gtimmermans

I visited here on the advice of a fellow traveller when I was in my twenties (roughly the same age as Jacqueline). At the time, it wasn’t in my guidebook but it’s one of the only things that I truly remember well about my time in Czech back then. It is a very unique experience. The Sedlec Ossuary is a Roman Catholic chapel located beneath the Cemetery Church of All Saints (aka bone church). The ossuary is estimated to contain the skeletons of between 40,000 and 70,000 people, whose bones have been artistically arranged to form decorations and furnishings for the chapel. Four bell-shaped mounds occupy the corners of the chapel. A chandelier of bones, which apparently contains at least one of every bone in the human body, hangs in the center of the chapel. There ... read more

Prague. Wow. I love this city. So many impressive things to see, there's a remarkable photo op every time you turn a corner. Czechia (Czech Republic) has all the things I love; excellent beer, beautiful architecture, music and culture, wonderful food ... and they like hockey. What more could I ask for? Ann also joined us here which is awesome ... and she's going to continue traveling with Jacqueline for the next several weeks. My first visit here was nearly 30 years ago back in 1993 only a few months after Czechoslovakia split into 2 separate countries. A lot has changed and a lot has stayed the same (though back then, I could get a full 3 course dinner and a beer for $5 cdn ... at least the beer is still cheap :) ) Some ... read more

Helsinki was established as a trading town by King Gustav I of Sweden in 12 June 1550, as the town of Helsingfors, which he intended to be a rival to the Hanseatic city of Reval on the southern shores of the Gulf of Finland (today known as Tallinn). After the Russians conquered Helsinki in May 1713 during the Great Northern War the city had grown to 3,000. It was not until Russia defeated Sweden in the Finnish War and annexed Finland as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland in 1809 that the town began to develop into a substantial city. Emperor Alexander I of Russia moved the Finnish capital from Turku to Helsinki in 1812 to reduce Swedish influence in Finland, and to bring the capital closer to Saint Petersburg. The population of Helsinki was already ... read more

The history of Crete goes back to the 7th millennium BC, preceding the ancient Minoan civilization by more than four thousand years. The palace-based Minoan civilization was the first civilization in Europe. After the Minoan civilization was devastated by the Thera (Santorini) eruption, Crete developed an Ancient Greece-influenced organization of city-states, then successively became part of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Venetian Republic, the Ottoman Empire, an autonomous state, and the modern state of Greece. Excavations in South Crete in 2008–2009 revealed stone tools at least 130,000 years old. This was a sensational discovery, as the previously accepted earliest sea crossing in the Mediterranean was thought to occur around 12,000 BC. This suggests that the island may have been visited by archaic humans many thousands of years ago. Stone tools indicate that the is ... read more

Tinos is a Greek island located in the Cyclades archipelago within the Aegean Sea. The closest islands are Andros, Delos, and Mykonos. Tinos is famous amongst Greeks for the Church of Panagia Evangelistria, with its reputedly miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary. As a result, Tinos is also the center of a pilgrimage that takes place annually on August 15th (the date of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary). Devotees crawl on their hands and knees from the ferry port all the way up to the church (~800m). Jacqueline and I did visit the Panagia Evangelistria church in Tinos (town) but spent most of our time at/near Laouti Beach near our airBnB. It was a very quiet island, and a nice place to relax.... read more