hotel receptionist to give you a hand on this. The timetables on the wall are a bit of a hassle because these are written only in Czech and you should pay attention to the fact that timetables vary according to the weekdays and holidays etc. To be safe just ask from the information. In some cases the ticket can be bought beforehand and you can make a place reservation, on some cases the driver will sell the tickets on the bus (that info can also be obtained from the information desk). If I remember correctly I paid 130 CZK for one-way ticket (or was it return?)

Route to the Bus Station
As you exit the metro carriage you follow the signs for "bus". As you exit the metro station doors, turn right and take the sign for "Zizkov-Bus-Centrum". You go down into the underpass with a couple of bars and you come up onto the street. About 20 metres down the road there is an entry on the right. As you go in you'll find the ticket offices. There are about 6 or 7 different companies selling tickets for various routes. Apart from CSAD, the major CZ-UK carriers are Eurolines and Capital Express. The other main CZ carrier is Student Agency.

Once you have bought your ticket you keep going down the corridor and up the steps into the bus parking area. At this point, on your left will be a ATM (CSOB Bank) and a small shop. In front of you is the overhead walkway to the far stands (London-Prague routes). On your right is the Student Agency stop and at the far end is the open air Vietnamese market.

Outside the station
As you exit the metro station main door the first thing to see is the non-stop "Royal" bar. If you exit to the left you'll find a florist (Summer only), a supermarket (0700-1900) and an ATM to the left of the supermarket entry. The main trams passing the station during the day are 8 and 24. At night there are the 52 and 55. If you walk around the side to the left you find another ticket office buried in the corner opposite the clock (you can buy 3 and 7 day passes here. Opposite the main entry is a small beer garden. If you exited the main doors and turned right i.e. following the "Zizkov-bus-centrum" sign into the underpass, you'll find the supervised toilet facilities (0700-2100).

am: check in hotel at karlovy vary
walk around and explore all the different mineral springs and the hotel grand pupp

pm: SPA for at least 4 hours
i tried Spa - Zámecké lázně (Castle Spa) (http://english.edenhotels.cz/prices-castlespa.php)

pm: dinner anywhere (just not go to a thai restaurant, not very good)
drinks at hotel bar - karlovy vary is kinda boring at night

Day 5
am: brekky early to catch bus to plzen

pm: arrive plzen
cross town to go to the pilsner urquell brewery for lunch at the restaurant there (na spilce - good pork chops) and sign up for a brewery tour
*** you can walk or trolley or cab it from bus station across town to brewery/train station
*** store luggage at train station, which is 1/2 mile from the pilsner urquell brewery

late pm: catch train to ceske budejovice
see ceske budejovice's main square at night for sights and dinner/drinks

Day 6
am: brekky
am/pm: go to cesky krumlov and explore
pm: back to ceske budejovice and go on a budvar/budweiser (the czech, not american, kind) brewery tour
go on a side trip to hluboka
back to ceske budejovice for dinner/drinks

Day 7
am: early brekky and catch bus back to prague

pm: lunch
- Josefov (Jewish Ghetto)
- On the way to Wenceslas Square: The plaque is inside on the left and commemorates the Nov 17th demonstrations that eventually ended with the Velvet Revolution.
- Wenceslas Square (Václavské Námestí)
- Communist Museum on Na Prikope
- Zizkov TV Tower (Panoramic views of Prague) [Nearest Train Station Jiriho Z Podebrad (Line A)]
- explore zizkov

dinner/drinks in josefov (now a hip part of town)

also, check out Zhlato Tygra, Husova 17, a tiny bar where vaclav havel took bill clinton for a beer when billy jeff was in town

Day 8
am: brekky

am/pm: cross charles bridge to go up petrin hill (you can take the furnicular or walk up the steps)
kampa island
frank gehry's dancing house a.k.a. fred and ginger house
municipal house
powder tower
namesti republicky

pm: shopping for glassware - go to kotva department store on namesti republiky

pm: early dinner/drinks for flight back home

Day 9
fly back home

bon voyage!!!

an olympic sized blunder

so the guardian broke the news that the spanish basketball teams took group pictures with each player appearing to make slit-eye gestures and had this picture run daily in a newspaper ad sanctioned by spain's basketball association. apparently, laker pau gasol, a member of this olympic squad, the coach and everybody else do not find anything offensive with the picture.

to be fair, pau gasol purportedly said, "If anyone feels offended by it, we totally apologise for it." but, he doesn't really apologise for doing it. he just apologised if anyone found it offensive. i guess he doesn't get it either.

jose calderon blogged the following about the event:

I would like to share a story with you about something that happened with the Spanish National Team that someone interpreted incorrectly. It happened in the photo session where the Spanish National Team was introduced; one of our sponsors asked us to pose with a “wink” to our participation in Beijing, we made an oriental expression with our eyes. We thought it was something appropriate and that it would always be interpreted as somewhat loving. Never the less some of the European media did not see it this way.

From here I would like to declare that we have a huge respect for the East and their people, some of my best friends in Toronto are from China and one of our Spanish National Team sponsors is the Chinese brand Li Ning. Anyone who would like to interpret this differently is absolutely confused.

ummmm... calderon definitely doesn't get it. "orientals?" let me be clear, asians are not furniture. and what is the deal with "i have asian friends"? that doesn't mean anything!!! strom thurmond fathered a child with an african american woman yet he was an advocate for segregation of the races. so calderon having asian friends does not translate to having "huge respect" for asian peoples.

so, let me say why i find their conduct offensive:

first, it makes fun of an immutable physical feature.

second, it emphasizes differences in people that has been the basis for treating people unfavorably in education, employment, public accommodations, etc.

third, it is neither funny nor endearing. so why do it?

while the spanish might not find it offensive, other people might (and do). what were they thinking?

the ad showcases a team competing in an international event. their players play internationally -- particularly pau gasol for the lakers (california having a large asian american population) and jose calderon for the raptors (toronto also having a large asian american population). thus, while the ad was intended to appear only locally, the team has an international profile and each has a responsibility to promote tolerance of all cultures -- whether they are at home or abroad.

what is even more disturbing is that it appears that the international olympic committee, the nba, or the lakers/raptors will do nothing about this atrocity.

itinerary: mexico city 3-day weekend

i am still itching to travel. but can't right now.

so, i am posting my old travel itineraries in the hopes that it might help someone. particularly, this is a tried and tested itinerary for someone who wants to see some diego, frida and aztec ruins. oh, and eat.

the directions are stuff i found while trolling the net but, unfortunately, no longer have the web address.

FRIDAY
pm: arrive in MEX
stay in condessa or polanco
dinner/drinks

SATURDAY
am/pm: teotihuacan - go as early as possible. it is far and you want to avoid the crowds

directions to get to teotihuacan from mexico city (cheap and easy):

Take the yellow metro line in Mexico City to Autobuses del Norte. Once inside the station walk towards Gate 8. There is a ticket booth almost at the end of the concourse. A one way ticket will run you 27 pesos (October 2006). Autobuses Teotihuacán leave the North bus station every half an hour or so. Check that your bus goes to the site entrance of Teotihuacan ruinas and not just to the town of San Juan Teotihuacán nearby. It will take around an hour, and the buses run until about 6pm - check the last departure before you leave. There are no signs indicating where the return buses from Teotihuacan ruinas to Mexico City stop, but they pick up passengers at the roundabout at entrance 1 and stop at the Indios Verdes and Autobuses del Norte metro stops.

****ALTERNATIVE: There are buses leaving almost every 15 minutes from Terminal del Norte in Mexico City. You can also take the metro (line 3) to Indios Verdes and a bus from here.

pm: casa azul (the one-time home of diego rivera and frida kahlo in coyoacan)
dinner at azul y oro in UNAM (order the cochinita pibil and/or the mole negro)

here are the directions to UNAM and to azul y oro:
Centro Cultural Universtario
Circuito Exterior sin/nombre
Tel. (55) 5622-7135
Sunday through Tuesday 10:00am – 6:00pm
Wednesday through Saturday 10:00am – 8:00 pm
to get there: take the line 3 metro to "universidad." when you exit the metro station, turn right, and go down the stairs and enter the campus. then, take the ruta 3 campus shuttle (towards centro cultural) and stop at the "sala nezahualcoyotl"

nap
bar hop in condessa

SUNDAY
am: eat brekky at la fonda in condessa
am/pm: Museo Dolores Olmedo Patiño in xochimilico (former diego mistress, has an incredible amount of diego art work and some frida, too. plus, the grounds are amazing.)
[this museum is located at the end of the blue metro line to taxquena, and then another long train ride to the la noria stop. the trip was about 1 or so hour.]

pm: dinner/drinks in polanco

MONDAY
am: eat brekky at neighborhood cafe or restaurant
zocalo, cathedral, templo mayor, palacio nacional

pm: eat lunch at taco stand near zocalo
fly back home

bon voyage!

olympics: "redeem team"

so it is really quite annoying that the media keeps on calling the american men's basketball team as the "redeem team."

yeah, us men's basketball lost in 2004. yeah, they should have won. and yeah, it was embarrassing.

but what is this team redeeming itself from? clearly, from a team that was not a dream team.

in 2004, the us decided to field a team with mostly young players. yeah, they had some all stars like tim duncan but they also had allen "it's only practice" iverson. the big players around that time, shaq, kobe, jason kidd, kg, t mac weren't even there.

the 2004 roster had 2 (two!!!) all stars:
stephon marbury
dwyane wade
allen iverson*
carmelo anthony
richard jefferson
lebron james
lamar odom
shawn marion
amare stoudemire
tim duncan*
carlos boozer
emeka okafor

d wade, boozer, lebron and melo were just babies.

in comparison, this 2008 men's basketball team is a very good team. this team has mvp kobe bryant, a much matured and improved lebron james, dwayne wade and carmelo anthony, a proven point in jason kidd, and a decent supporting cast.

indeed, in this 2008 roster, 3 out of 9 are not all stars:
carmelo anthony*
carlos boozer*
chris bosh*
kobe bryant*
dwight howard*
lebron james*
jason kidd*
chris paul*
tayshaun prince
michael redd
dwyane wade*
deron williams

(one would even argue this 2008 team has a better coach in coach k than larry brown, who seems to have a problem getting along with players -- i disagree of course, as yes, i am an admitted dookie hater.)

point being is that the us did not field a "dream team" worthy team in 2004 and the media had no business calling that team a "dream team."

this 2008 team, on the other hand, is a dream team. (ok, maybe not like the original dream team with magic, jordan, bird... but waaaaaaaaaay closer than the 2004 team ever will be.) this 2008 should be given its due title as a dream team because that is what it is. it is not this 2008 team's fault that the media mistakenly named the 2004 team a dream team.

perhaps this bunch of media pundits should call itself the "redeem team" from screwing it up last go around. but, let us not call this team that title.

hell, if the media really wants to name someone a "redeem team," they should have named the 1992 team as such. after all, before that, the us was dominating in the sport (the us boycotted the 1980 game) until it suffered its first lost (to the soviet union, its then political arch-enemy.

so please. stop calling the 2008 team a "redeem team" already.

itchy feet and responsible travel

so i've been itching to travel again.

i have been looking at the UNESCO world heritage list, i.e., those protected sites, to see which places i would love to see next.

in the meantime, here are some pictures from some of those places on the list that i have been to.

BRAZIL

historic centre of salvador de bahia


CZECH REPUBLIC

historic centre of prague


historic centre of cesky krumlov

FRANCE

banks of the seine


MEXICO

historic centre of mexico city


pre-hispanic city of teotihuacan


PERU

historic sanctuary of machu picchu


city of cuzco


SPAIN

alcazar in sevilla


USA

grand canyon national park


yosemite national park

so while i try to be a responsible traveler, i know that trying to see all these endangered sites is not very environmentally friendly. when i camp/hike, i try not to leave any trash and not take anything out (soil, rocks, plants, etc.) but i know that i am probably still leaving a horrid carbon footprint. so it is a bit of a conundrum. i want to see, hear, feel.

for instance, i plan to hike kilimanjaro, go on a safari and beach bum in zanzibar. all of the places i plan on visiting are on the UNESCO world heritage list (kilimanjaro national park, serengeti national park, ngorongoro conservation area, selous game preserve, stone town). in particular, going to hike kili to see its famed glacier before it is gone forever is probably hastening the melting process. so should i not go?

how does one still experience the place without helping in the destruction of the place i so want to see?