Blogs from Hradec Králové Region, Czech Republic, Europe

Dag 12: 25 juli Vanochtend hadden we een wekker gezet om 6u30. Met kleine oogjes stonden we op en maakten ons snel klaar. Terwijl ik lunchpakketten klaarmaakte en fruitjes sneed, maakte Rick de kinderen klaar. Onze zakken hadden we gisterenavond al klaar gezet om geen tijd te verliezen. Op de planning vandaag: een wandeling tussen rotsformaties van Adrspach. We hadden een ticket geboekt in het tijdslot van 8 tot 9. Om kwart voor 8 vertrokken we met de auto en was het nog 3 kwartier rijden. Waze stuurde ons langs Polen en net op het moment dat hij ons een enkelrichtingstraat wil insturen (langs de verkeerde kant), heeft Rick geen netwerk. We moeten dus blijven rijden zonder een idee te hebben naar waar. Na 10 minuten was het in orde, maar wij waren onze marge kwijt. ... read more

That is the direct translation of the small staging town on the slopes of Sněžka ("The Snowy One," more or less), the Czech Republic's highest peak. There didn't appear to be a furnace, or any heat whatsoever on this day, but nevertheless, I summitted the 1603m high (5259') mountain last Monday under dry but cloudy, extremely cold, and seriously windy conditions. The mountain serves as a functioning ski resort in winter but there was no snow anywhere on the hike. I had reserved a car, a miniscule Škoda Citigo 5 speed manual, for 24 hours to be picked up at the Prague main train station and dropped off no later than 09:00 the next morning at the Brno airport. Price booked on Budget's website was a mere €16 including taxes and the one way drop fee. ... read more

Uncle Roland’s Long Walk Captain Webster, Marion’s Uncle, the doctor, was constantly making protests about the conditions that the Russians were enduring in Lamsdorf. So much so, Marion believes, that he was given a new assignment to care for largely Russians, but all soldiers from Stalags in the area in a larger hospital at Kozle, 63km from VIIIB. Today we found ourselves in one of the points Kozle’s star shaped defensive moats, constructed after the Silesian Wars of 1740-42 and 1744-45 and finished in 1765. It’s a beautiful spot with signboards for a ‘Citywalk’, trees, birdsong, allotments, an arsenal and more. At the very tip of one star point there is now ‘BSP’s’ builder’s yard, but in 1943 it was the hospital Roland was sent to. It’s fitting that this would become his base, as Berwick, ... read more

Thursday was a national holiday in Poland – Corpus Christi – so most of the shops and businesses were closed. We took this as an R&R day, and traveled south by bus about 3 hours away to the Karkonosze Mountains, which are part of the Czech-Polish border. We found a bobsled roller coaster, and decided to take a quick ride. It was lots of fun! We then took the cable cars/gondolas up from the Czech side to Sněžka, the highest peak in the Czech Republic, at 1600 meters (5250 feet). At the top, we hiked down a bit to a mountaintop restaurant for lunch. After walking down a bit further, we then took a single chair lift all the way to the bottom. Spectacular views! We then stopped at the Wang church, a Norwegian stave church ... read more

Adrspach-Teplice Rocks As is it was to be a long journey from Cesky Krumlov to the small town of Teplice we broke the journey in Hradec Kralove, North East of Prague. Another town with an ancient city centre. There was an informative walk around the centre with posts in English so that you knew what you were looking at. A pleasant way to spend a few hours, but not worth a journey in itself. The town was completely dead on a Saturday, no atmosphere at all. Teplice is a small place on the northern Polish border, the reason to go there are the walks through the wonderful sandstone rock formations, the largest single rock formation in Europe. If you imagine Bryce canyon in grey placed in a pine forest you have a picture of it. Huge ... read more