klperissinotto

Geo: 53.5534, 9.9922An amazing day, treading in the footsteps of my great-grandfather.Otto Rudolph Carl Sielaff was born in about 1855 in Lauenberg, in what was then Prussia. We know that he came to Queensland, arriving in Maryborough (or Brisbane) on 25 June 1889, on the Merkara ship. He married Hannah Blass (1876-1939) at Laidley in 1898, and lived around the Darling Downs (Gatton, Clifton North, etc, before retiring up in Hervey Bay/Wondai according to Electoral Rolls). My grandfather, Franz Carl Hermann Sielaff was born 25/9/11, in Toowoomba, when his father was 56, and was followed by siblings Wilhelm Carl Franz (16/6/13) and Roberta Doreen Emilie (Wendt) in 1915. Otto died 25/2/34 and is buried in Maryborough.The day today was focussed on what Germany/Prussia was like, when my great grandfather left, and the reasons that he might ... read more

Geo: 53.3741, 10.5483A travel day today. We were up in time for Steven, Georgia and I to take a quick walk around the square in Prague before our host, Marek, met us to transport us to the airport. As we came down the (many) stairs to the street, it began to snow - tiny spots at first but quickly becoming huge fluffy flakes. The kids were delirious with excitement, especially G. It was an interesting drive, as our host (who was about our age) spoke of living as a boy under the communist regime, and how things have changed - making some happy and others less happy. The flight was uneventful - with German efficiency - and we were excited as we arrived in Hamburg to beautiful sunshine and no snow on the ground. Stan remarked ... read more

Geo: 50.0841, 14.4167Matt:On the second day in Prague (it is the capital of the Czech republic) we went to the Prague Castle. It is the largest medieval Castle complex in Europe. It was amazing to see, you could peek into little houses in their original state. The cathedral was beautiful.We went in a place where you could see old weapons. There was a room full of combined weapons. I saw one that was a knife and a bow.Tom:After lunch, we came home for a sleep. It was good to have a big rest after many of us had a bad night with fireworks going off everywhere. At 5.30 we headed of to see another fireworks show.We headed out onto the Charles Bridge (along with half of Prague) to see the fireworks. As there was a heavy ... read more

Geo: 50.0878, 14.4205A bitterly cold day in Prague, making it hard to get going this morning.We started off with a walk across Charles Bridge which was fresh but very pretty. Then we went to the main square and the Astronomical clock. The square was packed with Christmas markets and people. A special highlight was trying the funnel cakes, which are traditional, and are pretty much donut mixture cooked in a funnel shape and rolled in sugar!Our tour started at the base of the Astronomical Clock but didn't see it chime – our guide did do a pretty good impression of what the guides in Munich call “the number 1 most overrated tourist attraction in the world”! We then walked past many beautiful old buildings, including a concert hall where Mozart played. By, this point we were ... read more

Geo: 50.0878, 14.4205The Drive to Prague Prague, Czech Republic (via Cesky Krumolv)30/12/16 We got up and had breakfast at our hotel, then our driver, Marick, came to collect us and drive us to Prague.The drive was lovely and restful, but we were very glad Dad wasn't driving through all the fog. As we got closer to the border of Austria and the Czech Republic the amount of snow on the fields and trees dramatically increased. The snow and icicle covered trees really did look like something out of a Winter wonderland Christmas Card!!! IWe stopped for three hours in Cesky Krumolv, which was magical. We wandered around the Christmas Market and walked up to the castle. It was truly magnificent. We enjoyed having sausages and potato chips from the market for lunch!We met Marick and kept ... read more