JUST FORWARD MY MAIL

Ajijic is a town about 3 miles from, and a part of, the municipality of Chapala, in the State of Jalisco, Mexico. Situated on the north shore of Lake Chapala is surrounded by mountains, Ajijic enjoys a moderate climate year round. The population is around 15,000 of which about 15% or American or Canadian.
This wonderful world is where my sweetheart and myself decided to spend a long weekend and by the third day we were visiting with the local real estate agents. You get to Ajijic by flying into Guadalajara and taking a taxi ride up over the mountains at the south end of the city. In about 45 minutes you cross over the mountains and view Mexico’s largest fresh water lake that forms in a basin that sits up 5100 feet in the air. Imagine tropical vegetation, coconuts, mangos, citrus and bananas in a high mountain valley.
National Geographic magazine rates it as one of the three best climates in the world. Most of the year, it is warm, dry and sunny during the day, and cool nights make it great for sleeping. This is not a place where air conditioners are running all the time, in fact, this is not a land of air conditioners. None, Nada. There is a rainy season -- which is the favorite of many residents because everything turns lush and green -- from June to October, but it usually only rains in the late afternoon or evening and at night. In the morning everything is fresh and clean, with blue skies overhead once again.
This is not an oxymoron. Ajijic is a traditional lakeshore village with a shady plaza, parish church and adobe homes. Ajijic is a magnet for expatriates all along the shore, and the foreign influence has given rise to a cosmopolitan offering in arts, entertainment and dining. Home to artists and writers since the early 1950s, Ajijic is the locale of the Auditorium for concerts and dance performances. Art galleries, restaurants and beer joints abound in the village. The vast variety of restaurants offers cuisine from traditional Mexican to Chinese, Argentine, Greek, Thai, German and much, much more.
Ajijic’s growing group of expatriates come for the foreign culture and the diverse, creative population living and working here. They also come for the very low cost of living. Obamacare stops at the border but you can still live quiet well on social security. Nothing about Ajijic feels contrived or fabricated: instead the village hums with authenticity. The village slow pace serves as a welcome change from the fast paced life in Guadalajara just one hour to the north. As I said, just forward my mail.

When I’m away from my blogging career, hopefully, I’m working hard at my real job, it helps pay the bills. . I’m back now to rescue my readers that I abandoned in the middle of the Czech Republic. We head north to another incredibly beautiful city. Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. It is one of the larger cities of Central Europe and has served as the capital of the historic region of Bohemia for centuries. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava River, the city is home to about 1.3 million people. My Sweetheart insisted we get a glance of the city by doing a short and quick city tour before we started roaming. The city tour occurred in a low roofed mini-van at about the speed of a Nascar race. I remember seeing Prague’s famous Crazy Building from ground level as a burr passing by quickly. By the time we reached the Prague Castle I was ready to bale and bale I did. Of course this means I would have to walk from the Castle District back across the Charles Bridge to our hotel in Old Town. The Charles Bridge is a famous historic bridge that crosses the Vltava River and was constructed in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV, and finished in the beginning of the 15th century. As the only means of crossing the river Vltava until 1841, the Charles Bridge was the most important connection made Prague important as a trade route between Eastern and Western Europe. The bridge was originally called the Stone Bridge or the Prague Bridge but has been the "Charles Bridge" since 1870. Today after my long walk up and down it’s entrance stairs, I have my own name for the bridge. The bridge is 1675 feel long and nearly 40 feet wide, resting on 16 arches shielded by ice guards. It is protected by three bridge towers, two of them on the Lesser Quarter side and the third one on the Old Town side. The steps leading up from the bridge and the Old Town bridge tower is often considered to be one of the most astonishing civil gothic-style buildings in the world. The bridge is decorated by a continuous alley of 30 statues and statuaries, most of them baroque-style, originally erected around 1700 but now all replaced by replicas. The most popular is the statue of St. John, a Czech martyr who was executed by being thrown from the bridge into the river. Rubbing St. Johns belly is suppose to bring good luck and also ensure your return to Prague one day. During the day the bridge and all of Old Town is a very busy venue with painters, owners of kiosks, and vendors alongside numerous tourists crossing the bridge, but at night Charles Bridge turns into a quiet place and it is in this area of Old Town we found a wonderful sidewalk restaurant for dinner and a glass of the local wine. Weakened by my long walk and the cooling night air, I slept in the following morning while my sweetheart visited the Jewish Cemetery. She enjoyed the guides tour of the cemetery and I enjoyed a much needed rest before we headed for Dresden, Germany.

I Left My Heart in Cesky Krumlov

The last time I left my readers, after war damage in Europe, the Vienna woods and sunset on the Danube River, we were crossing the Alps in the snow to arrive in the Czech Republic. For those who are fascinated by that last sentence, it was designed to optimize my hits on the internet. A blatant act of self promotion by the blogger who travels the globe to educate his fellow man. I can feel the new hits already.
Anyway, we did arrive in Cesky Krumlov. Cesky Krumlov is a small city in the southern part of the Czech Republic and is best known for the fine architecture and art of the historic old town. The Castle in Old Český Krumlov is a World Heritage and was given this status along with the historic Praque Castle. During the communist era of Czechoslovakia, Krumlov fell into disrepair, but since the Velvet Revolution of 1989 much of the town's former beauty has been restored, and it is now a major holiday destination popular with tourists. The Old town is surrounded by the Vltava River with many cafes and restaurants overlooking the river. If the café is not overlooking the river it is buried in one of the many underground caves and wine cellars.
The Cesky Krumlov Castle is unusually large for a town of Krumlov's size; within the Czech Republic it is second in extent only to the Hradcany castle in Praque. Inside its grounds is a large garden with an extensive bridge over a deep gap in the rock upon which the castle is built. The castle itself, which has many different parts dating from different periods of time. Český Krumlov Castle preserves its Barouqe theater, built from 1680-82 and renovated with modern stage equipment in 1765-66. With this original stage machinery, scenery and props it is among only a few such court theatres that still exist. Due to its age, the theatre is only used three times a year (only two are open to the public), when a Baroque Opera is performed in simulated candlelight. My Sweetheart in her unsupervised wandering stumbled into one of the theater company’s practice sessions.
This town is the cradle of endless Czech culture and seems stuck in is own time warp. I would highly recommend visiting the restaurants, shops and Castle, and even staying a few days, because visiting Krumlov means visiting the old world in the Czech Republic, and it is an experience you will remember for a lifetime. It may be a little trying on old knee joints as you stroll up and down the narrow cobble stone paths but there is always a comfortable chair and glass of wine around the next corner.