Walk to the old church ruin

We headed out for another hike today, to re-explore an area we had noticed before.

This structure is listed on some maps as a stone sarcophagus. Normally, that's where you keep bodies before burial. We wondered why it is in the woods, quite far from any houses or towns.




Just up the path a bit is this stone wall or abutment. Obviously man-made, we can't quite decide what it was for. It is right on the edge of a stream, and looks like it might have been a bridge support, except there is nothing on the other side to indicate a bridge was ever there.

We thought there must have been a house or something in that area, but so far we haven't been able to find any other ruins.

The trees in this wood (the Slavkov Forest) are humongous! This is just one of many that must be approaching a grand old age. I couldn't believe it was so big!

We followed the trail away from the mystery by the stream, and saw this vision as we ascended a small rise. It was a little unnerving to come upon such a site in the middle of the deep woods.

Apparently, this is the site of an old church, now maintained as an open-air shrine, complete with wooden "pews" and a fire pit!!

An all-seeing eye..

The path led through woods and fields rich with mushrooms. I was surprised the Czechs hadn't gathered them all already. Hunting mushrooms is serious business here! We, however, don't know well enough which are edible and which not, so we leave them all for others. We did have a Czech guest a few days ago who gathered and cooked some (Tom ate them) and we have another guest today who just came back from a hike with a rucksack full. I think Tom is trying them as I write this.....

View from the top.....

And of course, every good hike ends with a well-deserved beer!

This is Florian beer, brewed in Loket!