Day tripping with a GPS

It's mid-term break (the Brits squeeze 3 terms into a school year), so I am enjoying a very long weekend. We rounded up our friends Bruce and Connie and decided to rent a car for a couple of days and just travel about the countryside not far from Prague.

As you can see, there was a lot to choose from.....

Luckily, we had the foresite to rent a GPS along with the car.
These roads are not well marked!

Tom's newly renewed license did not make it to Prague yet, so I drove the entire time. Yes, even in the city across tram tracks and alongside buses. I was pleasantly surprised that we were able to return the car all in one piece, as it has been about 18 months since I have had the opportunity to drive.

Our first destination was Melnik, a small town that we like because it's pretty, it has a unique tea room, and there is a great antique market there. Of course there is also a large church with a bell tower you can climb, and a bone ossuary in the crypt.

View from the church bell tower: confluence of the Labe and Vlatava rivers.

There are three bells in the tower. You have to climb past them to get to the viewing point, and we scurried back down at about 5 minutes to noon, because we were afraid they might ring those bells at noon. They certainly did ring, for about 1/2 an hour, and we were glad we weren't in the tower then.

Pretty view - note the tower with the face.

The tower in the photo above houses a tea room/gallery. If you climb to the top up the steep staircases, the "upper room" has one table and a unique system for taking your order and serving your food. There is a dumbwaiter in the center, and you write down your order from the menu, send it down, and soon your food/drink is delivered back up.

Bruce and Connie inspecting the system...

Sending the order down...

This first day turned out to be all about food. One of Connie's Czech students (she teaches English to adults) had recommended a fun medieval-style pub that wasn't too far from Melnik, so off we went. Unfortunately, the GPS programmer (who was the one who was NOT driving the car) had a little bit of trouble plugging in our new destination so we were treated to several different ways to arrive back at Melnik. After lots of laughter at finding ourselves traveling in circles, we eventually made our way to the small town of Detenice.

As usual in these towns, there was a chateau/park to visit, but we decided to skip that and go straight to the pub. The serving staff were in period costumes and supposedly acted as medieval barkeeps did, harrassing the customers and fighting with each other. Many of the seats were rough-hewn benches with animal fleeces thrown over them, and most of the light was provided by candles. For those savvy enough to make reservations for later dining, this place offers a show featuring wenches dancing on the tables, sword/fire fights, fakirs, magicians, etc.

The interior...

We didn't stay for the show festivities, but Tom caught some of the performers preparing to enter.




On Day 2, we wandered south along the Vlatava River to Slapy. Tom had heard that there were houseboats there, so we decided to investigate.

In one spot, we parked near the river and walked for a way down a dirt path. We were admiring the views of the river and the greenery around us, and walked right past this little cottage without even seeing it. We spotted it on our way back.

Actually, I spotted this first and wondered why there was an outhouse in the middle of nowhere.

There is a large flood control dam in Slapy....

A random sundial someone built into the rocks....

We did find houseboats on the upper side of the dam, but Tom can't find the pictures he took of them. ?!? Might be on another camera we don't have at the moment. Too bad because one was for sale. Let's just say we're not running to the bank. They aren't exactly like houseboats in the US or even Amsterdam.

From Slapy, we stopped at Konopiste Castle. (this might be no. 5?) This castle's claim to fame is that it was owned last by Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who was married to a beautiful Czech lady. If you remember your history, their assasination in Sarajevo was the impetus for the start of World War 1. We toured the interior and walked about the grounds. It was well worth the stop.

I also learned something new.....

I didn't know peacocks could fly.

See him in the tree?

Tom's found his niche...

The castle...