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| Grain fields everywhere |
Set our alarm so we were up for breakfast by 8am but unfortunately the person opening up the breakfast room was late on duty. John did a little work until it opened up at 8.30am. Away as soon as we could, walking a few blocks to the nearest car hire place we had found on the internet. Alas, even though the webpage for this hotel said it rented out cars, even giving the daily rates, the receptionist assured us that it didn’t. We walked on to the second and only other address we could find for a car hire place. We hit the jackpot with this hotel and within 30mins were heading away in a little Skoda (we thought we ought to use a Skoda in the Czech Republic).
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| Chotesov |
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| Chotesov Monastery |
My research showed that a few hundred Bohemians immigrated to NZ from about 24 villages around Pilsen. I narrowed this down to eight to visit. Unfortunately the weather had changed radically from yesterday and it was pretty cold and light rain. We didn’t have far to drive, as the nearest village was only 15km from Pilsen and they were all within 1 to 8km of each other. We tripped around from 10am to 3pm and had a pleasant time exploring each little settlement. The smallest was only about a dozen houses. They were not quaint in the traditional way, but definitely had a lot of character. Many of the houses within them were deteriorating or abandoned. You could see why a number of the residents would have chosen to look for greener pastures abroad to try and make a better life for themselves and their families. By the end of the day we had been to Litice, Vstis, Losina, Mantov, Chotesov, Stod, Lisina, Popov and Uherce! At Chotesov, we peered through a gate into the courtyard of the huge and decrepit monastery, unfortunately closed.
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| Lisina village |
We got back to Pilsen mid-afternoon, by which time the skies had cleared somewhat. We dropped the car back at the hotel and by good fortune the TV in the hotel’s restaurant was showing Wimbledon so we sat down with a large Pilsener Urquell beer to watch for an hour. Sharapova was overpowering her opponent so we decided to wander around town for an hour, time we didn’t expect to have available to us to explore Pilsen a little more. There are hundreds of little bars all over the city, but very few cafes. We have really enjoyed Pilsen – it has been very different to anywhere else on the trip and we are looking forward to seeing more of the Czech culture when we are in Prague.
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| Still using a hand scythe |
Called in at another falafel place for an easy meal, and this time got plied with lovely Turkish tea as well. It was very welcome. Back to our hotel for an early night, catch up on the blog, and even better we have emails from two parties who are interested in buying the bach and the section on the West Coast.
