So on Saturday we were bused into the Sudetenlands, the area of southwest Czechoslovakia that they repeatedly invited Germans to inhabit, only to drive them out. The history really is quite interesting...but other than cut and pasting from Wikipedia I really can't describe it well. :)
It was pretty much the middle of nowhere. Several villages were built and destroyed at various points throughout history, the last being in 1951 to create a no-man's land border for the Iron Curtain. We took a hike to visit the (very sparse) remains of a church, cemetery, and other buildings. The land is now protected and part of a green belt that stretches through Europe. It also seems to be a popular mountain biking area.
Can you spot the house?
On Sunday, the only way Eva (our Czech program director/tour guide/translator extrodinaire) could convince us to leave Cesky Krumlov was by the distraction of river rafting. We hopped in the rafts on one side of town, rafted through it and on towards Prague. Apparently it would take about a week to raft to Prague though, so we stopped after 3 or 4 hours and the bus picked us up and took us the rest of the way.
It was such a beautiful day. In many places the the scenery was not unlike my native Sugar Creek, and it made me a bit nostalgic for a lazy kayak trip. But the river was more exciting, and there were 3 dams with built in raft chutes. So instead of portaging, we just got a little white water!
If the whole social work thing doesn't work out, I think I am moving to Cesky Krumlov to become a river raft guide. :)
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