Graduation Trip Day 1: Czech Republic

Jeff = red
Josie = black

After we left Vienna that morning, we started for the Czech Republic. The drive through the Czech Republic was beautiful. The trees reminded me of Island Park. It was a very hot day and Josie succumbed to the comfortable A/C in the car and took a little nap on the way. Sleep comes easy for Josie, I don't even think that she realizes that she fell asleep most times. She just drifts away and is a cute sleeper. Whenever she tries to fight it, I know that it will be a losing battle, so I tell her to just lay down and nap.

My plan for the day was to pass through a small town on the way to Prague to see a castle. I have always loved castles (what's not to love) and had seen Hluboka Castle on a calendar that a subcontractor had left at our office. I researched where it was at and found out that it was kind of on the way to Prague.

For the sake of the surprise, it was a good thing Josie was asleep on the way because the castle sits atop of the hill and looms over the countryside below. I found a place to park in the little town and Josie woke up wondering where we were.

I didn't know how to get to the castle from where we were parked, I just knew that it was up the hill from where we were.

I spotted a trail and we followed up the mountain. Every now and again, I could see a speck of the white castle through the thick trees, but Josie--not knowing what to look for--didn't notice.

I had just woken up And it was an uphill climb...AND I'm in suspense...

We zig-zagged up the trail for 10-15 minutes and then came to walking path to the castle. Almost immediately the path was covered with a vine-tunnel. I had Josie close her eyes and when we came out of the tunnel, she saw this....

BOOM. Hluboka Castle.

calendar picture

We walked around and took pictures, of course:

Front patio of the castle.

A three story wrap-around patio with balcony and spiral staircases...why not?

A nice lady from Washington, D.C. took our picture. 

We found out there was a tour, and went in. (Czech money is in Koruna “crowns”). This castle seemed more like a hunting lodge than anything—but the nicest one I’ve ever seen. In the entrance way there were tons of antlers.

Gargantuan door

While we were waiting for our tour to begin, we were sitting in a small courtyard (below). I told Jeff, “Can’t you just imagine them all coming in from a hunt on their horses, with their wagons loaded with dead elk, and they’re all talking about everything that happened and bragging and showing the ladies what they got…” Once we got inside, Jeff found a painting that displayed that EXACT scene :)

Inside was an incredibly intricate, delicate, rich yet rustic hunting lodge. The woodwork was amazing and they had armor and weapons--guns, swords, lances, cannons, little spiky things for the enemy's horses to step on, etc. There was one knife that I've never seen before. The blade split at the end into 3 separate blades. These guys just wanted to hurt each other...

A princess lived there, and she decorated the whole thing--had woodwork redone, had paintings, the most stylish prints on the ceilings, tapestries, etc. Their family went to a ball once in a different country and a fire started there. She went looking for her daughter in the building and was killed in the fire. Another one of the owners/rulers of this castle was shot during one of their hunts. There is tons of interesting history.

Here are some pictures from the Internet:

But this last one was taken by Jeffrey Ryan:)

We got into the Old Time Hotel Jeff got for me (because he knows I love old fashioned things) 

                                 

This hotel turned out to be as advertised: old and cheap. 

After settling in, we turned a few corners from our hotel and saw this cathedral:

After this cathedral, we walked to Wenceslas Square where there was this cool old building. It's the National Museum and has bullet holes in it from past revolutions. The Czech Republic isn’t well kempt like Vienna, but it helps to recognize how old it is.

We walked up and down that street looking for something good to eat. We did tons of walking. Finally, we just decided—as always—on cheap McDonalds. 

From in front of the National Museum looking down Wenceslas Square

On our walk down Wenceslas Square, we passed a modern day torture chamber! These poor people were caught stealing earlier actually paid to have minnows eat the dead skin off of their feet. I had never heard and definitely never seen anything like it. At least it is warm water...

The National Museum