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It’s been a high and low day; from the mountain top Perstejn Castle to the 460ft underground Macocha abyss. It’s a long post!

OMG I just realised that this is a hell of a long post!
It’s been another beautiful day here at home guys, but I woke up at 5am with a migraine hallucination.
How unfair is that!!!
I mean I could totally understand if I drank wine or ate chocolate all day long, but I don’t!
Thanks a lot universe.
There was nothing else to do for it but go under ground.

Underground for me was the Macocha abyss at over 460ft under the warm, summer surface of the Earth.
A most fantastic more than 21,000 ft of caverns, cool 8 degrees, see my breath, migraine busting morning.

Look at this amazing sight.
On the left is a stalagmite, stalactite formation which took millions of years to get to this point, and now, it is said, that they will never meet because the Earth has gently shifted stopping the drip, drip, dripping which feeds the process.
The one on the left though is the curtain stalactite which is about 50ft high and continuing to grow.

Behind the curtain stalactite is the angel. Do you see him?

Here is some detail so you can see the beauty of it all.
It’s breathtaking.

Walking from the 10,000 ft of underground trails, we come out to a gorge.
This is about 400ft deep.
It has two pools on either side.
One pool leads to an amethyst cave, OMG!!! Which you can only see if you’re a spelunker and a diver. The entrance is down the gorge and 100ft underground thru one of the pools.

After the cavern crawl, the way out is by water.

The way out is via a 20 minute boat ride where the whole tour group had to duck left and right as the river narrowed and the walls closed it.

Oh my gosh, I was actually cold in this hot summer here in Europe.
What an amazing way to get rid of a migraine.

So, feeling much better, I decided to get inside that castle I couldn’t visit yesterday because of the 3 hour road blocks/detours/crazy traffic.

And guess what! Approaching the other way, there was still an hour long out of my way detour because of a road block!!!

But finally I made it.

Hooray, here it finally is, the 13C Perstejn Castle.

You know what I love? I love those wooden fly-over bridges from tower to tower. So practical because if an invasion happens, you just hold down in the tower and burn the bridge down! No one can get to you!
There used to be two bridges, one above the other, and with the 30 year war, the bridges were burned and only one was rebuilt.

This is the entrance thru the gates.

And here is the family Meldov crest.

Here are the kitchen rooms.

And one of the dining rooms with a typical dress of the day.

This is the ghost of the castle, Elishka. It’s said that she was a vain girl and wouldn’t come away from her mirror to pray. One day the priest cursed her for her vanity and the Earth opened up underneath her feet and she was swallowed up and no one ever saw her again…except as the white lady, the ghost of the castle.

There is 14C graffiti all over the back stairs of the castle. I wonder what it says.

Here is one of the towers.

It has four alcoves each with a coloured glass windows.
Here is a photo showing you the reflection from the blue window.

And these are photos of the view thru the windows.
they’re meant to give you the feeling of spring, summer, autumn and winter.
Kind of cool…huh?

The view from the tower.

Then, back inside and to the grand hall where important feasts were held.
This family was a very rich family and they had chairs made with the names of all the important noble people of the day.
The men’s names were written as is, and the women’s names were written married, as in belonging to (married family) name, followed by maiden family name.

Guess who I found!!!
One of my family ancestors.
Yes, that’s an ancient ancestor Anna, born to the family Von Alemann (Spelled Allemagne at that time)
Hi great, great, great….grandma.

We did get around since 1218!

This is the portrait room. Wonder if Anna was ever here.
When I get back to Van I’ll look her up in my family book.

Anyway, I may never find out what Anna looked like, but this is a portrait of the family who last held the castle; the Lobkovicz family.

One more photo; and unexpected visit to the grand library. Unexpected because this tour wasn’t supposed to include the library, but it was a very small group and so the lovely tour guide included this amazing space.

On the way down from the castle I picked some wildflowers and, as I write this, they are fragrant and beautiful on my hotel bedside table.

If you’re not completely fed up to the teeth with my castle overload and humongously long posts, stay tuned. I plan to hit up another one or two castle tomorrow on my way out of Brno and into Slovakia for a few glorious days at a mineral spa. šŸ™‚

Comments: 6

  • Robert Frank Gasch

    June 9, 2017
    reply

    Astounding Pictures!!!

  • Susan

    June 9, 2017
    reply

    Phenomenal! The caverns are quite amazing. Your photos show the natural beauty found deep within our Earth. A great tour. With the added benefit of migraine elimination. The Perstejn Castle shows aspects of gracious living. Love the grand hall. Imagine the feasts. Outstanding decor and architectural details. To think your great, x3, grandmother sat at that table. Beautiful post. Thank you, Susan

  • June 10, 2017
    reply

    A beautiful day…. even though it started off with a migraine.

  • June 10, 2017
    reply

    You went from the depths to the heights alright!

  • June 12, 2017
    reply

    so glad the migraine is past

  • June 22, 2017
    reply

    Hey V .. fabulous post! I don’t know if I could do those caverns but what a splendid sight. And that castle .. what a wonderful place, and to think an ancestor lived there. How exciting! Love these images .. šŸ˜€

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