Mendel Walking Tour

Last weekend we did the Gregor Johann Mendel in Brno self-paced walking tour published by the Tourist Information Centre.

The tour is about 7,5 km (4.5 miles) and takes 2,5 to 4 hours depending if you add museum visits or not.  The tour connects sites across the city associated with Gregor Johann Mendel, the father of modern genetics, and his life in Brno.

At Mendlovo náměstí (Mendel Square) is the Augustinian Abbey.  In 1843, he joined the monastery as a novice and lived there for more than 40 years.

The abbey sits between the Mendel Museum and the basilica.

After Mendel completed his theology studies in 1848, he served as a pastor for sick people at St. Anne's Hospital. 

At Šilingrovo náměstí is the Barceló hotel.  A very nice, posh hotel that opened in 2012.  The building used to be called the Municipal Courtyard where Mendel hosted meetings and lectures as vice-chairman of the Natural Science Society.

Mendel regularly contributed to the Moravian Academy of Sciences which was housed in Bishop's Court.

After he was ordained as a priest, Mendel gave his first church service at St. Michael's Church, at Dominikánské náměstí on 15 August 1847.

The New Town Hall was one of the places where Mendel participated in flower exhibitions as part of the Agricultural Society.

Mendel was a chief advisor and judge for horticultural exhibitions of the Agricultural Society.  In the 1860s many of these exhibitions were held in the Reduta Theatre.

Mendel taught physics and natural history for 14 years at the German State High School.

There's a plaque on the building in Czech, English, and German.

He gave many presentations at the German Technical University that was established in 1849.  Today it is part of Masaryk University.

In 1881, Mendel served as director of the Moravian Mortgage Bank which was headquartered at the Moravian Land Assembly.  Today the building is the seat of the Czech Constitutional Court.

Near the Bishop's Court is Mendelianum.  The premises used to be home to the Agricultural Society where Mendel was an active member.  Mendelianum presents modern genetics with other branches of science.

Lužánky Park opened in 1786 and is one of the first public parks in Central Europe.  Mendel participated in gardening exhibitions here.

Mendel is buried in the Augustinian Tomb at the Central Cemetery.  I still haven't made it out to the Central Cemetery but it's still on my list.

While we were at the New Town Hall we say some people who were protesting Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

Я за Україну. Я за Україною. Слава Україні  Stojím za Ukrajinou!  I stand with Ukraine. 

Saxon Heritage in Transylvania Tour

On Sunday we did a Saxon Heritage in Transylvania tour.  The Transylvanian Saxons were German-speaking settlers who lived in Transylvania for about 800 years.  They were invited by Hungarian kings in the 12-13th centuries.  The Saxons were trades and crafts people who helped strengthen Christianity and defended the eastern border of the Kingdom of Hungary.

Siebel was our first stop.  It's a rural village, off about 400 people, in the foothills of the Transylvania Alps.  

The Holy Trinity Church is an Orthodox church built in 1765 and it's a registered historic landmark.  There's a small cemetery adjacent to the courtyard.

Next to the church is the Museum of Icons on Glass.  It opened in the 1960s and has one of the largest collections of glass painted icons in Romania.

Fântânele is a nearby small village of about 250 people.  It's small but it's a nice place for a walk.

The Saint Nicholas Church was built in 1771 and is a registered historic monument.  

The hill next to the church is a cemetery and there's a nice view of the local area from the top.

Sibiu is about 170 km (105 miles) from Cluj.  The city is home to about 134.000 people.  It used to be known as Hermanstadt and it's the capital of the historic region of Transylvania. 

The Lutheran Cathedral of Our Lady in Sibiu was built in the 14th -16th centuries.

The Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity was built in the 18th century and is considered one of the most important Baroque churches in Transylvania.

The Thalia Hall opened in 1788 and it is home to the Sibiu State Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Carpenter's Tower is part of the city's historic fortifications.

Sibiu was a lovely city but unfortunately we only had a couple of hours to visit after lunch.  I'm definitely up for a weekend trip to Sibiu to properly explore.

Salt Mine and Hiking Tour, Romania

On Saturday we took an all-day tour to see some of the sights near Cluj.  It was a full day, with just us, another couple, and our guide Tudor.

We started off at the Turda Salt Mine about 35 km (21 miles) from Cluj.

Table salt was continuously produced here from the Middle Ages until 1932.  It reopened in 1992 as a salt therapy centre.  It was renovated in 2008 and opened for tourists in 2010.

There's an underground layyrinth carved out of salt, numerous chambers with historic mining equipment, and an underground lake to explore.  

Less of a salt mine and more of an underground theme park.  There's a Ferris wheel, miniature golf, table tennis, bowling, and boats to keep people entertained. 

After the salt mine we headed to Cheile Turzii, the Turda Gorge about 30 minutes away.  

The Turda Gorge is a 3 kilometre limestone canyon that's home to 1000 plant and animal species.  There are caves here that were inhabited since Neolithic times.

We spend about two hours doing a 9 kilometre (5.5 mile) hike.  The views were lovely and it felt good to do some hiking.

After our hike we visited a small village called Rimetea which used to be an important mining town. 

Rimetea has been inhabited since Roman times and is now home to about 1000 people.  

Although a Romanian village, the population is about 85% ethnic Hungarian.  In Hungarian, the village is called Torockó.

The former local administrative budding was built in 1889.  In 1952 it became an ethnographical museum.

The Orthodox Monastery of the Holy Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael was built in 1933.

The interior was absolutely stunning.  Well worth a visit.

Pamukkale and Hierapolis Tour, Türkiye

On Wednesday we had a tour to Pamukkale and Hierapolis.  It's still a couple of weeks before the tourist season really starts so we got lucky that our group tour ended up just being the two of us so we basically had a private tour.

We were met by our guide Umut and our driver Ali who drove us, from Kuşadasi, on the 200 km (125 miles) to Pamukkale which took about 2,5 hours.

Pamukkale, in southwestern Türkiye, means "cotton castle" and it is famous for the carbonate mineral residue from thermal springs which at a distance looks like snow covered mountains.

The Ancient Greek city of Hierapolis was founded in 2nd century BC.  In 133 BC, Hierapolis became part of the Roman Empire but it and it was destroyed by an earthquake in 17 AD.  The Apostle Philip lived the last years of his life here and he was crucified here in 80 AD.  

There are lots of Greek ruins, a necropolis, theatre, temples, and a museum that are all easy to explore by walking around.

In 1988, Hierapolis and Pamukkale was added as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

There are 17 hot springs in the area and they range in temperature from 35℃ to 100℃ (95℉ - 212℉).  The most famous one is Cleopatra's Pool.  It's said that the waters have curative properties and you get to swim around ancient ruins.  

I'm still not sure why it's called Cleopatra's pool because she never swam here.  The plan was originally to go swimming but Kája was fighting a bit of a cold so we decided to skip the swim here.  Although we did wade out a bit in one of the springs overlooking the valley.

The big draw here is still the travertine terrace formations formed from mineral-rich waters cascading down the mountain side for hundreds of years.

Here's a Rick Steves video I found out on YouTube.

©Rick Steves

One of the cool things to do here is go paragliding.  I am still not a fan of heights but for some reason I had it in my head that I needed to do it.  I have no idea why but I did it.  It was brilliant!!

It was a tandem run and my pilot Gökhan was great.  Here's a bit of the video he took with my iPhone.

Me and Gökhan