Planet Festival 2023

The moon and the earth are back at Kraví hora as part of Planet Festival.  There are both day and evening programmes as part of this week's festival, including screenings of science-fiction movies and presentations at the observatory.  

Tatranská Lomnica, Slovakia

After getting back from our USA trip we spent three days with Kája's oldest sister and their father in the Tatras.  We took a couple of trains and met up with them in Tatranská Lomnica.  

Tatranská Lomnica is a small tourist town in northern Slovakia.  The town was founded in 1892 and is home to less than 1000 people.  It's about 345 km (215 miles) from Bratislava.

People come to Tatranská Lomnica to go hiking in the summer and skiing in the winter.  

We took a cable car up to Skalnaté pleso, which is a glacial lake located at an altitude of 1751 metres (5,744 feet).

The lake lies at the lowest point of the Rocky Valley that sits under the southern cliffs of Lomnické štít.  The lake has a depth of 4,2 metres (138 feet).

The Skalnaté pleso Observatory was founded in 1943.  It has two telescopes and caries out research about comets and asteroids.

From here, it's another cable car up to Lomnické sedlo which is 2190 metres (7,185 feet) above sea level. 

Here you can visit Lomnický štít which is the second-highest peak in the High Tatras.  

It's 2634 metres (8,642 feet) tall and it is the only peak int he Tatras that's accessible by cable car which were first put in between 1937-1940.

There are some really nice views of the mountains from up here.

In town there's a ski museum that opened in 2013.  It focuses on the history of winter sports in the Tatras up until 1945.

TANAP Museum, the Tatra National Park Museum, opened in 1957 in Poprad before moving to Tatranská Lomnica in 1959.  The museum moved to its current building in 1969.  Most of the exhibitions are about the local animals, flora and fauna found in the Tatras.  

We really enjoyed our visit to Tatranská Lomnica.  The Tatras were worth the wait.  I'm looking forward to our next visit.  

We also checked out nearby Štrbské Pleso.

Griffith Observatory, California

Yesterday we got in a bit of sightseeing.  My brother-in-law, Manuel, drove us out to LA so that Kája could see a few of the city's iconic sights.

The first stop was a visit to the Griffith Observatory.  

When it opened in 1935, it was only the third planetarium in the country.

The land was donated to the city in 1896 along with funds to be an observatory and planetarium that would be free to the public.  Since the day it opened, the observatory has been free.

From 2002 to 2006, it underwent a major $93 million renovation.  

So many movies have been filmed here.  Here's a short video I found on YouTube.

©Fandor

Of course being so close the the Griffith Observatory, we had to go check out the Hollywood Sign.  First built in 1923 has part of a temporary real estate advertisement, it is not a California landmark.  The sign was replaced in 1978 and the steel letters are 13,7 metres (45-feet) tall. 

Us and Manuel

There were some German tourists taking selfies next to us and I took a photo for them.  They were quite surprised when I spoke to them in German.  

While in Hollywood, we hit a few of the typical touristy sites such as the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

Seeing as we went to the Griffith Observatory, we decided to watch La La Land on Netflix with the entire family.

Munchkin Visit

Claudia and Tünde came for a visit so I got to spend some godfather time with the munchkin.  

We had a few movie nights including a Harry Potter & sushi night.  

Another night we headed out to Ikea for a bit of shopping and some Swedish meatballs.  

It was fun getting to spend some time with the chicas.  On Thursday night, we headed over to the park at the observatory to see the planets.  The Moon is back on display with the Earth, Mars, and this time with Venus.

It's still new but I recently started seeing someone.  We're just starting to introduce each other to our friends.  Karel joined us for an hour at the park and Tünde was very excited that she, and Claudia, got to be the first people who've met him.  They seemed to approve so that's a plus.  Let's see how things go but on Friday we headed to Prague for the weekend and had a good time.

Terralona

This week the Brno Observatory and Planetarium has a programme called "Z Měsíce na Zemi" which means "From the Moon to the Earth."  At the park at Kraví hora is a 10-metre (33 feet) diameter of the Earth along with Europe's largest model of the moon.

The Earth model, the Terralona, was on display from 6 - 12 July but I missed it then so I'm glad that I got to see it this time.  Seeing now is even better because the now it's next to the moon model, the Lunalon.

COVID-19 precautions are in place with social distancing, a maximum of 1000 people at any time and masks are required inside the observatory.

Update: - In 2023, the planets are back as part of the Planet Festival.

Samarkand, Uzbekistan

Samarkand, or Samarqand in Uzbek,  is in southeastern Uzbekistan.  It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in Central Asia.  It's 240 km (149 miles) from Bukhara and 344 km (214 miles) from Tashkent.  It's only about 35 km (22 miles) to the Tajik border.

It is believed that the city was founded between the 8th and 7th centuries with evidence of human activity from the late Palaeolithic Era.  With about 520.000 residents, and 950.000 in the greater metro area, Samarkand is one of the biggest cities in the country.

Samarkand was conquered by Alexander the Great in 329 BC.  It was then ruled by numerous Iranian and Turkic rulers until Genghis Khan and the Mongols conquered it in 1220.  In 1868 the city was annexed by the Russian Empire.  From 1925 to 1930 it was the capital of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic before the capital was moved to Tashkent.

Due to its position on the Silk Route the city has been a crossroads of cultures and in 2001 Samarkand was listed as a World Heritage Site.

Registan was the heart of the old city.  The architecture of the public square and its three madrasahs is simply stunning.  Especially at night.  

The Amir Temur Mausoleum was completed in 1404.  Inscribed in the tomb is a warning that reads "Whosoever disturbs my tomb will unleash an invader more terrible than I."  The tomb was opened in 1941, two days before Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union.  The story goes that Stalin believed the curse and ordered that Amir Temur be reburied.

The Ulugh Beg Observatory was built in the 1420s.  It was destroyed in 1449 and rediscovered in 1908.  It's said to have been one of the finest observatories in the Islamic world.  It became a museum in 1970.  

Islom Karimov was President of the Uzbek SSR in 1990 until he declared independence in 1991.  He then became the first President and remained so until his death in 2016.  Another former Soviet leader that remained in power for more than 25 years.

I believe that the Memorial Complex of the First President of the Republic of Uzbekistan opened in 2018.

The Shah-i-Zinda is a complex of mausoleums and other ritual buildings.  There are more than twenty buildings dating from the 11th to 19th centuries.  

Legend has it that a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad is buried here.  The complex is enormous and you could spend half a day here checking everything out and taking photos.

The Bibi-Khanym Mosque was completed in 1404.  During the 15th century it was one of the world's largest mosques.

Across from the mosque is the Bibi-Khanym mausoleum.  The 14th century mausoleum is home to five tombs.

The Gumbaz Synagogue was built in 1891.  This is a working temple for the city's approximate 50 Jews.

During the day I came across Orthodox, Muslim, and Jewish cemeteries.

The Slyob Bazaar is the city's largest bazaar.  Quite popular with both locals and tourists.

Sadreddin Ayni was the father of modern Uzbek and Tajik literature.  His homes turned in to a museum in 1967.  I'd never heard of him before the museum was interesting.

Afrasiab Museum of Samarkand is one of the largest archaeological sites in the world.

The Mausoleum of Saint Daniel, the prophet from the Old Testament, is visited by Jews, Christians, and Muslims.  

He rests in an 18 metre (59 foot) sarcophagus.  Legend has it that it is because his remains continue to grow.  The more likely version is that this made it harder for grave robbers to disturb his remains.