The Nacogdoches Tricentennial Festival was a splendid occasion for everybody there on the three hundredth birthday of Nacogdoches the settlement...the oldest Spanish settlement in Texas (Tejas) on July 9, 1716. I put off my summer vacation to attend, and I was not disappointed. It was a nice day, but hot and humid out. The reenactment started out with a Roman Catholic Mass; spoke in Spanish, English, and Latin. The Head Monk would sing songs of praise with his deep voice. A bit later they held Catholic communion for the priests; then communion for the Catholic attendees. After the mass there was a short break. Then the Spanish Squad marched into Festival Park. The Spanish Captain read the Nacogdoches Charter. Then the Captain led the squad to a solute, then fired three vollys of black power. They ... read more

It was a short walk to the Begijnhof, that served as a home or shelter for women starting in 1535, with habitation going back about another 300 years. The Begijnhof is a walled complex set in two connected courtyard squares with gardens, small museums, and a nice central church built in the 1800s. The nice church built in the 1800s really stood out in the in the back of the courtyard. It was another short walk to Valkenburg Park. The park has some very nice trees and flowers, and a nice canal with a nifty red foot bridge. From one side of this City Park is a view of a Large Red Building, that I could not find any information about. This park is a good (free) place to hang out. It was not far outside ... read more

From Amsterdam Centraal Station I took a tram to the Amsterdam Royal Zoo. It was a good day and I had a lot to see at the zoo. I started by their large open areas filled with buffalos, camels, emu, ostriches, and other animals. They had other outdoor sections with large turtles, bear, and other animals. I moved on to the aquarium building. They had the normal selection of fish and sharks, and a number of other animals that I was not familiar with. There was much more to see at the Amsterdam Zoo, but I had few days in Amsterdam and much more to see this day. Since it was just across the street from the zoo, I walked to Hortus Botanicus, (Botanical Gardens). They had a nice selection of terrestrial and aquatic plants. I ... read more

This part of my Croatia blog started around 1989 while I was working in the Houston, Texas area. I had close ties in Nacogdoches, Texas and often visited my friends there on weekends. I met a nice grad (or post grad) student Boris from Croatia, and we became friends and exchanged email. When the 1991 war started Boris immediately returned home and used all of his resources to purchase and bring back (from Germany) badly needed medical supplies. Now in 2005 I was planning my Switzerland and Croatia adventure, so I shot Boris an email informing him of my plans in Croatia. Not just planning to meet me at the family farm in Rakov Potok; Boris offered to take me round trip to his second home in a town just outside of Pula. This was to ... read more

The next day Franjo drove me and his grandson Matthew to a local winery nearby Rakov Potok. They served us large samples of good wines in mugs to test out. After a while I was a little tipsey, but felt good. I think the wine kegs were 500 gallons each or larger. I told Franjo about the two wine samples I liked the best. After a good visit with the wine people, Franjo handed me a liter of each of my favorite wines. We visited the nearby old village of Garasici. The City sign was laying on the ground, and I think there were still people living in Garasici; but we saw none on our short visit. Then Franjo drove us to the old village of Falascak. I think there were no people living in Falascak ... read more