A Weekend in Bohemian Paradise

I just spent an absolutely beautiful weekend in the part of the Czech Republic that Czechs refer to as "Bohemian Paradise." And really it was quite magically. To me this entire country feels like something out of an old brothers Grim fairytale and Turnov was no exception. The Fall leaves in this town were turning brown, yellow, and red, and they were scattered about all over the city. We spent our first day in Turnov just exploring, going to a restored Jewish synagogue, and drinking cappuccinos! But our second day in Turnov was epic. We began our day with a quick breakfast before hitting the mountain trails right outside of the city. We walked up winding paths to to the Turnov "Rock Town" and visited two old and beautiful castles. One was recently converted into a hotel and a wedding was happening on the day we went, so as we walked by we saw a gigantic pig hanging from a wooden bar waiting to be eaten for dinner. As we began our journey back down the mountain we enconterd many other friendly climbers who always offered a kind greeting or piece of advice. The day was just magical but our feet began to tire as we headed down the mountain in the dark. Finally we reached our ultimate destination. PIZZA! And I got to try for the first time a pizza with pasta on top. I can't say that it was my favorite thing in the world but really who can actually complain about pizza and pasta combined! We ended our long day at a little hippie tea room in the town center where we were able to try many teas and just laugh and laugh and laugh. Mirka's "sis" as she calls her joined us for tea and the five of us just had a peaceful evening enjoying eachothers company and laughing about our cultural differerences. On Sunday morning we awoke early to see some old flok archtecture before heading home to the big city of Prague on the train.