Sumava- Day 1

On Saturday we left for Sumava, a region in the southwest of the Czech Republic. Almost the entire area is a national park. It is a very popular destination for Czechs, who, in general, are an outdoorsy people, fond of biking and hiking. People go and stay in penzions, basic hotels where you get breakfast and dinner and a bed.

Here is the one we stayed in, the Penzion Baburek.

And here is my room...

And here is the hallway. Spartan but comfortable.

We did not spend a lot of time at the penzion. We were the first ones at breakfast--tricky when there is a baby who usually eats much earlier than the 8am seating!--and then we were off on adventures. The first day we drove a few minutes to a section of the national park with a peat bog. A walkway juts out over the bog. Reminded me of being at the beach and walking to the ocean.

Unfortunately this lovely, stroller-friendly track did not go very far. We walked for about three minutes until it ended in this overlook. The scenery was stunning.

So then it was a trek along a road, dodging bicyclists and cars with bicycles strapped on top--people love to bike here! And everyone has a nifty biking outfit with the special shorts and the shirts with logos. Even the children. I snapped a picture of this monument alongside the road. I saw several of these throughout Sumava.

Here is another one. This one has Mary and Jesus inside a cage. Not really, but the metal bars across the painting make it look like they are imprisoned...

One would assume that cars in a place with so many bikers would be really friendly about sharing the road. Although I did not see anyone get smushed, cars did enjoy zooming up behind bikers (or a woman pushing a stroller and holding a four-year-old's hand*) and then careening around them at the last moment. Not the wide, graceful swings I am used to in America. Maybe it is because Americans are so litigious? You don't want to get near a biker or a runner because they might sue you? I don't know. Anyway, the game of chicken played between cars, oncoming cars, bikers, children, and strollers made me nervous. But I am a worrier.

After too long of a "stroll" along the road we stopped at one of the many, many roadside penzions. Almost every penzion has a cafe and a restaurant, so there is always somewhere to stop when the baby needs food or Cameron needs a coffee.

After a quick pause for refreshments, we continued our walk (not on the shoulder-less road, thank goodness). Instead we meandered down a paved and then gravel track. Bicyclists and other walkers, many with small children and strollers, passed by. Here is a nice pile of cut logs that I thought my father would enjoy seeing. Almost every house has a huge pile of wood stacked under a shelter or piled against the walls.

The same house with this monster wood pile had a charming, grass-roofed shed. Reminded me of Little House on the Prairie when they lived in the underground house. Little House on Plum Creek? Could be making that title up...

Across the way were two larger penzions and trails criss-crossing the valley.

Besides biking and hiking, Czechs also enjoy gathering mushrooms. It is a "national obsession." Or so the other expats were saying at yoga last week. As a person who is not very fond of mushrooms, probably the result of hastily administered ipecac due to the possible ingestion of a wild mushroom at the age of 1 or 2, I do not really get this hobby. Here is an informative display about various types of mushrooms that was posted next to the trail. You can see me in the middle of the reflection if you look closely enough.

Not far from the mushroom sign was this private family chapel. I peered inside the windows and saw candles and flowers and photographs of people. It was very sweet and unexpected. There was also a stone trough constantly filled from a spring and a tin tea cup hanging on a branch. Adorable.

We wandered back down the hill past these awesome cow things. Very shaggy and big with pointy horns. Strangely, I was more interested in them than the boys were. I kept trying to get their attention and point out the funny cows, but they just kept walking. Maybe these are normal, average Czech cows and they are only cool to the silly American girl.

We made our way to the Hotel Rankl, a larger penzion with a great playground. The playground is so nice and the outdoor seating so comfortable that the place was packed with parents and children. Pretty nice setup...the kids can play on the playground for hours, so the parents can sit at the tables and order food and then drinks and then more drinks...smart hotel. Here are Honzik and Lukas enjoying the see-saw. Not a bad backdrop, either!

After several hours, (actually I don't know how long we were there. time sort of blurred and then stopped) we went down another fork in the trail. (First we almost went back to our penzion because Honzik was stung by something and he thought he was going to die. But after a while he forgot about his mortal wound.) Naturally we had to stop at this creek so the boys could carefully remove their socks and shoes and wade around. Children and water...who knew? Beautiful spot, though. Reminds me of Wyoming.

Speaking of me, here I am. I didn't steal these pictures from the internet.

We returned to the penzion, let the baby crawl around for a while, and then it was bath time and bed time. For me.


*Quick bragging moment--Lukas, 4, has been reluctant to hold my hand when we walk. He will hold it if he gets scared or forgets who I am or something, but he complains when his mom makes him do it. So, in a moment of brilliance, I refused to let him hold my hand. I put my hands in my pockets and twisted around so he couldn't grab them. Then I let him pull a hand out of a pocket, but made "yuck!" noises when he tried to hold it. Then I yanked my hand out of his little grasp and pretended to wipe it on my pants. He thought this was hilarious. And now he loves to hold my hand. Reverse psychology, hurray.