Six Days In The Land Of Bohemia

[merlin]

We spent 6 days driving around the Bohemian region of the Czech republic, here is the map of our trip:

We were both overwhelmed with the beauty of the place and the driving was very easy, apart from coming upon a closed road with a warning of 1 mile

, which the Czech's seem to do quite often. It was a nightmare getting around it involving an extra 100 mile round trip on twisty country roads which added an extra 3 hours to the already long trip, almost 7 hours driving in all.
In the middle of the week my energy level and mood fell sharply, which I didn't understand until I suddenly realised it was lack of magnesium, I hadn't brought any oil with me because we only had carry on luggage which prohibited it. I eventually tracked down a chemist (which are not that prevalent there, I think their main medicine is beer

) and bought some magnesium supplement tablets, I took a double dose and after 6 hours I was back to normal thank goodness.

The most interesting place we visited was Cesky Krumlov a 14th century town which was mainly Jewish at that time, the Nazis seized it during WWII and then in 1945 it fell to the Communists. It's fully restored today and is a great tourist attraction mainly to the Chinese from what we observed.

Here are some photos:

They still brew beer here and give conducted tours around the ancient brewery, but sadly being Monday it was closed as are most museums in the country.

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[Ruth n Jersey]

Beautiful photos of a land I knew little about and I am part Czech.

 

[CeeCee]

Great photos of my favorite part of Europe. I was in Prague when we lived in Budapest but only for 2 days and was just accompanying my husband on a business trip.

 

[Chucktin]

My father's family came from that area. Noodling around one time in PANORAMA I saw a series of pictures from the local "county seat" - a parade down the main Street. Sadly _all_ the widows and most of the doors were barred[emoji52][emoji50][emoji52]. Not your typical tourist venue, but still ...

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[SeaBreeze]

Wonderful photos, must have been a very enjoyable and interesting trip!

 

[RadishRose]

Those were great Terry, thanks!

 

[Shalimar]

Beautiful, thanks for sharing.

 

[merlin]

While wandering around Cesky Krumlov we came across a museum at the back of an antiques shop, it was free and we wandered through the rooms taking photos, they are through glass with poor lighting at times, excuse the quality

.

This antique metal sign was for sale at $40

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[Shalimar]

I love the antique bottles the most.

 

[merlin]

These are some of the meals we had:



This is a signature Czech dish, roast pork with dumplings and sauerkraut, we were dining in a deep underground restaurant in Prague here...

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......with a mushroom sauce, at an outdoor restaurant on the banks of the river in Telč

...with a gravy which I can't recall the name of

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This was a beef dish with dumplings and sour cream with cranberries

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Apple strudel with cream and a couple of glasses of Kahlua

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Frozen beer chips with sour cream and syrup

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[merlin]

While in Český Krumlov we visited the famous castle on a guided tour:

The State Castle of Český Krumlov, with its architectural standard, cultural tradition, and expanse, ranks among the most important historic sights in the central European region. Building development from the 14th to 19th centuries is well-preserved in the original groundplan layout, material structure, interior installation and architectural detail.

The Český Krumlov Castle was mentioned for the first time by an Austrian knight minnesinger Ulrich of Lichtenstein in his poem "Der Frauendienst" which dates back between the years 1240 and 1242.

The castle area is one of the largest in central Europe. It is a complex of forty buildings and palaces, situated around five castle courts and a castle park spanning an area of seven hectares. The groundplan layout of Český Krumlov Castle shows the area and location of each court and building.



Some photos we took:

The ballroom with cartoon like paintings

 

[RadishRose]

So very beautiful!

 

[Loosey]

Thank you for sharing these. Breathtaking! We once spent 10 days in Prague and north. Loved the people, the scenery, the food and the bier.

 

[merlin]

Traditionally there have always been bears in the castle moat instead of water, there are still a couple but we didn't see any while we there.

This is just one of the sections which continues all around...

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[Ruth n Jersey]

Just beautiful. What wonderful photos and memories you will have for the rest of your life. I hope you add many many more.

 

[merlin]

Thank you for sharing these. Breathtaking! We once spent 10 days in Prague and north. Loved the people, the scenery, the food and the bier.

Yes the north does look interesting, we didn't have time to venture there, we may make another trip sometime, what places do you recommend?

 

[merlin]

We stopped at a small town called Tabor overnight on the way to Cesky Krumlov, the apartment we stayed in is owned by an Englishman married to a Czech, who are living in Dubai at the moment, we met the Czech mother who was lovely and very helpful, she spoke good English and excellent Russian which helped.



Here are a few photos of the apartment, which though in a 16th century building was fully modernised earlier this year.

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After dinner we wandered through the back streets.....



We dined at this restaurant

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The highlight of the evening was coming across this large woodland park which was deserted apart from a young couple who made a good photograph caught in the evening sun

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A small cloud of evening mist drifted by beneath us, which added to the magical effect..

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[merlin]

Another town we decided to visit en route was Mikulov, famous for it's Jewish Cemetery and Castle, the morning we were there was very misty and atmospheric, we visited the cemetery twice in the morning mist and later when it had cleared, there is also a famous hill overlooking the town which we also climbed, about a mile or so to the top where there is a church and a spectacular view, at least without the mist there would have been

I have always been drawn to old cemeteries, they have a peaceful atmosphere, I guess I am destined to make one my permanent residence in the not too distant future

Jewish cemetery

The large Jewish cemetery in Mikulov is one of the most significant monuments of its kind in the country. The first funerals after the establishment of the local Jewish community date from around mid 15th century. The oldest survived tomb stone dates from 1605.

The cemetery was built in three stages. Today it contains around 4,000 tombs. The most valuable and the most frequently visited section in the Rabbis Peak with tombs of Mikulov and Moravian regional rabbis.



The morning visit, looking over the wall because it didn't open till 11 am

The afternoon in the sun

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[merlin]

Here are some photos of the hill climb we did while waiting for the cemetery to open:


The vineyards and lavender fields at the bottom though the mist covers them..

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The Church and tower at the top

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The view from the top looking over the town...

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Looking up to the church on the hill from the castle gardens, the mist had cleared by the time we got to the castle

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The castle sadly open only at weekends in October

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[Shalimar]

Gorgeous pics. Thanks!

 

[HappyLuk]

Very nice trip - Thanks for sharing

 

[TonyK]

My ancestors lived in Zborovy which is a little village a few hours to the West. Thank you for sharing your photos.