Innocent Wild: Out and About - Day 24 - Walk and Nature Trippin'

April 14, 2013

Lednice

It was actually Paja's idea to go to Lednice over the weekend, but as she was busy with her thesis, we thought the trip wouldn't push through. Lucky us, though, our student, Jirka, offered to give us a ride to the place (thanks again!).

Just to give you a background, Lednice is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the southern part of Moravia - about 46 kilometres away from Brno. Covering 200 square-kilometres, it is the largest park in the country, and home of the Lednice Castle/Chateau, the Minaret, and John's Castle. Other famous attractions in the area are the Greenhouse and the Aquarium.

The weather was really pleasant that day, unlike how the forecast predicted it to be. The sun was shining ever so brightly, fluffy white clouds hung in the clear blue sky, and it wasn't too cold nor too hot to take a trip.

We left the dorm past 9 am, and arrived there just before 11, and yeah, they're right. It's a very beautiful place, indeed!

The structures built around the park seems to transport you back in time, teleport you to some Arabian country (we'll get to that), and the best part of all: it's very close to nature! I was also glad that I took all three of my cameras with me to take some snaps of the place.

The first attraction we got to see is the Lednice Castle upon entering - the summer mansion of the Lichtensteins. I got to enter their chapel, and say a prayer, and then we then took a walk to see the Minaret - a tower gallery with 302 steps. It was designed by Josef Hardmuth, and it is a Moresque breakthrough in Czech Republic. No other building stands in the country that's like it.

We got to make it to the top of the tower for 20Kc - student's price - and it gave us this spectacular view of the park. The trees, the lakes, and everything else could be seen from the top of the Minaret.

Tired after descending the tower, we took a break at its foot, and the girls bought some snacks and some drinks. Looking at the Arabic inscriptions on the building, we were joking, saying that all our travelling these days made us reach Saudi Arabia in no time. Haha!

It was a long walk trip - as it first was - going to and coming back from the Minaret. We checked the tour schedule of the Lednice Castle, and decided to have a late lunch first at a nearby restaurant.

I had some fried cheese and fries, which are so good! In fact, I just realised that fried cheese is the first Czech food I got to taste since I arrived, cos I had some of it upon arriving in Florenc (Prague). We had some ice cream for dessert, and carried on for the castle tour.

We took the 3:00 pm tour of thhe Lednice Castle. As the English tour was quite pricey, we just took the Czech-language tour. After all, Jirka was around to translate some of the trivia given by the guide. We were also given English handouts, which were pretty much the script of the curator.

The Lednice Castle is the epitome of luxurious living in South Moravia in the 19th century. Some of the iconic items that could be found in this summer chateau of the Lichtensteins are the massive three-tier chandelier, armory, stuffed eagles, pieces of delicate china, a lead-cast statue, paintings, and my favourite: an oak-cut staircase in the library. These items were not withdrawn from the place by the Lichtensteins after the second world war and the communistic nationalisation.

We took another walk trip to see some birds after the castle tour. I hated seeing the birds in captive, because they're meant to be free, and fly high in the sky to wherever they wish to go! We headed back to Brno after that.

It was quite a Sunday, and it was nice to see a part of Czech Republic that's far from the hustles and bustles of the very tourist-y Prague, which I have yet to visit!