A few cosmetic changes

content/blog/day19.md

@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+---
+title: 'Day 19: Kattegat (via Kiel, Berlin, DE) to Lovosice (CZ)'
+date: 2022-09-12T22:19:44+02:00
+Tags: []
+Categories: []
+---
+
+## Our trip today
+
+{{< image src="/img/day19/map.png" width="300px" float="right" >}}
+
+Yesterday's post will show a map of us at midnight in the middle of _Kattegat_, the water between Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The ship
+relentlessly kept its course and navigated us into the _Kiel_ harbor this morning. The boarding pass said that we had a breakfast table at
+07:00, whoops, so let's set the alarm at 06:55 and wing it. Breakfast buffet was pretty elaborate, but we don't eat much. We already ate all
+the thing yesterday evening at dinner. We kill some time by mosying around the ship a little bit, taking pictures of both the harbor as well
+as the ship itself. I particualrly like Paul's shot of the chimney stack of our ship _Color Fantasy_ taken last night. The boat still
+doesn't feel super busy - we totally could've slept in and gotten breakfast at 08:00 too, but we roll with the punches.
+
+We disembark pretty smoothly at the _Kiel_ harbor. Tessa still thinks we're in Norway, and it is having a hard time readjusting to the cell
+signal here in Germany, but that's not a big deal because there's really only one direction for us to go: _Berlin_. At customs, probably due
+to our Swiss license plate, the guy asks if we have any cigarettes or hard liquor. He is not interested in the shitty wine I bought (free of
+charge), so we are free to go.
+
+{{< image src="/img/thumbnails/2022-09-12/IMG_5871.jpg" width="400px" float="right" >}}
+
+Paul already has the music lined up for today - there's a DJ Ti&euml;sto album called _The Quest for Atlantis_, and it has a particular song
+we both know belongs with the destination. However, before we get there, we have to make one stop at a supercharger in _Wittenburg_ where
+there's a Van der Valk hotel with an adjoined indoor skiing center. I am continually amazed by these things, because I am not a fan of
+skiing. The only thing that makes it a little bit worth while is the views of the valleys while on the Alps. And here, there are pictures of
+mountains on the side, and really that's not the same thing.
+
+{{< image src="/img/thumbnails/2022-09-12/IMG_7862.jpg" width="400px" float="right" >}}
+
+We have lunch here - and considering we're in Germany, there's really only one thing to nosh: _Currywurst mit Pommes_ and it's fantastic.
+What we really enjoy most about this lunch is the price, as we've most definitely not become used to the prices in Norway! Paul pays for the
+party and we're off. The album is ready for the song we're waiting for just at the right time. The car is charged and we listen to track #16
+called _Berlin (Peace Mix)_ from _Berlin Inc_ and we once again try to establish contact with Berlin! At 150km/h, while ripping up the A24
+around _Marwitz_.
+
+{{< image src="/img/thumbnails/2022-09-12/IMG_5878.jpg" width="400px" float="right" >}}
+
+Our car wants to charge for a full hour in order to reach our destination for the night: _Lovosice_ in the Czech Republic. We decide to
+leave the car at the _Berlin_ supercharger, while we make a blitz-visit to the city on ... scooters! We're really good at scooting around
+cities by now. Using Google Maps, we program a bunch of sights into a self-guided tour, and like Japanese tourists we quickly stop at each
+site to make a picture (or a dorky 0.5-Selfie, which we are kind of enjoying as an art-form by now), before quickly moving on.
+We're on the clock here and we definitely don't want to incur idle charges at the Tesla station!
+
+Our scooters in hand, we dash to and fro, and see the following (and you can too, in the album below):
+{{< image src="/img/thumbnails/2022-09-12/IMG_5887.jpg" width="300px" float="right" >}}
+
+*   First we visit Checkpoint Charlie, the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War.
+*   Then we go to the Memorial to Homosexuals Persecuted Under Nazism, by artists Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset.
+*   Quickly folowed by Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, also known as the Holocaust Memorial
+*   (interrupted by our bladders calling attention to their fullness)
+*   We scoot past the Brittish Embassy in Berlin (which has many bouquets of flowers for Her Majesty)
+*   We check out the Reichstag, take many pictures, only one of which is worthwhile sharing
+*   The Brandenburg Gate cannot be missed on such a tour, but our time is up, so we ..
+*   .. do _just one more_ (just like we're Geocaching) and visit the Berlin Victory Column
+
+{{< image src="img/day19/hotel-lev.jpg" width="400px" float="right" >}}
+
+Then we scoot back to the car, which awaits us fully charged with 420km in the battery, and we program the satnav for _Lovosice_ in Czechia.
+We arrive there at 19:40 and check into our hotel, after dropping the car off at the local supercharger once again. Our plan is go get
+dinner (which we do, Garlic Soup and Tagliatelle for Pim, Mozarella with Parmaham and Salad with Carpaccio for Paul because he is missing
+our Trunk Salads), then pay next to nothing because we're no longer in Norway (nor Germany!), celebrate by finding a geocache (my first in
+CZ!), then pick up the car, park it at the hotel, and finally turn in for the night.
+
+Our plan is executed to perfection. The internet is busted at the hotel, and I've ran out of credit on my phone (I should blog less, maybe?)
+and the TV remote is dog-slow, taking 5 seconds to act on any button, also I learn that the Czechs love dubbing all TV shows, so I call it
+and pass out at 21:00. No idea how late Paul was up, cuz it took me no longer than a whiff of my pillow to fall into a deep slumber.
+
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-11/IMG_7855.jpg" caption="The chimney stack of our Color Fantasy at night">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-12/IMG_5862.jpg" caption="The Helipad on Color Fantasy">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-12/IMG_5864.jpg" caption="The lighthouse at the Kiel harbor">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-12/IMG_7862.jpg" caption="Lunch: Currywurst mit Pommes - cannot be more German">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-12/IMG_5871.jpg" caption="An indoor skiing piste in Wittenburg (Germany)">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-12/IMG_5873.jpg" caption="Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-12/IMG_5877.jpg" caption="Memorial to Homosexuals Persecuted Under Nazism">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-12/IMG_5878.jpg" caption="Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe ">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-12/IMG_5882.jpg" caption="The Brittish Embassy in Berlin - homage to Queen Elizabeth">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-12/IMG_5886.jpg" caption="Der Reichstag in Berlin">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-12/IMG_5883.jpg" caption="Brandenburger Tor">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-12/IMG_5887.jpg" caption="Pim and Paul enjoy their Tier scooters in Berlin">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-12/IMG_5889.jpg" caption="Berlin Victory Column">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-12/IMG_7871.jpg" caption="Paul and Pim at the Berlin Victory Column">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-12/IMG_5893.jpg" caption="Welcome to the Czech Republic">}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}
+

content/blog/day20.md

@@ -0,0 +1,181 @@
+---
+title: 'Day 20: Lovosice (via Prague) to Brno'
+date: 2022-09-13T16:01:29+02:00
+Tags: []
+Categories: []
+---
+
+## Our trip today
+
+{{< image src="/img/day20/map.png" width="300px" float="right" >}}
+
+Our plan for the day was to visit beautiful _Praha_, the capital of the Czech Republic, and then make our way down south to _Brno_, its
+second largest city. As we woke up and saw the daylight of _Lovosice_, our day started easy-going. Breakfast and coffee were good in our
+lodging, the _Hotel Lev_ with spa and swimming pool and sauna, none of which we've made use of. Yet, this hotel in _Lovosice_ was a whopping
+EUR 78,- all-in. Except for the TV and Internet, two things we really don't need anyway, it served its purpose well!
+
+## Prague 
+
+{{< image src="/img/thumbnails/2022-09-13/IMG_5918.jpg" width="300px" float="right" >}}
+
+We ghost and drop the bags in Tessa, which is parked just down the road, fully charged. That's useful because our trip today is ~290km from
+here to _Praha_ and then on to _Brno_, so we'll need the autonomy. The drive to Prague is quickly completed, and underway Paul says "whoa,
+that's some really big birds" and I scan the sky line looking for avians, only to completely miss the, well, big-ass hawk-like birds along
+the E55 highway  on the ground. It feels silly to miss them, because they really are quite large.
+
+Our drive to _Praha_ is only 60km or so, and Paul decides to park us at the national theater just next to the old town. We proceed to walk
+the required _Karlův most_ (Charles Bridge) and up a little way to the castle, only to get distracted by a few Bolt scooters. You know what
+that means! CZK 10 later, we feel like kingly kings with the wind in our hair, albeit at a meager 10km/h because it's a pedestrian zone. It
+doesn't hold us back though, no way, we dash around the old town to visit the sights:
+
+{{< image src="/img/thumbnails/2022-09-13/IMG_5947.jpg" width="300px" float="right" >}}
+
+*   We start of course at Charles Bridge, it has an old town Bridge Tower
+*   We take a look at Franz Kafka's rotating head ..
+*   .. which takes us quite naturally to Church of Our Lady before Týn (which dominantes Old Town)
+*   Then we spend some time (as do a few million other tourists) at the Astronomical Clock, which we find astronomically cool
+*   Randomly bumping into beautiful architecture and old buildings where-ever we go, we visit Národní muzeum at Wenceslas Square
+*   Paul is peckish so he nomms a strudel from the wrong country, at the Powder Tower, where Pim logs a geocache
+*   We pay our respects (no selfies, we swear!) at the Jewish Synagogue and Old Jewish Cemetary, which is beautiful
+
+{{< image src="/img/thumbnails/2022-09-13/IMG_5934.jpg" width="400px" float="right" >}}
+
+We take a look at a few places for lunch and decide for a local / simple cafe, which serves us some delicious salad and pork medallion in
+green peppercorn sauce (which is a bit runny for my taste, but I think Marina would think it's just right!). Finally we take the small walk
+to St. Vitus Cathedral at the Prague Castle, walk the grounds a little bit (they now come free of charge with metal detector scanners at the
+entrance of the courtyards, was that always the case??), before making our way back down to the river and parking spot at 14:30 or so, as
+it's time to leave.
+
+## Brno
+
+{{< image src="/img/day20/map-night.png" width="300px" float="right" >}}
+
+In the car, I start thinking about hotels and Paul reminds me of the two Finns that we saw up in _Mo i Rana_ (Norway), who just walked in
+and got themselves a significantly better price than we did on hotels.com. We make a pact: tonight, we're doing a walk-in! I page my buddy
+Michal who is from these parts (even though most of his colleagues think he's from Finland, I wonder who started that rumour ..), and ask him
+what the cool things are in _Brno_. He immediately comes up with “burčák” (young not yet wine):
+
+> _Maybe check the veg market (Zelny trh) and thereabouts in Brno. It’s likely they will be selling “burčák” (young not yet wine). Better
+> yet, find some wine shop for Burčák… it’ll probably be better. Oh, and under no circumstances by the side of the road. ;)_
+
+{{< image src="/img/thumbnails/2022-09-13/IMG_5994.jpg" width="400px" float="right" >}}
+
+We park the car with 70km in the battery at a parkinglot in the center of town between _Hrad Špilberk_ (Špilberk Castle) and Liberty Square.
+Walking into town from here we immediately see what appears to be a shopping mall. We enter it for a quick pitstop, but upon
+entering I detect a very familiar smell indeed: popcorn! We make our way up the mall, exploring it a little bit and find the culprit: a movie
+theater, which appears to have movies both dubbed and original with Czech subtitles. Why not catch a flic while we're here?
+
+We find a movie that Paul recommends: Bullet Train, a comedy slash action movie with Brad Pitt. Check (✅, or should I say .. _Czech!_): it
+is now booked for 21:30.
+
+{{< image src="/img/thumbnails/2022-09-13/IMG_5995.jpg" width="400px" float="right" >}}
+
+We explore _Brno_ a little bit, take a look at that square Michal mentioned with the vegetable market on it.  This city center is really
+beautiful as well, with historic landmark buildings littered over the entire place. Then we go to the steakhouse joint that Paul scouted on
+the intertubes, a place called _Pavillon_ which sells you cuts of meat in 100g increments, including some nice starters and accompanying
+lesser important things such as potatoes and vegetables. We book it for 18:30 and are already starting to foam at the mouth for the
+delicious food that awaits.
+
+{{< image src="/img/thumbnails/2022-09-13/IMG_7905.jpg" width="300px" float="right" >}}
+
+By now it's about 5pm, so this gives enough time to check in to our hotel. We scout one with 58 rooms, which we're happy to spontaneously
+walk in to, but it's a little bit out of the city (which also makes it cheaper, like EUR 88,- cheap), and they have rooms available on
+hotels.com, so off we go. We pick up Tessa, drive up North 8km or so and find a huge touring car in the parkinglot, plus a string of cars
+behind it (on a one-way street). Paul jumps out of the car and dashes in and quickly back out, to report that they only have a double room,
+no twins. The problem is, by now three or four more cars are behind me while this asshole touring car is empty and clearly going no where. A
+lady is also trying to exit the parking lot but she eventually parks the car again and goes inside, I can only assume to complain about the
+situation. After sitting around for 10min, Paul kindly asks the folks behind us to back out as we want to bail. They oblige and we're on
+our way again.
+
+So much for a walk-in! In the car, I book another hotel on-line, South of _Brno_, and it's called Hotel Pyramida, so we drive over there, it
+has included WiFi, parking and breakfast for two, that'll do. Except, it won't do. We arrive there, seeing that the parking lot is in the
+courtyard behind the building, with a teenie-tiny double door to squish our boat-sized car through. It reminds me of that time with the
+_Hardship Brotherhood_ when we drove our car into some italian garage somehwere, and as was then, the car is frantically beeping and
+signalling "don't do this, you're gonna kill me!"-style warnings, which as was then, I just ignore to the best of my ability. I manage to
+drive safely through the passage and park the car. Alright, stress over, let's check in! No, let's not. The lady informs us that, as soon as
+she saw the booking from hotels.com, she declined/canceled it because they are full. FUCK. ME.
+
+{{< image src="/img/thumbnails/2022-09-13/IMG_7908.jpg" width="400px" float="right" >}}
+
+It's now 18:15 and our dinner reservation is at 18:30, so we leave our car here and commandeer some scooters and make our way down the 1.2km
+to Pavillon. There, we proceed to have a fantabulous dinner, huge steak, a bottle of Czech wine for me (which was very tasty, our waiter
+made a good recommendation which I appreciate). There, I made a reservation for the second time, third hotel, you have to say three time's a
+charm!? and it's at the reservoir North-West of _Brno_ called _Orea Resort Santon_. Something goes wrong with the reservation - it does
+succeed in the hotels.com app, but I do not get a confirmation. I mess around with e-mail, then try to call them, but for some bizarre
+reason when I click the button on the website, the phone rings and Marina picks up (color me surprised!). I do it again, and the line is
+dead. This is not my evening!
+
+{{< image src="/img/thumbnails/2022-09-13/IMG_6004.jpg" width="400px" float="right" >}}
+
+At some point you just have to let things be things, and I decide this is one of those moments, so I declare this quest for hotels done and
+decide to enjoy the remainder of my meal. We settle the bill and make our way to the movie theater, where we have a great time watching Brad
+Pitt, Joey King, Brian Tyree Henry and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (and as it later turns out, a tiny cameo by Sandra Bullock ❤️❤️, my all time
+favorite actress). It's hilariously funny, and I really dig _Ladybug_'s dry humor as well as the quippy dialog between _Lemon_ and
+_Tangerine_ and the running gag about _Thomas the Train_ (n&eacute;e, _Tank Engine_).
+
+{{< image src="/img/day20/police.jpg" width="400px" float="right" >}}
+
+After the movie we grab a few Bolt scooters, it's now just after midnight, and I try to navigate with my iPhone in my pocket. It's a bit
+erratic, telling us to go left, right, turn around, and also often just "Head South-East" style commentary. Not useful when you can't see
+the Sun and you left your digital compass in your pocket. At one point, Paul gets pulled over by the cops, because he's scooting on the left
+side of the road, where we're about to make a hard left turn. I find this ironic, cuz I'm the guy with a bottle of red wine in me, yet he's
+the guy that gets in trouble with the law. Isn't that WEiRD? **Spoiler**: Yes, he is.
+
+OK, entirely without getting arrested, we pick up our car, which now has 68km, and we drive it to the reservoir, after which it has 41km. We
+check in to our hotel, and color me surprised, but they actually have the reservation and proceed to drop me the room keys. Yaay! Up at the
+room, we do a little bit of math, the _Brno_ supercharger is 21km South of here, and we have 41km in the battery. I'm worried that tomorrow
+morning we'll have lost another kilowatthour or so, and we may have to end up pushing Tessa downhill. Talk about range anxiety!
+
+{{< image src="/img/thumbnails/2022-09-14/IMG_6013.jpg" width="400px" float="right" >}}
+
+Not many words are spoken on this issue, Paul and I drag our poor souls back into the car, and he proceeds to drive the most careful and
+respectful he has likely ever! I can see the sweat pouring out of his armpits and eyebrows, as we see the juxtaposition on "21km to
+destination" and "29km left in battery" switch places. But, we arrive with Tessa at the supercharger like a total boss, it has 3% battery,
+12km left. Paul triumphantly plugs it in and ... nothing happens. You have **got** to be kidding me right meow! But, I notice on the website
+that there's six chargers here, even though there are eight physically installed, so I conclude that a pair of them must be busted. We move
+over a few spots, plug Tessa in once again, and it proceeds to literally _transfigurate the electrons out of the wire_, it's so happy to be
+fed.
+
+A weight drops off our shoulders, we go get a local geocache, hang out until there's 250km in the battery, which will be enough to make it
+up to our hotel, and in the morning back down all the way to our next destination: _Bratislava_ in Slovakia. After charging, we go to the
+hotel, I take a quick shower, and we pass out. What an egg-citing day!
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_5914.jpg" caption="Karlův most (Charles Bridge)">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_7876.jpg" caption="0.5-Selfie at Charles Bridge's Old Town Bridge Tower">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_5916.jpg" caption="Statues on Karlův most">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_5918.jpg" caption="Franz Kafka - Rotating Head in Prague">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_5919.jpg" caption="Church of Our Lady before Týn">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_5921.jpg" caption="Prague Astronomical Clock - Pim edition">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_7880.jpg" caption="Prague Astronomical Clock - Paul edition">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_5927.jpg" caption="The side of the Astronomical Clock">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_5922.jpg" caption="Národní muzeum at Wenceslas Square">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_5926.jpg" caption="0.5-Selfie of Pim at the Powder Tower">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_7882.jpg" caption="0.5elfie of Paul at the Powder Tower">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_5929.jpg" caption="Pim and Paul don a yarmulke while visiting the Synagogue">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_5933.jpg" caption="The Old Jewish Cemetary">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_7885.jpg" caption="The Old Jewish Cemetary">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_5934.jpg" caption="The Old Jewish Cemetary">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_5942.jpg" caption="Karlův most (Charles Bridge)">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_5943.jpg" caption="A tram track behind the Prague Castle">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_5944.jpg" caption="St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_5947.jpg" caption="Face of the St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_5949.jpg" caption="Panoramic view of Prague from its castle">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_7896.jpg" caption="A Statue of a horse and woman, by Dali">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_7901.jpg" caption="Paul looks up at the Cathedral at Prague Castle">}}
+
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_5994.jpg" caption="Pim snaps a pic of Zelny trh to show Michal, we're here">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_5995.jpg" caption="Mahen Theatre (Mahenovo divadlo) in Brno">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_7905.jpg" caption="Kostel svatého Michala (St. Michael Church) in Brno">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_5997.jpg" caption="Pim's Tatake starter at Pavillon, Brno">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_7907.jpg" caption="Paul's Tartare starter at Pavillon, Brno">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_7908.jpg" caption="Our USDA Prime steak (one of two identical copies) at Pavillo, Brno">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_6001.jpg" caption="Our shared ad-hoc cheese-plate at Pavillon, Brno">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-13/IMG_6004.jpg" caption="We're in the movie theater, watching Bullet Train">}}
+    {{< gallery-photo fn="2022-09-14/IMG_6013.jpg" caption="It's 01:30 and we're supercharging, spirits are (once again) high">}}
+
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}