Cesky Raj

The next Pub trip was a hike through Cesky Raj (Bohemian Paradise). We boarded a very slow train to Turnov where we planned to have lunch before setting off on a 16km hike. The trip took about two hours and the we wandered around Turnov looking for the correct restaurant. Apparently we had planned to eat at a specific restaurant, but that restaurant was actually in a different town, so we stopped in at some random place that was simply not prepared to feed the group of us. We basically got soup and bread, which some of us didn't feel was enough, but that was all that was available. After that we headed off in to the hills on a red trail, as usual. As I understand it the trails are color coded for difficulty with red being the hardest and green and yellow being easier. We always take the red.
Our first stop was a little castle tucked away in the forested hills called Valdstejn. It was nice to have a rest, as I think this first part of the tour was possibly the most difficult. Unfortunately the cash desk wouldn't negotiate with George for a better price, so we didn't go inside. However, as far as I could tell the outside was the best part of the view anyway. Also, this gave us more time for exploring and taking pictures later, so we moved on.
Our next goal was Hruba Skala, but along the way we had some opportunity to view the rock towers famous in this region. The trail actually took us very close and as you can see from the photos I and several others took the opportunity to get very close. Still there were some climbers that we could see getting even closer.
We finally arrived at Hruba Skala and we all sat down for some much needed refreshment of beer and sausage, and a little conversation about the trip so far. Fortified by the food and beer, we began the journey back to Turnov. The beginning of the trip back took us down between some of the rock towers for a new perspective on what we had been looking down on before. The route back took us through the hills and forests away from the cliff edges but along the base of several of these rock towers.
We came upon a small natural spring that offered folks an opportunity to refill their water if they were running low, and shortly after that we reached a lookout tower that gave a final view over Cesky Raj before beginning our descent into Turnov.
We were running a bit late for the train, and what was worse is that we seemed to have gotten a bit confused coming back into Turnov as to exactly how to get to the train station. To top off this last bit of frustration, poor Megan was having trouble with her new hiking boots and was in a great deal of pain. However we made our train and got back safely to Prague.
Photos.

Hluboka Nad Vltavou

Megan and I had read about this castle in South Bohemia sitting on the Vltava that was supposed to be one of the most beautiful in the Czech Republic. Of course, we decided to take a day trip down there to see for ourselves. It was a bit of a long bus ride down, but we arrived in this quaint little town with a lovely little church on a beautiful spring day. We wandered briefly around the center of this little town, and then sat down for lunch at a local restaurant/hotel. The food was delicious and pretty cheap all in all. After lunch we started the climb to the castle. The view over the river and out into Bohemia was breathtaking and we took our time getting up the hill. As we approached the top I was fooled by what I thought was the castle, and was a little disappointed by its lack of grandiosity, but soon realized this was the attached hotel built to look like the castle. The castle itself is, in fact, one of the most spectacular we have yet seen. It's current configuration is actually quite new, but even still it has a long history. We walked around the outside taking it all in. We eventually made our way inside and took a tour of the interior, which was impressive. Generally the wonderful spring weather and the brilliant views of the castle and surrounding environs made for a very pleasant day out of Prague. The trip home was a little bit of a spoiler, as our bus was full and we had to stand for over an hour in a sweltering old bus. However we eventually managed to get seats, though not together, for the rest of the ride home.
Photos

The (Oval) Office

I saw this on a friends page and thought it was funny. Enjoy!

A Day at the Races

We got a long weekend for Easter and so Megan and I decided to have our first in house party since she moved in with me and in fact it's the first time I've had a party since I moved into this flat last June. We decided to have a little game night and invited only a few people, but Rob and Marta came out since Rob really wanted to play some Trivial Pursuit, though Marta was less enthusiastic. Also Anne was back in town and so she came and brought Jon, who we hadn't seen since Anne moved to Berlin right before our trip to Budapest. In any case the beer was cold, the game was fun, and Anne and Jon kicked all our asses. Around midnight Kelly, Scott (Curtis' new roommate), and Melissa arrived in time to play a second game. Everyone left around 2am.

On Sunday David in connection with the pub night crew organized a trip to Velka Chuchle for opening day at the races. Which mostly meant drinking beer, eating sausage, and watching horses run. The weather was a little cold, but the beer flowed, and the horses were fun to watch. I don't like to gamble as anyone who knows me will attest to, but the entry fee included a single 20kc bet, so I did bet on one race (which I of course lost). A few of our comrades had better luck including Andrea who I think must have been the big winner for the day, since whe won almost every race. After the 7th race we decided to hit the road before the crowds started heading for the buses, so Rob, Marta, Megan and I went back in to Andel with plans to go bowling. We hit a snag in that every bowling lane nearby seemed booked so we sat down for dinner. After dinner we all seemed a bit tired, and decided to call it a day. Photos

Monday was pretty quiet. Our shower broke, but I found a hardware store open and went to get supplies. While I was there I bought the stuff I've been needing in order to re-pot my plants. So basically, I repaired the shower and re-potted my plants.