Blogs from Hradec Králové Region, Czech Republic, Europe - page 5

5-10-08 Life styles of the Rich and imprisoned… Well, Czech Republic has a lot more first than I thought. For example, they have some of the first lamp posts. In the olden days, people would have to use torches to get around at night, and if you were caught walking around in the dark without one you would go to jail. Well, in order to keep the castle protected and allow the aristocracy around the castle to enjoy life without torches, they built some huge pillars with sculptures around them that had a bunch of torches inside them. That way, people could get around safely at night. We also learned about the Cathedral which was finished 1000 years after the death of their patron Saint, Wensworth (of Good King Wesworth something something on the fiest of ... read more

2/10/08 Dobry den! I left you all having just discovered the wonders of Prague, but a whole new array of delights awaits the one who ventures out of the city into the colorful and quaint countryside. Last Sunday was Masopust, which is the Czech version of Carnival before lent. We arrived Sunday at a little village square to an onslaught of colorful tents, smoking stands with toasted nuts, and bright pagan costumes: paper mach storks, cherubs guzzling sausages, and every other beast you could think of. Whole families got into the spirit by dressing alike. I adored the little fox family and house family who each wore little red roof hats. We Americanka even got into the spirit, donning capes, hats, masks, and painting our faces with wild designs. There were sausages and beer all day ... read more

Getting a bus/train ticket out of Wroclaw to Ardspach-Teplice proved to be an interesting experience. We ended up getting a bus at 10:30am in the morning which took us to the Polish border. We knew no more than that and hoped that we would be able to figure out how to get to Czech Republic as it happened. We left Wroclaw by bus and as we headed south the weather seemed to get worse and worse. When we passed through the Sudeten Mountains we even saw hail! Not a good start when we were planning a day of trekking in the mountains on the other side. At the end of the bus route we met a Polish girl on the bus who was heading to Prague and she helped us out by telling us which bus ... read more