Zlate Hory (23.08.08)

It's a very little town... First, the groove. Or to be precise: its reconstruction. A very picturesque area. Wooden mills on a hill, bridge, stream. It all resembles the Heroes:) Or a similar game:)





Gold was mined here till 18th century, now a lot of tools and machines have been rebuilt, to present how the precious resources were extracted. You can also become a gold-digger, rinsing water from a small container. And each year gold-digging competition are organised here. In 2010 the town will host the World Championship.



The main street of the town is decorated with colourful tenement houses, live revolves slowly around the place, in cafes and little restaurants. There are quite many tourists here, especially cyclists and climbers. No wonder. The area is sourrounded by wonderful cycling routes and trails.

Pomezi caves and Petrikov (23.08.08)

The Leaning Tower of Pisa, Hindu temple, Roman thermes, Hercules' Club... to see all of this, it's enough to travel to one place only. To a cave in Lipove. A 50-minute-tour surprises step by step with bizarre shapes. Except the mentioned forms, there are also the Fakir Bed, Waterfall Made of Whipped Cream, Small Dog, Rococo Lady, Map of Jesenik with the Praded Mountain, Elephant's Ear, Curtain... There's also a small pond, where tourists throw coins. And a big human heart, which allegedly fulfils our dreams...

The guide said she speaks Polish, but in fact she was speaking a charming mix of the Czech and Polish language.



After the journey deep into the ground it was high time to travel towards the sky. With one word: Petrikov. There' a bobsleigh track in Zlote Hory, which is 800 meters long. First, a lift takes us up, then... plenty of turns through the wood at a high speed. It makes you keep coming back over and over again. So, it's better to buy a combined ticket for 5 drives.

Jesenik (20.08.08)

About a sanatorium, calm town and the Adrenalin Park.



In fact, live revolves here around the sanatorium, which lies on a hill. There are the only shops open till late, and only there is something that might be called a crowd. It seems as if Jesenik was focused on tourism only. Hundreds of guesthouses and hotels stretch along the town. But it doesn’t strike me at all. There are magnificent mountains around the town, decent bicycles paths, charming landscape and health resorts, of course. The most popular one is called Sanatorium Priessnitz and was grounded in 19th century. It boasts a huge number of water healing procedures, some of them seem quite strange to me.


All in all, the place is worth visiting, even for a walk through picturesque little streets around the Sanatorium.



The centre of the town, however, is pretty calm. But it doesn’t lack attractive places. The town hall, church, old destroyed trains and… This is it.
The centre is a little more vibrant in the evening, when young party fans spring up.



And when you get bored with the sanatorium, mountains and cycling there’s still something extraordinary in the vicinity. The Adrenalin Park. The way to the Park is not marked well enough, so getting there might be a problem. But it’s worth visiting. Once you get to the place called Czeska Ves and find Ranco Orel (the Eagle Ranch) you’ll be able to increase your adrenalin level and have fun at the same time. There’s bungee jumping, line-sliding, paintball, quads race, and a small Wild West…

Karlova Studanka (20.08.08)

Few words about the charming place.

It’s quite small and lies quite high above the sea level. It heals and attracts tourists. Boasts a great number of sanatoriums. It’s old, captivating and there’s a pump-room in the center. So I decide to try it. Well, the water stinks and doesn’t taste good , but it’s said to have healing properties. So I fill the whole bottle with it, although I’m afraid I won’t be able to drink it all.




The houses here are decorated with red flowers and the buildings present a variety of colours, shapes, materials... Nice.
And there’s a magnificent trail close to the town, but I’ve already described it in a previous post:)

Through the White Opava Valley towards Praded (20.08.08)

The Czech Sudetes and picturesque nature...

There is an amazing rout where Karlova Studanka finishes and gives its place to a wonderful waterfall land. It leads towards hill Ovcarnia (1300 m above the sea level) through a very picturesque region. Unfortunately. I crossed it in fog, so the charm of the valley was hidden behind the thick curtain. But on the other hand... the real beauty doesn't get scared even of the fog!


The rout is full of fallen trees, here and there a wooden bridge leads upwards, a waterfall falls down a rocky wall. Sometimes a bridge is replaced by a tiny footbridge, the rich green attracts your sight, yellow, purple and blue flowers ask shyly for attention. Ohs and ahs everywhere and a big regret that the weather doesn't emphasize the beauty of wonderful views.



After 5 km we finally reach a mountain hotel Ovcarnia. There's a bus stop opposite, one more hotel and a view of Pradad! On the highest mountain (1491,3 m above sea level) of the East Sudetes a RTV tower. It's covered by fog but still it seems to be quite close. But it's not. Te asphalt way doesn't lead straight to the mountain. The signs mislead, as well. Once they say 1,5 km ad then, after 0,5 km they claim it's still 1,5 km to reach Praded. The peak seems to be far away, the again quite close. It must be there, over the next turn! Quite the opposite. The fog is getting thicker and surrounds the hills around. Maybe a short cut? What about getting out of the asphalt and go through the grass...?



Ok. I stick to the rout. Finally the last stretch. I see the tower in front of me. The wind blows strongly and it gets cold. Visibility: quite poor. But I reached the peak! Welcome Praded.



Normally, you could climb the tower and view the surroundings from its top. But there's no point in doing that today. You wouldn't see anything. What you can also do is to hire a scooter and drive down towards Ovcarnia. No, thank you. The way back seems to be even whiter. For few minutes I can't see more than 10 meters ahead. Maybe less. Hm, it would be cool to play hide and sick now!

The asphalt isn't nice at all. It's almost like way towards Morskie Oko. Almost...

Zelezny Brod (22.05.08)

The town is situated near Liberec, was built in XI century and it is modestly hidden in the shade of surrounding mountains. Walking through Zelezny Brod, you will come across slight rises and ascents.
The town is famous for the glass production and wonderful green areas. There’s gallery and theater in the center, there are also 2 schools, empty church, few shops. It’s a good idea to visit the Museum of the Town, which is situated near a historic rout “Travniky”, full of old wooden houses. The museum presents the history of the town and depicts it with various minerals, school furniture, models of a bakery and civil houses...

Zelezny Brod is especially charming in winter, when snow covers the serene town, the Old Market id decorated with a huge Christmas tree and the peace floats in the air...

Prague (16.05.08)

They say: the most beautiful! The most charming! It’s described in hundreds various magazines and guidebooks around the world. It attracts tourists from distant places.

Prague. I will always perceive it as silent, modest, not affected by mass tourism, full of charming and interesting spots. I discovered it about 10 years ago, spent there two weeks, living in a student house on a Petrin hill. I visited various places, less and more popular and I breathed the artistic atmosphere of the city. And I did go back there. This time only for few hours, to look at Prague from different point of view, from different height and perspective...

It’s the most beautiful when the sun rises, in a clear, winter morning...





It seems that 8am is not a painfully early hour, even if you need to climb a steep narrow lane and lean forward above the high wall to catch sight of a waking city...





And this is already after the sunrise, but still very charming...



And now my favourite fountain: