The travel journal

Hi everyone,I spent a happy hour photographing my June travel journal for you...just in case it's of any interest.Do you remember me making this late May?Well, I've been chronicling my days here with drawings, collage, snipets of this and found bits of that.It's a bit complicated and thick and folded over on itself, and so some of the pages I had to photograph twice so you would get the idea of the layout.There wasn't much thought put into this, just an organic collection of days...one after the other...just like life.Here it is and I'll try to link the posts to it.The book is bound in a vintage yellow book titled, "A Scent of New-Mown Hay" and like usual, the book came form my friend Dalyce's used book shop Booklovers.I used found paper and Mucha postcards for the pages and added two bookmark ribbons.I tied a little vintage fish, which I had around for a while, on the black ribbon, and, eventually in Piestany, I found a tag with the number 13 on it...my lucky number...and so tied that onto the burgundy ribbon.Now at the end of the month, it's a bit thick!But I have plenty of elastic bands to keep it closed.As you open it, you'll find photos of me, Chloe, the grand babies, and my Mother's day flowers on the inside cover.I took those with the Fuji instax mini camera Chloe bought me for Mother's day.The first page is the flight and a collage of flight detritus and torn BA magazine pages.Post is hereThese pages commemorate my flight and arrival in Prague.These commemorate my first day in Prague.One thing I really wanted to remember is the exquisite smell of the lindens all over the Czech Republic this month so I painted some. It'll forever be linked with this trip for me.All these days I rented a car and parked it at my friends Helena and Zdenek's place and took the train into town. The train is much faster and so much less stress than trying to battle thru the traffic. Here is the post from Helena and Zdenek's.Next was a visit to Pribram and the Holy Mountain pilgrimage.Post is here.Then came a visit to my favourite castle Karlstejn.The post is here.The next day was a trip into town and a meet-up with my cousin, and we went to lunch and a visit to see Mucha, Dali and Warhol.Then a trip to the horrifying and fascination collection at Konopiste Castle.The post is here.Then the high and low migraine day!The depth of the Macocha abyss and the height of Pernstejn Castle.The post is here.I left the Prague area and started driving towards Slovakia.Stopped in Brno for a couple nights. That's a night photo from my hotel room taken with the fuji instax mini.Next stop was the palace Lednice.I also stopped that day at a war memorial but chose not to put that into my book. I have a terrific problem with wars and have a very hard and emotional time being at war memorials. Those wildflowers are from the war memorial. That's all I could manage to have in this precious book.The post is here though if you want to see the entirety of it.Then I left Brno, crossed into Slovakia, stopped at Trencin castle and finally arrived at my spa in Piestany for five days of pampering.The post is here.And then, my darlings, I just hung out!Luxuriated!Got wrapped in mud, got massaged, got submerged naked into hot whirl pools, swam at night in bath water temperature outdoor pools and ate the most fabulous food.Post is here.So I was totally prepared for no posts and just a few lovely pages in my travel book......and then a tree fell! Miraculously, no one was hurt.Post is here.The days wound on with massages and a funky gold plastic wrap. Twiggy massage it was called. I was swaddled like a baby. Thank goodness I didn't get an itchy nose!!!I commemorated my days with this page and a little snippet of that gold plastic held into my room key card holder.I also painted a little piece of that bark from the horse chestnut that fell into the pool.Then I left Piestany and continued on to Bratislava to meet my cousins who I haven't seen in about 40 years!Just luck of the draw that this beautiful Mucha postcard came to this page because I remember my cousin Zdenka with red hair.The painting on the left is a branch of the most magical looking silver willow which grows everywhere here like a weed. It just sparkles at the roadside. And the little pine cone was right outside Zdenka's home.I made myself a few personal, emotional pages in my book, including pictures, found things, photos and even a recipe my cousin Kveta gave me, but took the days without posts for myself.The one post is here.After this emotional overload, came another emotional overload. I drove all over Austria looking for the perfect place for my aunt Vera's last resting place.Then I finally found it in Salzberg.Two emotional pages, and one post right here.Then I had a slow meander back up to Prague.First stop and these pages Cesky Krumlov.I painted the wild geraniums growing everywhere and the hawk moth I photographed.Then the Trebon pond system of farming carp.Then Hluboka castle and I ended up in Tabor......where I mined a few raw garnets!Real Czech garnets! You can see them better in this photo where I put a white card behind them. I mined them out of a sand mix which was put on a light table and the garnets shone ruby red thru the light.These three pages have one post here.Suddenly a heat wave washed over Prague and I went swimming in a bio habitat and underground again into Koneprusy caves.The post is here.Oh this page, the most amazing visit to Krivoklat castle.I fell in love with the sundial on the front. In Latin it says, do not count all your hours, only the ones filled with joy.Post is here.All along I've been dealing with government this and official that trying to get my Czech citizenship reinstated.These pages describe a frustrating day in this heat wave made better by escaping onto the Vltava fro a few hours.Post is here.This page is from the day reserved for taking care of my gradparents' graves and visiting a little star shaped castle called Star, and opera tixs necessitated a few nights in Prague.Post is here.A day running around Prague. Caught up on prezzy shopping.Tripped over some four leaf clovers.Then my second opera, and another day of running around Prague.The post is here.There is only one post for these two journal days because life!This day it's back into Prague and dealing with citizenship stuff.Helena and Zdenek's granddaughter drew this lovely picture for me and I saved it in my book. On this page is a small scrap of beautiful blue paper from the chocolates I had one of to ease my frustrations, and a perfect Mucha of woe-is-me-ism landed on the right day. I swear I didn't plan that!Post is here.Yet another day much the same as yesterday!But I did get to back to Canada for an hour!!!It actually was amazing to visit the embassy.Post is here.And then, when I seemed to have exhausted all possible Prague venues, I was forced to go to the Northern Czech Republic to the township which was my last known official address.And it was a coming home.The post is here.And that's where my posts end for Prague, but not this little book.Here is a little spread remembering the Metro and shopping and my walks around this golden town with lindens blossoms perfuming the air.And the last couple of pages are a bit complicated.On the left is a collage of Prague, and a little snippet of a map showing London and Oxford.On the right is a postcard by one of my favourite illustrators, Josef Lada. He illustrated almost all the books of my childhood.This last pages has a spread which pulls out.Under it is an envelope with pressed silver willow and oak and linden leaves.The pull out is the cover of a found vintage book of Prague.And the last thing in this book is a companion book I found in a vintage shop on how to keep geese.I figure if I ever needed to keep geese, this would come in very handy.Well there you go, a month worth of memories all wrapped up between golden covers.I hope you liked this very long post and if you have any questions about the pages in my travel journal, I'm happy to explain everything.

Coming home to Strekov castle, my childhood playground, the cottage that isn't any more, remembering Terezin, and finally! Citizenship results.

Hello my dear friends,I'm about to take you on the emotional ride which was my day.Now you've been with me all along chasing my citizenship papers all over the Czech republic and we've been trying to take calm breaths together while I've been dealing with one department and then another, and then another, well, I may have finally come to the end of this humongous paper trail which is now two folders thick.It seems that, wile I was born in and we lived in Prague, my mom was registered as a doctor at a hospital 100km away at Usti Nad Labem (Usti above the river Elbe), and this is where we had an apartment and a summer cottage, so this is where I had to go to get my citizenship papers recognised.So with enormous gratitude and thanks to a lady named Ilona, I now have full, but provisional, citizenship for the next year, and have to register that in Ottawa in September, and I get my Czech passport! Get to breeze right thru the nationals line instead of the visitors line.So with a great, big sigh of relief, I walked out of that office a different girl. I'm Czech again guys. I know it's not a big deal, and I know that I can go where ever I like on my Canadian passport and I know it's more of a personal journey than a practical one, but having my Czech citizenship back also means that my children can request a Czech passport and can live and work in the EU if they like.So that was that for now. The end of my work here in Cz.I drove out of Usti along the Elbe river to retrace my childhood cottage.Now I know it was in a little village called Brno, but that village doesn't exist any more. It has been swallowed up by the expanding township of Usti.But I remembered the area and I remembered the view, the public swimming pool at the river, and what gave it away was a little grocery store which still held the village name. So this is where my cottage used to be. This is the view of the river we had...except it was a great, big field which we children used to run around in back then.And this, this modern three story home, is where my cottage used to be. This is the place right here.There is nothing that I recognise except the area and the fact that there were only three cottages here, one of which is still there looking like it used to.My goodness guys, you can never go back home.So, while I'm a bit heartbroken that I will never see that cottage again...the work of my grandfather's and parents' own hands, I'm happy for whoever now owns this piece of land. May they have good joy of it and many years of happiness.But here is another place from my childhood.Strekov castle.This ruin of a castle is walking distance form my old cottage and we used to have picnics there and run around the battlements as children.Now it looks like it's being refurbished and saved as a monument.I drove to it and walked up to the castle.Yup, it's a Hrad and not a Zamek. It's waaay up on the hill castle.So up we go and again come to the castle door.From the first battlements, the view down the Elbe is pretty spectacular.But there's more of the castle to explore.Here is the soldiers' hall of the castle.And here is what remains of the great hall. It also shows a couple chimney flues and the guess is this was the only heated room of the castle.But there's so much more to go, let's go up to the tower.Here's the observation deck at the bottom of the tower.From here you can see my cottage area and you can see how close the castle was.Gosh, this was all forest and field and three cottages here.Wow how this county has grown. But I can hardly blame people. This is ideal cottage country.So come on, up higher we go.I'm so happy I'm here. I'm so happy I found it.(yes I know I look like a sheepdog and need to trim my fringe)So I explored the castle and sat in the courtyard cafe and had a drink to celebrate......and watched a gyrfalcon fly lazy circles below me.One more place here which I had to visit. This is my grandparent's street in a town called Terezin, where they used to live for the winters, while summers were always at the cottage.And this is my grandparent's home.I remember staying here in this golden house. In the interior courtyard there was a small stone castle...about 2 ft tall...like one of those cement garden ornaments, but as a little girl, that was so magical to pretend princesses in.This red door was the store across the street.And this, this is the town park where I have photos of being wheeled in in my pram as a baby.I know Terezin is famous for all sorts of awful WWII horrors, but you'll have to excuse me for not being a very good tour guide on this trip. Today, I want to end my Czech journey here. In the warmth of my family history, with love for my country, and with beautiful, golden memories.Love to you all. Thank you so much for coming along.I've got one more day here in CZ before I fly to England, and it's storming up a storm like no other. The train tracks are flooded for the time being and the trains are stopped. I'm listening to the huge thunder claps and feeling incredibly happy and peaceful.

In circles round Prague, La Traviata at the opera, and out of Prague again

Oh my word the time just does fly, doesn't it?Every time I run out of time I wonder what happened to my on going New Year's resolution to stop running out of time and start running into it instead.Yesterday, Saturday here in Europe, I had a whole day of walking round Prague trying to catch up on my shopping.I walked out of my hotel and up Petrin hill, which is a beautiful walk and a beautiful way to get to Hradcany (Prague castle).This area used to be the king's garden and hunting forest and it has the most spectacular views of Prague.I saw a Sojka! It's a Eurasian Jay. His blue feathers are what German men love to stick in their hat bands.I climbed higher and higher up Petrin hill.And soon I had all of Prague below me.Such a beautiful sight.And such a work out!Then past Hradcany and onto my favourite little shopping streets.And into my favourite little shops, like this ephemera and old book shop.I had a little lunch, I peeked into a few old churches, did my rounds round old town, St Wenceslas square, Nerudova, and even some streets I have no idea of the name of.I did all my shopping and then walked back up to Hradcany, across to Petrin hill and back down to my hotel. In total I think I walked about 10km.A quick shower to shower off this 30 degree heat, a bit of make up and an evening dress, and into the tram for the opera.Such a beautiful evening from the first floor balcony at the opera house.You know, some of the ladies' evening dresses there may not have been to my taste, but I absolutely loved that everyone made an effort.8pm intermission and look down at the streets!La Traviata was exquisite. I just love some of the arias in this beautiful opera. I know, no pictures during the performance! But this was the third ovation, so by then the performance is technically over! :DSo then I walked out of the opera house and into the warm night and made my way back to my hotel.With no more late operas to stay in town for, and all offices to deal with my citizenship papers closed till Monday, I headed out of Prague ad back to Zdenek and Helena's.Just to give you a perspective, I'm in their village looking down the train tracks and there's Prague in the distance.I'm 25 minutes away from the main Prague train station.So back at Z and H's and we went for a 11km walk down one side of the river Berounka to the neighbouring village and back up the other side.I love these slow, wide European rivers.We walked past fields of ripening poppies.Poppy seed cakes are national treasures round here.This part of the country, being so close to Prague, is prime cottage country and all along the Berounka are lovely cottages.And, with it being Sunday, and almost summer holidays, everyone was out at their cottages and out on the river enjoying the day.Do you see that little castle in the distance? It's very close to Z and H's home.Wouldn't it be amazing to live in a castle? Many, many castles and villas are available for sale here.On my way I found this beautiful speckled blue egg shell.After our walk we dropped into town for supper and then the local castle grounds was the stage for a pantomime.The evening was warm and people were all still enjoying the river.And so we thought we'd stay for a while and bought tickets to the pantomime, and, as it turns out, so did the whole village!!! Lol.But the pantomime was brilliant fun, and, I understood almost every word!One great thing for being there this month is that I'm pretty much back to fluid Czech without having to think too hard.Love it.Well I better get off this puter of mine because I have to go back into Prague tomorrow and chase down various government offices.Hope you're not getting too bored with my Prague month.

Vysehrad cemetery, family tomb duties, a small castle called Star, and night at the opera

Hello my dear friends,I'm almost too tired to hit the publish button tonight.Whew, what a day.Today I went form one end of Prague to the other, taking the tram, the metro, and walking.Happily, public transportation in Prague is a dream with trams and the metro coming by every five minutes, and I made it up to Vysehrad in no time.Do you know Vysehrad?It's the most beautiful place.The name comes form two words: Vyssi-higher and Hrad- that castle type way up high on a hill. This place is up higher than Hradcany - Prague castle, therefore, Vysehrad.It's an ancient settlement turned into castle, turned into Gothic basilica and cemetery, and has in it, among so many people, Smetana, Dvorak, Neruda and Mucha.The interior of the basilica is so spectacular it's impossible to show you in photos.Every inch of the space is painted and decorated by various artists, Alphonse Mucha being one of them.Each column has three saints painted on it. Look at the beautiful expressions on their faces. That's the magic of Mucha.And the view form the old fortified fort walls over all of Prague is spectacular.Then I found my family tomb.My family and my future family owns this tomb for life.I'm not sure any other members of my family will ever be buried or interred in the tomb, but my grandparents and my great grandparents plus some other ancient ancestors are here, so it needs taking care of.Every few years we hand over some money for the ground's keeper to keep the site in our absence.I had a little visit with my grandparents, pulled up a little stray grass, clipped a couple fern leaves which were covering the beautiful black marble and swept the tomb with the little whisk brooms everyone can use.Then I took the metro and trams over to a little castle. This little castle is more like a villa mixed with a folly, and is at the end of this beautiful park.It's called Letohradek Hvesda, which translates into summer castle star and it's shaped like a six pointed star.It's relatively new by Prague standards and dated back to 1555.These days it serves as a space for rotating art exhibits and bits of cultural interest.So then back to the hotel, and with about an hour to go before this evening's performance, I slipped into an evening dress and hopped back on the tram to the National Opera House for Rusalka.Oh my lord it was lovely. Cameras we not allowed during the performance, sorry.But I did take this photo of the sunset over the Vltava and Hradcany.So tired tonight.I might try to take it a bit easier tomorrow.

In Prague and I made the best of a frustrating day.

Hi guys,Yesterday I told you I had to come into town to take care of my Czech citizenship papers and take care of my family tomb, well, today I was going to make visits to all the offices I needed to visit for forms and signatures and then lawyers for translations.Well, my first step to get this all going was to visit the high magistrate...which, this being the true Bohemia, is open only on Mondays from 12-5 or Wednesdays from 10-5.It's Thursday.Pooh.So it looks like I have to come back into town on Monday next week.I did a bit of phoning, visited a few churches in the hood... did I tell you it's 34.7 degrees here today with the heat bouncing off the stone streets?Heat be dammed, I decided to take a tram downtown and pick up my opera tickets for tomorrow and Saturday.I'm going to see Rusalka tomorrow and La Traviata Saturday.So I got down to the opera house and the box office lady looked up my tixs and guess what?They're not there!!!The company I ordered them from sends a courier to deliver them to you 15 minutes before the performance!They will be standing in front of the opera house with a sign with my name on it.Sold out performances!Oy vey.(above, this is the national opera house)I walked to the middle of the bridge and took a small elevator to a little island in the middle of Vltava to have some freshness and coolness to be able to breathe my frustration away.I walked around the island and stuck my hands into the river and spied a boat cruise on the other bank.HmmI booked an hour long cruise and ordered a big, cold glass of ice water.Bohemia rhapsody...lol.Just about started singing.There's Charles Bridge and one of the old bridge towers behind me.It was actually amazing floating under the bridge.There's Prague castle and the beautiful, Gothic St Wenceslas cathedral in the middle.I love Prague.I'm so in love with my home town.Even if it's so hot my brain is melting.One more look at the castle and back to the dock.Well, that was nice.We're supposed to have a thunder storm tonight and hopefully Europe will cool down a bit.To the cemetery tomorrow to visit my grandparents, and then off to the opera.

A visit to Krivoklat castle

Well, my dears, as I write this I'm back in Prague for a few days.There are things to do in town, like visit and take care of the family crypt, sort out some documents re my Czech citizenship and hang in town for a while, but before I took the train back to Prague, I drove out to an interesting castle.I visited Krikovlat castle.Yeah, I know, another day, another castle!You know the drill; if it's not the middle of the town type castle then you've got to walk up the hill, so we shall walk up the hill to see it.We have to climb high above the village, up high on the hill because people in castles had to see far and wide for miles around to see their enemies coming.This castle may be up on a hill but it's hidden in a thick forest. Hmm, interesting.Almost there.And now I'm under the walls......and I look down, and there is no way the castle people could have seen anything coming from this hill.Hmmm, that's pretty strange.And, at the same time, the king of Bohemia, King Wenceslaus, lived here before he built Karlstejn.Oh well, we'll leave that mystery alone and walk thru the castle gates.And here's the inner courtyard.Look at these amazing gargoyles looking down on us.Here is the good King Wenceslaus himself and a Medieval piece of the castle.This castle is beautifully preserved and has much of the 15C glass windows. Here are the huge castle keys. The tour guide invited me to hold them and take a photo.This is the chapel. It's one of the best preserved Gothic chapels in the world.Original windows and part of an original door dating back to the 14C. They did buy venetian blinds online for some of the windows.Later in the castle history, the Furstenbergs owned and lived in this place and they built this magnificent library.Look at this free standing bookcase. Isn't it amazing? The library goes on for three rooms of these amazing book cases. They must be 15 ft tall!And there are a few illuminated manuscripts here.Here is the good old king.Ah, and then, in the hall of paintings, we come to a little secret.Here is a painting of a beautiful woman. Apparently the king's mistress. So, now we see the benefit of a hidden castle!Apparently he fathered several children by her and each time a birth was close she would go into confinement and then her child would be taken from her and placed on the castle doorstep, where a servant would "find" the poor orphaned child and bring it to her, and she would say, "Oh, poor orphaned child, I will take you in and raise you as my own." Therefore showing her piety, chastity and general Christian goodness. Apparently she manged to take in 8 orphans.Well now, isn't that a turn up for the books.Looking out from the tower I was thinking of how blissfully private and hidden this castle is.And then someone goes and builds a village overlooking your castle.Oh well, even a king can't have everything.

Swimming in the Bio habitat at Radotin and going underground at Koneprusy

Oh my good lord guys, suddenly it was 35 degrees in the shade today and so I said I was going to go jump in the river, but Helena said that we should go for a little drive to the bio habitat in a neighbouring little town.Bio habitat?I'm in!This is such a cool place!This is a great, big, man-made pond where the water is filtered thru a large bio habitat.No chemicals are used, the water is tested daily and is perfectly clean and fresh.Here is the bio habitat which cleans the pool.There are frogs and fish in it!And beautiful waterlilies.The filtered water is trickled back into the swimming pool. It is further equipped with the best pool heater.All the little children had the best fun in among the pebbles.The pool has a part where people can walk in, a part to dive from, a ledge around the rest of the area to swim up to and comfortably haul yourself out, a safe ramp for wheelchairs and the elderly who need a little help getting in and out of the water, a gentle shallow area for the littlest ones, a small slide and god knows what else. And it's beautifully deep in the middle. Cool and deep. As you can see pool surfaces looks like natural bed, so it is like swimming in a pond.And you know what else I love? All sorts of people in all sorts of sizes comfortably walking around. No judgement. And naked little children. Loads of naked little children and no one cares a hoot. Just a natural and normal and ordinary European life. Just what I'm used to.Here is that ledge I was telling you about. Oh, and another thing, children are running around the pool! In Canada the authorities would be having fits! And teens are horsing around pushing each other in! And little guys are paddling around the deeps in floaty inner tubes and little water wings and no one is freaking out that they'll drown and trying to tether them to the shallow end.Summer as it should be.Except the bio habitat includes grass which has clover in it and that means bees.Helena, poor girl, stepped on a bee and it stung her foot.But I pulled the stinger out and she jumped into the cool water and all was well.By lunchtime the pool got very crowded and it was still very hot, so we decided to have a little underground adventure at the Koneprusy caves.It took a little driving to get there, but we were heading away of Prague so the highway wasn't too packed and, before we knew it, we were in the beautiful countryside.Up the hill is a limestone mine and opposite the mine in the cliffs are the caves.There are some beautiful sedums growing there loving this dry heat.I walked up to the cliffs in my shorts and t shirt but took a bag of warmer clothes because it's a constant 10 degrees underground.And, as soon as we walked in and the big door was closed behind us, I needed the extra clothes.I just love these amazing natural structures.On lady in our small tour group started to sing a mantra and her beautiful voice carried on thru the caves. It was one of the loveliest things I've heard in the longest time.This cave had a lot of natural chimneys for fresh air and so there are some signs of habitation here.There is a skull of a 40 yr old woman here form the ice age. She was ceremoniously buried by being lowered down one of the chimneys. her burial included ornaments and tools she might need for the after life. Over the centuries her bones slipped from the first layer of caves to the third.There you go my dears, that's what my day was like, and, for an extra bonus, I drove back towards Prague beside the little village of Liten where my grandmother and great grandmother lived.Off to Prague tomorrow for a few days.

A slow meander thru Southern Bohemia back to Prague

Hi guys,I'm back just outside Prague this morning with my friends Helena and Zdenek.I've also taken a lovely, slow zig-zaggy miander thru Southern Bohemia, following the Vltava river all the way back here, stopping at various places I felt like stopping at.My first place was Cesky Krumlov.This is an amazing 13C castle and town and a UNESCO world heritage site, but it's also an amazing summer playground for all the folks because of how the Vltava wraps around the town. The river is slow and gentle and so shallow that people can walk right thru it and, on a hot day like today, they do!Here is a giant bridge built between two cliffs to connect the castle to the garden.Underneath the castle is a beautiful Medieval town,I walked thru the town looking into doorways and exploring the streets.Then I stopped to have a little lunch by the river and had a visitor; a hawk moth.Then I walked out of the town......while the happy people enjoyed their summer day.My next stop was the Trebon pond system.This is more like a lake system...lolBut it originates from the 14C when this method of farming carp was invented.Each pond is capable of draining in to the next, and, over the course of the year, the ponds were drained, fish harvested and the ponds were filled up again.Carp are a very important food source here, and, as much as I SUFFER thru the horrible, bony, muddy tasting meal at Christmas time, I do have a certain affection for the slimy creature.Then out of Trebon and no end of trouble navigating around road closures and finding one of my favourite castles Hluboka.The castle name translates as Deep, but it isn't deep, it's HIGH! So up the hill we go again!First glimpse.Around the armaments and walls,And there it is!Isn't it glorious?Now, today is Monday and Monday all the castles in the Czech Republic are closed, and so Hluboka was sleeping away with the shutters down,but the gardens are open and I've seen the interior so many times, that I don;t really mind.Actually, there was a film being shot on location and some photos of the castle were tricky because of filming vans and people milling around,but I did spy a princess walking about in her tiara and shades.I always wonder what life was like here for the kings and princely people.This started out in the 13C as a Gothic hunting lodge and then was rebuilt into this Baroque beauty.This is the back patio,And a view down to the Vltava below.A few more looks,And down I go.So how's this for bizarre?I'm driving thru the beautiful Bohemian countryside of ancient villages and red roofs......and suddenly the road turns and I drive right underneath a nuclear reactor!!!I mean right under it, under those towers. This is the first safe place I could pull off the road to take a photo.Yikes. Felt very uneasy, and maybe because Vancouver is a nuclear free zone...not sure...but yikes!Anyway, drove far enough away...actually, in a country with a nuclear reactor you can never be far enough away...and got to the little town of Tabor.The word tabor means camp, and this is where a movement of Protestantism and reformation began way before Henry the 8th decided he wanted a new wife.There was a clergyman named Jan Hus who led the revolt for reformation against the Catholic clergy under the Austrian Empire.I walked into the town square and into the museum to learn more.Here is Jan Hus on the right and Jan Zizka on the left.I'm afraid it didn't end well for poor old Hus who was eventually burned at the stake for heresy, but his death in 1415 led to a partial overthrow of power in a way that his idealisms became the new order of the day. The partial overthrow of power was accomplished by Jan Zizka who led the battle of Kutna Hora and defeated the army of the Holy Roman Empire and of Hungary.One more treasure to discover: cellars!Under the whole town are cool, stone cellars, many of which connect to each other and some of which are three, very generous, stories deep!.These cellars were used as safe storage places and even as a small prison.In the Middle Ages, it was possible for a man to lock his wife in one of the cellar rooms for a 24 hour period if she were being disobedient. This apparently backfired quite often because suddenly there was no wife to cook, take care of the children and warm the bed!But the most important function of the cellars for this town was as a safeguard against fire.In those days, the buildings were made of wood, and high up on hills towns were particularly susceptible.This town was built here because of mining. Garnets, opals and other semi-precious stones came out of these hills, so lots of employment for folks. however, a particularly brutal fire, which burned 2/3 of the town to the ground, started the trend to build these cellars.So there you go guys, a slow meander up here to the outskirts of Prague. I'll hang here for a few days and possibly go for a swim. It's hot here, perfect swimming weather, and I need a break.

Visiting Karlstejn, my beloved childhood castle

Today our merry party decided to drive over to the 13C Gothic castle Karstejn.the parking lot is at the bottom of a hill and the castle is 2 km up.Our merry party decided to take the horse and buggy up, but I always feel uneasy about poor horses pulling buggies all day, so I decided to walk.We had a bit of a race with me hoofing it up the little streets.In a very short time I saw the castle. The first glimpse is always so breathtaking for me.Karlstejn was the king's summer castle. Can you just see him announcing to his court, "alright everyone, gather the troops, we're making a move to the cottage for a few weeks!"Up higher and higher I went and the castle got closer.Whew, bit of a workout.But finally I made it to the castle gates and walked thru.Our merry party was nowehere to be seen, so I walked over to the well tower to have a look.Do you see that spec of light? That's the water level 78 meters down.But the view from here is amazing. I walked all that way.I must say I felt a bit smug having to wait there for another ten minutes.But finally every one got together and off we went because we had 10:35 tickets for a tour.We were told there would be about 800 stairs! So we were brave and set off and I started taking my usual photos...and our guide announces, "no photos inside the castle please."Well, if you can believe that!Like I listen!I took a few secret photos, which may or may not look that great, but at least you get the idea.This photo is of some 14C frescoes in the church room of the castle. The photo is a tiny bit blurred and not quite right, because I took it behind my back.I actually love taking photos like that. Most were of my back and hair...lol...but some did work out. Here are medieval frescoes and my messy bun.Here is a remnant of an original medieval arch. It's possible to see some ancient glazed pottery still decorating it. It was shiny green in its day.This was a stronghold and the crown jewels and crown treasures were kept here for years. The castle walls are 7 meters thich and proved to be impenetrable thru many wars.Here are some more frescoes. There are a lot of angels and stars and blue on the walls and ceilings.Here is a 16C painting in the gallery room of the king, Charles IV ministering to his subjects and giving alms to the poor.A little passage off the church room is the king's private prayer vestibule.The walls are inlaid precious and semi/precious stones.And if you think that's amazing, wait...This is the chapel room.There are 129 paintings of saints and world rulers of the day here and the ceiling is all gold and silver and highly polished gilded mirror glass in the center of each star.The walls are inlaid with more precious and semi/precious stones held in gold, and the original window remnants show polished precious stones made up the "glass".I saw yellow and purple and white polished pebbles (possibly amber, citrine, amethyst, quartz etc..) woven together with lead like a beautiful tapestry.Oh I hope you get the idea, with my miserable clandestine photography, of this exquisiteness of this chapel. It's almost too much for the senses when one is standing in it.Too soon it was time to wind our way back down the 800 wooden and stone steps.(Whew, medieval servants must have been really fit!)One more look up at the towers,Out thru the old gates,And off we go.

Out of Prague, in Dobrichovice with friends

The rain came at night and I rented a car and headed out into the country.Just to have fun on the roads, I prearranged to hire a BMW series 3, little zippy thing, however, the car reserved was (apparently similar) a BMW series 4. Are you kidding me? it's like an anti car. It's a slow plodding diesel which cuts the engine at every stop only to restart it when the gas is pressed. There's got to be a way to bypass that!Anyway, complaining aside, here I am at Helena and Zdenek's home for a couple of days. Lucky for me, they allowed me to use their home as a home hub and dump most of my luggage here while I go where I like.They live in central Bohemia beside a beautiful river called Berounka.We walked across the river and into the countryside yesterday under those wild skies. Happily the rain kept away.And walked up to visit the old Dobrichovice castle.The castle was quiet. Too early for the restaurant to open for supper, and just post a weekend national theater performance.Some musicians were playing in one of the kitchen rooms.In the castle courtyard the princess was just taking a post performance selfie.I found a little staircase beside the old mill house and walked down......right to the river.Isn't this a beautiful photo? A peony escaping its compound. Being here back in my home country, simple images like this one evoke so much feeling.Then back across the river to Helena and Zdenek's.That's me, Miss Forgot the Ponytail Elastic! At least my hair is a bit shorter than the usual two feet.As we were walking I talked to Helena about the fantastic little elder flower fritters my grandmother used to make. Back in her garden, Helena decided to make some for me and showed me how my grandma would have made them.She started with a bunch of clean and washed elder flower blossoms clusters.Four eggs, about a hand full of fine ground flour, and some salt were mixed lightly together.And then, only the blossom side was dipped into the batter and straight into the frying pan with hot oil.Like this!Had an AHA moment!Then Helena took some scissors and clipped the longer, tougher stems off and flipped the fritters only once.Oh my gosh you guys. The most amazingly good fritters.I'm going to have to draw some of these blossoms in my July travel journal.Have I shown you that journal yet?I will next post.Wonder where to today. :DMuch love from your wandering friend over here. ;)