Hostel in Zdiar, in the Slovakian Tatras

Looking for a budget getaway in the Slovakian Tatra Mountains?  Like to get off the beaten track?  Then the hostel in Zdiar, Slovakia, is a great choice.  Here's a riddle to figure out its name:  a root that adds flavor plus a cute primate that's not an ape.  I think this particular combination has been earning me a lot of spam and shady traffic, so I will mention it no more.  So...maybe not the best name.  But a great hostel.    

Hostel, Zdiar, Slovakia

It's a small hostel, but social.  When I was there, it felt like visiting old friends.  We all ate dinner together, went out for drinks together, watched a movie together.  One of the staff was a real comedian, and had us in fits of laughter several times.  I learned Texas Hold 'Em and lost a dollar in a tournament—but wrapped myself in comfy blankets and drank hot chocolate while I watched the finalists duke it out.  I found a girl to go hiking with, and two patient guys to act as ski instructors.  I didn't want to leave.

Hiking in Zdiar with my new friend, Lauren.

Me with the peaks of the Tatras behind me.

For more about the hostel's amenities and the town of Zdiar, read my article here.

Google the hostel and you'll find it.  I don't want to link because of aforementioned shady traffic.

View of the Tatras in winter from the hostel

My Rapunzel Poem

You can now read my first poem published online!  It's a rather dark narrative poem which I submitted to Fairy Tale Magazine for their Rapunzel contest.  Described by the editor as "hauntingly lovely," it still only came in fifth place, so they put in on their sister magazine, Diamonds and Toads, as a teaser for the four main contest winners, which you can find here.

Enjoy the Read.

"The Tower" by Melinda Brasher

Sharon Shinn's The Safe-Keeper's Secret

I read the Safe-Keeper's Secret partially because I'd heard good things about Sharon Shinn.  Now I realize that her popularity might be mainly based on her adult fiction, of which there seems to be quite a lot. 

I was somewhat disappointed, because very little actually happens in The Safe-Keeper's Secret..   I don't need a lot of car-chase-sword-fight action, but I do need conflict, and all the main characters are just so nice to each other.  There's not even a real villain. 

The most exciting part is at the beginning, when a mysterious rider drops off a baby we believe to be the king's illegitimate child, to the house of a safe-keeper who is also bearing a child the same night. The story is a slow (though nice) account of Fiona and Reed growing up, and how their mother's friends all gather every holiday, so it seems like the whole book becomes a cycle of what they do at the holidays each year.  It's warm and pleasant, but not very tense. 

Reed's rambunctious and life-loving but strangely sensitive character is interesting and well-drawn, even amusing in parts, and contrasts sharply with Fiona's calm and practical personality.  I enjoyed watching them get along so well despite their differences.  

There's not a whole lot of overt magic.  I tire easily of overpowering and mysterious magic, so I liked the balance here.  The magic settles mainly into three strange occupations.  Safe-keepers keep people's secrets (just so they can have the relief of sharing heavy burdens with someone) until the secrets are ready to come out.  It's not explained how the safe-keepers know this, or how the magic keeps the secrets in.  There are also truth-tellers who may only tell the truth, though it's not clear if the magic shows them truths they wouldn't otherwise know.  The dream-maker leaves a trail of fulfilled dreams, though she doesn't actually do anything to facilitate these dreams coming true.  So the magic is all a little hazy. 

Otherwise, the world-building is good, and you get a real feel for the place.  I loved the kirrenberry tree.  It's the emblem of the safe-keepers, and whistles made of its wood make no sound.  Very poetic.   

Shinn weaves in a few nice philosophical questions.  For example, Fiona wants to be a safe-keeper like her mother, who listens to people's secrets and then keeps them.  Fiona can't always be content to just listen.  She wants to fix people's problems.  It's the classic dilemma of priests, therapists, best friends, and spouses everywhere.  I kept expecting something bad to come of her benevolent interference. 

There's also a lot about the danger versus the importance of the truth, and how honesty may not always be the best policy.    

The question I found disturbing was whether it's okay to fall in love with an adoptive brother.  One of the themes seemed to be that love and shared experience make a family, not blood.   Fiona and Reed know they are not biological brother and sister, but they grow us as close as any siblings.  I found it a little creepy that they begin to fall in love.  I suppose it's a valid issue, but it was still disturbing, especially since it seems to clash with the above theme.  I've read a few reviews that say this romance is only "hinted at," but I think you'd have to be pretty dense not to pick up on it. 

The end was a little disappointing, making the whole book feel like a joke on us, an excuse to have a secret that in the end comes out.  Then everything ties up so perfectly for all the main characters.  I like happy endings, but 90% happy for 90% of the people is more than enough. 

The writing itself is very smooth, drawing the reader in even when not much is really happening.  I did enjoy it.  I cared enough for the characters to keep reading, and to be happy for them at the end.  But I think if you haven't read Sharon Shinn before, you might want to try one of her other more highly acclaimed books.  See her website for possibilities. 

My rating:  3


Addendum, 8-16-11:  I just read and enjoyed Summers at Castle Auburn by Sharon Shinn.  A much better book, in my opinion.  To see my whole review, click here.

Fairy Tale Magazine--"Rumpelstiltskin"

I like magazines with themes.  It's fascinating to see how people can create such different stories based on a single line or idea.  Tone, characters, plot, setting...it reaffirms my faith in human imagination.

I also like fairy tales, especially when rewritten in a more immediate, show-not-tell style.

Fairy Tale Magazine (previously Enchanted Conversation) bases each issue on a specific fairytale.  Check out their "Rumpelstiltskin" issue for 10 completely different takes on the classic fairy tale.  Some are clever and funny, some sad and beautiful.  Take a little break today to read a fairy tale:

http://www.fairytalemagazine.com/2011/03/table-of-contents-for-rumpelstiltskin.html

Jacarandas in Spring

In my last post I wrote about spring in the desert, and the purple flowering jacaranda tree.  I've taken about twenty pictures, and none of them capture it, but here's a hint.  This year they've been flowering since about third week of April.

The best time to visit Arizona

I once saw an internet advertisement for Arizona tourism which claimed that Scottsdale—a posh suburb of Phoenix—has good weather year round.  I about choked.  Yes, we have good weather at the time of year when "real" climates have bad weather.  But when those four-seasons cities are enjoying their climate, we have summers with 100 days over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, or 122 days without rain (NOT a good thing, people). Or four days in a row of 117°.  Some people don't mind this much.  A few actually like it.  But for people like me, it's energy-sapping torture.  Given a choice between 110° and 2°, I'll take 2° any day.

So, when is the best time to visit Arizona?  NOT SUMMER.  And remember:  summer starts in April or May and goes until September or October, depending on the year and your tolerance for heat.

Winter in Arizona's desert is nice, except what little grass we have is dead.  It's also a good time to tease native Arizonans who don ridiculously heavy coats (sometimes paired with shorts) and claim they're freezing when the temperatures dip below 60.  

Fall's good, except when it's acting like summer.  Most of the traditional brightly-colored autumn leaves happen in random times like February, and there aren't many to begin with.  

Orange-blossom season is one of my favorites.  The fragrance literally stops me in my tracks.  I always put it on my top-ten list of good smells, right along with bacon frying, pine trees, rain, anything chocolate baking, and new books.  This year the citrus trees blossomed around the middle of March.

The last couple of weeks, however, have been so pretty they've made me wonder why I'm always knocking the climate.  We've had some hot days—reached 100 once—but the palo verde trees have turned bright yellow.  Reds and oranges decorate the normally drab desert plants.  The Jacaranda trees are wearing purple corsages.  The grass has greened up.  Even the cactus is flowering.  So if you're thinking of visiting Arizona, you might consider mid April.

Cactus Garden, Glendale Arizona Main Library, Late April

Cactus Blossom

Old Man Cactus, with Blossoming Palo Verde behind.  Late April 2011.

I'm not sure what this is.  Anyone know?  If you do, leave it in the comments below.  

Prickly Pear Blossom

Czech-style Easter Eggs

Today, for Easter, I decided to decorate some Easter eggs Czech style--with hot wax.  Here are the less than professional--but fun--results.

Czech-style Easter eggs I decorated myself

I didn't have exactly the right ingredients (no handy beeswax to throw into each colored pot), and the wax I applied at the wrong temperature tends to fall off, but it still reminds me of the Czech Republic.

Here's how I did it:
1)  Propped up a cooling rack on four juice glasses
2)  Put one tea light candle below the rack on a saucer, and three tea light candles above
3)  Slowly melted the candles on top of the rack
4)  Fished out the wicks
5)  Added 1/2-3/4 of a crayon to each tea light.  I recommend Crayola or some other high quality crayon.
6)  Melted and stirred the crayon to give color
7)  Warmed up the eggs for a long time in my hand because I forgot to take them out of the refrigerator early enough
8)  Stuck one of those straight pins with the big plastic heads into the eraser of a pencil, to make my paintbrush
9)  Experimented until the temperatures of the egg and the wax were right, so that the wax didn't cool and harden the moment it touched the egg.
10)  Dipped into the wax, quickly drew a line or made a dot on the egg, dipped into the wax again, made my next line or dot, and repeated. 

For better results, use some real beeswax.  I also think the wax most likely to fall off is that which I applied too cool, which made each dot or stroke thicker, giving it too much height away from the eggshell.

Here are my better results last year in the Czech Republic:

My mixed-medium Easter eggs 2010

The professionals use better wax than tea lights and crayons.  It's thinner and doesn't stick up as much.  They also mostly apply it to hollowed-out shells, instead of hard-boiled eggs like I did, and their wax stays firmly and beautifully attached to the egg for years.  Here's what theirs look like:

Hand-painted Czech Easter eggs

One of my favorite things in the Czech Republic was watching those artists decorate their eggs:  so quick, so sure, so meticulous, churning out these hand-crafted masterpieces you can actually afford to buy and take home to hang on your Easter branch.  Ahh... I miss the Czech Republic.    

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