After talking about it for 6 months, the plans are coming together – the first being moving out of our home so it can be rented. The last couple of weeks have resulted in empty rooms, boxes in storage and lots of items leaving. Today is the 9th of June – next week the painters come in to spruce up the place and on the 21st or 22nd we leave…
Over the last few days we have continued to pack up the house and make plans for our departure. Right now we will be out of the house by the 15th of June and stay with some friends for a few days while the painters work on the inside of the house. Once everything is complete and all the boxes we need stored have been locked away we will get into our car and head NORTH. The first stop will be in Morro Bay and from there on to Cupertino.
So, stay tuned as the head out on our Adventure.
Work continues in our efforts to move out of our house. Boxes have been filled and stored, furniture moved to the garage, address change submitted and packing for our trip is underway. Over the next 2 weeks, we will be fully out of our home and getting the interior painted for new renters; have paced the car to make sure everything fits and finally stayed with friends for a few days. First stop, Morro Bay to visit with our friend Clauda. From there further north to Cupertino and various spots around SF Bay. Lots more coming folks so stay tuned.
Right now, our plan is to be on the road around June 20th! Before that, however, there are lot of boxes to pack, items to be tossed and slew of other things to be able to hit the road. So, stay tuned as we head out on our ‘gap year’ adventure.
Starting in July we head out for our ‘gap year’ adventure which includes spending time in Oregon, driving across the country to Virginia, flying to Portugal for a river cruise, flying to Sttutgart Germany to pick up a new Mercedes-Benz and driving south throughout Italy before dropping the car of for shipment to Virginia. Tag along via this blog to see what happens.
The 27th was a relaxing day of doing just about nothing. We did spend some time visiting a couple of shops and packing but beyond that nothing major for sure. Nice to have a relaxing day prior to flying home.
On the 28th, our driver picked us up and we headed to the airport. After departing Prague we flew via Amsterdam back to LAX – resulting in being ‘awake’ for 24 hours. It was a great trip and there are parts I can certainly see going back to for more adventures. If you have followed along throughout our trip – I hope you enjoyed it. We had a great time and are already looking forward to our next trip in September 2017!
David & Janeen
In 1278, Henry, the abbot of the Cistercian monastery in Sedlec, was sent to the Holy Land by King Otakar II of Bohemia. He returned with him a small amount of earth he had removed from Golgotha and sprinkled it over the abbey cemetery. The word of this pious act soon spread and the cemetery in Sedlec became a desirable burial site throughout Central Europe. In the mid 14th century, during the Black Death, and after the Hussite Wars in the early 15th century, many thousands were buried in the abbey cemetery, so it had to be greatly enlarged. Around 1400, a Gothic church was built in the center of the cemetery with a vaulted upper level and a lower chapel to be used as an ossuary for the mass graves unearthed during construction, or simply slated for demolition to make room for new burials. In 1870, František Rint, a woodcarver, was employed by the Schwarzenberg family to put the bone heaps into order, yielding a macabre result.
A visit to this Ossuary is a bit macabre what with all the bones around – many in piles, many in decorative forms – actually a little creepy.
After our visit, we walked over to the Sedlec – the first Cisterican monastery in Bohemia – founded in 1142. An unusual feature is the ability to walk above the vaulted ceilings in the attic and see some of the construction required.
On either side of the Alter were two glass cases hold the Relics of two saints – on the left is St. Vincent – Martyr of ancient room donated by Pope Benedict XIV on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of monastery foundation.
Another church in town is the Cathedral of St. Barbora. Around the courtyard of the church was a medieval style fair happening with people in costume and period games and entertainment being performed. We didn’t join in as it was rather cool and looking like rain. However, we did venture into the Cathedral for a look around.
After a delightful lunch with Ilona, 
we heading out for more Castle visits.
One more stop for the day was to was to Konopiste. This Castle had been modified many times ultimately being purchased by Franz Ferdinand d’Este in 1887. At the time, he was the richest member of the Habsburg family at the time and at 21 started to make over this Castle to his liking. Franz was not considered to be a candidate for succession to the throne but that all changed when the King’s brother died of typhus in 1896. Even with this possibility, he married Sophie Chotek – who was not considered of high enough birth to be present at the court of the King. Regardless, Franz was in love and they married and lived mostly in Konopiste only visiting Vienna when required to do so. The castle was modernized during the early 1900’s with electricity and additional bathrooms being installed.
The Castle had a large park around it – all the result of Franz buying up everything around and tearing down all the buildings including a small village. Within the grounds he established various hunting areas, a pond, gardens and all related items to support his luxury lifestyle.
At the moat, just around the Castle, there were kept several bears – still to this day they are present.
We didn’t tour the Castle as the last tour was being done in the Czeck language – didn’t think we could following along.
After walking around a bit, Janeen went to the Gardens of course.
This Castle is significant as the Seat of power for Franz Ferdinand, the successor to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife Sophie. When they were assassinated in 1914 it participated the start of World War I.
Prior to leaving for this trip, I had arranged a guide to take us out of Prague and into some of the historical sites. We were picked up by Ilona and her husband, Peter, who acted as the driver and off we went.
The first stop was to Český Krumlov Castle located about 2 ½ hours outside of Prague. The Castle dates back to 1240 when the first castle was built by the Witigonen family, the main branch of the powerful Rosenberg family. For the next several hundred years it pass through a number of Noble families ultimately passing to the Schwarzenbergs. After WW II it ultimately became a property of the Czech government. The entire area, castle, village and surround areas, were declared a national monument in 1989 and in 1992 it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
We started our tour in the gardens of the castle at the top of the hill 
and walked through several squares ultimately getting to the main gate of the castle and into the town. Along the way we had beautiful views of the river, the village and the surround buildings.
With each square there were interesting sites to see – faux windows and doors on the walls, 
representations of the coat of arms of the Rosenberg family and historical objects like rock cannon balls. Interior shots of the Castle show how richly appointed all the rooms are.
After leaving the castle we walked through a portion of the village and across a bridge to the main section.
The village has winding small cobblestone streets lined with shops, restaurants and open areas – squares. We walked to an over look to look back at the castle and through the church. 
Note the stones at the corner of the buildings. This was to protect them from horse and carriage impacts.
After a lunch of local fare 
we headed back to the car to continue our adventure. 
This view of the castle shows the walkways created to separate various levels of society. The top level was for the Noble’s to walk from the Castle to the gardens, the middle level was for servants and the lower level was for access to the Theatre from the Castle.
After connecting with Peter, we drove to České Budějovice for a quick tour around the square with it’s impressive buildings. 
Budějovice has long been well known for the beer brewed there since the 13th century. For a time, the town was the imperial brewery for the Holy Roman Emperor, and Budweiser Bier (i.e. beer from Budweis) became, along with Pilsner from Plzeň, one of the best-known lagers. Brewing remains a major industry. This is the town that the American brewer took the name for Budweiser Beer
From here we went on to Hluboka Castle. This historic chateau and is considered to be one of the most beautiful castles in the Czech Republic. In the second half of the 13th century, a castle was built at this location and rebult several times over the years. Finally being modified into it’s current form by Adam Franz von Schwarzenberg in the beginning of the 18th century. It is in the romantic style of England’s Windsor Castle. The owner fled the country in 1939 to escape from the Nazis. 
Today’s adventures were all south of Prague. Tomorrow we head east to see other sites not normally on the common tour route.
As mentioned in yesterday’s post Janeen found an artist who’s jewelry she liked. This involved her buying a lovely necklace and a bracelet. Well, the design was such that it was a gold and silver piece but the two pieces (bracelet and necklace) didn’t match. So today, as it was HOT, we called an Uber and got a ride to the third shop of the store that represented the artist. Unfortunately they didn’t have anything that would resolve this issue. We went for a great lunch at Kampa Park Restaurant for a nice bottle of Sav Blanc and lunch.
We were right on the river and watched the boats going back and forth on their various tours.
Insofar as we didn’t resolve the jewelry issue, we called Uber again and went back to the original store (also the “flagship” location) to see what they could do. Well, the staff were very friendly and with only a little prompting by me called the Artist directly to see about making adjustments to the necklace and bracelet. Well, not a problem they said – we can ship it to you in 4 to 6 weeks. Naturally I took a picture of them
and with only an addition 200 Czech Koruna (8.40 US) the deal was done. Of course this only made the total value of our purchases in the 7000 Koruna range. But Janeen will be happy and it will arrive in time for our anniversary (I hope).
On our way back to the Hotel we stopped for a quick picture (standing in the street) of the Powder Tower.
An event relaxing day for sure.
The Estates Theatre was built during the late 18th century in response to the Enlightenment thought regarding general access to the theatre, and theatres themselves demonstrating the cultural standards of a nation. The Estates Theatre was designed and built a little less than two years for the aristocrat Count Nostitz Rieneck. Currently productions include a variety of productions – drama, opera, music, plays – and the schedule changes virtually every day requiring the stage to be reset daily. Our visit included a nice tour of the building, a visit to several boxes and a performance by several musicians.
After the tour of the Theatre, we went to the Municipal House. This is a civic building originally built in the 1380’s but destroyed but ultimately rebuilt in 1905. It was finally opened in 1912 and has a large auditorium and a number of “waiting” rooms around the outside of the main auditorium. It is notable for having a good deal of art installations done by Alfons Mucha, Jan Preisler and others. Today it is used as a concert hall, ballroom, civic building and I was temped to get tickets to see Diane Reeves who was scheduled for Friday evening.
Lunch at the Municipal Building wasn’t anything to write about but at least it was filling and in an interesting environment.
From there we went shopping as Janeen had found an artist’s work in the gift shop she liked so we had to track down where we could see other examples. This ended up as trip to a nice shop at which we purchased a lovely necklace (more on that tomorrow). This involved going to two of the three shops but again more on that tomorrow.
We did stop in Old Town Square for a nice bottle of wine. It was SO hot, the water truck showed up to wet down the plaza and people as desired.
Heading back to our hotel took pictures of a couple of interesting buildings.
That evening we connected with Jerry and Gloria and took another Uber to dinner at Divine Cafe and Wine Bar. Sitting in the patio we enjoyed a lovely dinner of the special of the day.
The following day Jerry and Gloria were to fly home so this was to be our final meal on this trip with them and it certainly was enjoyable. A cab ride back to the hotel and the day was finished.