May 26, 2015 - Tanya's Trip to Mendocino - Day 4

Tanya's Daily Scoop
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Hi there everyone! Hope you had a great Memorial Day weekend!

It's TRAVELIN' TUESDAY, and I'm still travelin'.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm gonna share some of my most recent travel updates - both the good, the not as good, and the frustrating!

I'm happy to announce that these bookings have now been taken care of:

1. I finally signed all 4 of us up for the Gladiator Mud Run! Read about last years event HERE
2. Dave's return flight from the MLB All Star Game is finally booked.
3. Our return flights from Reno are also finally booked! (This trip departs in 11 days!) 
4. And as for today, we are all checked in and ready to head home at 9pm tonight.

I'm frustrated to announce that I received an email from America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride...

on Saturday informing us that:

The Tahoe Queen, the contracted vessel for the boat cruise transport portion of the 35 Mile ride, is unable to access Garwood's Pier due to the extremely low water level of Lake Tahoe.
And that it is with Deep Regret that for the first time in the 24-year history of America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride, that we are unable to offer the Boat Cruise & 35 Mile ride as traditionally offered for America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride.
UGH UGH UGH!

So now instead of a lovely boat ride across Lake Tahoe (which btw I've never done). 
We get the “Augmented Option”, being transported by Bus to Carnelian Bay (where we would have gotten off the boat) and our bikes will be transported by truck...
So not the same - I was looking forward to the boat portion of this riding adventure!

Oh well. 

But see there is good news that came about from this change and it brought my attention to the soon upcoming trip and had me rethink the itinerary and make some adjustments to our schedule (changing our flights and hotel reservations).
 
This is awesome news! 
Because ya see, I had purchased the flight tickets heading up to Tahoe months ago, and the kids choir recently posted the date for their year end celebration - of which I was gonna have to miss (insert HUGE boos right here). 

I have never missed a year end party/celebration/graduation ever in all of their 10+ years with the choir. 
I was very upset by thinking that I wasn't going to be there. And now I will definitely be there and not miss out on anything of the sort! I'm so very relieved!!

And another fun thing is a short trip that I am now planning for the month of November! 
We are going to go visit Yosemite National Park - it sure has been a while (5 years ago to be exact - I was there for Memorial Day wkd in 2011).
*This trip idea was a direct result of me looking further into the Skunk Rail. More on this trip next week!

Now to bring you up to speed with my current trip here in Mendocino, and the SCOOP on yesterday:

The drive was very classic and winding Pacific Coast Highway. 
Hugging shoreline of the Pacific Ocean, with a marine layer and hanging fog, lush forests filled with towering Cypress and Coastal Redwoods. 
Hair raising turns, a jagged rocky coastline and plenty more drop offs than can be counted! 
Incredibly amazing and beautiful, but certainly not for the faint at heart..

We arrived at the city of Elk which was recommended as a mini version of the town of Mendocino. Well it was no mini Mendocino. Whoever came up with that comparison was a liar.

The town of Elk in the distance.

Perhaps charming at a glance, but it was a bore. Luckily it was on our way to Point Arena, because if that was our only destination I would've been sorely disappointed. 

Point Arena Lighthouse

We arrived at the Point Arena Lighthouse, which is not only the tallest lighthouse on the Pacific, but also located on the closest point of land to the state of Hawaii! Which was the nearest I'll be to Hawaii until arriving there for my September vacation! 
Anyhow, we browsed the museum and gift shop, climbed up the 11 stories and 144 steps to the top, got a nice docent led tour, stepped out onto the observation deck, took in the panoramic views of Manchester Beach and the rugged Mendocino Coast, even seeing a gray whale in the distance! 

Climbing down the 144 steps in the lighthouse

The weather was suppose to be partly cloudy, and instead the conditions were totally white. 
Between the fog and the coastal marine layer we couldn't really get the pictures that we had hoped for, since there really was no contrast to be had.

Watching a cute seal.

After leaving the lighthouse we headed into Point Arena, and then to Schooner Gulch Beach and on a wild goose chase to find Bowling Ball Beach. 
Which eventually we did - at mile marker 11.41 in case you were wondering. 
Well I must say that for some reason (because I read that the beach features prehistoric boulders) I was expecting Bowling Ball sized boulders.         Which they were not...

At Bowling Ball Beach

So, although I wasn't impressed by much of what I saw, I still managed to have fun and thoroughly enjoy the day. 
My highlights being the basking seals at both Point Arena & Schooner Gulch Beach, and climbing on the rocks a Schooner Gulch.

We then came back to the Inn and enjoyed tea time and a yummy Apple crumble was while sitting back and listening to the cracking fire that was ablaze behind me. 

Lastly we headed into the Mendocino village and did a bit of shopping, also taking the "official" picture of the Blair House - of the Murder She Wrote TV series fame!

The Blair House AKA the house from "Murder She Wrote"

But really any day that I get to see seals and can climb on rocks is a good day in my book!

Today after a bit of touring around we are leaving Mendocino, and heading to our tour of the Navarro Vineyards before making our way back to San Francisco, and then finally heading back home late tonight.

I'll catch ya back here tomorrow from SoCal!

Toodles,
-T

Elisa's Daily Scoop
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Travelin' Tuesday - Spotlight: Krakow, Poland

Wow, I almost forgot that today is Tuesday.  These 3-day weekends mess me up for the entire week.

Today, Tanya and I have some fun stuff in store for you.  

I will be continuing with my review of the sights and attractions that Tanya and I will be visiting on Tanya and Elisa's Milestone Birthday Eastern Europe Trip.

And Tanya is going to take you on a breathtaking tour of a few of the sites in Mendochino, CA from her weekend trip, for which, today is day 4.

But, before I get into our Travelin' news, let me tell you about my Memorial Day yesterday.

It was a mellow day - Wrote most of the morning - hope you caught my Entertainment Review about Gigi on Broadway. I absolutely LOVED IT!!!

Then I did some more "hauling" by going through my pants and jackets.  The piles just keep growing.  I actually think I'm going to bring all this stuff to the Veteran's Association when I'm completely done cleaning everything out.

Kelsey and Mark at the park

In the afternoon, I took Kelsey to the park, where I met my friend Marta and her son, Mark. It was a gorgeous day and the kids ran around, played ball and just acted like kids.

Now, let's talk about our trip to Eastern Europe...

Last week, I covered Prague, the first city on our trip.  From Prague, we will be moving onto Krakow, Poland, and that is where I will be focusing on today!

Our Travel Route (clockwise starting in Prague)

We will be arriving in Krakow early morning on Day 4 of our trip via overnight train from Prague, and will be spending 3 full days in this city.

Our itinerary is quite full and I'd like to highlight a few of the places we will be touring.

Rynek Glowny "Main Market Square" (credit: krakow-info.com)

Rynek Glowny ("Main Market Square")
There are several sights in the Main Market Square that we will visiting on our first day in Krakow. These will include the following four:

1. Wawel Cathedral & Wawel Royal Castle
People lived on the Wawel Hill at least as early as fifty thousand years ago, in the Paleolithic Age. three thousand years ago, the settlement was apparently bustling with trade, with assorted crafts and with farming. 

The Wawel Cathedral, Katedra Wawelska in Polish, was the coronation site of Polish monarchs and remains Poland's most important national sanctuary. Thanks to its 1000-year-old history and numerous treasures the Krakow cathedral is arguably the most interesting place in the whole country, with the adjacent Wawel Royal Castle being the close second.

It was at the turn of the past millennium when the rulers of Poland took up their residence at Wawel Royal Castle. Visitors can see many exquisite interiors of the Royal Castle complete with beautiful period furniture and world-class objects of art. 

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Wawel Cathedral (credit: en.wikipedia.org)

2. St. Mary's Basilica  
St. Mary's Basilica is a Brick Gothic church re-built in the 14th century, adjacent to the Main Market Square in Kraków, Poland. Standing 80 m tall, it is particularly famous for its wooden altarpiece carved by Veit Stoss.
  
The basilica of the Virgin Mary's is home to an unmatched  Oltarz Mariacki, giant Gothic altarpiece carved by Veit Stoss, Europe's greatest sculptor of the period, between 1477 and 1489. In 1491 he also sculptured a stone crucifix that now is part of the late-Baroque altarpiece in the south aisle, and possibly the magnificent huge crucifix above the nave as well. 

St. Mary's Basilica (credit: Poland.travel.com)

 3. The Cloth Hall
 The Cloth Hall in Kraków, Lesser Poland, dates to the Renaissance and is one of the city's most recognizable icons. It is the central feature of the main market square in the Kraków Old Town. 

The Cloth Hall (credit: commons.wikipedia.org)

4. The Rynek Underground 
The underground square central museum of Kraków is situated below the market square of the city and has an area of over 6000 metres square. Work on the underground square first began at the start of 2009 and cost 38 million zloty.

Click Here to see the museum's website, which is very interesting to read about. 

The Rynek Underground Museum (credit: wonderful.crakow)

Auschwitz-Birchenau State Museum
Perhaps one of the saddest journeys Tanya and I will embark upon will be to Auschwitz-Birchenau State Museum - the site of the NAZI concentration camp. We will tour this site on Day 2 of our trip.

I know this will be a solemn visit, but in honor of all the innocent that were imprisoned and killed, we will pay our respects as history should NEVER FORGET what happened.

The Auschwitz concentration camp was established in April 1940 in the prewar Polish army barracks on the outskirts of Oświęcim. Originally intended for Polish political prisoners, the camp was 'repurposed ' as a dedicated center for the wholesale extermination of the Jews of Europe. For this purpose, the much larger camp at Birkenau (Brzezinka), also referred to as Auschwitz II, was built 1.25miles (2km) west of the original site in 1941 and 1942, followed by another one in Monowitz (Monowice), several kilometers / miles to the west. It is now estimated that in total this death factory eliminated some 1.6 million people of 27 nationalities, including 1.1 million Jews, 150,000 Poles and 23,000 Roma.

Auschwitz was only partially destroyed by the fleeing Nazis, and many of the original brick buildings stand to this day as a bleak testament to the camp's history. Some 13 of the 30 surviving prison blocks now house museum exhibitions, either general or dedicated to victims from particular countries or races that lost citizens at Auschwitz. (credit: Viator.com)
 

Wieliczka Salt Mine
As part of the same tour as Auschwitz-Birkenau, we will be visiting the Wieliczka Salt Mine to go on the breathtaking trip along underground routes through saline chambers.  It is sure to be an incredible experience. 

With a history of more than seven hundred years, the historic “Wieliczka” Salt Mine is Poland’s oldest business venture. Since 1978 it has been featured on the UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage List. 

The mine provides a venue for splendid underground concerts and theatre shows, it is here where films are shot and excellent exhibitions are put on display. 

CLICK HERE for more information.

Wieliczka Salt Mine (credit: tripadvisor)

Oscar Schindler Factory
Oskar Schindler was an ethnic German industrialist, spy, and member of the Nazi Party who is credited with saving the lives of 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his enamelware and ammunitions factories, which were located in occupied Poland and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. 

He is the subject of the 1982 novel Schindler's Ark, and the subsequent 1993 film Schindler's List, which reflected his life as an opportunist initially motivated by profit who came to show extraordinary initiative, tenacity, and dedication in order to save the lives of his Jewish employees.

We will be visiting the Oskar Schindler Enamelled Goods Factory which was re-opened to the public as a world-class museum in 2010. 

Oskar Schindler Factory (credit: Poland Wanderer.com)

Well, my friends, I hope you have enjoyed my preview of Krakow, Poland, where Tanya and I will be visiting next month.

Next Travelin' Tuesday, I'll be telling you all about Budapest and our planned adventures to this Hungarian city!

Till then, have a great day!!


-E
xoxo