I have been travelling around the country side and through Prague so this post will reflect the activities of the weekend, specifically Saturday. Sunday's a whole other day of adventures!
Here we go!
Aunt Milena had arranged a visit with a teacher of archives (archivist) and historian in the town of Semily in the mountains of North Bohemia. This interesting gentleman, Milos Plachta, took Vlasta, Milena, Mirek and myself through the most amazing trip through family history. Josef Vejvara was a journalist, for lack of a better term, in the area of Semily, which was hub of industry in the late 1800's. The display of Josef was of articles and some pictures. We were also escorted to the upper part of the museum which was closed to the public to see what life was like back in the days that he was alive. I think there is a family resemblance for sure!
Milena, Vlasta and I had the thrill of writing in the VIP book of the museum of relatives of famous people from Semily. It was an emotional moment for me and for them as they had not met any direct relatives of one of their noted people. I showed my passport to the curators there and it was "proof" of who I was, despite the fact that I did not speak Czech!
After the museum we walked to the water's edge of the Jizera (Yeh-zeer-ah) river that runs through Semily. One of the streets over looking the bank is named after my Great Grand father.
We were ready for lunch at a local eatery named "Roka Bar", again, awesome food and pivo to drink! Mirek is making sure I have at least 1 beer a day. No problem here!
We stopped at the Semily cemetary and there found the grave site of Great Grand father and other members (cousins?) of the Vejvara family. It was again, a thrill to find the gravesite and see more of my heritage. The cemetaries in the Czech Republic are all being decorated for Easter time, which is a very big celebration here.
We headed toward the mountain apartment of Vlasta and Mirek in Paseky but first we had go to the Semily golf course! This is one of the oldest courses in the region and had opened for the season last weekend. Mirek, who is a golf freak, much like The Mother, grabbed a 7 iron and some golf balls and we played the "Chimney Hole". As this is very hilly land, the course is 9 holes and situated where ever they could get a piece of land large enough to put a course. The Chimney hole has one challenge. If you over shoot the green you go down a cliff and land in the side of a factory that is built there. The chimney of which is what you see from the tee box. We had fun running around a couple of the holes of the course and played the one hole with gusto! Mirek would still be there if we didn't head towards the car with out him!
7 iron on par 3 Chimney Hole, Semily Golf course.
Our journey was complete for Saturday when we landed (and as Vlasta drives sub sonically, you really do land) in Paseky (Pass-ek-ee) for the night. The air was cool and clear and the mountains beautiful before us and little patches of snow up higher. It was fantastic!
After a snooze by all members of the travelling party it was time to head to a lovely Czech restaurant Na Vyhlidce ( veh-lee-tuh-zeh) high in the mountains in the village of Korenov.
The food was traditional, the ambiance was traditional, the beverages were traditional and we had a lot of fun! I had potato pancakes and a dessert of 'crumpets' with blueberries and cream as this area is known for it's abundance of blue berries. Oh yes we started the meal with a traditional aperitif-Campari-YUM! and an appetizer of smokey ham with a whipped cream like filling with horseradish in it. Oh MAN was that good.
Though the food looks very heavy I can tell you the exercise and mountain air makes it all the more delicious and worth every bite. We had a great time there!
Then it was to bed! What a fantastic day! So much I have learned, so much I have seen, so much I am thankful for!
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