Trains in London

So, after shocking the whole of Gary's family with my big beard I found myself standing on the train platform heading into the city where I would switch lines and then head to the airport. There's something about being in train stations that makes my heart flutter. It's such a shame that so few people in the United States get to experience this feeling. The bigger, more obvious implication is that we dismantled our streetcars and discontinued affordable train travel options in favor of the automobile which is now destroying our way of life. Funny, that the invention which was once the universally accepted symbol of American freedom and independence is now a very large monkey on our backs!

In the distance I suddenly heard a whistle blowing and my heart began fluttering again...

Ramblings from the Rambler...

Here in my Cubist apartment facing the Vltava River I sit on my bed and gaze out on the river as tourist boats glide by with cameras flashing. The tour guide is explaining the history of the buildings in my neighborhood.

When we first moved here, I couldn't distinguish the flashing cameras from the spark of the tram wires. And now, though both are continuous, neither are noticeable. For me, the rumbling of a tram is the perfect background noise. It puts me right to sleep.

Well, after a perfectly sunny weekend spent hiking around the parks that surround Prague Castle and stopping (twice) at the brewery attached to the Monastery complex behind the castle...I feel it is time to gloat.

Sorry, but this is truly a dream being realized. I've wanted to do this (live in Europe) for so long and I'm having a great time! So, no real news. Just smiles from afar.....(is anybody reading this)?

Lednice-Valtice

The combined area of these two small villages, or 'willages' as my students would say, is protected by UNESCO. 17th Century dukes or princes from Liechtenstein owned vast land holdings in southern Moravia and the chateaus were built there as summer palaces.

We approached from the south and began to wind through the very rural village. We were not expecting much from the run-down homes on the outskirts and old men grimacing as they rode their bicycles past, but that scene changed abruptly as the road took a sharp right.

Suddenly elegant spires soared towards the heavens and trees abounded. The estate house in Lednice is incredible! It's surrounded by a massive English garden and greenhouse with the Dyje River quietly winding along beside it. The building had quite a collection of ornate sculpture jutting out from every possible space. As well as a handful of sculptures scattered throughout the gardens. From its 'backyard' you could see the late 1700's Turkish minaret across the lake in the distance some 7km away. I believe the minaret was given as a gift to the ruling Liechtensteiners.

Beckov Hrad

First, this place was a stark reminder of the struggle of Jews in the Diaspora.

Also, it was an awe-inspiring castle clinging to a wonderfully colored rock formation surrounded by rolling green hills at the base of the Lesser Carpathian mountain range near the Czech-Slovak border.

With respect to the first point, the Jewish cemetery adjoining the castle complex is merely the latest example of my growing awareness of the ongoing hatred of the Jews throughout Europe; particularly in the central European countries.

As the evidence piles up, I'm left feeling a tremendous amount of shame for the human race in general. This past weekend was full of cultural and natural beauty, but garnished with revolting reminders of the despicable deficiencies of the global human spirit. In the shadows of this magnificent castle was an appalling assemblage of annihilated gravestones and burials, some of which had actually been eerily exhumed and their contents removed or scattered about the surrounding area.

The gravestones that bore inscriptions in Hebrew were the most molested:

Some of the older less sophisticated headstones were just ripped right out of the ground:

As my stomach turned and the clouds covered then uncovered the sun sending random bursts of sunshine across the hills illuminating grisly scene after grisly scene, I awkwardly placed stones on top of the few intact graves to honor the deceased hoping to bring some element of peace to their tortured afterlives.

YMCA: "The color of a person's skin reveals only one thing. The color of a person's skin."

Bob Dylan: "How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man?"

Trenčín

New adventures in Slovakia!

My Slovakian adventures were limited to Bratislava and the nearby castle of Devín prior to last weekend and my Lonely Planet (not a plug for those Brits!) described Trenčín as a town "with a distinctly sedate pace of living." Also said it had a bunch of Renaissance buildings as well as a massive castle looming over the town from jutting mountaintop.

The Romans were there ages ago and left their mark in the base of the rock, an inscription that survives today. Pretty wild!

The town only had a few churches. The main one, orange in color and big, was at the end of the main pedestrian walkway under the castle just inside the old gate. It really was a monster and it had two great onion-dome spires. The inside was remarkable too...despite the fact that I've now seen more churches than could ever hope to recount. It had a great deal of ornate artwork, sculpture and the like.

There was also this one abandoned synagogue...much more about that later!

We got there Friday at about 4pm. The sun was breaking the clouds and allowed for a quick round of photos before retreating for good for the evening. So, we dug into relatively good...albeit strange Mexican? food. Slovakian Mexican I guess! Then proceeded to hit the Irish? pub next door for a few beers.

The most famous Slovakian beer as near as I can tell is Zlatý Bažant, which this pub had for 27 Slovak Crowns. That's equal to $1 exactly. Not bad. They had Guiness for $2.57, but not a full pint.

Anyway, to my absolute surprise...I think my exact words were, "Holy @%&# sh*t.....you gotta be kidding me!" I saw this sign:

I mean in Trenčín, Slovakia of all places in the world to find a Goose sign!?! I couldn't believe it! I'd be surprised to see it in the States...Trenčín, Slovakia...talk about blown away!

So, the next day we got up, ate breakfast at the pension (fantastic omelettey-thingy with a bacon base and egg with cucumber), then climbed up the back of the mountain to the castle. We got rained on a bit, but not really wet.

This castle was about 75% rebuilt. However, the area that we accessed in the back was where the real magic hid. The walls were mostly original with the wooden posts jutting out (albeit broken posts) in many spots.The combination of being completely on our own surrounded by patches of snow with the imposing historic castle staring down at us was enough to make us giddy.We found the castle accessible only from the old town, however. So, after mincing about in the moat and on the walls we clamoured down to the old town and paid the fee to enter for real. The wind was absolutely ripping through our layers of clothes sending shivers through our bodies and a chill straight to the bone.

We ducked in the info center for hot chocolate. Then went to meet the guide at 12:15. The guide was playing hooky apparently, though, so we got barked at by a dog for 15 minutes and left. Next we went to Beckov Castle.....

My Class

Here's my current class:

We've got Milan, Jiří, Petra, Olga, Hana, Pavel, Petr,

Katka, and Klara. Bara and Magda were absent.

First Snow!!!

The forecast called for snow today as it had for months now. For some reason, we all felt it could happen this time. And lo and behold, it continues to fall as I write.

Immediately following school today, I walked home in a light flurry singing out loud as the snow gathered in my beard. I took the tram across town then walked the remaining mile down along the river.

The minute it started I danced a little jig on the inside, thoughtfully sparing the Czech people an exhibition of my undoubtedly sorry dance steps. I had a smile that, if my teeth were whiter, could have blinded people.

I had a late class today too from 5-6:30 teaching a Russian woman Business English and by the time I left the snow had begun to stick quite nicely and accumulate as well.

After dinner we took a walk along the river and then up towards the Metro to a little restaurant for a drink. Here are some pictures I took in the last hour.

This is the riverfront across from our flat:

Here's our local pub, which is also the Vltava River Museum:

I love these Škoda's...what can I say?

Hockey Time!

So, G was way on top of her game and she scored two tickets to the cross-town death match between Sparta and Slavia. These are Prague's two biggest teams. Loaded with young talent, these guys draw a vicious and rabid crowd every time they meet. Hockey is, after all, the Czech's favorite sport.

We had the most expensive tickets at 160 Crowns (8$) and we were right in the middle of the middle deck. Perfect view of the whole scene. To our right sat the outnumbered Slavia fans banging their drums, yelling and popping balloons. To our left the home team crazies lead the chanting for the rest of the Sparta fans.

Speaking of Sparta fans, they were clearly the dominant group in the joint. Slavia had handfuls of supporters scattered throughout, but they seemed to be precariously perched among the most unruly Spartans. I think I saw more fights and agression from the Sparta fans than the players. Nice one!

The game was held at the T-Mobile Arena in Prague 7 - Holešovice, which is Sparta's home turf. A fair sized place, they had sausage and beer stands galore. As the beer was 22 Crowns I had four. Again, nice one!


The arena was PACKED! Every intermission the place emptied while people ran to the toilets and beer stands. I made my runs 3 minutes before each intermission and never waited in line once. These folks weren't gonna miss one second of play. It was a good game, but the home turf boys lost this match by 1 goal in the final minutes with the score 4-3 Slavia.

Only in the Czech Republic would the Zamboni be replaced by.....The golden girls of hockey?

Prague

Just in case anyone was thinking I had lost interest in MY city or been overlooking it, here are some photos from Sunday that will quickly remind any and all of you that Prague is now, has been for centuries and will continue to be one the most beautiful cities in the world.

Here's St. Vitus and the outer castle walls sloping down into the moat:

This wicked little pension is on one of the oldest streets in Prague below the castle on the western side. There was noone around:

Škoda's are pretty wicked:

A street scene in Mala Strana near St. Mikuláš Cathedral:

Trojský Zámek

This was apparently a designated Baroque weekend as we decided to go to this 17-century palace out near the zoo today. It is now home to a collection of 19th-century Czech art, but stands as one of the greatest examples of Baroque architecture in the Czech Republic. It also happens to be one of the oldest.

The home itself was not open, but the gardens and grounds were. It backs up to the lightly flowing Vltava River and has acres of gardens surrounding it. The staircase that comes cascading down from the back of the house is nothing short of spectacular. It is adorned by a dozen or more statues and looks like the most original part of the home.
The fountain in the middle of the back gardens is nice too, but the staircase was definitely the highlight of the area.

Břevnovský Klášter

This place is just west of central Prague. It's still in the greater Prague area (Praha 6) and is accessible by tram. In fact, the tram you take to get here passes underneath the castle then winds along around the backside of the castle complex yielding unparalleled views of St. Vitus and the rest.

Anyway, the tram climbed up into the suburban hills and crept slowly away from the buzz of the city center until this monastery emerged with a bang from the trees and Communist block houses.

It is over 1000 years old (founded in 993) and absolutely massive. It's surrounded by orchards, fields and parks in a very lovely setting. It's most recent reconstruction was during the 18th century, therefore, the buildings are Baroque.

The hills behind the complex make a natural enclosure and many ruined walls, buildings and stairwells adorn them.

The buildings were apparently occupied by the Nazis during the war, but retain much of their original character. The area doesn't seem to have suffered much more than an occupation at the hands of the Germans, no real damage.

Oświęcim (Auschwitz)

Geez...

What can I write about this? On one hand I want to eviscerate my memory of the experience and leave it all here, but I also don't want to trivialize the absoluteness of the place itself by relating my personal feelings as they could never scratch the surface of the pain, suffering and inhumanity dispensed at the hands of ideological zealots some 60 years ago.

Everything from the twisted quote (Arbeit Macht Frei) that hovers above the one and only entrance to this and most of these complexes was pulsing and vibrating in an eerie and unsettling way.

I can, however, say that the museums are arranged in a manner that leaves visitors with no doubt about the degree of mental instability necessary to carry out the largest 'experiment' in genocide ever known to humanity.

Strange way to end the year.....

Craców

So, we left for Craców on the morning of the 26th. With 7 hours of train travel ahead of us we settled into our reserved seats by the windows and stared at the fields and trees as they flew by.

In complete defiance of all documented weather trends for the area, the sun guided us through the Bohemian countryside safely into the Moravian hills and across the Polish border. We changed trains in Katowice by literally jumping off our old horse and strutting across the platform towards the closing doors of our new horse.

A handful of travelers, upon hearing me get confirmation from the railman, piled into the car behind us. With the sun now disappearing, we yawned and stretched out for the final hour and a half of our journey.

As we pulled into Craców's main station (Glówny), we could feel the biting cold through the cracks in the windows. The cold air darting in through the open doors removed all feelings of exhaustion and propelled me into a dizzying scramble towards the lights and sounds of the Old Town.

We confronted an ATM and left with money in our pockets. Luckily our hostel was just inside the original 14th-century gate which is a stones throw from the train station. Eager to lose our bags and hit the streets, we sped through the check-in process and did just that.

Craców was noticeably colder than Prague had been all year and while we had enough clothing it was still difficult to face the sharp menacing winds. Perhaps it was that fact that lent to the emptiness of the dark narrow streets that night. Although, I suppose folks could have been spending time with their families as well since it was literally the day after Christmas.

Regardless, we found an open restaurant and ducked in for some warm food...and cold beer. It was a Brazilian restaurant so I had some 'Brazilian' food and washed it down with a Polish beer called Zywiec. Not a great beer, but all shortcomings in taste were more than excused by the wicked label which depicted a Polish couple dancing a traditional dance in traditional clothing.

We crashed relatively early after a looong day traveling and this was the scene around 9am as I walked out of the hostel.

In the distance is the lovely St. Mary's Church in Craców's main square (Rynek Glówny). The square is the largest medieval square in all of Europe. Every hour a bugle call rings out from the highest tower of the church.

I was surprised to see how perfectly rebuilt Craców's Old Town was. I was quickly reminded, however, that the late Pope John Paul II called Craców home until he became the Pope. The castle (Wawel), Old Town and the Catholic churches are in superior condition these days.

This is in stark contrast to the old Jewish Quarter called Kazimierz, where many buildings are in disrepair. The handful of synagogues scattered throughout the area seemed uncomfortable, sort of on edge. As if they're waiting for something awful to happen. To my chagrin, anti-Semitic graffiti stained many walls in the area.

It wasn’t all bleak and gloomy, though, as this sign proves:

X-Mas in Prague - Pt.2

We may not have snow, but we have copious amounts of big, ugly, funky fish!

OK, I've been saving this until the last minute to make sure I understood it completely.

In the Czech Republic, and some neighboring countries, they eat CARP for Christmas. These guys catch carp by the hundreds out of all the nearby rivers and sell them at strategic points throughout Prague and the rest of the country.

They cost about 70 Crowns a kilogram and most carp are between 2 and 6 kilos depending on the age of the fish of course. They keep them in these little outdoor kid pools. Probably 40 or so fish in each. Each little setup has three pools and they run the water between all three while constantly switching the fish around.
People buy them and keep them in their bathtub for a few days...I guess to laugh at them and taunt the helpless creatures until they eventually pull 'em out, crack 'em on the head, gut 'em, scale 'em, cut 'em into proper size pieces...and then they fry 'em! This is the story that all my students told me. They all had the same story, they only argued about what size fish was the better option. Jiří argued for the younger fish as they were fresher and Ondra said bigger was better as you only had to buy one and it would all taste the same.

Sounds great eh!

I don't know if you guys know what carp look like (I seem to remember Dad and Grandpa talking about catching carp...maybe not in Illinois...maybe Minnesota or something), but these guys are odd-looking! They have what looks like fish-net stockings for scales. It looks like plastic netting and they constantly open their mouths and make a sucking motion like when you exaggerate a kiss.

BUT, the guys who sell them are quite the characters!
Myself and the guy in the background were taking pictures, so the guy just pulls out a fish and shows it off to us. He starts laughing and making some kind of joke...possibly about us, who knows!

Český Krumlov

Prague has been unseasonably warm recently. Friday and Saturday brought flawless sunshine and the chirping of birds who’d already written the year off. We decided to rent a car and head into southern Bohemia to the wee town of Český Krumlov. The iPod kept us in high spirits even as the sun set prior to our arrival. Despite pulling in in complete darkness, the charm of the town was emanating from all corners. However, it was freezing.

Český Krumlov is a fairytale town nestled in a valley between mountains and clinging to rocky bluffs, built around an exaggerated ‘s’ shaped section of the same river that flows through Prague, the Vltava. It’s complete with castle, church, monastery, square, and brewery. Because it is so close to Austria and Germany, many places have signs in German and tourists from the neighboring countries spill in at a heavy rate. Due to the time of year, there were very few tourists. This is a place that in the summer is mobbed with tourists, so I felt lucky to see it now.

Now, our lodging for the evening was a bastion from the original town wall, situated directly across (20 ft) from the brewery. It has been converted into a 4-room pension. The woman who owns/runs the place is charming, magnetic really. She welcomed us, gave us the key, asked what time we wanted breakfast (we took it at 8:30am) and then left with a smile that seemed too big for the little town.

Incidentally, the Eggenberg brewery has been pouring beer since 1560 and the space it occupies on the edge of town is vast. Barrels and barrels of beer sit waiting to be consumed on premises at the massive beer hall or shuttled across town to several restaurants that proudly serve one of the various brews. We drank both the Černy (black) and Světlý (lager). Both are quite nice!

We were staying on the edge of the Old Town, and as you walked toward the city you passed the brewery and the monastery. The monastery was in utter disrepair and evoked thoughts of long gone times when monks roamed this massive complex drinking Eggenberg beer. The brick in the walls was brittle and crumbling, but refused to give out completely. As we walked around this cold, dark, littered area we were by far the only people around. I suppose it should have been eerie, but it was comforting somehow.

We curled through the cobblestone streets and into the main road opposite the castle. Next to the castle is a massive round tower painted with ornate images and myriad different colors. Rising above the town as a substantial reminder of the power of the lords of Rozmberk who owned much of the land in southern Bohemia. In high season the tower is open for superior views of the town.

With that option closed, we walked through the castle for commanding views nonetheless. The castle is literally carved from the rocky bluff it’s perched upon. It sits well above the town. From it, all the bridges are visible as well as the twisting Vltava river as it winds abruptly through town. This morning was pretty special as the bone-chilling weather was obvious with clouds of smoke escaping from every other building’s chimney and into the crisp morning air making a blanket over the town until a strong wind swept through and carried it all away.

As we exited the castle to the west, still climbing higher above the town, the view expanded and we could then see the castle as well as the tower, town, church and surrounding countryside. This walkway lead to a beautiful deserted and secluded garden with tree-lined trails stretching for days and days. The handful of trees within the garden were massive and their leafless limbs extended out for miles making them look quite imposing in the noon day sun as their shadows crept towards me in silence while I walked past.
Then we sauntered down a steep quiet lane and across the bridge into the Old Town at the stroke of noon. The town came alive instantly as a small stand with Punč, Grog, and Svařené Víno sat waiting for intrepid weekenders to spice up the day. We skipped it, the night before was enough with Eggenberg and Becherovka.

We walked toward the square in search of pizza. After a young guy in the bookshop pointed us in the right direction we accomplished our goal. Then walked south of the square into the church of St. Vitus, which is also the name of the awe-inspiring church within the castle complex in Prague. This church was not a close second to its cousin! But, the park 50m away opposite the Radnice (City Hall) did give the castle quite a run for its money in the spectacular view department!
In fact, the sagging rooftops of the old houses on the main drag along the river made for a spell-binding glimpse into the history of this town. The houses were all painted brilliantly and some had ivy crawling up the front. Crossing the bridge back into the other side of town we had a classic view of real life as the old houses were all displaying drying clothes and scattered plants on their river-front porches.
Then, ducking down an alleyway towards a very strange art gallery we popped out onto the riverfront itself. The St. Vitus cathedral sat calmly looking over the town to the south as the castle guarded the north. The alley lead to another alley, which crept along the old town walls and into a derelict deserted desolate dead end.

However, the alley held a special power over me. One side of the wall was the monastery and the other was the river. At the start of this alley was a discarded, dilapidated, deserted, decaying domicile left to the mercy of time. Time had been an unkind ally to this place as it stood shakily in this forgotten corner of Cesky Krumlov. The number 9 sat weary and worn out above the door while the stairwell leaned and bent from exhaustion and sadness at the town’s disassociation with it and its surroundings.
A forbidding gate stood at the end of the alley with two sturdy iron rods hanging from it, which were used at some point to pull the gate open. A big building in the corner sat in quiet solitude and crumbled slowly away. Though, the place was austere, it had an air of dignity of days of yore.

Contented that we had seen as much as we could in the off-season, we headed back to our end of town and the beautiful bastion that kept us warm the night before, got into the car, plugged in the iPod and hit the road.

I recommend this town to anyone who might find themselves in the Czech Republic!

Hee-hee!

X-Mas in Prague

I figured I should throw some seasonal photos up. Dig it!

Notice the Pecene Kastany stand on the right...roasted chestnuts, baby!

Pig Slaughter

Friday was the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution that freed the Czech people from Soviet rule and Communism. My school was closed as was nearly everything else in the country. So we decided to travel into southern Bohemia and visit České Budějovice.

This town is the original home of Budweiser. Although that beer doesn't even rank among my top 200 American beers, it is quite nice here! The main difference seems to be that this beer has flavor and the American version does not! BTW - Budějovice means Budweis in German and Budweiser in English.

As we entered the main square in Old Town we found a beautiful old fountain and took a seat to gawk at the brilliantly colored buildings in one of the Czech Republic's biggest squares. We made our way past the 14-century tower guarding the back side of the square and past the imposing Town Hall with dragons flying out of the wall towards the 13th century monastery at the edge of the Old Town along the river. We walked along the river a ways with massive swans following close behind and then ducked into an alleyway that popped us out right next to the Harley-Davidson Museum. The what? Weird!

We then strolled down the very narrow streets of the Old Town and ultimately onto the main road. From there I could hear music and laughter from somewhere nearby.We ducked under a low archway to discover what looked like a private party or BBQ. There were people talking, eating, singing, dancing, kids playing, etc. We stood quietly peering around the corner until a guy in a chef's uniform began speaking to us in Czech. He quickly determined that we couldn't speak Czech and told us in his best broken English to join them and have some soup.

We thought fine! Soup and beer sounds good. He says that they have slaughtered a pig and it's a party for the town! He proceeds to tell us that the soup is made from PIG BLOOD! Gretchen kindly told the guy that I would love to try it and he promptly made me a bowl. The party momentarily stopped everything to watch me take a sip. Very weird stuff. Some kind of charcoal-based liquid with a somewhat grisly somewhat chewy I don't know what inside...

Anyway, I put the soup down and drank my beer. Then went into the hall to listen to two old Czech men playing accordions and singing loudly and wearing huge smiles. Another older man sat alongside singing while the butcher and a random woman sang and danced while tenderizing the meat. Another woman just drank and sang...loudly!
A proper Czech party with proper Czech people and proper Czech food! Classic!

Bratislava

Bratislava...

Let me just start by saying that it had its ups and downs. I'm amazed that a place so close to the splendor of Vienna could be so strange and clearly Eastern European. That said, the Old Town of Bratislava is unassuming and ancient! No real splendor apart from the fact that it was so obviously old.

I took about 100 photos in 2 days. The strangest thing I've seen in ages was that city from the castle on the hill (which is pointless to visit). There is the beautiful (albeit small) Old Town with the brilliant Michalská Brána (tower above) dominating the landscape and myriad spires crammed into the area directly below and then the sprawling New Town with literally 100's of massive apartment blocks on the other side of the river (Danube). There is this huge and very weird tower at the edge of New Town, which you can see from Old Town.

Bratislava is worth a visit for sure, but we met these Americans who live there and the wife was less than impressed (to say the least) with it as a place to call home. I can't imagine living there, but worth a look for the Old Town.

We visited a place they call the Primate's Palace (The Czechs and Slovaks call their top man the Primator) where in 1805 Napoleon and the Emperor of Austria signed a peace treaty in the Hall of Mirrors. It was lavishly decorated with massive chandeliers and 15-century English tapestries and paintings from all over. The inside was great, but the square and courtyard surrounding the place were quite stunning.

There were fantastic buildings of all different colors and shapes as well as beautiful light fixtures and ironwork adorning each one. Two of the buildings had massive clocks atop their towers. Long story short it was a good place to sit and rest, take a deep breath and take it all in.

Then we ambled through the rest of the cobbled (extremely!) streets of Old Town up to the church of the Clarissine Order, which was having work done. That didn't deter us, though, from ogling over the ornately carved spire that climbed from the narrow derelict streets of Old Town towards the heavens. Much of the oldest stuff in Bratislava had VERY Gothic features, which I dig! There was this building with grotesque little gargoyles making rude faces to the people on the street. I loved it! Anyhow, just near this church was a wee brewpub where the monks routinely made beer beginning in 14-something! From there we walked downhill towards the absolutely massive (I mean it!) St. Martin's Cathedral, where (among others) Maximilian, Ferdinand, Leopold, Joseph and Maria Theresa were crowned! The late Pope actually recognized the church as a world religious treasure before he died! There was a crypt underneath where many of bishops, etc. were entombed and/or laid in brilliant coffins made of wood or stone. The spire of this church is topped with a huge golden crown that sits upon a velvet pillow! You can see it if pretty clearly if you climb the hills behind the city going towards the ancient church of St. Nicholas. Which, once we reached the top of the hill were stopped dead in our tracks in the doorway by the dozens and dozens of images of Christ and Mary surrounded by 100's of burning candles, not to mention the sounds of a choir belting out hymns/spirituals in Slovak from the high balcony where we couldn't see them!

That was Saturday, Sunday we got out of town a bit to Devín Castle! This place was great! Perched atop a rocky bluff at the confluence of the Morava and Danube Rivers this once seriously imposing castle is now just a ruin due to Naploeon's forces blasting it from across the river in Austria (guess that was before the treay, eh?). Too bad really because the castle survived numerous attacks by Turkish forces. It was rather chilly and very foggy when we arrived, but just as we ascended the top of the bluff the fog burned off and the sun shined down like a spotlight on the castle.

The sleepy little village of Devín was eerily quiet as we pulled in at 26 minutes past 10am, possibly attributable to the thich layer of fog hanging just above the road and clinging to rooftops. But the castle was alive and very inviting. It was inexplicably vigorous wandering around the place. I felt like there had been so much action on that site in decades past. Well centuries actually as the Romans initially used the site an outpost of their ever-growing empire during the ealry part of the millenium. The mini-musuems on the property include exhibits housing artifacts from as far back as the 1st century and all the way up to the early 1920's when a contingent of Czech nationalists destroyed a monument (80 meters high) erected by Slovaks proclaiming the site as a place of great cultural importance to the Slovak people.

The two little bastions halfway down the rocky face of the bluff above the river were quite cool. I could just imagine myself armed with a longbow watching the river below and waiting for French or Turkish troops to approach in the night.