Monday, June 21, 2010

Jicin: City of Bohemian Charm & History

Small square outside the Valdice Gate.  The
gate is 52 meters (170 ft)high,  and dates 
from between 1568 and 1570.
Jicin, Czech Republic

Hi Everyone,
After visiting Prachovske Skaly (Prachov Rocks), Jiri and I are our friends decided to pay a short visit to the city of Jicin.  Jicin is called the gateway to the Cesky Raj (Czech Paradise) area, and it sits in the river basin of the Cidlina River, about 96 km (approximately 59 miles) north east of Prague. The city sits at the base of the Krkonose Mountains, near the foothills, making a lovely backdrop for this charming Bohemian town.



View Larger Map
 

Jicin has been designated as a municipal reserve (mestska pamatkova rezervace) due to it's beautifully preserved Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque buildings.  The first mention of the city was in a letter written by Queen Jitka (Guta), wife of Wenceslas II of Bohemia, in a letter from the year 1293.  

Many scholars believe the town was named after Queen Jitka (Jitcino mesto in Czech).  Jicin was a possession of the king, but the most famous owner was Albrecht of Valdstejn (Albrecht von Wallenstein).  

Valdstejn is an interesting person in Czech history.  He was a very successful Bohemian general for the Habsburgs during the Thirty Years War.  Albrecht claimed the duchy of Frydlant for his own, with Jicin as the capital, in about 1620.  Valdstejn hired Italian architects to remake Jicin into a Baroque masterpiece.  The city was in the makeover process when Ablbrect was murdered (he was too successful, and the Habsburgs considered him a threat).  The Baroque makeover of Jicin was never finished, but there is still much to see and admire in the work that was completed and preserved over the centuries.  

We took our time wandering the center of Jicin, and one of the first sites to meet us was this dragon in a small square outside the main city square.  








This part of the old city of Jicin is pretty and well preserved.  There are small flowerbeds gracing the sidewalks and boulevards, and flowers baskets hanging from the light posts, giving the city a colorful touch.  After pacing through the Valdice Gate, we came into the main square of the old city.  The buildings are beautiful examples of Baroque architecture.  You can just imagine the people from the era of the 1600's doing business and shopping in this old square.  Following are some of the sites we saw on the square and just off the square.



There are many shops and restaurants around the square. This was
a Sunday, and most everything was closed.


The square has monuments (see in the background) to Christ, and 
one war memorial to a battle that took place in the Thirty Years War.












Here, you can see the facades of the buildings are painted, but the 
sides and backs are left plain.  Usually this is due to lack of 
money to have the entire building painted.



Church of St. Ignatius, dates from 1627.




Beautiful organ in Church of St. Ignatius.



Main altar of Church of St. Ignatius.




Valdice Tower and some buildings from the square.


Me being robbed by Rumcajz.

Who is Rumcajz?  Rumcajz is a fictional character in a fairytale written by Vaclav Ctvrtek.  In the tale, Rumcajz is a shoemaker in the city of Jicin, who later becomes a "kind-hearted" highwayman who protects the forest and deer from those who are laying waste to these resources.  The Rumcajz tale is told to all Czech children who can also visit the shop where he used to work in Jicin.  We didn't have time for that, but I was "robbed" just in from of his shop!

Jicin is highly recommended as a place to stop and visit due to the number of sites available in and around the city.  You can easily spend several days exploring Jicin and the Prachovske Skaly, along with many other sites.  Jicin offers an excellent website of the city where its possible to find many details about it's history and sites, as well as take virtual tours of the area.   

That's all for today.  The next post for Czech Off the Beaten Path will take a look at another expat blog called Expat Harem, by Anastasia Ashman.  I have a guest post coming up on Expat Harem this Wednesday.  I'm very excited about being on Anastasia's blog, and can't wait for the guest post to go live!  

Have a great day!

God bless,
Sher :0) 


 






Friday, June 18, 2010

Prachovske Skaly (Prachov Rocks)


Hi Everyone,
Recently, Jiri and I, and another couple, visited Prachovske Skaly (Prachov Rocks) near Jicin, which is about 90 km (56 miles) north east of Prague.  We had a beautiful, cool, cloudy day to visit this part of the Czech Republic.  The weather was perfect for hiking in these wooded, verdant foothills of the Krkonose Mountains.  The Prachov Rocks are actually sandstone towers and blocks, called the "rocky village" of this area.  The Prachov Rocks is a nature reserve and is part of the Cesky Raj (Czech Paradise) Nature Reserve in Bohemia.  The Prachov Rocks reserve was founded on December 31st, 1933, and has an area of 243.39 hectares (approximately 601 acres) comprised of beautiful forests, sandstone rocks and towers, and fauna of many types.  The park sits at an altitude of 350-462 meters (1,148 to 1,515 ft) making hikes very easy and comfortable (aside from all the rocks and stairs).  

Our group set out around 10:00 in the morning, after purchasing maps for the hike at the park's tourist center (highly recommended you buy a map to avoid getting lost).  The reserve is full of hiking trails which pass through the park and on to other parts of the Czech Republic.  These trails are visibly marked and maintained by volunteers.  Hiking in Prachov Rocks reserve includes easy and more challenging trails.  We saw older people, as well as kids, hiking the trail that day.  Our group fit in with those who are of the middle generation, i.e., those who are middleaged.  Most of the footpaths we followed were at the intermediate level and safe for the most part.  However, there were a few areas on the trail where sand  covered the route, making the way slippery and slightly hazardous.  Even so, the paths are very well maintained and offer beautiful scenic views of the valleys, towns and farms below. 


 Sandstone tower formations, with views of countryside in the background (upper right).

Parts of the trail were very challenging.  There are so many rocky stairs to climb and descend, making this hike a wonderful workout for your leg muscles.  

r
Rocky stairs on the trail.

A few of the rock stairs went through very narrow gullies and culverts.  There were a couple of these gullies where my claustrophobia kicked in.  

T
This stairway was actually very wide compared to others we 
encountered later on the trail.

 This particular stairway was through a spot where you had to
turn sideways in order to pass. This one was the 
the hardest test for me!

C
Me coming to the wider part of this stairway--very relieved
to have made it through OK!

Stairs and more stairs.
Prachov Rocks reserve is also where climbers like to practice their trade.  The sandstone formations provide easy, as well as challenging climbs.  We saw several groups out climbing the day we visited the park.

Climber nearly to the top of this sandstone tower.

 A couple on top of one of the towers taking a break together.

 A climber's view of the sandstone formation.

 A Czech flag and canister at the top of one formation.  The canister
contains a notebook where climbers write their names and the 
date of their climbs to let other know who was there and when.

T
This is the top of the tower where the Czech flag was in the 
previous picture.

Finally made it to the top!

 Loved this! Someone put the stick in between the stones to
create an optical illusion.  The rock on top looks to be balanced
  on top of the stick and the other rock below.  In reality,
both stones were stuck in between boulders.

Following are a few more pictures from the trail and the beautiful rocky sandstone towers we discovered along the way.  The path also winds through some beautiful forest where its possible to see ferns and moss growing on the rocks.  We even encountered a deer that day! 


The trail is worn in places like this--the roots of the trees have become
polished from the many hikers who have passed this way.

   







We covered about 10 km in two hours.  Not bad for some middle aged friends.  Near the end of our hike we decided to stop at a small hotel listed on our map.  We came upon the hotel from the back, and were wondered if it was even open.  The bushes and grass in the back yard seemed to be overgrown, and a swimming pool was in an unkept state.  Once we reached the front of the hotel, however, we discovered a very charming and quaint place.  


The name of the hotel is Hotel Pod Sikmou Vezi (Hotel Under the Leaning Tower, named after one of the sandstone formations found on the hiking paths).  The link leads to the hotel's website, in Czech.  But the page can be easily translated with Good Translate).  The hotel offers rooms for about 630 CZK ($30.30 USD), and has an excellent menu with so many choices, and the prices were very reasonable.  The hotel restaurant offers seating either outside on the deck, or inside.  We ate out on the deck and found it a very pleasant place to sit and eat.  We were surprised by the number of items available on the menu in such a small, out-of-the-way hotel.  The food came in good time and was excellent, with satisfying amounts of food on each plate.  I would like to stay at that small hotel with Jiri sometime.  It was a very quiet and peaceful place to stay in the middle of this beautiful nature reserve.


The front of the hotel with the deck.  Wonderful place to sit, 
relax and eat.
Pretty dead tree in the hotel's driveway garden.  
I loved the way they had saved the tree and
managed to use it to create this pretty scene.

This was near the end of our hiking trail that day.  We had a wonderful time and could have easily spent the entire day hiking around the preserve, but we all had to get back to Prague by later in the afternoon.  So we headed homewards.  On the way home to Prague we stopped in the city of Jicin.  I'll write about our visit there in the next post.

Have a great day!

God bless,
Sher :0) 

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Photos property of S. Vacik
(c) 2010 by czechoffthebeatenpath
 

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Life Happens



Hi Everyone,
It's been a while since I've had a chance to really sit down and do any blogging here.  Just like the title of this post says, sometimes Life does have a way of getting in the way of blogging.  Life threw me a couple of loops during the past few weeks, but I've come out the other side and have a chance to sit down and write.  

A few weeks ago my godfather passed away, just before the 10th anniversary of my grandpa's passing.  He had been ill for the past  year, so this was no surprise, but it was still a hard loss for my family.  The news hit my grandma very hard.  My godfather is my grandpa's brother, and he's always been very close to my grandma.  The news of his passing hit grandma very hard, and she ended up in the hospital with what we thought was a heart attack.  Later, we learned she in fact suffered congestive heart failure.  Grandma survived this ordeal--even at 94 she's a fighter! 

When it was time for Grandma to leave the hospital and go home, the doctor said Grandma would either have to go to a transition center (for rehab and gaining strength), or she could go home, but only if she accepted home health care (nurses and rehab).  About this same time my parents were having their own health troubles and were not able to go and help Grandma.  My parents were both laid up with back trouble, and other things.  My brother was recovering from neck surgery.  I was the most mobile person and so went back home to take care of Grandma.  

Life never has good timing--well, at least in my experience.  I was right in the middle of writing an article for one website, working on a guest  post for another blog, and in the middle of some other projects.  I had to write and let everyone know that I was not going to make the deadlines due to taking care of Grandma back in the States.   These clients were very understanding--and helpful--reassuring me things would be OK and we'd work things out.  At this point, I had no idea how long it would be necessary for me to stay with Grandma.  Thankfully Jiri is a very understanding and family-oriented husband.  He sent me back home with his blessings, knowing I would return when Grandma was stabilized.

Grandma's situation was a bit precarious in the beginning, though she was stronger than I had thought to find her when I got home.  She can be very feisty--all her nurses told her this is what's kept her alive for so long!  I tend to agree!  She was very determined to get back on her feet and be able to do for herself.  This made my job a little bit easier, that and seeing Grandma had that Life spark so strong in her yet.  

Grandma and I had many experiences over those four weeks I was home.  We had many laughs, discussions, and more. We also had some disagreements, with Grandma even getting angry with me!  That's OK...it was my job to look after her, so at times I had to play a more parental role with her!  What a job it is to parent our older family members.  My Mom has had much experience with this type of role, being more like a mother when her mother (Grandma G.) was near the end of her life.  Mom gave me some good advice, as did my Dad.  

Somehow Grandma and I got through this whole process, also having a good visit together, in spite of the reason that brought me back home.  I had a fun time with Grandma's friends, too.  They have quite a busy life at Grandma's assisted living center!  

I've been back in Prague for a about a month, and Grandma's doing great and feeling pretty good.  She will be 95 on her birthday later this month.  During this month I have been busy catching up with the work I couldn't manage while caring for Grandma.  Allergies and asthma also reared up and decided to cause a pretty bad problem.  But a huge dose shot of steroids, prednisone pills and strong antihistamine, in addition to my regular meds, brought me through just fine.  

I have had such a hard time finding the words to share here about what has been happening in my life since March.  It has taken a little time for me to decompress from all of these experiences.  Everything came in such a short time I felt like a tsunami had swept me out of normal living.  Now, all of this has been "processed" in my brain and it does feel good to put it into words here.  

This blog has been  waiting for me and it feels good to be back.  I feel like meeting a long-lost friend after many years.  My feet have definitely been in two places the past couple of months, but that's OK!  I've come out the other side stronger and better than before.  Now, I'm ready to get back into blogging again.  I have a couple of new places to tell you about in the next posts, along with pictures.  I also have a guest post coming up on Expat Harem, by Anastasia Ashman.  I'll be sure to let you know when that post will be live.   

Thank you for coming back to Czech Off the Beaten Path!  

Have a wonderful day!


God bless,
Sher :0) 


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