east bohem.

I never would have thought that I could be sitting on a tour bus driving through the windy roads of the Czech Republic towards East Bohemia. We left Namesti Miru at 8 am on Friday morning to go and explore the Czech countryside. I didn't realize how much I missed rural surroundings until I was surrounded by them. Prague, despite the the nice compactedness of its size, can almost feel claustrophobic at times. As soon as we were in the middle of farms and rolling hills, I almost thought I was driving through Clinton, NY. And I loved it. It's weird: I've noticed that there doesn't really seem to be suburbs close to the center of Prague. There's either the city itself or very rural environments.

My problem with the city itself, is the same problem I have with all cities. I always feel like I'm getting in people's way, which in turn makes me always feel slightly on edge. This feeling has especially intensified in Prague, since I'm always trying to avoid the barrier of language. So, it was very refreshing to get out of the city for 2 days and be able to relax and a more comfortable environment.

The first town we stopped in was called Nove Hrady where there is a beautiful Rococo complex called the Chateau Nove Hrady. The Chateau was absolutely huge and beautiful and on the outside there is a huge French garden (with a dinosaur? Not sure if that was Rococo though). The Chateau now stands as an intellectual and cultural center so I found it interesting that it was located a few hours away from Prague, which is the main city of the Czech Republic. The Chateau really does stand out as being the largest and the most ornate structure in the town.

For lunch, we drove to Litomysl, a medieval town which is the birthplace of the composer Smetana (Jo loves that stuff). We continued to Hradec Kralove which is where we were spending the night. Jo and I decided to bail out on the group tour-- I was pretty sick of listening to someone lecturing at me for the entire day-- and we went and explored the cute, little town on our own. For such a small town, there are a ton of nice restaurants, bars, cafes, stores etc. I'm confused as to what the socioeconomic status is of these towns. There are no large businesses surrounding the area for people to work, nor are there many tourists to help with its economy. It's very strange

The weather on Saturday was quite apocalyptic... in fact, it might have even been bordering biblical. We were supposed to visit another Chateau in Nove Mesto nad Metuju (New town upon the Metuje river) and visit the town of Kuks, but the rain and wind really didn't want us to go. We did end up finally making it to the Renaissaince Pernstein Castle, a Baroque and Renaissance style Chateau. There were gardens and a moat that at one point held bears. So as the storm was impeding the skies, Martina made the wise decision to skip Kuks and just head back to Prague. What a scary drive--- it was hailing, trees were falling down, and we were driving on roads that buses shouldn't even be driving on in nice weather. I was so happy to finally get back to Praha. Because of the storm we didn't have heat, hot water or internet access till this afternoon. But alas, the electricity's back on, we're nice and toasty and loving sippin' on grapefruit lemon tea.

Some pictures from East Bohemia:

East Bohemia