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This trip was fantastic. I had a lovely time. This time I have pictures, though my batteries died today. So no pictures of a very strange place in the forest we visited, where the pine trees grow almost horizontally around a tall, straight birch. Weirdness.
Ate a great many berries, blueberries and cherries we picked in the woods and on the side of the road. As with the strawberries, I've never eaten such delicious fruit, or seen it growing wild. Near Telch, we climbed a small mountain to see the ruins of a castle and a perfect view, like a 19th century oil painting.
We took this amazing train ride, on tracks laid in 1875 and in a car built in 1901. The train was pulled by an old locomotive as well, through the gorgeous countryside full of lupines and enormous straight trees. The train brought us to this crazy re-enactment of a World War I battle with the Ukrainians. It made me so happy, to ride in this car on these tracks, and know that someone else in one of those wonderful early 20th century hats did the same thing in the same place... I really like that feeling. A connection to the rest of the world.
Spent an afternoon in Cesky Krumlov, and wandered around the narrow streets with Hana. We sat next to this voluptous Gypsy woman who looked as if she had stepped out of another century. She wore a low cut dress, and carried a basket with her shoes and fruit and things. She ate this enormous ripe mango with the skin on in such a sensual way, relishing her meal. Hana showed me these neat stones in a jewelery store, called vltavin. It's rock, burned by a meteorite that landed somewhere nearby ages ago. Sometimes green, sometimes black.
I went to Mass Sunday in this amazing church in Trebon. It was so beautiful and all in Czech. I even understood what the priest was saying in the homily. He quoted Capek. I bought a booklet about the church and soon I need to sit down with my enormous dictionary to read it.
Last night, we stopped on the edge of the river and cooked sausages over a fire. The river was shallow and quite cold. I spent some time tossing rocks into the water, thinking about my grandfather. We used to always throw rocks into the water when we weren't fishing, just for fun. I never did quite learn how to skip stones as well as he could. We also did some wild and crazy things in the hotel, but that is a whole different story....
Ate a great many berries, blueberries and cherries we picked in the woods and on the side of the road. As with the strawberries, I've never eaten such delicious fruit, or seen it growing wild. Near Telch, we climbed a small mountain to see the ruins of a castle and a perfect view, like a 19th century oil painting.
We took this amazing train ride, on tracks laid in 1875 and in a car built in 1901. The train was pulled by an old locomotive as well, through the gorgeous countryside full of lupines and enormous straight trees. The train brought us to this crazy re-enactment of a World War I battle with the Ukrainians. It made me so happy, to ride in this car on these tracks, and know that someone else in one of those wonderful early 20th century hats did the same thing in the same place... I really like that feeling. A connection to the rest of the world.
Spent an afternoon in Cesky Krumlov, and wandered around the narrow streets with Hana. We sat next to this voluptous Gypsy woman who looked as if she had stepped out of another century. She wore a low cut dress, and carried a basket with her shoes and fruit and things. She ate this enormous ripe mango with the skin on in such a sensual way, relishing her meal. Hana showed me these neat stones in a jewelery store, called vltavin. It's rock, burned by a meteorite that landed somewhere nearby ages ago. Sometimes green, sometimes black.
I went to Mass Sunday in this amazing church in Trebon. It was so beautiful and all in Czech. I even understood what the priest was saying in the homily. He quoted Capek. I bought a booklet about the church and soon I need to sit down with my enormous dictionary to read it.
Last night, we stopped on the edge of the river and cooked sausages over a fire. The river was shallow and quite cold. I spent some time tossing rocks into the water, thinking about my grandfather. We used to always throw rocks into the water when we weren't fishing, just for fun. I never did quite learn how to skip stones as well as he could. We also did some wild and crazy things in the hotel, but that is a whole different story....
