Fun in Atlanta, GA

We've had an absolutely fabulous time in Atlanta with Steven and Michael.  It's hard to believe that I haven't been back since 2012.  

The boys really rolled out the Southern Hospitality for Kája which he loved.  Hopefully he's not spoiled now for the rest of our holidays.

On Sunday, Kája got to see his first baseball game.  The Atlanta Braves no longer play at Turner Field.  They now use the new Truist Park stadium that was built in 2017.  The Braves played the Miami Marlins and the Braves won 6-3.  

I still miss baseball in Euroland.  Anyway, the game was fun.  At one point I was trying to explain to Kája what was going on.  We were speaking Czech and this kid in front of us turned around and you could see he was having a hard time processing it.  He must have thought we were speaking Klingon or something.

The 4th of July is a big deal in the USA.  Parades, fireworks, lots of flags, BBQs, family and friend get-togethers, and we had it all.  In boys' neighbourhood, kids have a little parade and the local fire station even participates.

After the parade, we spent a good bit of time at the neighbourhood pool.  The home owners association had the Varsity send a food truck to cater.

The Varsity is an Atlanta institution.  It's a family owned business that opened in 1928.  It's huge.  It sits on two city blocks and can seat about 800 people.  When you walk in, the cashiers all shout out "What'll ya have, what'll ya have, what'll ya have?"  It's not the healthiest of foods but you can't go wrong with a chili dog, onion rings, a frosted orange drink and a fried peach pie.  So tasty but only as a special treat.

Later we spent the evening out at Lake Lanier, about 97 km (60 miles) northeast of the city.  Steven's sister Beth and her husband Reggie Davis invited us, along with Steven's mom, for dinner on their houseboat.  Steven's mom is great and I just love her to pieces.  The last time I saw her was when she and Steven came to visit in 2014.

Again, the Southern Hospitality was in full force.  Beth had a full spread of BBQ ribs, corn bread, mac 'n cheese.  Everything was so good but I'm afraid at this rate I'll gain at least 5 kg.

Plus music and fireworks out over the lake.  What a great evening!

Atlanta has lots to see to do.  We spent a few days trying to see as much as we could with out feeling overwhelmed and rushed.

The World of Coca-Cola museum showcases the history of the cola.  

The Georgia Aquarium opened in 2005.  It's huge.  Until 2012, it was the largest aquarium in the world.  Today it only ranks as the world's 6th largest aquarium.

The aquarium is home to thousands of animals, in seven major galleries, living in more than 42.000 m³ (11 million gallons).

Centennial Olympic Park was built for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.  It's a 89.000 m² (22-acre) public park in downtown Atlanta.

The Swan House is a mansion that was built in 1928.  It is part of the Atlanta History Centre and has been featured in many films.  In 1977 it was listed on the National Register for Historic Places.

The Atlanta Botanical Garden opened in 1976.  It sits on 12 hectares (30 acres), adjacent to Piedmont Park.  

The Chattahoochee River is about 690 km (430 miles) long.  

The Atlanta Cyclorama and Civil War Museum is located at the Atlanta History Centre.  The Cyclorama is a cylindrical panoramic painting of the Battle of Atlanta during the Civil War.  It was painted in 1885. 

The painting is 114 metres (374 feet) and weighs 4536 kg (10,000 lbs) and was once the world's largest oil paining.

Stone Mountain is about 24 km (15 miles) east of the city.  It's the state's most visited tourist site.  It was opened on 14 April 1965, exactly 100 years to the day that President Lincoln was assassinated.

On the north face of the quartz mountain is the largest bas-relief artwork in the world.  In 1972, the carving depicts three Confederate generals.

What a week it's been.  It was so nice spending time with the boys and catching up with people.  Brian and his wife even drove down from Tennessee for a visit.  

The last time I saw Brian was in 2013 when made it to the 5th Czechsgiving.

Now it's on to Prescott to to visit Mom & Dad.

Cairns, Australia

Cairns is located in Queensland roughly 1961 km (1218 miles) from Sydney.  Cairns is a provincial city and home to almost 145,000 people.  Cairns is the 5th largest city in Queensland and the 14th largest in Australia.

The tropical climate, surrounding rainforest, and the Great Barrier Reef makes Cairns the 4th most popular destination for international tourists after Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.

Cairns was founded in 1876 and served the gold miners of the time.  Later on it became a major port exporting sugar cane and gold.

The War Memorial was built in 1925 to honour those lost in WWI.  When it was built, due to the clock, it was the most expensive soldier statue memorial in Queensland.

The Bishop's House was built in 1930.  Originally it was a Catholic monastery.




The former town hall was built in 1930.  In 1999 it was reopened as the Cairns City Library.




The trees surrounding the library is home to a nursing colony of spectacled flying foxes, which is the fancy way of saying bats.  You hear them screeching during the day and see them fly in packs at night.



St. Monica's War Memorial Cathedral was consecrated in 1968.  It is the only cathedral in Cairns.




The Cairns Aquarium is the world's only aquarium dedicated exclusively to the species and habitats of North Queensland.





The Cairns School of Arts was completed in 1941.  Today it is the local history museum.





The former post office building, in the central business district, was built in 1882.





The Night Market has more than 70 shops with lots of souvenir stalls.  There's a great food court too.





There's a historic Chinatown but the memorial for it seems bigger than the actual Chinatown.






The promenade makes for a nice walk.  Surprisingly, there's no real swimming beach area to speak of.




The lagoon is a free public swimming pool where people sunbathe on the grass.





I can tell you that the sun is quite strong in November.  After just a couple of hours and I looked like the flag of Austria.





The Kuranda Scenic Railway makes for a great day trip to see the local tropical rainforest.





No visit is complete without visiting the Great Barrier Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the seven natural wonders of the world.


Update:  There was a record heat wave on 26-27 November.  Temperatures went over 42℃ (+107℉) and almost ⅓ of of the country's bats perished.  The bats were annoying but it's sad that about 23.000 bats dropped dead.

Eilat, Israel

Eilat, אֵילַת, is the southernmost city in Israel.  The earliest settlements in Eilat were established around the 7th century BC but as an Israeli city it was founded in 1951.  Today the city is home to just over 50,000 people.

The city is south of the Negev Desert.  It's on the northern tip of the Red Sea, wedged between Egypt and Jordan.  On a good day you can see Saudi Arabia across the Gulf of Aqaba.



Eilat is a popular beach resort with an average of 360 sunny days each year.

The 1947 UN Partition Plan designated the Eilat area as part of the Jewish state.  The British Umm Al-Rashrash police post was taken in Operation Uvda on 10 March 1949 without a fight.  The 1949 Armistice Agreement formally granted Eilat to Israel.

The Ink Flag sculpture commemorates the capture of the police post during the war.  When the Negev Brigade discovered they didn't have an Israeli flag, soldiers made a flag by drawing ink stripes on a sheet and sewed on a Star of David from a first-aid kit.



The Artists Gallery is dedicated to the work of local artists.





The Eilat Museum is all about the history of the city of Eilat.  It's small but interesting.  But there's not much history wise since around the mid-1990s.




Behind the museum is a big blue pyramid.  It's the former IMAX theatre which is no longer open.




The Coral World Underwater Observatory is the largest public aquarium in Israel.  It was founded in 1974 and it is home to over 800 species.



In 1989, there was a Sculptures for Peace exhibit.  One of the pieces still on display in a city park was by Czech Artist Jan Koblasa.  He was a founding member of the Czechoslovak post-war art scene.  In 1971, he defected from Czechoslovakia and was sentenced in absentia to nine years in prison for illegally leaving the country and much of his work was hidden in custody.  He passed away in 2017.

Eilat is a small town but it's a great place to go to just to get away.  It's possible to visit Jerusalem and the Dead Sea.  It's also quite easy to cross in to Jordan to visit Aqaba or tour Petra.  Or you can cross over to Egypt to visit St. Catherine's.

Of course you can also just hang out at the beach which is totally awesome!  You can't beat beat 28℃ (82℉) on the beach, especially when it's -14℃ (7℉) in Europe.  Though I'm not so sure I'd want to visit in the summer when it reaches +40℃ (+104℉).