Wednesday June 11 2008

Click on the pictures for a larger view.


After an uneventfull, but good night's sleep at the Pension Fontana, I made my way over to Adriana's condo for 8:30 / 9:00AM. Karel had walked me part of the way to the pension the previous night, so I thought I was able to find my way back, but after passing the Baby Centre I somehow made a wrong turn, and ended up exploring parts of Podebrady I didn't know existed....





I knew if I could find the train station, I'd be alright. Luckily, I soon did, and then I found the underpass. Crossing over to Adriana's neighbourhood, I spotted Karel and KK outside carrying an empty toilet seat box (?). We won't go into that story....
















Krystof was in excellent spirits,
and we went upstairs to their Unit. I tried toplay a bit with KK, but he got in trouble from his daddy for driving his toy car on the new leather sofa, (while the great oaf of a godfather was happily snapping pictures).
















Karel and Adriana prepared breakfast, along with some of the amazinging 2 kilo poppyseed cake. She had to get KK to his swimming lesson at the Baby Centre, so it was left to Karel and myself to eat breakfast out on the balcony.















Afterwards, we took the bikes for a spin through Podebrady. Karel had to go to the Post Office with a Toilet Seat box and send it for a friend. The line moved pretty quick, so he got out of there in good time. Then it was time for our haircuts. Since I knew from last time that they didn't have a #0 clipper, Karel translated my request for a scalp shave....that didn't go over too well as apparently the Ministry of Health has very strict rules against barbers using razors on scalps. ??

After the haircuts, we took the bikes through town and over to the dam so I could take some pictures of the Hydro Station. It's an amazing building (built by Italian POWs during the first world war), and is still sending power to the grid.

Click here for more pictures of the Hydro-Electric Station

Next Karel took me to the city's beach, which looks like a great place for kids. There are foodstands and pubs dotted along the lakefront. At one point Karel asked me to look through the bushes. I thought I saw a floundering freshwater whale, but then found out I was looking at a nudist beach (yuk).

Since it was now lunch, we went to one of the newer restaurants in Podebrady, in the same building as the Aqua Centre where KK goes for his swimming lessons. The place is gorgeous, and I had the best pesto I've ever tasted. Karel's meal, a neat beef dish (Spanelsky pracek - "Spanish bird"), was equally good. Ditto for the soup, (goulash).

http://www.septime-restaurant.cz/?main=septime_club_podminky

Liba And KK:

After lunch we checked out a gallery on the promenade then headed back to Liba's to look after KK, as Vasek needed to attend to some business at the tennis club. KK was asleep still, so Karel, took the bike back to the gallery to purchase a print for his mom, while I waited at the house. In the meantime, Vasek came back, and then Liba arrived.She had gone to Prague by train for the day. Adriana finished her visit to the Homeopath, and it was determined that we should wake Krystof up, as we wanted to make a trip to Prachovské skály.

Prachovské skály

http://ftp.czechtourism.com/133premier/en/cd/en/memories/memo236.htm

Once the car was loaded up, it was a nice drive to Prachovské skály through the country. What an amazing place where a reasonable drive in any direction takes you to something really cool. We went through a beautiful city, Jicin, where Adriana and KK sometimes meet with their friends Svetlana and Sebastian, as it is a halfway point for them. The town square was awesome.












Finally we got to the Bohemian Paradise. KK couldn't wait to get out and run...Karel and Adriana coralled him into the backpack, after letting him climb a few hundred steps, and we took off through scenery that looked like it came straight out of the Lord of the Rings...

We took the Yellow Trail, and started climbing up, and up, and up.....It was a good workout for Karel, and Krystof loved it.

Finally we made it to the top and the view was fantastic!. The safety railings, though, were not very child friendly, so Karel and Adriana had to keep a close watch on KK!!!


















KK keeps a lookout for bears...


































































After enjoying the view, it was time for the trip down. It started out easy enough, but the the trail turned into some very steep stairs cut into the rock. Karel tried to negotiate them with KK in the backpack, but it was just too narrow....he ended up carrying him, with Adriana leading the way, just in case they fell.



























































Of course Krystof thought it was all great fun, but finally we made it down and then it was a nice walk back to the car. After KK got a bit more running in, we drove back to Podebrady through some beautiful Czech countryside, stopping along the way at a roadside strawberry stand. The lady was nice enough to throw some free cherries in for Krystof. When we got back to Palackeho St., Vasek and Liba were waiting for us so they could take KK for the night, as Adriana had to make an early start for work the next day. Without thinking, I complimented Vasek on his slivovice, and before I knew it, he had brought out a tray with some shots for all of us....then Karel produced some weiners to snack on. They went over well with Krystof.


































Then it was time to go. We were all going to meet later at the big fountain in the park, as it was Jazz Balcony night, a really cool event that Podebrady was hosting to celebrate the Spa's 100th anniversary. We were all so busy trying to get organized, that I didn't really realize that this was the last time I'd be seeing Krystof before leaving for Canada. Adriana had told him that I was going on an airplane, and he gave me a kiss on the cheek. As we were driving away, he and Vasek were waving to us out the kitchen window. I'm going to miss him. He was really great company all the last week...

Romanticka Nokturna

Adriana dropped me off at the Fontana, and I quickly changed to meet them in the park by the big fountain. The park was amazing as they had set up a monster laser light show, and had some crazy Christmas decorations throughout. When I got there I spotted Liba waiting near the first balcony. I was a little embarrassed that she paid for my ticket, but it was really nice of her. For this night they used people's balconies to present different performers. The first one we saw was a trumpet player who was really good, followed by a clarinetist. Then they presented a Czech version of Romeo and Juliet from the 3rd balcony. I had to laugh, as every time Romeo arrived or exited the scene, (he was performing on the ground), a big dog started to bark at him. I later found out that it was Jana's dog! After the Shakespearean act was over, we progressed to the fourth balcony for a performance by Jana Koubková. There we spotted Karel, Adriana, Jana, her boyfriend David, and her mother, along with her dog. It was great to see them again, and we settled in to watch the band play. Unfortunately the vocals were so low you could barely hear them. I think she is probably a great singer, and the band was very good, but as Liba found out from someone in the crowd, she insisted on doing her own sound setup, and the result was disappointing....

Jana Koubková:

As it was getting cold, Adriana wanted to leave, so it was left to Liba to walk me back to the pension. We had a great chat and she even offered to take me for a drink, but I was getting tired at this point, and I had a feeling she would probably prefer to turn in also, as she'd had a long day, (and carried the picture for Karel's mom with her all evening!).

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