New Snow!

From last Sunday near Velké Karlovice, Czech Republic.  It was a winter wonderland, and I felt so blessed to be able to be out in it.

Note my footprints--the only ones there.  :)  

Vel'ká Fatra, Slovakia--Biking Gaderská Dolina

The Gaderská valley follows the most beautiful stream, a magical blue color that must be due to some mineral in the water (combined with the white rocks it runs over and the absolute clarity of the water).  I didn't get to enjoy the stream enough the day before on my fantastic hike, so I decided to rent a bike the second day and bike the paved bike path to Čertova Brána (The Devil's Gate), a narrow rock "gate" on a side valley.   

The Devil's Gate:

The pictures don't really capture the blue, but this one tries:

The bike rental shop was closed and I had to text them to open it just for me, then the bike they gave me had a pedal that kept coming loose, despite me tightening it three times, so I exchanged it basically on the honor system (the guy just left a couple of bikes out for me to choose).  In exchange for the trouble, he gave me the bike for the whole day.  

I wondered for a while if there was something wrong with it too, because it felt harder to pedal than it should, but once I turned around and started coming back, I realized why.  The gradient had been steeper than it looked.  I coasted entire sections of the return trip, sometimes too fast for my comfort.  Most of the rest only require a bit of gentle pedaling periodically.  Another fantastic day.  Since I had time, I also explored a bit of the (unpaved) Blatnická Dolina, where a bit of blue sky peeked out for a few minutes, and then walked around the pretty town of Blatnica. 

I highly recommend this area if ever you're in the Vel'ká Fatra.

Bike trip total:  20.9 km, 226 meters elevation gain (13 miles, 741 feet)

Vel'ká Fatra, Slovakia--Tlstá and Ostrá loop

In mid-November, I spent a long weekend in the Vel'ká Fatra, a national park in western Slovakia.  It was a fantastic trip, in some gorgeous mountains I'd never been to before.  Even the weather cooperated:  cloudy but not rainy and warm for the season.  The clouds often lent the landscape a beautiful, mysterious feel.

The first day, I took a fantastic hike that included one castle whose ruins I could explore on my own, two caves which were also free to explore, and two gorgeous and very different mountain peaks, with a lot of fun trail between.  All that in one day.  I felt very blessed.  

Me at the trailhead, the beautiful Gaderská Dolina, near Blatnica:

Blatnica Castle:

Views from the castle:

From inside the first cave:

Inside the second cave (Mažarná):

Just some little views from the trail:

Approaching the top of Tlstá Peak ("fat peak"):

Views from Tlstá (1373 meters above sea level):

Views of the trail ahead, near Ostrá:

The last scramble to the top of Ostrá, complete with chains to help you climb the rocks:

And this hole you have to climb through:

Fantastic trip.  So much variety and natural beauty.  I didn't quite get back before dark, but almost.  And once I was back in Gaderská Dolina, I found the energy to run half the rest of the way to the bus stop and got there about two minutes before the bus came.  Total success of a day.

Mileage estimate:  18.4 km, 1067 meters elevation gain (11.4 miles, 3500 feet).

Autumn Leaves in mid October-Czech Republic

These are from my hike in the Beskydy Mountains in western Czech Republic on October 19.  I don't think I really need to say any more.  I'll let the pictures speak.

  

First Hedgehog of the Year!

 I've been here since the end of July, and last week I finally saw my first hedgehog!  It was the middle of the day.  I was on the bike path by the river.  I heard a noise and there he was, just off the path, nosing around energetically in the fallen leaves and grasses.  I watched him for a long time, taking a bunch of photos.  He wasn't afraid of me.  I even touched him very gently and he didn't seem to mind one bit.  A few people came by and I'd point him out.  Some were like, "Nice," and watched for 10 seconds before continuing on.  Others were like, "I have hedgehogs in my garden" and didn't even slow down.  But I probably watched for 15 minutes.  

A very happy day.

When I told my students about it, most of them laughed at my enthusiasm and talked about how hedgehogs had fleas or how you see the pests everywhere.  One claimed that a hedgehog had attacked her chicken!

But I still think they're adorable.    

Czech mushroom schnitzel

If you read my last post, you know that on my short hike yesterday, my friends and I found four entire edible mushrooms (I've been on hunts where we find hundreds, so this is laughable for many Czechs, but I was still happy)

These are "bedla" mushrooms, and normally you'd harvest them when they were bigger, but I'd had such little mushroom-hunting success that we picked them.  My Czech friends confirmed their edible-ness, and advised me to make řízek (snitzel).  Snitzel is something breaded and fried, generally pork or chicken here, but it's also common to do it with bedla mushrooms.

My friend gave me this recipe:  mix an egg with a little milk, salt and pepper.  Dip the mushroom caps in the egg then in bread crumbs.  Then fry it.

I found a recipe online that recommended three steps of breading:  First, flour with a little carraway (kmín).  Second, egg beaten with salt and pepper.  Third, bread crumbs.  I opted for this version because, while I was pretending to be Czech, I might as well add kmín, the most Czech of all spices.  

DELICIOUS! (though I'd use less oil next time)

This is a before and after:

    

Lukov Castle, Czech Republic

Yesterday some friends took me to Lukov Castle in the Czech Republic.  Not so long ago it lay in ruins.  History lovers restored it enough that now it's just half ruined.  Very cool.  Perhaps my favorite type of castle.

There are a few small exhibitions, and otherwise you can just wander around the grounds and take in the views:

Here I am at the top:

And my friends at some fun nearby rocks that you can climb around on:

The leaves were changing colors (not as beautiful in the pictures as in real life, of course):

And we found four edible mushrooms (not an impressive haul by Czech standards, but still cool):