We saw a sign for the hrad Cimburk and decided that even if it were just a ruin, it could be pretty cool to find. We're all about exploring. Now, if you remember what I wrote before, hrads are like fortress castles, usually built on a hill, and most of them are closed during the wintertime. Well there's a reason why they're closed during the winter and on this adventure we learned why. Following the signs for Cimburk took us through a small village, and then on a small road which turned to a gravel road, surrounded on both sides by trees. 
Pretty soon the road started going up, then before we knew it we were driving on switchbacks completely covered with snow up a small mountain. You have to know that we were in a tiny Kia which only had "summer" tires (Hertz offered us snow tires for 20 euros more per day--are you kidding me?), we thought it would be in the 50s like all the weather reports said, and anyway, we had absolutely no traction. Umm, time to call off the adventure and go down the mountain, but just then the car started sliding toward the mountain drop off, all I could do was pray that we didn't slide off the side of the mountain, and I could only think that we were going to have to pay the deductible for this darn rental car if we ruined it. At the same time, Chris expertly turned us toward a small ditch opposite the drop off and somehow managed to stop us from sliding. All he could think about was that we were going to get stuck in a ditch and have to walk the 2 miles back to the small village and convince someone to help pull us out. I think we were truly being watched over because we didn't get stuck in the ditch, nor did we go off the side of the mountain and Chris was able to back us (yes, I said back us) down the mountainside until it leveled off. Let's just say our adrenaline was running a little high by the time we turned around. This is why most hrads are closed in the winter!
We stayed a few nights at an 18th century chateau about 15 minutes outside of the city of Uherske Hradiste. It was peaceful, quiet, surrounded by woods and we could only hear ducks and geese on the nearby frozen pond.
The Slovacko region has retained most of the folk traditions of the country, it is here that you find the most elaborate folk costumes, and keramika and Easter eggs are produced, all of which I love. We spent the next 3 days exploring the area around Uherske Hradiste, first stopping in Tupesy to find keramika (folk pottery). The museum where we thought we could buy keramika was closed, but some on the street told us we could find keramkia if we just drove around the corner. And out of someone's house was a pottery factory with the most beautiful keramika we've ever found. Too bad we were limited in our buying to whatever we could carry on board:)
The next day we went back to the museum in Tupesy and learned about the pottery traditions. Here's an example of an 18th? century kiln and fireplace in a potter's home.
We spent one afternoon walking on the square in Uherske Hradiste. Chris opened this city as a missionary, so it's another special place for him.
We had debated where to spend our one Sunday in the CZ. Our church website lists the locations of branches around the world, we had looked up branches in Jihlava and Uherske Hradiste, but according to every map the addresses weren't correct, it was impossible to find a building to match the addresses listed. Strange. So we searched on for the branch building in Uherske Hradiste, but didn't have any luck. We turned on a different street and looked up. This is what we saw:
Yay! We walked in, hoping to find someone, and we did--the sister missionaries!!
We spent one afternoon walking on the square in Uherske Hradiste. Chris opened this city as a missionary, so it's another special place for him. We had debated where to spend our one Sunday in the CZ. Our church website lists the locations of branches around the world, we had looked up branches in Jihlava and Uherske Hradiste, but according to every map the addresses weren't correct, it was impossible to find a building to match the addresses listed. Strange. So we searched on for the branch building in Uherske Hradiste, but didn't have any luck. We turned on a different street and looked up. This is what we saw:Yay! We walked in, hoping to find someone, and we did--the sister missionaries!! 
They gave us information about how the branch was doing, where different members were, and told us that most of the branch was out of town on a temple trip! They took us to the shop of a member Chris knew but he wasn't there--I think he was on the temple trip, too!
For most of our days, we ate street food, like parek (hotdog stuck in a long roll with mustard-yum) or bought food from supermarkets. Some of these were huge supermarkets, the size of WalMart, I've never seen anything like them in Europe, but they were everywhere. And they had the best and cheapest bread products, most of them cost less than $1, huge loaves of crusty bread were only around $2. Did I mention they were freshly baked and there was a huge variety?
One of our favorites was bacon wrapped around a croissant-like roll. (Not sure why my hair looks pink and grey in this picture..)
Oh, and we ate lots and lots of Milka chocolate, the best chocolate. Ever.
One of our favorites was bacon wrapped around a croissant-like roll. (Not sure why my hair looks pink and grey in this picture..) Oh, and we ate lots and lots of Milka chocolate, the best chocolate. Ever.Another day we walked around Buchlovice Chateau for a couple of hours.
Two words to describe the gardens of the chateau: absolutely amazing!! Acres and acres of trees and plants.
This tree looked like something out of Lord of the Rings.
Here I am by one of the branches of of the same tree.
Mistletoe was everywhere in the area.
We stopped at the monastery in Velehrad, quite an elaborate one.
We walked inside the cathedral and heard the organ playing, how nice, we thought, and then singing, there must be a concert, we thought, then we saw a coffin. Oops, guess we're not going to see the cathedral today!
Two words to describe the gardens of the chateau: absolutely amazing!! Acres and acres of trees and plants. This tree looked like something out of Lord of the Rings. Here I am by one of the branches of of the same tree. Mistletoe was everywhere in the area. We stopped at the monastery in Velehrad, quite an elaborate one.We walked inside the cathedral and heard the organ playing, how nice, we thought, and then singing, there must be a concert, we thought, then we saw a coffin. Oops, guess we're not going to see the cathedral today!On the hillside by Buchlovice is the Hrad Buchlov. Closed, of course.
Chris has been there before and I guess it's pretty neat, we thought we'd try to just drive up there if the roads weren't too bad and walk around. Here's what the road looked like off the highway:
No surprise that after our other experience with snowy roads we didn't hesitate to turn around and forget seeing Buchlov up close, at least on this trip!
Chris has been there before and I guess it's pretty neat, we thought we'd try to just drive up there if the roads weren't too bad and walk around. Here's what the road looked like off the highway:No surprise that after our other experience with snowy roads we didn't hesitate to turn around and forget seeing Buchlov up close, at least on this trip!Lace covers almost every window of almost every house in every village we drove through. They use lace for privacy during the day and it comes in hundreds of different patterns.
Immediately outside of villages and cities you often see small gardens which are tended on weekends by city/village dwellers.
I can't remember the name of this village, we explored and drove through too many.
You can see an example of Moravian folk painting on the front of this store:
Another church in another quaint village...
with more hundreds of years-old buildings...
One day we drove to a school that teaches and maintains folk traditions. We first toured the costume museum, yes, I was in heaven! A little background on Czech folk costumes: every city has it's own unique costume. Moravian costumes are heavily influenced by Hungary; Bohemian by Austria and Germany, my favorites come from Moravia because they're dripping in handmade lace and tons of embroidery and flowers. When we were folk dancers (many many years ago) we would travel to Binghampton, NY, for a festival every year where there is a large Czech population. Their costumes have been handed down from generation to generation and in order to wash them they actually collected rainwater, not trusting the chemicals in tap water to maintain the integrity of the garments, they are that valuable. These are some of the simpler Moravian costumes.
Then we toured the workshop where they make folk costumes. They let me touch the shirts to see how stiffly they are starched--they are as rough as paper, that's how the pleats stay pleated and the lace stands out. A full costume with shirt, skirt, headscarf, headress, and handkerchief costs about $3,000.
Another church...
In the countryside we also saw a lot of vacation cabins.
Immediately outside of villages and cities you often see small gardens which are tended on weekends by city/village dwellers.I can't remember the name of this village, we explored and drove through too many. You can see an example of Moravian folk painting on the front of this store: Another church in another quaint village...with more hundreds of years-old buildings... One day we drove to a school that teaches and maintains folk traditions. We first toured the costume museum, yes, I was in heaven! A little background on Czech folk costumes: every city has it's own unique costume. Moravian costumes are heavily influenced by Hungary; Bohemian by Austria and Germany, my favorites come from Moravia because they're dripping in handmade lace and tons of embroidery and flowers. When we were folk dancers (many many years ago) we would travel to Binghampton, NY, for a festival every year where there is a large Czech population. Their costumes have been handed down from generation to generation and in order to wash them they actually collected rainwater, not trusting the chemicals in tap water to maintain the integrity of the garments, they are that valuable. These are some of the simpler Moravian costumes.Then we toured the workshop where they make folk costumes. They let me touch the shirts to see how stiffly they are starched--they are as rough as paper, that's how the pleats stay pleated and the lace stands out. A full costume with shirt, skirt, headscarf, headress, and handkerchief costs about $3,000. Another church... 
In the countryside we also saw a lot of vacation cabins. We felt strongly that we should attend church in Jihlava and with the address given to us by the sister missionaires in hand easily found the church building on Saturday afternoon.
Jihlava--more and more snow!!
The city wall surround the old part of Jihlava, this dates from the medieval era.
The communists ruined the namesti in Jihlava by building this monstrosity. Now it's home to the most capitalist of all capitalist enterprises (besides WalMart)---McDonalds! There's great irony in that!!
The best hours of our entire trip were spent with the branch in Jihlava. Chris was reunited with members he baptized 20 years ago but had lost touch with over the years, and I met people whose pictures I've seen and whose stories I've heard. Chris baptized Jaroslav when he was a teenager, Jaroslav served a mission in Ukraine, married his wife in the temple, and now serves in the branch presidency. I think this is what heaven will be like, seeing the joy that the gospel has brought to the lives of others!
When we walked into the meeting, Chris saw Sister Jakubikova and said her name. For the first few minutes all she could say was "Starsi Stapley" over and over. She was wonderful. She told me when Chris left Jihlava the train station was filled with people there to say goodbye to him. Here's Chris with Sister Jakubikova and with Brother Huda, who served as branch president before Chris left Jihlava.
The Spirit was so strong in their meeting, it was all I could do to keep it together during the service, almost to the point of being emotionally draining. Not hard to see why Chris loves the Czechs and truly loved serving in the Czech Republic.
A Mexican restaurant!
Jihlava--more and more snow!! The city wall surround the old part of Jihlava, this dates from the medieval era. The communists ruined the namesti in Jihlava by building this monstrosity. Now it's home to the most capitalist of all capitalist enterprises (besides WalMart)---McDonalds! There's great irony in that!! The best hours of our entire trip were spent with the branch in Jihlava. Chris was reunited with members he baptized 20 years ago but had lost touch with over the years, and I met people whose pictures I've seen and whose stories I've heard. Chris baptized Jaroslav when he was a teenager, Jaroslav served a mission in Ukraine, married his wife in the temple, and now serves in the branch presidency. I think this is what heaven will be like, seeing the joy that the gospel has brought to the lives of others! When we walked into the meeting, Chris saw Sister Jakubikova and said her name. For the first few minutes all she could say was "Starsi Stapley" over and over. She was wonderful. She told me when Chris left Jihlava the train station was filled with people there to say goodbye to him. Here's Chris with Sister Jakubikova and with Brother Huda, who served as branch president before Chris left Jihlava.The Spirit was so strong in their meeting, it was all I could do to keep it together during the service, almost to the point of being emotionally draining. Not hard to see why Chris loves the Czechs and truly loved serving in the Czech Republic. In the afternoon we went to Kutna Hora. I'm an architectural junkie and loved the painting on the buildings. Can you guess what this is used as today?
A Mexican restaurant!The cathedral at Kutna Hora.
Next stop: Prague.
Next stop: Prague. 
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