#19 - Czech Republic

I'm blessed to have a job I love, which also allows me to travel and learn at the same time! I work at a small college founded by the Norbertine priests, and they organized a tour to some of their European abbeys for faculty, staff and alumni. We left right after the spring semester ended, and I was very excited because it started in the Czech Republic. I had never been there before, but it was always on my "places to see" list because I have Bohemian ancestors. I still haven't seen the Grand Canyon, but I'm up to 19 different foreign countries now!


It's hard to pick just handful of photos to post from the 450+ I took, but here are just a couple of my favorites. Above is a garden gate at Zeliv Abbey in the Czech countryside. Below is one of the beautiful street lanterns in Prague. This one includes a sign leading to Strahov Abbey, the final resting place of St. Norbert. Norbert is one of the principal patron saints of Bohemia, and his statue can be found on the Charles Bridge.

The Abbey Road Tour

Strahov
Zeliv
Tepla
Geras
Wilten

Ever Ancient, Ever New

That's a phrase the Norbertines use to describe their order, and the community at Schlagl is a perfect example of one that has thrived by adapting to the needs of the times. We stayed overnight in their beautifully renovated wing that houses guest rooms and a seminar center, and we enjoyed lunch and dinner in their awesome restaurant. They also have their own brewery, and the beers are very good!




They even have a little demonstration garden in front, which shows the method they use to grow the hops. In this part of Austria - near the borders of Bohemia in the Czech Republic and Bavaria in Germany - you can see whole fields filled with these frame contraptions. I've done my share of brewery tours over the years, but I keep learning new things all the time!


No twist-off caps and wasted packaging here! I love that in Europe the beer bottles are returned and reused, as are these durable plastic racks. Schlagl is "the beer of Austria's only abbey brewery" and has been produced since 1580. They have modernized the plant quite a bit over the years, and they now have a website as you can see from the address on the side of this van.

The Healing Garden

This post is dedicated to my friend David at Well Sweep Herb Farm, who first introduced me to the great botanical gardens of Europe more than 20 years ago. He taught me a lot about herbs and their medicinal uses, as well as the importance of just stopping to smell the lavender each day!




The priests at Geras Abbey in Austria have an extensive herb and flower garden, as well as a shop where they sell various herbal teas and elixirs. They also have a stork nesting on one of their chimneys. We all found that rather ironic!

Man cannot live by bread dumplings alone ......

Shout-Outs Part 1

How can we ever thank our hosts enough?!?!? Here we are sharing a laugh with Marianus at Tepla Abbey, which is in a very remote part of the Czech Republic. Note the cell phone attached to his waist sash!


I never did get the names of these two fathers at Geras Abbey. They didn't speak any English, but they were very nice and they served us one of the greatest lunches we had on the whole trip!


Here is where we first met Richard, the prior at Zeliv Abbey, and he welcomed us with a short tour of the grounds.


This is Lukas, the prior of Schlagl Abbey in Austria. Love the Teva sandals!


Patrick welcomed us to Wilten Abbey, which is now part of the city of Innsbruck, Austria. He also treated us to a wonderful lunch and a visit to the abbey gift shop, where we all stocked up on fabulous chocolates and liquors!

A Day in Prague

This is the city as seen from Strahov Abbey, which is way up on the hill above the whole castle complex. You can see the spires of the St. Vitus Cathedral on the far left.


This is the famous Charles Bridge, which is lined with statues of all the saints who were part of the history of this area. It's a pedestrian-only bridge linking the area known as the "lesser town" below the castle complex to the "old town" across the river.


About halfway across the bridge you find St. Norbert. He's the one in the middle of this group of three. In the background you can again see the St. Vitus Cathedral and the castle complex.


These last two photos are from the Jewish Quarter of the old town, which is a beautiful part of the city best seen on a walking tour. We were lucky to have an absolutely gorgeous day to walk all through the city!

St. Vitus Cathedral

Welcome to the "crane your neck and look up" portion of our tour!


This is Prague's main cathedral in the castle complex. It's a classic example of Gothic architecture and it includes many beautiful stained glass windows.

Just when you thought .....

....I'd become all holier than thou now, never fear! I'm still compelled to record for posterity everything that is weird and wacky wherever I go.


It seems like in every major European city you're supposed to spit in the river or touch some statue for luck. In Prague it's this statue of St. John of Nepomuk on the Charles Bridge, so here I am petting the dog that is part of the sculpture.

I guarantee you, however, that I did NOT touch this one!

Shout-Outs Part 2

We will also never forget our intrepid bus drivers, who definitely deserve a medal for this trip. Above is Hans Guenther, who drove us throughout the Czech Republic and into Austria. Below you see Bert, who got us from Austria into Germany and back more than once!

Gemutlichkeit

That's German hospitality, which I first learned about when I stayed with Brigitte's family in 1984! In the pic with us is her daughter Laura. The last time I was there she was only three years old .... now she's 12 and studying English in school, so she and I have been corresponding the last few months. It worked out nicely that I could rent a car in Munich and return it in Frankfurt so I could visit with them before I came home from this trip.


This photo includes Brigitte's husband, Bernhard, and her mother, Marzella, who came to have dinner with us that evening.


Being the ever-gracious German hosts, of course they couldn't let me go home hungry!


Thanks to the nice lady at the Sixt Auto Rental office for the free upgrade to this Peugeot, which was a real treat to drive on the autobahn where there are no speed limits. It was good to get my adrenaline fix for the summer, because the last time I had that much fun in my WRX it cost me $150!!!