(I have been remiss in blog postings, but my excuse is that my husband was here visiting. However, now that he has returned to the US I'll be catching up, so visit often!)

Last week, Tony and I went to the village of Trebon, southeast of Prague.  This is a medieval town with several claims to fame, but the two biggies are the fish hatcheries and the spas, which offer mud baths of peat (ugh), reputed to contain healing properties -- but I couldn't be convinced to indulge.  We traveled to Trebon on the train with friends, Dana and Jeff (and Ricky, the wonderdog).

Although we decided to take a pass on the mud baths, we ventured onto a hiking path around the largest of the lakes, getting thoroughly chilled in the colder-than-usual spring temps.  The numerous ponds and lakes in the area are man-made, most dating back to the 1500s, and were created to deal with the marshy, lowland peat bogs and to build an economy based on fish farming. It’s really amazing to consider that dozens of these lakes are connected by a sophisticated canal system, dating from that same time period (i.e., when "earth movers" were animals and people). 

Here’s a photo of the actual hatchery area, with the holding ponds for the fish.  The primary type of fish raised here is carp, but it’s not the same as the carp you may be familiar with.  This is downright melt-in-your-mouth delicious eating, especially following a bowl of garlic soup served in a bread bowl.  Mmmmmm… Tony was so enthralled with his meal, he couldn't resist taking a photo of his plate, while the rest of us wasted no time chowing down.

A third (and very important) reason to visit Trebon is that it’s the home of the Bohemia Regent brewery, makers of my favorite of the easy-to-love Czech beers. In the courtyard of the brewery is this small picnic gazebo, with a neat roof of recycled materials.

Although we weren’t able to go on a brewery tour, we did conduct our own tasting of the different Regents brews, but even after several serious research trials, never did settle on a “best” that we could all agree on.

Walking around the castle area, we spotted several peacocks in residence, which I referred to as “penguins” in a moment of brainlessness. So, penguins they were for the remainder of the trip.  Hey, at least they’re both birds…

This fountain, in a castle courtyard, shows a raven pulling the brains out of a man’s head.  The man is supposed to represent a Turkish soldier, and a similar image was added to the coat-of-arms for the Schwarzenberk family after a victory against the Turks. (The image on the coat-of-arms shows a raven plucking out a Turk’s eyeball – quite charming.) The castle was originally built for the Rozmberk family, and the Schwarzenberks were later residents there.

The village square in Trebon is quite beautiful and our hotel, the Zlate Hvezda (Golden Star) was a real treat, as well. The staff welcomed us and gave Ricky the royal treatment, too. 

This chapel is also the family tomb for many of the Schwarzenberks, and we had a wonderful tour of the place with a guide who detailed not only the building’s architectural features, but also described the accomplishments of the family members whose coffins lie in the basement crypt. 

That's it for the Trebon trip, but stay tuned... more road trip news coming soon!