Scottish Festival

This weekend we made a trip with our friends Rob and Marta. Rob claims Scottish heritage and definitely enjoys their history and such, so we went to the Czech Scottish Festival. It was being held in North Bohemia at a relatively new castle. The grounds were beautiful and we spent a good portion of the day just wandering around enjoying the nature. There were a few problems like the overwhelming presence of yellow jackets everywhere and the lines for refreshments and food were ridiculous, but otherwise it was the weather was very nice and we got to see a lot of kilts. They had displays form several different Scottish eras, and we saw a little parade. In the end the most important event, the Tabor Toss, didn't start until after we had to leave to catch our train. I did get to see most of the birds of prey show, however, which really made my day. Check out the pictures

Kost

So we found a castle that has never been Baroqued. Dead in the center of a part of the Czech Republic called Bohemian Paradise. The castle is unique in that it was not built on a hill or mountain. The owner wanted it to be hard to find so he built it on a small stone outcropping in a valley. You hardly notice it until you are upon it. In fact we had to hike there from the nearest city in the rain, and we didn't even realize we had arrived until we were practically at the door. However the castle was really impressive and still maintains the impression that it was built for war or defense, not for rich people to hang out in. Also Kost is still privately owned which is where I got the idea that it would be really cool to own a castle. How cool would it be to wander out of your castle in a bathrobe and cup of coffee and chat with your tourists?
Anyway we took the castle tour and lots of pictures of the surrounding countryside. This part of Bohemia has dozens of castles in close proximity so you can even see several of them along the way. We had lunch at a little local place where I think I ate a sparrow, but am not quite sure. It was after this trip I think that Megans mom coined the term "castling" to describe our weekend jaunts. Pictures...