Happy 2008!

to all of you!!!

Half Moon Bay

Only 44 miles drive, I believe, for us are the beaches of Half Moon Bay the closest access to the open ocean.

Today we spent a very cold day at the beach. To be honest now and then I like to see some clouds in stead of the everyday blue skies.

Even it was really freezing and the sea was wild and stormy it was as usual difficult to keep Maarten out of the water.

Our Christmas Hike

Maarten doesn’t want to do anything else than to play with his trains.


However it is a shame to stay inside when the weather is so lovely. It is Rob this time who suggests going for a walk in the hills next to our home.
We take something for lunch with us since you never know how far we will get.
Maarten is not really cooperating at first. We have to climb already from the trailhead.


A heard of young bulls keep us company and their mooing makes Maarten crazy. They are everywhere and they look pretty stubborn when we need to pass. They are scared the same way like Maarten and since he is really roaring the bulls start to moo even harder.



When we finally reach the top of the Rocky Ridge a panoramic view of the vast bay rewards this strenuous hike.
What a shame my camera is not good enough to capture all the wonderful vistas in all directions.



There is still more climbing but Maarten is not complaining anymore.
He sees that the bulls stayed at the drinking trough deep down the steep hill.


The days are quite short because of the season.

When I watch the flaming sky later the day I have to think about how beautiful would be the sunsets up there.

'Šťastné a Veselé'

Today is the Štědrý den - the Open-handed day, de Kerstdag - there is not an exact translation for this special day. At least for most of the Czechs this is a special day.

Even we have a thick fog in the morning the sun breaks through within a couple of hours like every day.
Considering the time difference with Europe we have to make some phone calls already early in the morning. Because of the special day and because our Dutch grandma has got her birthday. There is a lot of snow at my mom’s place. I’m a little jealous since our backyard is full of flowers and the hills are nice green.
We usually go to the graveyard on the Štědrý den but here we can skip this custom.

We go to the nearby wilderness for a walk. Maarten is looking forward to run along the twisting creek and to throw sticks into the water.

But the creek bed is still mostly dry. Luckily there are so many acorns to collect.

Suddenly there is someone at the path ahead of us looking surprised through the bushes. Well we are surprised too especially Maarten who climbs immediately in daddy’s arms.
Along the way home we observe the ostriches and zebras grazing on the hills. They belong to a local farmer. It’s a bit strange scene I admit.

Back home I try to keep with the tradition and with assistence of my little helper I prepare the obložené chlebíčky. Maarten is actually more impressed by the Italian salami than by my potato salad.




It is probably the last Christmas when Ježíšek brought the presents to us right after the Christmas dinner. Considering that Maarten is exposed to the American way of life every day, I guess, it will be impossible to keep Ježíšek also for the next Christmas. If we will be still in America next year Santa will probably visit Maarten the same way like the local children. Nothing wrong with that of course.

The Breeding Season at Año Nuevo

We are not unpacked yet and we still need to do a lot of Christmas shopping…
But lucky us we have a reservation and are ‘forced’ to escape all the Christmas hassle into the serenity of the peaceful seashore. The elephant seals have actually completely different concerns these days. That is to say somewhere around mid-December the elephant seals come to breed ashore at the Año Nuevo State Reserve.
Here you can follow their actual migration.

Our last visit in January two years ago we could watch the pregnant females and the mothers nursing their newborn pups.

Today we are a month earlier and hope to see the bull seals fighting for breeding access to the females.
We are all excited and Maarten is so enthusiast already when sees his favorite ocean. His enthusiasm stays till he sees the first bull.

He gets so scared. He clings to Rob who has to give up all efforts to film the spectacle. Besides of that Maarten starts to scream and wail asking us to go home immediately. You have to be very quiet since you go really very close to the resting animals. He insists to be carried and I guess we have no choice.

We are very lucky. Even not all the bulls are ashore yet we can already experience some interaction and fighting for dominance. We have to keep at least 25 feet distance from those huge animals (14 – 16 ft long and 2.5 tons weight!). Our guide compares elephant seal attack to an encounter with a Chevy Truck! We better watch out.

Suddenly two of the bulls start to fight. It’s a spectacular scene but we understand why the ranger orders us to back up quickly. While the two are fighting all the other males begin to move too.


Our ‘little hero’ is obviously relieved when we left the elephant seals colony behind the dunes.

Holidays Our Way

And how about your holidays out there?
Do you eat turkey for Christmas dinner like the Americans?
What about Santa? Isn’t it ridiculous? …
I often get questions like that. Not a surprise, huh? Sure, we live abroad but besides of that each of the three of us was born in a different country…

Compare to the locals our holiday celebration starts already somewhere in the mid November. (In America I haven’t noticed anything about celebration of the Saint Nicholas (death) on 6th December.)
This is a Dutch tradition when the children can put their shoes by the fireplace to receive some goodies from Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas). Already that early arrives Sinterklaas by boat to Holland with his helper de Zwarte Piet (Black Peter). We didn’t celebrate Sinterklaas much this year since we were on the move lately.
The Czech celebration of Mikuláš is less exuberant but not less amusing. We just don’t know de Zwarte Piet. We grew up with Devils and Angels. Though the intentions of Zwarte Piet of the Devils is actually very similar. Both like to take the naughty children in the bag to take them to the hell or … to Spain! (the Dutch version)
Maarten was quite good at distinguishing between those ‘two’ holy men speaking about Sinterklaas to his dad and about Mikuláš to me! But then we have another good man in town. The 'local' Santa. How do we explain him? To be honest now it’s just up to Maarten to call Santa Mikuláš or Sinterklaas or simply Santa.

And we are not there yet!
For us Czechs Mikuláš is not that great celebration like for the Dutch. The Mikuláš Eve used to be just a ‘foretaste’ of the, for us children, most important holiday of the year, the Christmas.
I’m sorry to admit this but as time goes by I start to believe that the magic of Christmas I used to experience back in Czech is impossible to imitate anywhere in the world. Or is it just the sentiment of every childhood?

Anyway Rob doesn’t have such romantic and tender memories of the Dutch Christmas (I guess I know why). But I always wanted to pass on this magic to my children. The Czech Christmas means so many wonderful traditions, carols, cookies, a special Christmas Eve dinner and the atmosphere you just have to experience yourself. (Even the people are nicer to each other starting with the Advent…)

O.K. I don’t prepare carp for the Christmas Eve dinner anymore but we still eat fish and potato salad. And since we have Maarten I also bake the famous cookies! It seems Rob is adapting pretty well (except for the carp than) but there is still a little problem in our multicultural family.

Who is going to bring the presents?
As I understood there is also already someone who brings Christmas presents to the Dutch children – de Kerstman (an American influence reversely?).
In Czech every child experiences the excitement awaiting the arrival of Ježíšek (the child Jesus). First we write letters to him with our wishes. Then we put it on the window and hope he will find our letters and fulfill our dreams just on the Christmas Eve. (Though Ježíšek may never read my wishes correct. This was obvious at the big packages filled with (tea-) towels every year again and again…)
Anyway de Kerstman and Ježíšek are another two ‘holy somebody’ who we should incorporate in our holidays. To be honest I don’t mind it at all and forgive me if Maarten calls Ježíšek Santa, Mikuláš , Kerstman or Sinterklaas.
Besides of all of this Maarten calls Ježíšek 'ježeček' (= a little hedgehog). This is not only a wrong pronunciation since he proudly translates it to his daddy as 'een egeltje' which means indeed a little hedgehog in Dutch.

Please, don’t worry if you can’t follow anymore.
Till now Maarten seems to like all of our holiday traditions no matter their origin and how we call it. We all have a wonderful time with our mixed up holidays.
And that’s what counts.

Public Safety Notice

We never use the home security system.
I never felt unsafe in San Ramon neither in Walnut Creek before. I know about certain neighborhoods you should avoid but this seems so far away.
Our neighborhood is so peaceful and friendly…

Though within a few days I received several warnings which reminds us that you should always beware.
The danger may just not be that far away:

There has been a rash of 4 armed home robberies in the Bollinger Hills
and adjacent neighborhood in the last two weeks.
One unsuspecting home owner walked in on the robbers at 2:45 p.m. and
was seriously injured during the robbery.

According to the San Ramon Police, there is a suspected gang from San
Jose who are believed responsible for the robberies.
They drive SUVs, Mercedes, Lexus so they seem to blend in.

Please be on the look-out for any suspicious activity or people who
don't belong.

In response to two recent assaults on women walking on or near the Iron Hose Trail after dark, the San Ramon Police Department has issued the attached Public Safety Notice for local residents. In both cases the victims drove away their attacker by shouting and physically resisting...

'Mikulášská Besídka '

It’s already a pleasure driving the Crow Canyon Road to Castro Valley where the St. Nicolas Party takes place. Just around the corner indeed.

It’s a shame there are no devils at the party according to the Czech tradition but it’s still a lovely gathering.

Maarten gets a bonus teddy bear from Mikuláš as the youngest one and enjoys himself so much. All the children are performing! Most of them are playing piano or trumpet and there are two girls who sing so nicely. Each child sits on Mikuláš’s lap and receives a gift from him and from the Angel.
While singing the Czech Christmas carols I'm completely lost in emotions. It is so beautiful despite some very falls parts ;-) Everybody has a wonderful time.
Besides of that I finally come in touch with some very friendly members of the local Sokol and hope to join them soon.

Yosemite Valley

2 December

I know it is not that smart to go on vacation shortly after moving to a new home. Though it makes also some things easier… for example packing your stuff straight out of the moving boxes.
To be honest I’m not in mood going for vacation at all. There is still so much to do here. And our new home is so lovely. Anyway we pack and go.
We hope to enjoy some snow despite we know you never get much of it in the Yosemite Valley, our today’s destination. And the sky is cloudless as usual.

There is a half-mile detour around Highway 140 in the Merced River Canyon just few miles before the park entrance. Not because of the snow but there is a huge rockslide. Looking at the mass of rocks, dirt and boulders we consider our self lucky not driving here last spring when it all fell down.

Driving through the valley Rob spots a wolf at a forest path but this is most probably a coyote since there are no wolves in this park.

I’m not much impressed by the Lodge we are staying at. Do I have such high expectations or am I spoiled by our comfy tent? ;-
) This room is really not clean. Just look at Maarten’s socks!

Even there is indeed no snow the atmosphere is wintry, people are friendly and all in the holiday mood: the staff and the guests wear the Santa hats and holiday sweaters, the trees are lighted…

3 December

No snow means more opportunities for hikes! And because it is winter and off season we can enjoy the valley and especially the trails with no crowds. That’s why we dare to hit the very popular Mist trail to the Vernal Fall.

As you would expect Maarten is looking for his ‘snuggli’ at first. And the reality is hard. There is not any. Luckily there is a group of school girls on the trail whom Maarten tries to impress. He is almost running up the rock stairs to the top of the fall.


We have to watch him all the time since the steep trail is quite next the waterfall wall. Luckily there is no mist this time of the year so the stairs are not slippery.
It is pretty cold today.

The waterfall is partly frozen and so is the Emerald Pool with Silver Apron just upstream from the waterfall. I wish we can continue to the Nevada Fall we see in the background of the he Emerald Pool. But this would be far too much for our little hiker even he is doing so great.

4 December

The weather forecast promises rain and snow for the end of the week. Who knows we may experience the valley with some white décor.
This morning starts with clouds and some rain. I feel guilty I was complaining about the blue sky.

The views of the valley from the trail are still beautiful even with the grey sky.
On our trip uphill to the Old Inspiration Point Rob sense we are followed by ‘someone’. As usual we encounter some mule deer but any bears like the many summer visitors.

What once used to be considered one of Yosemite’s scenic highlights is now a quiet and desolated place. Present times the views from the Inspiration Point are very much obscured by trees and brush.

It seems Rob’s sense was righ. Is this really the bear scat (poop) what we see everywhere?


5 December

Any snow today either. It means that the Glacier Point Road is still open despite the winter time. It takes an hour drive from the valley.

The place is even more amazing than all the travel guides suggest. Can you imagine a hotel at such a place like that? There used to be two beautiful houses but they both burned to the ground in July 1969.
I believe we are lucky that the National Park Service decided to reduce development of this place so everyone can enjoy these stunning views.

This is the third day of our vacation and as we always say the third day is the ‘crisis day’ in ones physical performance. I don’t know if this is true but Maarten’s behavior today confirms it for sure. Even the today’s trip is such an easy short level walk through beautiful forest it is so difficult to keep Maarten moving forward. I realize I can forget about the Sentinel Dome.


As we approach the Taft Point we meet another hikers and the friendly lady shouts out in fear when she sees Maarten running in the direction of the fissures. We were already warned it’s not for kids and for those with acrophobia either. Maarten is not allowed to do a step by himself. Most of the overlooks at Taft Point have no railings and than you have the five fissures.










Those are straight down cracks in the granite beneath you that offer incredible views of the Valley. I’m still a little dizzy thinking of this scary yet magical place. Even despite the sturdy railings at the ‘safest edge’ of Profile Cliff I do not feel safe at all.





And I’m absolutely not happy seeing Rob with Maarten up there.

Believe me I’m relieved only when we finally leave this place even though this was indeed the most beautiful hike of our vacation.