Thu
03.Jul.2014
Loket, Bohemia, Czech Republic
Google weather says that Summer is on the verge of reaching us here in
Bratislava. Time to get these shots from Loket posted, before I forget what
I might have had to say about them!
My B&B in Loket wasn't strictly speaking in Loket. I was up on a
hill some hike from the heart of town, maybe 25 minutes walk, and 100+
stairs. The walking route crosses a large park.
On a good day, this view across the hills toward Carlsbad (Karlovy
Vary) was rather a treat.
A cheerful enough sight to deal with in the morning! My host was a charming,
friendly middle-aged fellow. Spoke rather basic English, so we settled early
on German as a language for conversation. One evening a visiting Polish
couple joined us around the table. They and my host were chatting away
happily in what I assumed was Czech. Turned out they were just using Polish,
or guessing from it, and ironing out the details as needed. The Poles spoke
good English, but little or no German. Somebody was always having to
translate for somebody else.
A fine time was had by all!
The park I mentioned lies alongside the Ohře river, just above the
loop that surrounds the old city. Ponds, wood sculpture, a children's
playground, a soccer field... they have them all. Even an amphitheater with
the castle on its cliff as backdrop to the stage!
Besides these sculptures, a herd of live Cameroon goats live on the steep
hill side between castle and bridge. I never saw them in good enough light
for a photo.
I've mentioned before that the hills of Bohemia are heavily wooded. A huge
protected forest region reaches south from Loket, reaching 50 km and more to
Mariánske Lázně (German: Marienbad) and almost to Plzeň
(Pilsen as in beer). Many polular hiking trails there, a few
minor roads, and a slow, but reputedly picturesque single track rail line to
Marienbad. That might be a fun ride on a future pass through this region.
Not this time though.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep.
Haffily, gaffily, gaffily goneward!
Isn't Czech spelling something! My keyboard really isn't made for
it. I was tempted to use only the German versions of all these place
names, but in the end it seemed unfair. 'Twould definitely have been
less work though.
So a couple of weeks pass, in a lovely little town with only about one week
worth of things to do. I'll gladly come here again, but for now I was antsy
to move on.
We'll skip three overcast days in the small Bohemian town of Stříbro.
See you next in Slovakia, where the
capital city finally has a laundromat!