Vysehrad Castle

Today (Tuesday, May 27th) I went to Vysehrad Castle after a thrilling afternoon: the first experience with a Czech laundromat. It was clean, fast, and the staff was friendly. But it was also expensive. David and I washed and dried 2 loads of laundry and spent about $20. But then again, being able to wear my favorite t-shirt without running the risk of grossing out anyone is worth it.

Mark in Old Town Square

Stewart, David, Lynsey, Ashley, Lynsey's friend Jess from back home and I took the Metro to Vysehrad. We got off at the correct stop and were a little puzzled. The stop was at the base of a giant hotel (the Corinitha Hotel) and kind of..not near anything other than a conference center. There actually is a conference going on right now - the International Seed Federation Conference.

Anyway. We walked a little while (about 15 minutes) and found the entrance to Vysehrad.

Vysehrad is a key point in most Czech founding mythology (this information is cribbed from here):

Czech tribes led by the father Čech stopped their journey at the Říp mountain (about 50 km north of Prague). There he beheld the "land of milk and honey" and decided to settle. His brother Lech had separated from his tribe earlier and became the founder of the Polish nation (this explains why the Czechs and Poles are so close).

Libuše, Čech's grand daughter, ruled the Czech people after the death of her father Krok. She was gifted with prophetic powers and foresaw the founding of Prague. She resided at Vyšehrad and in one of her prophetic moments declared: "I see a large city whose fame touches the stars." She then sent builders into the woods where they found a man making a threshold (práh) which also gave a name to the new city (i.e. Praha)

I really like fairy tales. It's a little weird, but it still is a romantic little fairy tale.

Vysherad is absolutely beautiful. It is romantic, picturesque, every word you can use to describe it. And we didn't even get to the actual palace!

Grass on the way to Vysehrad....Seed Fest! Woop

Ashley!

Stew

In other news, I think I might be going to Vienna this weekend! And we are also beginning to finalize plans for a trip to either Budapest or the Czech countryside. I'll let you know what happens....